http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...om-clearif-he-can-meet-everyones-expectations Mamba, one of best ever to play the game, says Lin is a very good player. But no he's mediocre, not even NBDL player... Cmon guys... just face reality. If "struggling" is the word you describe his stint in Houston, if struggling is 12ppg, I'll take that. True scrubs would be happy with 4ppg as long as they keep getting paychecks. Lin will be an All Star
Like other greats of the game, I am not sure that Kobe is the greatest at teaching and advising others as to how to play optimal NBA basketball. Jeremy Lin with the Mamba attitude is probably gonna end up with too many bad turnovers to be very helpful to his team. Hell, Mamba with the Mamba attitude gets pretty iffy sometimes-- he doesn't have many TOs but instead takes too many low % contested shots, and this is true even before his Achilles injury. You do want Lin to attack, but given his lack of elite handles, the table has to be set for him to be successful-- spacing, rebounder/finisher, etc., what D'Antoni did for him. That whole spread pick and roll thing really does make a PG's life easy. Ray Felton, for one, had a good year under the system before he got fat. Having Lin attack a crowded paint in an "eff it" fashion is not optimal to say the least. Guys like Kobe (and Magic and MJ) sometimes think that guys will be successful just by adapting their attitude. It's a bit more complicated than that.
he didn't struggle in houston, he played pretty consistently mediocre in houston, which is what he is, consistently inconsistent for 2 years. what he's doing now in a Lakers uniform is struggling
I have no opinions on your opinion. Just find your ability stretch the meaning of words to be very nice... perhaps the best in human history.
I am now beginning to think Kobe is trolling Lin fans. Gives them hope during interviews about how he needs to play off the ball and how Lin needs to run the team etc etc.. Then once its game time, its... KoMe time. He will troll the Lin fans all season long this way.
Lakers Nation Roundtable: Most, Least Impressive Player Through Five Games http://www.lakersnation.com/lakers-nation-roundtable-most-least-impressive-player-through-five-games/2014/11/07/ I didn't write the book, I just read from it... T_Man
I'd agree in general that the Kobe attitude wouldn't be a good idea for most players. I don't know if I agree in the case of Lin. The people on Clutchfans who enjoy calling Lin a "mental midget"/etc. to get a rise out of others (or because they believe it) have a kernel of truth in that Lin's biggest problem is mental. Being at the bottom of the pecking order for so long seriously messed with his ability to run a team, and his Rockets experience didn't help his development in that area. No matter how badly we wanted him to figure it out, his production didn't match his salary here. The biggest problem he has is exactly what Kobe is addressing. In basketball, if you are not as good as the other team, increase the variance. Lin in attack mode fits that role to a T--and it is always possible that if he gets in lots of practice, he'll get better at it. The Rockets can't afford to provide that training ground, but the Lakers have nothing to lose.
Good post but a Lin that second guesses himself less, who doesn't picks up his dribble when he could have made a play, doesn't pass into traffic when he had a pullup jumper is a better player. He is a better player when he is aggressive. That is true. He just needs to know how to be aggressive. There are times he needs to try pulling up or looking for the dish instead of driving into opposing big men. Steve Nash used to have some bad turnovers too but it never got him down and he would continue playing aggressive and smart the next play.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Lin says he's not worried about James Worthy questioning his killer instinct. Says the answer will come out in due time.</p>— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SiriusXMNBA/status/530834942129750016">November 7, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Lin added that a couple former Houston Rockets weren't big fans of him so he's used to it.</p>— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SiriusXMNBA/status/530835443483299840">November 7, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Important caveat for the quote is he was talking about retired Rocket legends, not teammates. I listened to the audio after seeing that tweet. Lin has no excuses. Everyone tells him to be aggressive and he wilts. Maybe he actually is being aggressive considering he's averaging 3.4 turnovers per game already. I don't know how you can put up that many turnovers without being aggressive.
