This is an insanely unfair depiction of Lin. The dude isn't Dez Bryant, he's not out of control emotionally. He is tough-minded enough that he's pushed through obstacles since high school and continuously improved his game despite setbacks. I highly doubt that being the sixth man in the highest level of basketball is destroying him internally A testimonial that he's giving to kids to talk about his faith IS NOT a fair way to judge his emotional state. I don't doubt that he feels crappy about career setbacks, but if you've ever given these types of speeches, you need to make yourself vulnerable so that other people can connect you and understand your connection with the faith. On a day to day basis, we all gotta tough through setbacks, and Lin is probably better equipped than most to do this.
Being emotionally expressive is not the same as being emotionally fragile. Human beings respond to stress in any number of ways. Some convert it to rage, others bottle it in, others like Lin express it directly. No way is better than any other, and the impact of each way can have differing impacts on different people. Some people can channel rage to become better athletes, for others it becomes distracting and ruins their performance. The same applies to emotional suppression and emotional expression. There is no wrong way to deal with emotional stress any more than there's a right and wrong way to deal with grief. Believing that expressing emotional distress is a sign of "emotional fragility" is a perfect example of assuming that every person responds the same way. It's no different than assuming that Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant have to handle on court attitudes in the same way to both be successful. Dwight can smile and play, Duncan can be emotionless and play, and Kobe can be angry and play. What matters is that whatever method they use to handle their emotional stress works for them. If for Lin that means beating himself up in his off court time, then that's fine as long as it leads to a strong work ethic and improvement in his game. One thing about armchair psychiatrists is actual psychiatrists would never presume to judge another human being's behavior without a lot of information. As for Lin specifically, I doubt "emotional fragility" is an issue. The guy wasn't given a d1 scholarship, wasn't drafted, was cut 2x, sent to the D-League 3x, was thrown into the biggest media crucible on the planet, changed teams, and had his role severely altered with the arrival of Harden. Guys who survive stuff like that are far from "emotionally fragile". Let's leave the armchair psychology to people who are actually psychologists. Though actual psychologists are more than smart enough to know that they can't actually judge people from a distance easily.
Cool, I will expect you to remind that to all the Lin fans such as Jeffrey above that bring up off the court physcology nonsense.
KlutchQT likes to say she is neutra and suchl. But if you check all the Lin threads, she is one of many people that post alot of back-n-forth things regarding Lin, involving with many of the flame wars. She can say she is neutral as much as she likes, but the fact is her actions speak for themselves. Thats why she one of many people on my ignore list, can't take all these useless back-n-forth posts. Nothing personal.
Damn what a great win last night. They basically didn't show up for a half with the exception of Parsons and then they completely stomped the Jazz in the second half. They're going to have games where they're tired on a back to back but it's good to know they can find it in time to get the win.
If anyone has gone through what Lin went through his entire career, that is being overlooked at every level of competitive basketball, it's hard to completely ignore the human factors involved such as self-doubt and self-worth. Through observation, Jeremy's game last year was somewhat reflected by his confidence level. He would go through stretches where he played well with confidence and through other stretches were he was afraid to do anything in fear of making a mistake. I believe some of it had to do with him doubting himself due the coaches did not having faith in him. You can't deny that these things have no effect on a player. Even with Asik, I can see that is morale is on a different level this year. He's made jokes on the court about not getting passes and was sat out down the stretch last night. Keep in mind that he is sacrificing his minutes for a max superstar player in DW, let alone losing your position to a minimum guy who is unproven as a starter. All I'm saying is that the coaches could have handled the situation better with more transparency especially when the perception from the media is that Lin got benched because Beverley outplayed him.
The coaches handled the situation fine. The media does not perceive things, it creates the perception to get more hits. The media is aware that Lin is a hot topic and will try to create controversy so that his overly sensitive fan base will click on their you tube videos and articles, which they have succeeded in.
JLin was impressive in the 4Q. He came in at the 9min mark and at that time it was essentially a tie game. That's why his +/- was big in this game. Had 9 points in 9min. Of those 9pts, 1 3ptr was from an assist from Harden and the rest was his own creations. He also missed on an aggressive drive that was put back in by Parson. Wouldn't have happen if he didn't attack 3 guys IN FRONT of him on the break. He was also clearly fouled on another drive that the ref let go and ended up on as a TO for him. We need more of this aggressive and confident Lin. Although Harden has 23 pts last night, he seems a bit lack luster on the O side. But he still gave great effort on the D side. I wonder why. Was he a bit tired or something else?
I think this is the show you are referring to? Begins immediately with them expressing disbelief that Beverley is starting? The recording of that radio show is here at http://tunein.com/topic/?TopicId=54991777
I've already stated my reasons why I don't think they handled it correctly. When the Jazz broadcasters said it was due to Beverley outplaying Lin in preseason there's no sensationalism there, moreso due to them being mislead.
I found this, which quotes Jeremy Lin saying (over the summer)... “With the addition of James, I went from being the franchise guy to taking a back seat. On top of that, I started the season playing terribly. Less than 10 games into the season, I started getting benched. In many games, our back-up point guards were playing more minutes than I was...." and “On Dec. 15, 2012, I wrote in my diary: ‘I’m tired and weary and can’t wait for the season to end.’ I went on to write, ‘I haven’t been able to eat or sleep recently. I’m just tossing and turning with anxiety. What if I lose my spot as a starter? What if I have to be the back-up the rest of the season? What happens if my back-ups are actually better than me?’ http://nba.si.com/2013/08/21/jeremy-lin-houston-rockets-daryl-morey/
We think Beverley is a better fit with the starting group. That is 100% transparent. Coaches handled it fine. Move on.
