I don't follow the Knicks aside from a few Lin highlights posted here, but reading that he plays 40 mins is crazy. Do they not have another player that can play the point or does Pringles intend to injure the kid?
Rubio is a solid defender, but you're giving him far too much credit. He gets pretty high steals numbers, because he plays the lanes quite a bit, but let's not pretend like he's some defensive stopper. The better guards in the league are still putting up their numbers on him. And Jeremy Lin isn't a slouch a defense. He's putting up nearly 2 stls a game since he starting getting heavy minutes. He's got a big body and can guard bigger guards effectively. And honestly, I can make this same argument by saying that the only thing Derrick Rose does better than Mike Conley is score. Conley is the superior defensive player and has FAR better steals numbers. They've got pretty similar Ast/TO ratios, and rebounding stats.
Don't worry, after their next two games their schedule becomes the hardest in the league for the rest of the season. In the end this winning streak is only assuring that the Knicks don't end up with a top 5 pick. Linsanity is about to see a lot of the Mavs, Heat, Celtics, Sixers, Bulls, Pacers and Magic until the end of the season. If I was a betting man I'm not sure i'd bet on them actually getting in.
As useless as he was in Miami last season, shirly Bibby could've afford to take the ball up past half court and hold on it for a bit before passing it out. He must be THAT bad in practice I guess. I'm rooting for Lin (just as I'm rooting for Rubio), but rooting for NY to lose.
Actually that's a fair assessment. In the past 2 games Lin has been having a lot of problems running the PnR. Defenders have been forcing him to go to his left; and trapping him over the screen. In his first few games, he really liked splitting 2 defenders using a screen, but now such a move usually results in a turnover. Lin has been "figured out", to an extent. Lin's strength is driving to the lane and drawing the contact (and finishing under the basket), I think this part would be hard to take away from, even though he got blocked a few times particularly in the Minny game. I think he has also shown a lot more confidence in his 3-pt shot. The thing that really made Lin stood out is his calm and his confidence. However, gmoney411 is right in pointing out his problems. Eventually one day (which could be as soon as tomorrow) luck won't be on his side and he has to go through the ups and downs like all the other NBA players.
I just don't get why some people can be so cynical about him and can't just take some joy out of it. Why don't we just see how far he can go while hoping he does well? (not the Knicks, him). Beats pointing out reasons why he'll eventually fail and then hoping it comes true so you look smart.
I just find it funny spooner, gmoney, et all so readily dismiss Lin's game against the Lakers as "but but the Lakers were clearly gassed and exhausted and woe is them, the only team to play a b2b this year!!!", then turn around and crucify the guy for having an off shooting night on a -wait for it- b2b.. playing 40+ min every game after pretty much never getting off the bench the first 20 odd games of the year. Of course, once one points out he's still shooting at a 50% clip over the 6game stretch, nearly 20% better than their hero Rubio, they revert to the old, "shooting isn't everything!!" routine. Hypocrisy at its finest.
I wonder what the hell happened to Toney Douglas who started the first 30? games. He just disappeared all of a sudden. Bibby should retire, contributes absolutely nothing. D'Antoni actually went with a Fields-Shumpert-Walker backcourt for a stretch in this game.
Since he took over the starting pg spot he has played against the following elite pgs. Evans - 3/11, 5-13 Lowry - 4/13, 5-10, 8-16 Parker - 9/19 DWill - 5/18 Who are these better guys in the league putting up big numbers against him? Outside of one Lowry game and a Parker game he has locked down the other scoring pgs he has played against including Lin. Rubio is already an elite defender whether you want to admit it or not. No you can't. Rose has better rebounding numbers and averages more assists with almost the exact same assist to turnover ratio like you said. Rubio's assists to turnover ratio for the year is much better than Lin's is since he has started playing. There is gap between Rubio and Lin in those stats while there is no such gap between Rose and Conley. The only thing Conley does better than Rose is get steals.
Don't put words in my mouth champ. I have repeatedly said his first 4 games were great but the last two not so much. I have not discredited his Lakers performance once on these boards.
How does that effect my argument about him being subpar in the last two games? I never said the kid isn't doing amazing things or deserves no credit I just said his last two games have been supbar and people have gotten all offended even though I've made valid points that experts like Legler agree with.
Evans shoots 41% for the year, so obviously I don't expect much better. And Lowry put up 2 50% fg nights, with one bad one, which may or may not just be a bad night regardless of defense. Parker's 9/19 is better than what he shoots on the season. Dwill had an off night, but that's not exactly out of the ordinary for him this season. But he still managed to put up 14 dimes on Minny that game. And let's not forget that Chauncey's corpse and Mo Will took turns lighting him up for 20 and 25. And even Collison chipped in a 7-12 night for 20 points. Dude are you seriously going to nitpick 0.5 rebs and 1 ast between the two? I mean, do you really think 0.5 rebs makes one player a better rebounder than another? Same with the assists. Is Rondo a better passer than CP3, because he average 0.8 more assists this year? Rose is an average passer at best, while Conley is a relatively pure floor general. Rose is also an average defender at best, while Conley is a solid defensive guard. In reality, the only difference between the two players is the ability to score.
I'm not sure what your point is. You said you could make the same comment about DRose v. Conley and I disagreed mainly because all other parts of their games are equal while Rose is a much better scorer. Rubio v. Lin isn't that way though. Rubio has been much more efficient with the ball than Lin has. Also Rubio is a much defender than Lin is. Besides shooting Rubio has other edges over Lin while shooting is the only real difference between Rose and Conley. You don't see the difference?
Forgive me, it must have been one of the other Lin doubters Anyway, the point is he was clearly fatigued in the second half of that Minny game and didn't have his legs. Yes he should have looked for his teammates more, but the guy is basically out there with Bill freakin Walker and Jared Jeffries, plus Chandler who's only offense is catching lobs and feeds off penetration. To be fair, he did find Novak for 2 huge threes late in the fourth, and fought thru the tired legs to drive the lane, take contact, and get to the foul line (or get blocked, but can't fault the effort). Many many other guards would have settled for long jumpshots under the same circumstances.
Made a mistake with that last sentence. What I meant to say is that Conley is a better defender, with everything else being equal aside from the scoring. Yet, no one would think to put Conley in the same stratosphere as Rose. My ultimate point is that when there is an offensive gap that big between Lin and Rubio, the relatively smaller difference in TO ratios and defense is easily negated.
I don't doubt Lin. His game has flaws that have been exposed over the last two games and if he can improve them he could end up as an all star pg. Whether or not he can take better care of the basketball in the future I don't know but I do know until he does he will slowly start to have more and more problems.
It's not a small difference. Rubio is at 3.6 while Lin since becoming a starter is at about 1.3. That's a pretty big difference. But I'll agree that if you don't think Rubio is an elite defender it's not enough to make up for the difference in scoring ability. I happen to think he is though.
How is Rubio at 3.6? He's averaging 8.7 ast and 3.2 TOs. That's a 2.7 ratio. And I'm using Lin's numbers since he started getting 30+ minutes, which puts him at 1.6. While that is a significant difference, I simply don't see it making up for the scoring. And I do think that Rubio is a solid defender. I just also happen to think that Jeremy Lin is at least a serviceable defender in that position. He's putting up 1.8 stl for the past 6 games.
