I don't think racism has anything to do with the Lin criticism in most cases. I've yet to meet a Rocket fan who wasn't a huge Yao supporter and felt terrible that his career was cut short by injuries. I also think the overwhelming majority here think Lin is a great story and want him to succeed here. After all, the end game is seeing the Rockets win games. The biggest problem here is anyone who criticizes him is immediately branded a "hater" or a "racist". I also think all the hype (which many feel was unwarranted a la Tebow) plays a factor in things. Just like I criticized him the first game, I'll give him credit for last night. He's still shooting the ball poorly but 10 rebs and 7 assists with only 3 TOs work for me.
Can I just remind you guys that many (if not all) of you complaining about the scrutiny Lin is receiving here have literally been posting here for 3 months or less? This is ClutchFans. We scrutinize players. There was a 66-page thread about Terrence Williams' twitter account. Any criticism or scrutiny Lin has received thus far absolutely pales in comparison to how Steve Francis was treated here. Relax.
Yeah, this guy. He doesn't play well with Harden, win games, or bring national media attention and excitement to the Rockets or anything like that at all. What a loser he is.
the slovenian slasher: 40% fg/ 9 assists/4 rebounds/ 2 stls/ 2t.o/16 points Lin : 39% fg/7.5 assists/7.5 rebounds/2stls/3.5 t.os/ 16.5 points considering lin is still getting in basketball shape, those numbers are similar. and that's coming from a huge gogi fan. Obviously not comparing him to lowry since he aided in acquiring Harden.
I think it's the fact that he made his name in NY whereas we cut him and people still have a feeling of regret that we could of gotten him for nothing.
Lowry and Dragic are both better players than Jeremy Lin, yes. The former is even arguably the best defensive point guard in the league in addition to his production on the offensive side. But Lowry didn't want to stay in Houston and even had some (quite frankly baffling) fallout with Kevin McHale who by all accounts, is one of the most player-friendly coaches out there. With McHale, you earn your spots and you earn playing time with good play. Simple stuff. But Lowry wasn't down with the program, and for whatever reason, it didn't work out. But if your question reduces down to "Is Kyle Lowry a better player than Jeremy Lin?" then the answer is "Of course he is." Absolutely he is.
You (and other posters) seem to think I'm advancing this position instead of explaining it. Emotional attachments to former players--and especially exceptional ones like Lowry and Dragic--can be very hard to sever.
As a Rockets fan that doesn't bother me. I love it when people praise Rockets players for doing something, and liking our players. I agree with the OP that there is over criticism, and it's completely irrational. What I have a problem with is when people start complaining that players are doing things to hamper other Rockets. I haven't seen it that much luckily. I remember when Yao was on the team, and people would be throwing fits because the Rockets weren't passing him the ball. Sometimes it was valid, but most of the time when Yao was new, he hadn't learned to seal off the defender get proper positioning, and almost all of our turnovers back then came from trying to force the ball into Yao. Once Yao improved with his positioning and sealing guys off, those criticisms disappeared. I don't like seeing fans of our team not rooting and cheering for a guy, and being over critical of players on the team. It isn't ban worthy or anything like that, but it's annoying and silly.
I think it has a lot to do with New York's negative press. It's almost like a political campaign. Negative advertising works.
Great post. I have one response for you. The masses are asses. The majority of people are uneducated and uninformed, and therefor will "hate" on anyone and anything. Lin's fan base is slightly over zealous because of his situation, but his detractors are also over zealous excuse of the exact same situation. As someone earlier in the thread said, it's a double edge sword.
No athlete in the history of sports should ever be criticized for accepting more money with another team. It's how we try to incentivize and reward good play to begin with.
I kind of think you're right. The NY media is so toxic and nasty. And for sure, MSG had a negative PR campaign against Lin, full of lies about his dealings with Houston.
The logic of comparing Lin with Dragic and blaming Lin for the loss of Dragic The Rockets didn't trade Dragic for Lin. Dragic left for his own reasons (extra year player option, he enjoyed Phoenix in his last stint, his gf was from Phoenix ... we don't know). It's not the case of Brooks vs Rafer, or Lowry vs Brooks (or Rafer), or Lee vs Ariza. I mean, if your girlfriend left for some other guy, and you got a new girlfriend, but you miss your old girlfriend, you blame it on the old girlfriend that left you or her new boyfriend, or yourself for not trying hard enough to keep your old girlfriend, not your new girlfriend. Your new girlfriend did not even overlap with your old girlfriend. The logic of comparing Lowry with Lin No Toronto pick, no beard in Houston. You want Beard + Lin (+ Aldrich & Cook) or Lowry + KMart + Lamb + Dallas Pick + Bobcats 2nd round pick? I mean ... why aren't we comparing PPat/Morris stats with Scola's and scrutinizing their every mistake?
I have no problem with that at all. When a fan does that, it is easy to tell whether he/she does that in the interest of Rox. They criticize because they want the team to be better. But I hate when someone claiming to be a so-called TRUE Rox fan trolls and bashes with an agenda and when someone starts by labeling his counterpart and thinks that label gives him some edge and puts him in the safe zone for bashing
does not compute. I was just replying to the poster that keeps bringing back the 'exes' that we're no missing much at all. As long as my new gf makes me explode inside of her, that's all that matters. =/
Morris has been called a bust for the better part of a year now and PPat has also taken a ton of criticism
Oh is Morris not scrutinized here either? *looks at thread right under this one that suggests that Morris is the worst basketball player on earth and should probably go kill himself* Hmm... New players, especially with big shoes to fill, are heavily scrutinized by a fan base until they fill those shoes. It doesn't matter how you timeline the acquisition of one player or the next. They have shoes to fill. This is the way of all things. This "only because he's Asian!" race-baiting dogwhistle is about the silliest thing ever, though. No question, the silliest.
