Lin Can Last

I’ve been accused of pouring water on Lin-Sanity because of my post last week pointing out holes in Jeremy Lin’s game that could eventually lead to the deflation of the Lin bubble. While that wasn’t my intent (as always, it was to provide fair and balanced, hype-free analysis), I understand how it came off and want to now assert my true feelings about Lin-sanity:

I FUCKIN LOVE IT

It’s been at 10 years since I’ve been this excited about the Knicks. As I’ve gotten older and married and had kids, I have sacrificed the Knicks. There have been some years where I barely even watch Knicks games. But since Jeremy Lin has emerged the Knicks have become my favorite team. I have seen almost every game in its entirety. That’s doesn’t make me a front-runner since I’ve kind of been there all along.

As the Knicks have lost 2 of their last 3 games some people are now expecting the Lin Train to fall off the tracks, but I’m not among them. Here’s why:

Lin is smart. He knows how to play the game. As he gains more experience he will better be able to differentiate the chances he should take and those he shouldn’t.

Which leads me to turnovers, which many people feel will be his undoing, I don’t.
His turnover rate is high, but not unreasonably so, lower than Steve Nash and Rajon Rondo. And his usage rate is high, higher than most point guards who dribble upcourt, pass the ball and get out of the way. Given his involvement in the offense, his rate of turnovers, while problematic, is not fatal.

Also, Lin gives away fewer possessions with bad shots than most guards do. He’s basically shooting 50% from the field. And here’s my favorite thing about him, his judicious use of the three-pointer. He knows it’s not a strength, so he only shoots when he’s open. And he’s made 11 of 24 in the past 7 games.



This is the perfect system for him. D’Antoni needs a dynamic point guard to run his offense and Lin is it.

He has good running mates. Both Stoudemire and Anthony are good mid-range jump shooters who can play pick and pop with him. Chandler and Fields are unselfish players who don’t need the ball to be able to contribute.

For all these reasons I am hopeful Jeremy Lin will have a long and successful career as the Knicks point guard.

I’m not yet optimistic enough to predict a championship, but don’t accuse me of being a killjoy, because like I said earlier, I FUCKIN LOVE LINSANITY!