We don’t characteristically think of Asians having successful NBA basketball careers. Which is what makes this story of Jeremy Lin that much more thrilling and enchanting. He is a fresh young face to market internationally to a country and nation who love the sport of basketball.
Lin has brought an absolute great story to the NBA recently, and has become a phenom amongst fans and casual fans alike. Jeremy had everything standing in his way of success; he went to a magnificent school in Harvard, but not known for producing great athletes to the NBA historically. He was cut numerous times over from other teams, and yes; he was another Asian player who was trying hard to make it to the big leagues in the NBA. He was on the New York Knicks bench, behind Bibby and Iman Shumpert, who have collective scoring averages of 13 PPG between the 2 of them. He has been sleeping on his brother’s couch in the Lower East Side.
Nowadays, Lin has fallen into something many of us have dreamed about. The opportunity to show what others weren’t seeing. The kid can play. From someone whose playing time went from about 5 minutes/ night, to 38/game and a starting PG for the Knickerbockers playing in the Big Apple, he has exploded on the scene in a hurry. Now watch him play and you tell me what went wrong in the scouting sessions.
Scoring over 26 PPG dishing the rock with 8 APG, and he plays defense as well with 2 SPG. At 6-3 and a solid 200 lbs, he can bang, take the hits and body up most other PGs in the league as well. Since Lin has joined the team as a vital contributor, they Knicks have been winning games. Something they weren’t doing with ‘Melo glued to ball 98% of the time. What does this say for the Knicks, really?
He has proven that he can play and certainly earned to be on the court as their full time PG. and personally I believe has given some hope to a team that was swirling out of control and looking at another disappointing season, when so much has been expected from this team.
A big question is can Carmelo Anthony successfully co-exist with Jeremy Lin running the show, a team in extreme need of a PG? Anthony hasn’t entirely clicked with Amare Stoudemire, thus far. There is a worry about the synch that will occur when ‘Melo gets back on the court. Amare will be fine; Lin can do his job and move the ball around, finding the big man. ‘Melo like the ball in his hands, where it often stays for 7-8 seconds until he pulls a one on one isolation move, Lin brings teamwork to the table, can ‘Melo handle that?
Lin has a lightening quick first step, drives to the hoop well and has improved his jump shot. Once he gets a dependable ‘J’ he will be very hard to contain. He makes players better, Tyson Chandler has enhanced, and bringing his point production up 4.4 points/game since Lin has gotten him more involved. The team in general is scoring approximately 5 more points a game with Lin.
Is he rising too fast? Maybe, maybe not, only time will tell us that. As of 2/4/2012, Jeremy Lin’s jersey is the hottest seller in the NBA. That says fans like him. They root for him. Lin is a great story and he just keeps going, the Lakers were gonna be the big analysis as Kobe said he had “no idea what Lin was about”, 38 pts, 7 assists and 2 steals later, and a NY win, 92-85. Kobe did you notice him yet? This is a fantastic story for the game, brings in a bigger crowd more people to cheer and that’s always a good thing to have. Someone to cheer for, who didn’t root for Rocky?
At www.aasiwins.com, we are proud to have Tony Karpinski contributing FREE NBA winners and articles.
