There's this huge misconception that crap players can just magically become superstars overnight... like all they needed was some playing time. This Jeremy Lin thing mirrors the arguments I was having with Stiesma supporters. It's this foolish belief that a basketball player (with scouts, coaches and basketball evaluators constantly examining every aspect of their game and measuring every aspect of their athleticism) can play in College, play overseas, attend countless workouts, play in summer leagues, attend training camps and participate in countless practices... at no point show anything resembling "superstardom"... and then suddenly without warning jump from "scrub" to "phenom".
When Jennings had his hot start, I pointed out the fact he shot under 40% in Europe and he was inevitably going to shoot under 40% in the NBA. "No way he's a star! He's Iverson if Iverson shot 55%!" I was told. I was right. They were naive and wrong.
When Stiesma had a couple good games, blocked a bunch of shots and hit some jump shots, I correctly pointed out that even in College he only averaged like 10 minutes a game... averaged ho-hum numbers against D-League competition and barely qualified as an NBA player. "No way he's a future star!... he's the big we need! We should start him!". I was right. They were naive and wrong.
When Lin has 4 games (16 turnovers over the last 3 games, btw) and happens to be shooting a ridiculous 55% over 4 measly games with the likes of Derrick Fisher guarding him and absolutely NO game-planning for his style... it's fair to point out that he played for the Warriors last season, barely made an impact and was cut... and likely will go back to averaging his ho-hum numbers in a bench role.
To believe otherwise is a little bit crazy. Sure, I realize there's some rare instances of 2nd rounders like Gilbert Arenas who busted his butt to take the leap, but it wasn't something that just happened out of nowhere without warning.
4 best games of his entire life which is magnified substantially due to him playing in New York. If Marshon Brooks was playing across the bridge (instead of Jersey), we'd have already been blasted with constant buzz about how he was the next Michael Jordan and the savior of the Knicks.
Look, Lin might turn into a capable little bench player down the line. We've seen what point guards do in D'Antoni's system. Raymond Felton averaged 17 points and 9 assists with them last year... nowhere near that this year. So that's part of it. Lin might be a nice role player... foolish to believe he's actually a star though.
These things do happen. Every once in a while, a Tony Delk will drop 53 points. If it happens in New York and the guy happens to be Taiwanese American, expect to hear a lot about it.
Topic: Jeremy Lin (merged threads) (Read 95270 times)