Jeremy Lin: Better Move For The Rockets Or The Knicks?

(Jeremy Lin picture via www.usatoday.com )

The choice has been made by the New York Knicks and Jeremy Lin is the newest member of the Houston Rockets. But was this the correct move for the Knicks? What does this mean for the future of the Houston Rockets?

In New York, it was thought that the signing of veteran point guard Jason Kidd meant that the Knicks were bringing in a veteran presence to mentor Lin. After all, the Knicks said they would match any offer that was made to Lin by any team. Maybe they thought that this declaration would be one that would keep teams away from him. Well, there was one team that wanted Lin and wanted him at any cost. The Houston Rockets stepped in and offered him a three-year, twenty-five million dollar deal. On the surface, that would seem like a deal that the Knicks would match, but as you look into the meat of the deal, the Rockets made it pretty hard for that to happen. The third year of the deal that the Rockets offered Lin had a price tag of $15 million.  If New York would have matched that, then they would have had Lin, center Tyson Chandler, forward Amar’e Stoudemire and forward Carmelo Anthony all signed to huge contracts in the third year of Lin’s deal. And that would have crippled that team and made it almost impossible to build a team around them. The Knicks made the smart move for a change and let Lin walk. And in addition to that, they brought back former Knick point guard Raymond Felton on a three-year, ten million dollar deal. These point guards may not bring the level of excitement that Lin did, but both are professional and are more proven point guards than Lin is at this point.

(Kevin McHale picture via www.blog.chron.com )

Signing J.R. Smith Not A Good Move by Derrel “Jazz” Johnson

When the New York Knicks signed J.R. Smith on Friday, February 17, 2012, as a free agent after he played for Zhejiang of the Chinese Basketball League during the NBA Lockout, I immediately said it was a bad move for the team. Even though many other media members covering the Knicks and fans of the team disagreed with me, I wrote a story about it on the Razz and Jazz Sports Blog on Wednesday, February 20, 2012. (http://razzandjazzsports.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/the-good-and-bad-of-j-r-smith/)

In the 10 games since the Knicks signed Smith, who began the season as a career .428 shooter, including .371 from three-point range. the team is 3-7. He has yet to shoot above 50% in any of those 10 games, and is 33-89 (37%), including 12-42 (29%) from three, on 8.9 shots per game, for 9.2 points per game. Add to this his sulking on the bench, not entering the huddle in the second half of a 119-114 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks Friday, and his poor decision to send a picture of a bottomless model named Tahiry on Twitter the same day, which earned him a $25,000 fine from the NBA, and the reasons I was against the trade have surfaced quickly.

Please End The D’antoni Era

I didn’t watch the New York Knicks game yesterday… Didn’t need to.

I just followed the flow of the game on Twitter and filled in the blanks… Jeremy Lin and turnovers blah blah blah… Melo missing shots blah blah blah… Amare Stoudemire with only 9 & 5… Knicks not playing defense… Landry fields torched by Evan Turner… BLAH BLAH FREAKIN BLAH!!!

The Knicks are back as Amare once shouted in his news conference last year to mark his NY arrival, back to playing bad basketball that is. Linsanity was fun for awhile. The Ben & Jerry’s flavors, the t-shirts, the sheer joy and hope that maybe the Knicks were turning a corner, now after a five game losing streak the Knicks are stuck at the eighth spot in the East and stuck in neutral as a team without direction or any energy.

And it’s Mike D’antoni’s fault.

Short Shots and Quick Hitters

Some musings, ramblings, and assorted thoughts with a few oddities on this post. Here it goes.

Hockey: 

– While it is true that the “Fire Wilson” chants were a factor in getting Ron Wilson getting the axe in Toronto, my feeling is that ownership went to GM Brian Burke and told him, either he goes or you go. This was a self-preservation move by Burke who knows he’s on the hot seat. The Leafs probably won’t make the playoffs this year, and if they don’t next year, expect Burke to be filing unemployment papers.

– Erik Nystrom’s hit on Kris Letang has caused quite a stir on Twitter. Pens and Stars fans have been duking it out on the legality of the hit. Personally I thought the hit was questionable but not dirty. The bigger problem is the equipment which is closer to body armour than anything else.

– Beware of the Buffalo Sabres. With Ryan Miller finding his game again, the Sabres are making a late charge for the playoffs. And Miller is the type of goalie who can steal a playoff series.

2011-12 MIDSEASON NBA AWARDS

The  NBA All-Star break is now wrapping up, and that means that it is time for my 2011-12 NBA Midseason Awards. We’ve had many breakout stars as well as guys who have been making plays for the past 15 years. Taking all of those players into account, I have compiled 2011-12 Midseason NBA Awards: (ALL GRAPHICS MADE BY SAM BRIEF)

(HINT: USE PAGE NAVIGATION BELOW TO VIEW AWARDS)

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

‘Linsanity’ or ‘Tebowmania?’

By Sam Brief (Sam’s Sports Brief)

“All he does is Lin.”

“You just got Tebowed.”

“Jeremy Lin is Linning.”

“Look! He’s Tebowing!”

Both Jeremy Lin (leading ‘Linsanity’) and Tim Tebow (the man at the center of ‘Tebowtime’) are now revered, polarized and are idols to so many worldwide.

Lin, the undrafted free-agent out of Harvard, has been dropped, demoted and doubted throughout his entire career as a basketball player. Now starring on the Knicks, he has a led them to a 7-1 record since he started playing, and is averaging 24.6 points per game and 8.6 assists per game. He also led a

Jeremy Lin exploded against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, scoring 38 points in a 92-85 win.

struggling Knicks team to a 5-0 record without stars Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudamire. While there was worry about what would happen to Linsanity when Anthony and Stoudamire came back, there seems to be nothing to worry about (at least with Stoudamire). Since his return from the tragic death of his brother, the Knicks are 2-1, and Lin is averaging 21 points per game and 9.6 assists per game.What will happen when Anthony returns is a mystery to me. Let’s not forget the Lin puns either. Linsanity, Linning, Linvincible, Linderella, Linception and ‘To Linfinity and beyond’ are just a few, but regardless of which name you want to use, there’s no doubt that the man at the center of it all is thriving (and Linning).

Tim Tebow, the star quarterback out of Florida also had to wait for his turn. When the Broncos were 1-4, and declared Tim Tebow their starter, a mania, a time, and a legend were born. When the Broncos were down 15-0 to the Dolphins late in the fourth quarter, Tebow led them back to victory. When they were down 10-0 to the Bears late in the fourth quarter, Tebow led them back, again. ‘Tebowmania’ was now in full stride. In all, Tim Tebow led the Broncos to an 8-5 record, including a 29-23 overtime playoff victory against the Steelers in which Tebow connected with Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown to knock-off the almighty Steelers. This magical run included a six-game winning streak, in which Tebow displayed his heart, will and perseverance to a country that was captivated by the magic of ‘Tebowmania.’

“Tebow displayed his heart, will and perseverance to a country that was captivated by the magic of ‘Tebowmania.”

Linsanity and Tebowmania have their similarities and their vast differences. Let’s start with the similarities:

The winning

In the words of former Jets and Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, “You play to win the game, that’s the great thing about sports.” Both Lin and Tebow have fulfilled this grand goal of sports so far. Lin led an 8-15 Knicks team on a seven-game winning streak to put them back into the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. This method of winning with Lin has been deemed ‘Linning.’ (Winning+Lin= Linning)

To say the least, Tim Tebow has done his part in this, too. He led a last-place 1-4 Broncos team to the Divisional Round of the AFC Playoffs. It’s not just the wins that count with Tebow, it’s the way he won. Four of his eight wins came in overtime games and all eight wins came in games that were one-

Tim Tebow's breakout moment had to be this game-winning 20-yard touchdown to knock out the Jets.

possesion games with four minutes or less to go. Even with his harsh critics, Tebow kept winning, which is, after all, the great thing about sports.

“Winning+Lin= Linning”

Clutch as can be

In two of the eight games that Lin has made a clutch play in the waning seconds to seal the deal. With four seconds left in Minnesota, Lin drew a foul and made a clutch free-throw to give the Knicks the lead, and the win. Three days later, in Toronto, Lin hit a clutch three with 0.5 seconds on the clock to give the Knicks a 90-87 lead. The poise he showed in the last few seconds of these games was reflective of one Kobe Bryant – or maybe even Tim Tebow.

With Tebow, the fourth-quarter dominance is uncontested by anyone. As I said before, all eight of his wins were a one-possesion game with four minutes or less to go. He threw more touchdowns in the fourth quarter than he did in the other three quarters combined. He also threw for more yards in the fourth quarter than the other three combined. While his apparent waiting to thrive caused criticism, he always seemed to do the same thing in the fourth quarter- lead the Broncos on some miraculous drive for a touchdown–and then do it again. Broncos win. This earned the nickname, ‘Tebowtime.”

Those are some of the similarities between Lin and Tebow. Now here are the differences:

The statistics

In addition to winning, Jeremy Lin has stuffed the stat sheets. Averaging 24.6 points per game and 8.6 assists per game is just the start. His 136 points through his first five starts surpassed Shaq for the most points ever through a player’s first five starts. According to Michael Chernick of Livescience.com, the odds of Jeremy Lin putting together the stats he’s shown every night – eight times in a row- is close to 1 in

In Taiwan, the talk is all about Jeremy Lin.

7,000,000,000,000. Yeah, Jeremy Lin knows how to ball.

“The odds of Jeremy Lin putting together the stats he’s shown every night – eight times in a row- is close to 1 in 7,000,000,000,000.”

Tim Tebow’s strong suit certainly isn’t putting up monster statistics. He finished the season with a putrid 46.5% completion percentage–the worst in the NFL. Tebow averaged a mere 124 yards per game–also the worst in the NFL. Don’t forget about the fumbles either, Tebow fumbled the ball a grand total of 13 times, which is a stat that eventually cost his team in the end. Even though he had a habit of turning it on in the fourth quarter, his stats were still well below-par.

The media reaction

It is almost bizarre that it seems like everyone loves Jeremy Lin. No one on ESPN or any other network has criticized him. No one has said that the magic won’t last or that he doesn’t deserve to be here. It seems as if pretty much all the media is 100% bought in to Linsanity.

Many NFL analysts at networks all over the country were calling out Tebow as “Not an NFL quarterback,” and “not worthy of being on the field.” While there were some Tebow-lovers at ESPN and NFL Network, the voices of the haters outweighed those of the lovers.

Those are the major similarities and differences between Linsanity and Tebowtime, but here’s some of the little stuff.

The team reaction

Both Lin’s Knick teammates and Tebow’s Bronco teammates are very enthusiastic about the madness. They are completely bought in and are having more fun than ever.

That one thing

Here, as Von Miller embraces Tebow, it is easy to see that Tebow's teammates had his back the entire time.

Lin’s Rise Shouldn’t be so Surprising

The circumstances are Lincredible. The meteoric ascension to stardom is one of a kind. The hype is more than deserved for this Linderella story. The shock of Lin measured a 9.0 on the Richter scale after his game winner on Tuesday night in Toronto and who knows how long we will feel the after effects.

Still, why are we so flabbergasted by Jeremy Lin?

Asia’s version of Tim Tebow has been dissected about as much as, well, the real Tim Tebow. Most human beings on the earth haven’t gone the past 2 weeks without asking how the hell this kid didn’t get his opportunity sooner. In this age of youtube sensations, endless video scouting and advanced statistics, it is almost unfathomable to have a talent as sensational as Jeremy Lin go undrafted and sit on the end of the bench, about to get cut.

I, as well as you, have read and heard the endless discussion as to why Lin’s talent was missed by most everyone. Yeah, he is Asian. Yeah, he is scrawny. Yeah, he doesn’t shoot well. We get it.

What I still don’t get is why we are continually shocked by these mega-talents who were oh so close to bagging groceries at their neighbourhood Hy-Vee? Because we shouldn’t be.

Not anymore.

Jeremy Lin’s story may be mind-blowing but the thought that he could just as easily be out of the NBA right now instead of taking the Big Apple by storm isn’t. There are too many examples of talented individuals who have taken their respective sports by storm for us to be truly surprised anymore. To continue to be in disbelief as to how these guys aren’t noticed is like being stunned that Lindsay Lohan is back in rehab or that Kim Kardashian is trying to exploit another NBA player for even greater fame (FYI, Kim Kardashian is rumoured to be going on a date with Jeremy Lin).

Prior to Linsanity, Tom Brady was the poster boy for mis-evaluated talent. We all know about the 199th overall pick turned GQ, supermodel dating, touchdown throwing golden boy of the NFL. How did Tom Brady get passed on 198 times in 2000? Crazy? Not so much.

Talent is constantly under and over estimated. In another shocking development, the sun will set in the west tomorrow evening.

There is a very thin line between the big leagues and coaching high schoolers. The line is thinner than most professional athletes would like to believe. Most professional athletes live off of the belief that it was their own exceptional talent and hard work that allowed them to reach the top of the sports world. They need to believe it.

Arian Foster’s pompously narrated ‘self-made’ story on the show E:60 is a prime example of this. He went from undrafted running back to arguably the best in the NFL.

Little do most of them really know about the great deal of luck that made it possible for them to excel and make those millions of dollars. The overweight guy on his couch, hollering at the TV could very well have been overlooked. That’s just the nature of sports though. There are so many talented athletes and so few spots that there is bound to be missed talent.

Sometimes though, that almost missed talent turns into a superstar.

Everyone is now on the watch for the next Jeremy Lin. His Linsational story has made people wonder how many more like him are out there. There is probably someone on a college bench waiting to be the next Jimmer or a division II potential superstar lighting it up in relative obscurity somewhere in Omaha.

Stephen Curry, the son of former NBA veteran Del Curry, only received offers to play at Davidson, Virginia Commonwealth and Winthrop. He became a college superstar, the 7th overall pick in the NBA draft and, aside from the injuries, is excelling for the Golden State Warriors. His brother Seth went to Liberty University before Stephen Curry’s stardom forced scouts to take notice of Seth’s ability. Seth is now the starting for the Duke Blue Devils.

Again, Jeremy Lin’s story is exceptional but, in the end, he’s simply another missed talent. Continue to be amazed at the aura, the man, and the legend that is Jeremy Lin.

Just don’t be so surprised that he slipped through the cracks.

Follow Chris Ross on twitter @paintstheblack and check out his personal blog Painting the Black

Consumed By Linsanity

The Knicks are a car accident to watch. It’s such a frightening mess and I know it’s bad to look at yet I still drag myself to a television set to watch this pathetic mess almost every night.

Last year they couldn’t play defense, this year they forgot how to score.
Bill Walker is a lackadaisical mess. Toney Douglas gets too trigger happy. Amare Stoudamire is the black David Lee (I told everyone this when he was signed but no one listened to me). Carmelo Anthony has no scoring help and all Mike D’Antoni could do was sit around and watch.

I wanted D’Antoni fired last year for his constant lack of detail, I wanted him fired this offseason for a defensive coach like Mike Brown, I want him fired this year because I’m sick of seeing him and his mustache.

Yet none of this matters right now in New York because Knick fans are on cloud nine thanks to a 6-3, 200 pound, undrafted point guard from Harvard that has become an overnight sensation.

His name is Jeremy Lin, and he is a gift from the heavens above.

Ok maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but jeez not even last year’s acquisition of Melo brought this much buzz an joy to the basketball Mecca that is the NYC.

Lin’s emergence came at a time when the Knicks desperately needed some good news. At 8-15 and flirting with a disastrous season that would’ve surely ended the D’Antoni era for the Knicks, Lin has caught fire and has led the Knicks through their best stretch of the season.

He’s been the missing piece that the fast pace D’Antoni offense has needed to get going. A pick and roll point guard with excellent vision and passing skills that is able to create shots for his teammates as well as fend for himself offensively.

Funny thing was that he was almost released to make room for the return of Baron Davis, I guess that won’t be happening now.

Ever since he stepped onto the court against the New Jersey Nets Lin has created a buzz across the league and has turned skeptics into believers.

He schooled Deron Williams and ran circles around him two Saturdays ago, he treated Devin Harris like a rag doll, he embarrassed John Wall with a sick crossover and dunk that was replayed over and over on Sportscenter, his performance against the Lakers last Friday will be talked about for years, and he showed toughness and moxie in gutting out a win in Minnesota.

He’s done it all from knocking down clutch free throws, reigniting Tyson Chandler’s game and leaving Derek Fisher flat-footed as he spun by for a highlight worthy lay in.

Yeah, I’m in love with this guy. But it took me a while to get into him.

Like most people I had to actually see him to believe him. Watching highlights of Lin didn’t tell the whole story. Yeah it was nice to see him drive at will against Utah and destroy the Nets already grim confidence but I wanted more.

I wanted to know three things about Lin while everyone was already crowning him the next big thing:

1. Can he handle the mounting pressure that comes with being an athlete in New York?
2. How does he deal with failure in a game and can he still stay on point when he’s not on his A game?
3. How will he play with the return of Stat and Melo (yeah, forgot about then right?)

My first question got answered on Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The last few times the Lakers have hit The Big Apple it’s been Kobe Bryant’s town without question. He has carved his own name into Madison Square Garden lore with huge performances like scoring 61 points in a game there just years ago.

It was the perfect test for my Lin theory, play arguably the best player in the game and keep the Knicks on pace with the Lakers.

That was the first full time that I actually got to watch Lin, safe to say I was shocked by what I saw.

He didn’t just keep the Knicks in the game, he controlled it. He dominated the pace and flow of the game by continuously attacking the rim, floating lobs to Chandler, coming up steals on the defensive end and destroying Fisher and Steve Blake when the ball was in his hands.

He looked like a younger Steve Nash, honest to god. Just his style of play and the way he maneuvered around the Lakers reminded me of the two-time NBA MVP.

Every time the Knicks needed a big play or a big shot the ball found its way to Lin. He never backed down and always came through. 38 points & 7 assists later I was starting to get sold on the NBA’s Tim Tebow.

(yep I made a Tebow reference but all of the similarities and hype and mass coverage are there. The big difference? Lin can ball out, Tebow’s a bum… Just saying.)

The next test came the next night against the Timberwolves in a hyped up battle versus Ricky Rubio.

The main reason I wanted to see him fail is because I wanted to see if he was more like Eli Manning or Tony Romo.

When things don’t go Manning’s way his demeanor doesn’t change and he pressed on. For Romo he panics and loses his cool. I wanted to see if when things get too tight of Lin folds or rises to the occasion.

(yeah I fit an Eli reference in there, so what? By the way did you know that the New York Giants are Super Bowl Champions? God that makes me happy)

The T-Wolves game was a game of two halves. Lin was his usual self in the first half 7-12, 4 dimes and running the offense efficiently. In the second half Lin was totally taken out of rhythm. He only hit 1-12 shots and the Wolves forced him into bad shots and 4 turnovers.

However, I got the impression from Lin that even in tough stretches he still doesn’t get rattled.

Even with all of the turnovers and with his shots not finding the net he still continued to set up his other teammates including Steve Novak’s game tying three with less than a minute left. He also scored the winning point from the free throw line after being fouled getting to the basket.

Even without a dominant performance Lin still found a way to pull out a win for the Knicks. That was enough to make me even more of a believer.

Now the third and most interesting task is at hand… Can Lin, Melo and Stat all work together to be effective?

Carmelo Anthony has received a lot of bad press in the last week with all of the Linsanity spreading through NY.

It’s as if we forget that we wanted Melo here in the first place, it’s not his fault that the Knicks traded the farm to get him (thanks James Dolan). Melo has always needed a point guard to stabilize this offense to make more effective. Sorry Toney Douglas wasnt the answer.

With Lin’s emergence Melo and Amar’e for that matter now have a lot less pressure on their shoulders to score.

The main question is can Melo let Lin run the offense without asking for the ball too much?

As dynamic of a scorer as he is, Melo holds onto the ball for too long in too many stretches of the game. With Lin at the point now Melo will have to find his rhythm in the game and let it come to him.

Besides elevating Chandler, Landry Fields has found his game and confidence and Novak has become a reliable shooter off of the bench. The Knicks have gone from a two horse team to an actual team with a good rotation.

If Melo can stay dominant while letting this mix still cook then the Knicks will be making noise come playoff time.

If not then he’ll be the one taking most of the criticism if the Knicks go back to struggling.

The next stage of Linsanity is upon us. He won’t be throwing up 25 shots a game any more or dropping 38 on defenses, but I believe that after watching Jeremy Lin he is the answer to a lot of the Knicks woes.

Lin has dazzled America, balled out on every opponent that he’s faced and is getting better by the day.

In a city consumed by sports with the Giants winning Super Bowls, the Rangers leading the NHL and the Yankees always on the back pages, the Knicks have wiggled their way back into the minds of New Yorkers.

Linsanity is here and hopefully it’s not a flash in the pan.

Kevin Howard is The Brooklyn Buckeye because he is from Brooklyn, NY and is a graduate of The Ohio State University. Follow him on twitter @brooklyngohard and on his blog site at brooklynbuckeye.wordpress.com