Linsanity

[Gregg]

The last four seasons of the NBA has been amazing to watch. It has been this fun since MJ. The metaphor I would use to describe it is that MJ was the Roman Empire, post-MJ was the Dark Ages, currently it is the Renaissance.

Just to clarify, economics history does point to some cool things that occurred in the Dark Ages that planted the seeds for the Renaissance to bloom. So post-MJ wasn't all bad, but the current NBA landscape is soooo good right now.

Here's Bill Simmons take on Lin mania. Silver's piece (which I linked above) and this are the two best takes I've read on what's happening right now.

Hmm...you almost tempt me to start paying some attention again.

[JudeBaldo]

Hmm...you almost tempt me to start paying some attention again.

Well don't do it because of Lin. He's a good player but the vast majority of hullabaloo surrounding him is because of novelty. Watch the NBA again because its a great product. Sure there are days when the play is boring, but that can easily be avoided by watching all the other great games.

My favorite teams to follow this year have been the T-Wolves and the Clippers. Two of the worst teams of the last decade or so.

[Hammer]

The definition of Linsanity

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-11-Panini...item3371d80de6

[B-Fly]

Pete, for you to be right, and for Lin to become an All-Star, let alone an "all time great", every GM in the NBA would have to be wrong, every scout, every coach, most coaches in the college game, and even Dantoni, who had him on the bench for 2 months, would have been blind to his talents.

He wouldn't be the first undrafted player to be pretty great, although I wouldn't rank any undrafted players among the best of all-time.

Ben Wallace was undrafted and went on to become a four-time defensive player of the year, four-time All-Star and a key player for an NBA Championship team. He's 16th all-time in total blocks and 34th all-time in total rebounds. He's arguably the only undrafted player who should get serious consideration for the Hall of Fame.

John Starks was undrafted, won an NBA 6th man award, was a one-time All-Star, and was the #2 scorer and a great defender for a Knicks team that made the NBA finals.

Brad Miller was undrafted and was a two-time all-star and a key contributor to some very good playoff teams.

Raja Bell has been one of the NBA's best perimeter defenders and 3-point-marksmen of the last decade.

Other undrafted players with very good NBA careers: David Wesley, Udonis Haslem, Avery Johnson, Bruce Bowen, Jose Calderon...

[Controller Jacobs]

The Knicks are now looking like a likely playoff team. If they end up playing Miami or Chicago, they probably won't have much of a chance - but the they will have a national audience. If they end up playing anybody else in the East, they've got a pretty good shot. How's that compared to 2 weeks ago?

[heyelander]

If they end up playing anybody else in the East, they've got a pretty good shot.

Where's your philly love?

[Controller Jacobs]

Where's your philly love?

I expect the Sixers would love to play Lin, given their terrific defense and depth. But they're not the Heat/Bulls.

[JudeBaldo]

I'll take my chances with the Knicks against a banged up Rose and a non-sulky world beating Melo.

[Roto Rooter]

Ha JR Smith joins the Linsanity. This kid is for real for this team and system. Watch out NBA.

[JudeBaldo]

I can't wait for the game against the Heat. I'm not sure Lin will have the same success against the Heat.

[Judge Jude]

Russell Westbrook led NBA in Turnovers last year, 3.9 per game.
This year, he's leading at 4.3.

Lin turnovers per game in his eight starts: 6.5. That is BRUTAL.

Is he still helping them? Of course. But he has to learn some things in a hurry, or it will come back to bite him. He's a bit like a base stealer who is racking up big numbers there, but he gets thrown out a lot, too. CSs and TOs - bad things.

[Roto Rooter]

In Nash's 2 MVP years he was 3rd in the league in TO's

Winning > TO's

When you are handling the ball 90% of the time and also playing 40 minutes a game you are going to rack up some TO's.

People can keep pointing out this one flaw while he excels at everything else.

Melo back tomorrow. Will be nice to see Lin driving and kicking it out to him instead of Shumpert/Fields. Yeah thats a good problem to have.

[Roto Rooter]

I can't wait for the game against the Heat. I'm not sure Lin will have the same success against the Heat.

He torched Kobe and the Lakers and torched the defending champs who have been playing tremedous D lately. A little Heat torching ain't nothing.

[Roto Rooter]

Top 10 turnover guys in the NBA this season include 6 PG's:

Westbrook, D-Will, John Wall, Nash, Rubio, Lowry.

LeBron, Kobe, Durant are 4-5-6 in TO's this year. Throw in Howard to round out the 10.

Those are some pretty good players eh?

[Judge Jude]

"When you are handling the ball 90% of the time and also playing 40 minutes a game you are going to rack up some TO's."

And Lin is averaging 50 pct more turnovers as a starter than the 2nd-highest figure in the entire league.
When Nash was 3rd in turnovers, I'm sure he was not miles ahead of 4th - or 10th - or probably even 20th.

A "flaw" is when you're on the high end of something.
A "worry" is when you double the rate (and more in some cases) of errors that most other point guards make. Even in figuring minutes per game, that's going to alleviate that problem so much.
Lin is averaging a little under 35 minutes a game as a starter, iirc, which is not record-breaking.

The schedule, which has been amazingly easy of late, is now getting a lot tougher.

I'm rooting for the kid, but there are storm clouds out there if you're willing to look at them.