LINsanity

Well, there has been plenty of talk about Jeremy Lin in the Knicks thread but I think this deserves its own topic to keep it separate from the generic Knicks talk. I for one have been a fan of his since 2009 when he hit a 30 foot And-1 at the buzzer in triple OT to win the game for Harvard. There is no doubt about his basketball skill, despite people continually saying that "he came out of nowhere." (Stephen Colbert jokes that "nowhere" is his nickname for Harvard) His resume is impressive:
-in high school, he helped his team beat heavily-favored Mater Dei to win the CIF California state championship and earned various player of the year awards. (He went unrecruited by all your normal basketball powerhouses, including hometown Stanford)
-at Harvard, he would have great performances against nationally ranked competition, including BC, Villanova, and UConn. he was a candidate for the Wooden Award and a finalist for the Cousy Award. (He went undrafted despite all of the above)
-he wound up on the Mavs summer league team. After besting John Wall, he was offered a spot on the Texas Legends, as the Mavs had 3 PGs on their roster already. He took an offer from his hometown Warriors and the rest is history.

but I like to look at the human aspect of the story. the one that takes a look at the social impact this has. a lot of journalists try to say that this has nothing to do with race, that it's about "a good basketball player" or it's an "underdog story", which it is... but let's face it, if this was John Lucas III lighting it up in Rose's absence, there would not be this much attention on it. We would not have Lucasanity instead of Linsanity.
I read a pretty good article earlier about it on CNN.
I had been really thinking about what this meant to me as an American Asian all week but I really couldn't put my finger on it. I tihnk the final lines of the article really sums it up for me.

Hopefully one day, Americans of Asian descent will no longer be seen as foreigners, economic competition or anything less than equal Americans. Until then, race matters, whether we like it or not.

Then we have Mayweather being racist and stupid

and not to mention the "Some lucky lady in NYC is gonna feel a couple inches of pain tonight." tweet by some no-name reporter for Fox Sports

a lot of journalists try to say that this has nothing to do with race, that it's about "a good basketball player" or it's an "underdog story", which it is... but let's face it, if this was John Lucas III lighting it up in Rose's absence, there would not be this much attention on it. We would not have Lucasanity instead of Linsanity.

If John Lucas were in a team that's abysmal despite its two star players being in the team and then those two star players get injured and John Lucas then lights it up and is making the team better and winning, I'm sure he'll also get that kind of attention by the media.
Since Lin's potential fan demographic is large(r compared to Lucas), the media will continuously churn out articles to sell to the public. They needs to get paid.
Making bucks > race card.

Wrong, it's because of God:
http://www.mercurynews.com/jeremy-lin/ci_19954877

ahh the race thing again. its the yao ming story all over again. damn good thing people never made a big deal over tiger woods of the williams sisters for dominating a sport pretty much owned by white people

It's inevitable that race is going to come into the conversation but it's shaping up to be a great story without even going there. Here's someone that obviously has talent, but the road to the NBA has been a bit tougher with opportunities to show his stuff being limited. His big break comes along by chance, he goes out and shows people that didn't know much about him - like myself - exactly what he can do. On top of that he seems humble, likeable and an outstanding teammate. It makes for a pretty cool story; so often we're waiting for people to fall or get caught up in negative stories, but then a Jeremy Lin comes along and I think it's greatl.

The expectations are there now though and I think at some point, he's going to level out and have his struggles, because even the best of the best have their off nights. However, what a breakout week for a rookie to have! Right now, it looks like he's got a very promising future in the league.

ahh the race thing again. its the yao ming story all over again.

the big difference is that Yao was from China, a product of the red machine over there and well, didn't speak much English when he first got here. in my opinion there is something that is familiar about Yao, but still different.

broadcasters continue to bring up that he is the first American born player of Chinese or Taiwanese decent (translation: 1st Asian American in the modern era) and yet a few still leave the "American" out and call him Asian. as someone who was brought up in a very similar way, i mean... i can't speak for Jeremy but I identify myself as American first, Asian, second. I would imagine that Jeremy, if asked, would identify himself as a Christian before he would an Asian.

The beauty of the story is that he's just being himself. it's the "normality" of Lin that sets it apart:

He may not realize it, but by not claiming "Chineseness" or embracing his rabid Asian fan base, he is doing more for us than anyone at this moment can. Jeremy Lin might be the first normal Asian America has seen and it's fucking great. He's not famous because he ran around with a rice pecker in the Hangover. He's not famous because Ari treats him like a Eunuch. Nor is he famous for singing "She Bangs". He doesn't have to act a fool to get on TV because he balls so hard mother fuckers can't find him. Lin is saving the Knicks with super-human play, but he's dispelling myths about Asian America by being otherwise hyper-normal and I thank him. He doesn't have a duty to embrace Asian America, speak for Asian America, or represent Asian America because right now he IS Asian America. Go to Church, drink that blue shit, but don't you ever, ever, ever, stop being the normal-ass Taiwanese-American you are.

oh and he just hit the game winning 3, capping off a 13-1 run to beat the Raptors.

I bet lin wont beat the hawks when they play in a few days

Honestly, I wasn't a believer until tonight. As a Knick fan I am so used to dissapointment, so I'm scared to get excited. But wow, I need to live in the moment. What Jeremy has done is out of this world, and I am so happy to have him on this team. If I recall correctly he was on the Lakers summer league team before he got signed by the Warriors, and I liked his game back then. I hope he keeps it up, not just for the Knicks but for him, he seems like a genuinly nice guy.

I honestly can't wait until Melo comes back. That's a must watch game.

I honestly can't wait until Melo comes back. That's a must watch game.

I hope he doesn't.

I thought he was black.Like Tiger Woods.

Game tying 3 point play and a game winning shot? I am seriously lost for words. 6 straight magical games by Lin, all in winning effort. Just nuts. I can't believe I click on NYK game highlights before the Heat one these days.

you know your team is in trouble when Jesus would rather help the other team...

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Whilst I love his story, I feel I have opened somewhat of a paradox that I so far have not been able to solve...

I mean, if you watch his games, he doesn't have any instantly identifiable skillset. OK, he's a couple of inches taller than other PG's, but its not like he's Magic with a huge height disparity. I think his shootings a bit below average - and I dislike his shooting form (but then again, Peja Stojakavic looked like he was drunk when he nailed all those threes ). He isn't John Wall fast. He doesn't have westbrook's strength or athleticism. Hell, he can barely score with his off-hand.

Its almost like the sheer virtue of his court vision alone, he picks apart teams (OK, he hasn't played a really premiere D yet, but he has been ridiculously impressive). I think I like this guy for that reason alone - NBA players are always separated from the rest of us by freakish size/athleticism/coordination/reflexes etc... but this is like a common man hitting the upper echelons by will power.

An awesome story.

I kinda feel bad for him though - the media (good and bad) is going to be hounding him, and he is setting godlike expectations from the fans, which surely can't continue (or can it... )

edit
As awesome as that 3 pointer was, is it just me, or was that a bad decision...

I don't think it was a bad decision, it was his shot to take.

I wonder what would happen if the Knicks lose a game during this Linsanity.

It's bound to happen at some point. I would suggest as long as he continues to perform well more often than not and the Knicks are also winning more often than they're losing, he's going to continue to garner attention as a standout young player.

I don't know how Floyd can say that black players are doing this all the time. Whens the last time a scrub averaged these numbers over 7 games on a team filled with stars that have thus far not lived up to any expectations at all? From <75 points last season in 29 games, to average >20 points a game over the last 7 games to go along with >8 assists, shocking.

Regardless of race it is a pretty amazing story, and very inspiring. I can definitely see this dude becoming a solid role player, though it will be sad to see the Linsanity begin to fade away.

at this thread now.

you know your team is in trouble when Jesus would rather help the other team...

I hate that kind of interview where they say God is on their side as if the opponent has a guaranteed place in hell.


Also at old man Sauru popping up when there's race talk.

I mean, if you watch his games, he doesn't have any instantly identifiable skillset. OK, he's a couple of inches taller than other PG's, but its not like he's Magic with a huge height disparity. I think his shootings a bit below average - and I dislike his shooting form (but then again, Peja Stojakavic looked like he was drunk when he nailed all those threes ). He isn't John Wall fast. He doesn't have westbrook's strength or athleticism. Hell, he can barely score with his off-hand.

You have to realize that's the beauty of his performance so far. Making things look so basic. Sorta like you seeing Bron's shot after seeing Kobe's shot, and going meh... Kobe's skill is better conclusion cuz it looked tougher.

edit
As awesome as that 3 pointer was, is it just me, or was that a bad decision...

Maybe. But his decision to kill the clock before the shot was a very wise one. The coach didn't go for a timeout but let Lin decide what to do. And he made the most wise decision under that situation.