I love that I went and looked at video of Jeremey Lin when the Knicks picked him up a few months ago. I saw some skill there and some speed. I was really excited to get a young player at a position of need for the Knicks. I posted a link on my FaceBook page and stated that I hoped the Knicks would release Mike Bibby and keep Lin to develope when the time came to make room for a player to fill out the rotation. I posted that link on 12/27/11. Today is 2/10/11 and Jeremey Lin just out-played Kobe Bryant in a Win over the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time in 10 games.
In fact Lin has been out playing EVERYONE in the League for the past 4 games. He came off of the bench against the Nets to score 25 points and 7 assists. What gets forgotten in that game was Lin's defense against Deron Williams. That performance and the lack of a healthy true Point Guard earned Jeremey Lin a start against the Utah Jazz and he continued his excellent play scoring 28 points and 8 assists. When he led the Knicks to 3 straight wins after beating the Washington Wizards and scoring 23 points and 10 assists, Lin became the 1st player since LeBron James to score at-least 20 points and 8 assists in their 1st 2 career starts.
New York believed that they found the answer at Point Guard, but the rest of the World (outside of Asia that is) still had their doubts. Of course, when you are performing something well....you attract haters. Many people claimed that Lin did nothing special since he didn't face a dominant team. Many "experts" claimed that the Lakers would be Lins biggest challenge and Kobe Bryant would not allow the Knicks to feel too good about themselves. Jeremey Lin had other ideas.
In the match up of the Knicks and Lakers in Madison Square Garden, on the National stage, Jeremey Lin and the New York Knicks showed everyone how special they are. In a night with Kobe Bryant scoring 34 points and 1 assist Jeremey Lin out performed the Black Mamba by scoring 38 points and 7 rebounds and becoming the first player to score 89 points in their first career start since the NBA ABA merger. Tonight Jeremey Lin played team ball and led the Knicks to their first win against the Lakers in 10 games and the question now became "What happens next?"
Next up is Ricky Rubio and the Timberwolves and a chance to win 5 in a row. After that is the return of Amare' Stoudemire who has been mourning the death of his older Brother who passed away this week in a car accident. Stoudemire has been struggling this year, but now he gets to play with a true Point Guard who he will try to team with in the Pick and Roll game. Many are expecting Amare' to thrive with Lin who is drawing comparisons to Steve Nash and even John Stockton. Amare' is the type of player that becomes nearly unstoppable when He has a true Point Guard putting him in the right positions. Tyson Chandler has been taking advantage of Lins passes of late and it will be even better with Amare'.
After that Carmelo Anthony returns from his groin injury and the Coaching staff will have to figure out how the Offense will run with the return of Melo who is more of an isolaton player, but has been moving the ball around more before his injury. It will also be interesting to see how Josh Harrelson fits in when He returns from His injury since the Rookie was coming on strong and showed a touch from beyond the 3 point line. Of course there is also Baron Davis who the team had hoped would be their starting Point Guard once healthy. There are a lot more fans watching these days to see just what does happen next.
No other question is as important to Knicks fans as "How much longer will this Linsanity last?" Everyone is waiting to see what he does next. Regardless of how long he is able to play at such a high level one thing is already clear. Jeremey Lin has made history and captivated the Sports World. He also did it while wearing a Knicks uniform. Let the Legend continue.......
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