The Collegian
Friday, March 29, 2024

Let's hold off on the 'Linsanity'

Jeremy Lin has taken the world by storm. He has quickly gone from nobody to "The Guy" in the biggest basketball city in the world. He has set all kinds of scoring records and has even hit a last-second three-pointer to give the Knicks a victory. It almost seems as though he has single-handedly turned the Knicks season around. He has become the true point guard the Knicks needed to effectively run Mike D'Antoni's offensive system.

However, lost in all the "Linsanity" is the fact that he has brought the Knicks back from the brink and they now sit at .500, just four games behind Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division and poised for a No. 7 seed i the season ended today (I'm being sarcastic). I don't mean to hate on what Lin has done to this point in the season because I will be the first to say that it is beyond impressive. But with that said, the most dubious record he holds is for his turnovers. He has turned the ball over more in the first 10 starts than any other player in history. I know you must be asking yourself, "Why does that matter if the Knicks are winning?"

I'll tell you why.

No one on this earth is going to argue that Mike D'Antoni is a defensive guru. His coaching strength is clearly on the offensive side of the ball. What does that mean? His teams hardly ever play any semblance of defense. The Knicks give up points like they're going out of style. Think about this. When the Knicks give up more than 100 points, they are 1-7. Turnovers lead to points and if you turn the ball over and don't play defense, it isn't hard for an NBA team to get to 100 points.

The problems don't just stop on the defensive side of the ball. The strength of Mike D'Antoni's system is speed and ball movement. Lin has, to this point, been playing without the black hole of possession that is Carmelo Anthony. Anthony's style of play does not suit Lin's, nor does it fit D'Antoni's offensive scheme. Anthony is without a doubt the offensive leader of this team so if Lin wants to keep his job he has to pass to him. The problem is that passing Anthony the ball will end up being counter-productive to the team's offensive goals.

The other issue to note is that while Lin has been going on this magical run of his, the Knicks have played a whopping two teams with a winning record. The combined record of the teams they have played is 133-189. Lin hasn't exactly been dominating the best teams in the league. Let's see what he does when the Knicks are playing the Bulls and Heat.

Do I think Jeremy Lin is a good player? Of course I do. He obviously has the talent and skill to play in this league. However once teams become more accustomed to his game and learn how to defend him, they will force him into more turnovers, which he is obviously already prone to committing.

So enjoy Linsanity while you can because all signs point to it all coming crashing down in the not-so-distant future.

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