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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 13, 2012 18:02:33 GMT -5
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Post by BearClause on Feb 13, 2012 20:19:03 GMT -5
The real irony is that he probably deserved a scholarship offer somewhere, but never got one. His dream school was actually UCLA, but Ben Howland wouldn't give him the time of day. Cal apparently offered him as a walk-on, but I don't think he would have gotten anything more than mop-up duty in blowouts (sort of like another player named Thomas Fang). He also wasn't happy that they called him "Ron" on a visit. He said something about Stanford being "fake interested".
I sort of put this like the way player scouting was judged in the book Moneyball. Scouts didn't care so much for statistics rather than how they could project a player's growth based on physical attributes. There was "the good face" and comments about body type. Jeremy Lin wasn't as highly regarded because he wasn't super quick or super strong. Until recently, he wasn't that great an outside shooter.
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Post by bigfan on Feb 13, 2012 21:27:30 GMT -5
He also wasn't happy that they called him "Ron" on a visit. [/b] [/quote]Oh I get it......Ron Jeremy. |
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Post by Phaedrus on Feb 13, 2012 21:31:45 GMT -5
The real irony is that he probably deserved a scholarship offer somewhere, but never got one. His dream school was actually UCLA, but Ben Howland wouldn't give him the time of day. Cal apparently offered him as a walk-on, but I don't think he would have gotten anything more than mop-up duty in blowouts (sort of like another player named Thomas Fang). He also wasn't happy that they called him "Ron" on a visit. He said something about Stanford being "fake interested". I sort of put this like the way player scouting was judged in the book Moneyball. Scouts didn't care so much for statistics rather than how they could project a player's growth based on physical attributes. There was "the good face" and comments about body type. Jeremy Lin wasn't as highly regarded because he wasn't super quick or super strong. Until recently, he wasn't that great an outside shooter. Plus, he's Asian, nobody ever thinks about Asians as good basketball players. Everyone thinks of Yao Ming as a freaky anomalie. |
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Post by elevationvb on Feb 14, 2012 0:36:38 GMT -5
sorry, but where is the stereotyping in this instance? A good coach who wants to win is not going to ignore talent.
How do we know that Lin practiced / played at his current level? I watched him during the Lakers game. He was very good and fun to watch most of the time. But he also made several mistakes.
I'll be curious to see what happens when Melo and Stoudamire (sp) return to the lineup. Good luck to him.
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 14, 2012 2:00:14 GMT -5
Nobody thinks he is never going to have a bad game. Tom even discusses that in his article, assuming you bothered to read it.
And FWIW, you should understand that Poynter is not a news source. It's a professional association of journalists. Apologies for not making this clear, but this isn't a general news article. It's a message from one senior journalist aimed at other journalists.
However, I did think it would be an interesting discussion item for us on this board, where similar issues sometimes come into play.
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Post by bbk on Feb 14, 2012 9:42:07 GMT -5
It's pretty funny. He was a good player in HS and scored the ball at Harvard. If Lin was in OKC or Sacremento no one would care as much. NYC with a HUGE Asian community and the 4 daily newspapers if you include Newsday have given them all backpage stuff. Working through the D League helped with his strength and confidence. It's a fun story
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Post by BearClause on Feb 14, 2012 10:03:38 GMT -5
It's pretty funny. He was a good player in HS and scored the ball at Harvard. If Lin was in OKC or Sacremento no one would care as much. NYC with a HUGE Asian community and the 4 daily newspapers if you include Newsday have given them all backpage stuff. Working through the D League helped with his strength and confidence. It's a fun story While I can certainly agree about the media hype due to the major dailies and ESPN, Sacramento has a higher proportion of Asians than NYC. If you compare the metropolitan areas, they're about the same proportion. Sac: quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0664000.htmlNYC: quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/3651000.htmlSheer numbers are another factor though. They've got a huge population of over 20 million with only two NBA teams. The Sac area has less than 2 million. |
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Post by Phaedrus on Feb 14, 2012 10:22:45 GMT -5
I think it's a case of the perfect storm. He is on a team where the coach is renown for playing a style that favors and leans heavily on a smart point guard who can dish and shoot with equal ability. He is playing with a bunch of guys who are green or who are on second or third chances so selfish play isn't an option with them, and also because Melo and Amare are out. And he is able to get on the court with Baron Davis hurt.
Add on top of that, the NYC/Media Capital of the world factor along with the Asian population in NYC and it becomes a huge story.
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Post by head31919 on Feb 14, 2012 11:17:48 GMT -5
The problem is he's not a great shooter or passer actually.
He's pretty big for a point guard, he's fast, and he can get to the rim and finish when he's there. He's never been a great shooter (shot 33% from 3 in college and so far is 4 for 23 in the pros) and he turns the ball over a lot.
I think this is where the stereotype cuts the other way a little bit. His game is a lot more like Stephon Marbury than Steve Nash.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2012 11:29:35 GMT -5
Stephon was great, once upon a time. Which Stephon are you referring to?
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Post by head31919 on Feb 14, 2012 11:54:26 GMT -5
Never said he wasn't.
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Post by bigfan on Feb 14, 2012 12:10:04 GMT -5
Mr. Lin is a flash in the pan. He will settle down to avg 10 pts and 5 asst per game.
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Post by elevationvb on Feb 14, 2012 12:25:22 GMT -5
Nobody thinks he is never going to have a bad game. Tom even discusses that in his article, assuming you bothered to read it. And FWIW, you should understand that Poynter is not a news source. It's a professional association of journalists. Apologies for not making this clear, but this isn't a general news article. It's a message from one senior journalist aimed at other journalists. However, I did think it would be an interesting discussion item for us on this board, where similar issues sometimes come into play. You put the term sterotypes in your title. |
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Post by BearClause on Feb 14, 2012 13:32:33 GMT -5
Mr. Lin is a flash in the pan. He will settle down to avg 10 pts and 5 asst per game. Perhaps that might happen if he's back on the bench and brought out as a sixth man. He's certainly a serviceable player. I remember when Steve Nash was just a backup point guard (behind Kevin Johnson AND Jason Kidd) averaging about five minutes a game for the Suns. Personally I believe that he'll be more in the range of 15 and 7 if he remains a starter. He's got the skills and is still improving. His talents are well suited to the Knicks current active personnel. Once their star players come back and it's back to one on one isolation play, then I'm thinking he's back to earth. He needs to be on a team where his talents mesh well with his teammates. I don't think the Warriors were that team (with Curry and Ellis) and probably not the Rockets. I know Lakers fans are talking about how great it would be if they had Lin, but I think he'd be just another warm body watching Kobe Bryant attempt to take on his defender one on one. |
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