Talk about really being under scrutiny by basketball aficionados and critics, and that’s definitely Jeremy Lin. On December 5, the Charlotte Hornets won its 11th game in 19 contests against the mighty Chicago Bulls at the United Center, winning 102-96.
Despite the victory, it was not the Hornets win that some basketball sites focused on but instead zeroed in on one fastbreak play featuring Jeremy Lin and Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls, where the 27-year-old Harvard graduate fumbled the ball and then missed the basket at very close range.
According to Lookit of SB Nation, stumbling and falling after making contact with Butler would have been bad enough but then Lin recovers the ball and misses a completely unguarded layup.
Fortunately for Jeremy, Butler fouled him after he got the offensive rebound and missed the close-range shot and he got the points from the line.
Lin made the points on the free throw line, but the site even called it as a pretty embarrassing moment. Had it been a different Hornets player, the site would not even write something about it or bother to post a video too.
Hoops Hype also featured the same video about Jeremy Lin rushing downcourt and fumbling and missing an open shot at close range, which only reinforces the notion that basketball critics would feature anything about Jeremy Lin, good or bad, because he is Jeremy Lin.
He may not be a great basketball player, but Lin is a good one. He knows the basics and he is one of the reasons why the Hornets are way above the .500 mark this early in the season, which is really unusual.
It is just unfortunate that some critics and basketball sites prefer to highlight the negative parts of the game of Jeremy Lin when it would have been reasonable to talk about the Hornets victory over the Bulls at the United Center.
Decreasing averages
Based on the statistics provided by Hoops Hype, it also noted that the averages of Jeremy Lin have been declining over the last four seasons. He has been posting 10.4 points per game this season and the site is comparing it already to his 11.2 points per game while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers last year.
It is just ironic and quite absurd really to compare his points after 19 games and put it against an average for the entire season last year composed of 82 games. Somehow it just does not do justice and obviously, the site is just capitalizing on the popularity of Jeremy Lin on the internet.
It did point out that when Lin was playing for the New York Knicks, he was averaging 14.6 points per game. In his two seasons with the Houston Rockets, Lin was scoring 13.4 points per game during his first year, and 12.5 points per game during his second year.
For a player who is earning $2.2 million a year, and scoring 10.4 points per game and dishing off 2.9 assists per game, the Hornets is surely getting more than its investment. But some critics seem to focus on the microcosms of things that even the slightest miscue of Lin gets to be published.
A dependable backup point guard
Playing for the Hornets, the 27-year-old Harvard graduate is proving to be a dependable reserve point guard for Steve Clifford’s backup roster.
In a recent interview with Clifford, the Hornets head coach said that Jeremy can actually play two spots with the way the NBA is going at the moment. He could play as an off guard to Kemba Walker’s point guard or can also play as a point guard.
What is important for Jeremy Lin is that he is playing so well at the moment minus the pressure of a big-money contract that used to hound him when he was still playing for the Houston Rockets for two years, and the Los Angeles Lakers for a single season last year.
You are correct that Jeremy is placed under far more of a spotlight or a microscope that other players, but he has earned that notoriety for any number of reasons that won’t be recounted. Also, he draws eyeballs.
To be fair though, a play like that is one which is so bad that one can only laugh about it and I’m sure Jeremy took his share of ribbing from his teammates! Think of how viral a missed dunk gets … same thing.
The irony of this play is that Jeremy Lin made a great steal at the other end and was racing down to score when Jimmy Butler tripped him up and it wasn’t called. From his angle, it was a difficult shot to make, especially if you’ve just fallen.
JLin continues to improve defensively and of course, is dynamic offensively. His Christianity is what is bothering the armchair QB’s along with his intelligence. Seems Byron Scott and Kevin McHale have some explaining to do for how they mismanaged him, abused him, and now find themselves with starball focused teams near the bottom of the league. Clifford may make the same mistake by allowing Walker to Jack-it-up constantly….uh, didn’t James Harden recently make Shaqtin the fool for his defense in spite of his big endorsements?