With a 5-13 win-loss record as of December 3, the Brooklyn Nets are in bad shape and is currently languishing at the 14th spot in the NBA Eastern Conference, just a game ahead of cellar-dweller, the Philadelphia Sixers, and way out of the playoff picture.
It is obvious that the team and head coach Kenny Atkinson badly need Jeremy Lin, who has already been out with a hamstring injury for a month already and still counting. He was able to play only the first five games of the Nets, where the team had a 2-3 win-loss record. The team has gone 3-10 win-loss slate since.
It is still not clear when Jeremy Lin will be cleared to play but heading into the midseason with such a record would already spell doom for the Nets the rest of the way.
NBA teams normally pick up steam heading into the All-Star break and if the Nets don’t fare any better soon, its season would be over long before the playoffs begin.
Doing something useful for the team
For now, while he is recuperating from his hamstring injury, Jeremy Lin is trying to be productive on the bench by keeping track of the statistics of his fellow players in the team, reports Game & Guide.
The 28-year-old Harvard graduate is said to be doing a self-styled version of offensive efficiency statistics while on the sidelines during Nets’ games.
Dubbed as ‘Linology,’ Lin’s notes on the statistics of the Nets are something he wants to do and offer for the team while he is recovering from his injury.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson said that he considers the gesture of Jeremy Lin as beautiful because it just shows that he cares a lot about the team. Atkinson revealed that Jeremy asked him if he could do it and he gave it a go. He also said that Jeremy Lin gives it to him at the end of every game.
Many of his teammates also appreciate his effort in monitoring the team’s offensive efficiency statistics.
Critics also believe that Jeremy Lin could also make the statistics useful for his own role to the team as point guard as he can read the movements of his teammates better and draw up offensive plays himself.
Not rushing Lin to return
The Nets and Atkinson have not given any specific date for the reactivation of Jeremy Lin into active duty, saying that they are not rushing it.
So while the Nets are missing his point guard, leadership, and scoring services, the team has to make do with what they have.
There is one possible replacement for Lin in the Nets uniform and it is rookie Caris LeVert. Unfortunately, just like Lin, LeVert is also down with an injury, reports Fansided.
While the team has promising young guards in Isaiah Whitehead and Yogi Ferrell, the 6’6” shooting guard in LeVert from the University of Michigan would have been a big boost for the scoring load of the team.
LeVert was an intriguing pick up for the Nets during the offseason. He was the young man who the Nets drafted with the draft pick gained in the Thaddeus Young trade. With much upside and a laser sharp shooting ability, it’s hard for Nets fans not to be excited about its draft pick.
He proved in college he could very well do it all. He proved he’s a gifted scorer as well as rebounder and passer. The 22-year-old was all over the floor for the Michigan Wolverines.
It has been nearly six months since LeVert has been drafted and fans haven’t seen or heard much about the guy. Atkinson just said that he’s progressing well and now even practicing.
It would surely help the Nets rebuilding program if Lin returns to the team along with LeVert and help turn things around for the franchise.
Jeremy Lin’s absence has really been felt at the point guard position where the Nets played various players since including Isaiah Whitehead, Yogi Ferrell, Sean Kilpatrick, and Randy Foye. Counting main back-up point guard Greivis Vasquez, no one measures up to the skills and leadership of Jeremy Lin.
Nets fans believe that the return of Jeremy Lin to active duty could help solve the team’s problem on the point guard position since the 28-year-old Harvard graduate can both score and defend.