Jeremy Lin has been playing so well after the NBA All-Star break as if to show that he was happy that he was not traded by the Los Angeles Lakers despite being placed on the trade block as early as December last year.
Now that the monkey is off his back, the 26-year-old Harvard graduate is now playing with more confidence and it is greatly showing in his performance in the Lakers’ last five games, norming in 17.5 points and five assists per game and a remarkable 49% field goal shooting, notes Fansided.
Aside from the fact that there is less pressure on the reserved point guard since Kobe Bryant is already out for the remainder of the season while recuperating from his recent surgery for his torn rotator cuff on his left shoulder, Jeremy Lin is now getting into the groove as far as the system of Lakers coach Byron Scott is concerned.
After her was benched by Scott following a dismal performance in a game, Lin talked things over with his coach and has now come to understand what the former Laker guard wanted from him – the need for him to be more aggressive and continue attacking the basket.
Aggressiveness pays off
Coming off the bench now as a reliever point guard, Jeremy Lin has really started to become more aggressive, attacking the basket at every opportunity he sees.
His aggressive play has actually resulted to him getting to the free throw line 28 times in the last five games, and making his shots too.
But if there’s one thing that Byron Scott has learned from the aggressiveness of Jeremy Lin, it is the fact that the point guard becomes effective when he has the basketball on his hands and directing play.
It has become clear that his Linsanity days in New York were shortlived because Carmelo Anthony came back to the Knicks rotation then and he was holding much of the ball during the team’s offensive plays.
So when Jeremy Lin moved to the Houston Rockets, he also had to contend with the fact that the basketball must almost always end up in the hands of James Harden so Lin found himself to be ineffective with the team too.
When he moved to the Lakers, he faced the same problem again as the offense of the team revolves mostly on Kobe Bryant and everyone knows that the Black Mamba almost always touches the ball in every play.
Right chemistry
Jeremy Lin has also found the right chemistry with his teammates and it is obviously showing on how they complement each other on the court.
The Lakers took in Lin last summer because they wanted a point guard that can replace Steve Nash and also because he comes with two future picks in the next draft.
Provided he continues to play aggressive, the Lakers may eventually re-sign Lin in the next off-season but to a more reasonable price this time around.
Lin deserved the money after lighting up a boring NBA poisoned with starballers and idiotic acrobatics. Team play returned, excited the bball world, and demonstrated the hunger for a return to self-less play. Kobe Bryant’s day is over, thank the Lord. His era smelled up the game with narcissism and media writing idol worshipers. It’s a new day.