The Brooklyn Nets are 12 games into the 2016-17 NBA regular season and it is sporting an 8-4 win-loss record as of November 18, which is good for No. 13 in the Eastern Conference and certainly out of the playoff picture.
The Nets played their last seven games without its starting point guard Jeremy Lin and it looks like he will be spending more Nets games on the sidelines in the next week or two.
Brooklyn is 2-3 when Lin is starting at the point and has been 2-5 since his absence two weeks ago after their convincing victory over the Detroit Pistons that saw Brook Lopez having his breakout game.
On November 17, Lin’s injury was reevaluated but the Nets still did not offer a timetable for his return to active duty.
Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said that Jeremy Lin’s full recovery from his hamstring injury incurred during the team’s game against the Chicago Bulls on October 31, is progressing according to schedule. He said that Lin is on target but is not willing to give an exact date to his possible return, points out the New York Post.
Lin did not take part in the shootaround on November 18 but he was seen running and shooting afterward.
Atkinson added that rather than force his starting point guard to play, he is going to listen to the performance team because they want to be smart about it and take the long-term approach, short of saying that they would rather see him miss a few more games than aggravate the entire thing with a career-threatening injury.
Missing a full-time point guard
Over its last seven games, it was clear that the Nets were having problems in rebounding and defending the point guard.
It was quite obvious when they played against the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 18 where the bigs of the Thunder completely outrebounded the Nets frontline.
And as expected, Russell Westbrook completely dominated Randy Foye at the point guard position, who were actually teammates with the Thunder last year.
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, notes the Nets Daily.
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.
The problems are not just about the loss of the Nets starting point guard and all that means day in, day out. It is also going to delay the development of on-court continuity and chemistry for the team. Lin had only played four and a half games before being injured. It’s almost back to square one when he returns.
Lin has become sort of an assistant point guard coach, with a clipboard, natty suit, and matching eyeglasses in the Nets’ bench in the last few games.
Disappointed with the lost opportunity
There is no bad blood between Jeremy Lin and his former team, the Charlotte Hornets. They parted amicably since the Hornets management can only afford to offer him such in light of its talent-heavy roster.
They also could not offer him the starting point guard position for the team because that rightfully belongs to Kemba Walker.
Jeremy Lin would have loved to play against his former team during the match pitting the Brooklyn Nets against the Charlotte Hornets but the 28-year-old Harvard graduate still felt some tweak in his left hamstring.
Lin pulled his hamstring in their match against the Chicago Bulls on October 31 right in the second quarter of the match and he never returned to the game to see his Nets team being decimated by the Bulls at a final score of 118-88.