The Jeremy Lin Phenomenon

[Brad]

I don't recall seeing any discussion here about Jeremy Lin but a friend sent me this article in Forbes and it's a wonderful article, 10 Lessons Jeremy Lin Can Teach Us Before We Go to Work Monday Morning

One of the reasons Lin has appealed to people is because, in my humble opinion, he's not selfish and it's all about the team, not about him. People who have never watched the NBA before or in awhile, like my wife, watch the games.

Last night the Heat beat the Knicks and humbled Lin. LeBron is typical of today's basketball player and everything Lin is not: selfish, self aggrandizing and a show off. You can be talented without showing off. Just let your work do your talking.

[alocispepraluger102]

I don't recall seeing any discussion here about Jeremy Lin but a friend sent me this article in Forbes and it's a wonderful article, 10 Lessons Jeremy Lin Can Teach Us Before We Go to Work Monday Morning

One of the reasons Lin has appealed to people is because, in my humble opinion, he's not selfish and it's all about the team, not about him. People who have never watched the NBA before or in awhile, like my wife, watch the games.

Last night the Heat beat the Knicks and humbled Lin. LeBron is typical of today's basketball player and everything Lin is not: selfish, self aggrandizing and a show off. You can be talented without showing off. Just let your work do your talking.

i,ve seen, and been inspired, by all of jeremy's knick games. he is most definitely nba-counterculture.

to see the media take small human interest stories(especially those in media centers)and build them into continents of hot air and profit is typical of today's pop-culture.

my take is that most folks are sickened by the vile nba superstar b.s.

Edited February 24, 2012 by alocispepraluger102

[bneuman]

I don't recall seeing any discussion here about Jeremy Lin but a friend sent me this article in Forbes and it's a wonderful article, 10 Lessons Jeremy Lin Can Teach Us Before We Go to Work Monday Morning

One of the reasons Lin has appealed to people is because, in my humble opinion, he's not selfish and it's all about the team, not about him. People who have never watched the NBA before or in awhile, like my wife, watch the games.

Last night the Heat beat the Knicks and humbled Lin. LeBron is typical of today's basketball player and everything Lin is not: selfish, self aggrandizing and a show off. You can be talented without showing off. Just let your work do your talking.

i,ve seen, and been inspired, by all of jeremy's knick games. he is most definitely nba-counterculture.

to see the media take small human interest stories(especially those in media centers)and build them into continents of hot air and profit is typical of today's pop-culture.

my take is that most folks are sickened by the vile nba superstar b.s.

Whatever Lebron's personal faults, I've never seen him co-opt the success and hard work of someone else as an excuse to write a trite article about some set of Ten Commandments for Aspiring White Professionals.

Lin has a good story, and he has played some nice basketball. He's lucky to have landed on the Knicks (he wouldn't fit nearly as well with any offense but D'Antoni's), and the Knicks are lucky to have landed him (they desperately needed a point guard who can run a pick and roll as well as Lin). He also has game-stopping weaknesses as a ball-handler and dependence on the pick-and-roll that make him ineffective against strong defensive teams like Miami, and likely will hurt him as the season goes on and other teams develop better scouting reports on his weaknesses.

That article is wrong to indict Golden State and Houston for cutting him. He did have playing time with GS last year and didn't look anywhere near as good as he did this year. Both teams didn't have room for any more guards in their rotation; both teams needed to clear cap space in order to pursue bigger-name players they definitely did need; given how short the preseason was because of the lockout, and given how little practice time there is because of the lockout, it makes 100% sense that nobody had an opportunity to look more closely at third- or fourth-string player with a (rightfully) weak scouting report. Even if one of those teams had given Lin a chance, he wouldn't have exploded like he did, because he wouldn't have a perfect pick/roll partner like Chandler or a perfect free-wheeling offensive coach like D'Antoni.

It's also contrived to say we can learn from Lin that you must "Find a system that works for your style". Lin didn't shop his point-guard MBA to three or four corporations until finding the perfect one. He is succeeding because he is in a system that works for his style, yes; but that happened by chance and luck, not because of Lin's quiet noble determination. (Also, Lin has been more of a 2-guard than a point guard up until now.)

But who cares about substance when you can co-opt Lin's story for a lesson in good corporate values?

It's great that Lin's story has gotten people to watch basketball. It has certainly helped that his skills have enabled the Knicks to move the ball around a lot on offense. This makes them a lot more fun to watch. That might help keep some of those new viewers, who would have been bored by their previously stagnant offense.

But it's not like Lin is the first ever player or the only player in the league now good at facilitating ball movement. Lebron James and the Miami Heat play some amazing team offense when they don't get stuck in a mode of chucking up long jumpers. Chris Paul, point guard for the Los Angeles Clippers, is probably the best facilitator in the game today. Even with a lousy coach who can't coordinate an offensive system to save his life, Paul manages to create lots of opportunities for his teammates. All of the Dallas Mavericks (last year's champions) run the most unselfish offense in the league, and play great team defense. The Mavericks are especially interesting because they're good at signing veterans (like Vince Carter, Shawn Marion, and Delonte West) who, in their youth, were known for selfish play here and there, but now, as veterans, just want to contribute what they can to a winning team.

The story in the media about Lin and race has been about how Lin was overlooked for being Asian-American and/or how people are still discriminating against him because of it. All that's good and important, but nobody is talking about the other implicit racial aspect of the Lin story, especially the way it's co-opted and manipulated in articles like this. Lin's story as the refreshingly unselfish/humble NBA star comes with the implication that the rest of the NBA is not those things -- that it's bogged down by immature, selfish, arrogant, morally corrupt children who need an education in team values and maybe a little bit of religion too. At last, a star that doesn't look like he wants to join a gang, right? Kids today and their rap music and their refusal to a commit to one team for all their careers...

The story about Lin as a refreshing change of pace is partly wrong, in that there's plenty of good team play going on in the NBA today, and partly wrong, in that the media uses it to fan that strange racially-tinged populist rage toward "sports superstars".

[Larry Kart]

What Ben said.

[Dave James]

Anyone see the story about the card guy in New York City who bought Jeremy Lin's rookie card for $1,000 ? He just flipped it for $21,580 on eBay. Nice.

Moving right along, I don't ever need to know anything more about LeBron than "The Decision". That was the single most ego-fueled "event" in the modern history of sports. One of the reasons I have zero interest in the NBA, and there are many, is that it's nothing but a star driven league with zero time for the lunch bucket guys. So many of its so-called superstars are complete jerks, so filled with themselves it's sickening. If you want to watch a sport that respects both its fans and the blue collar guys who play the game, try hockey.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Dave James

[JSngry]

What Ben said.

What Larry said Ben said.

Talk to me about Lin next year at thistime, and let's see what there is to talk about. Might be a lot, might not be anything. Let's see. Until then, hell, it's just All Star break. Lots of basketball left, lots of adjustments for everybody to make.

As far as team play goes, geez, what I saw of OKC in the 4th quarter vs LAL last night should scare the bejeebers out of any team in the NBA that is not young, confident, fast, and psychic. That shit was just MAD sooperstoopid crazy!

[Big Wheel]

What Ben said.

What Larry said Ben said.

What that guy said.

As for Lebron, look, the guy didn't show the greatest amount of maturity and good judgment with the whole "Decision" thing. But you can't say he's selfish on the basketball court - that's total BS. If anything he is TOO unselfish and looks for opportunities to pass even when that's not the right decision.

As for the idea that "all you need to know" about Lebron is his personal faults...I guess you're not a fan of the work of Stan Getz or Bird or Trane or Miles Davis either.

And yeah, when Westbrook and Durant are firing on all cylinders they are truly amazing. A Miami-OKC Finals should be massively entertaining - both these teams play defense on a higher plane that's capable of shutting down isolation scorers like Carmelo or Kobe.

[Brad]

What Ben said is that he seems to have some animus against Forbes. Well, that's his issue. As for his basketball points, not too much issue there. However, one of the reasons he's succeeded so far is because the D'Antoni systems fits his skills to a tee. Being in the right situation for anybody is common sense.

I don't care who you are but you can gain valuable lessons from an experience like his or anyone's who perseveres through hard work. It's made an impact on many young people, including my son about lessons you can learn.

It's not a nice story but a great story as it was hard work that got him to where he is righ now as shown in this article in today's Times by Howard Beck, The Evolution of a Point Guard

Edited February 25, 2012 by Brad

[Brad]

Here's another article by Harvey Araton, also in today's Times, Disappointing Defeat Fine Tunes a Frenzy

No matter how good or bad he may be, unless Carmelo or Amare step up, this team won't prosper.

[Dave James]

Here's another article by Harvey Araton, also in today's Times, Disappointing Defeat Fine Tunes a Frenzy

That's really the question, isn't it? With the NBA hype machine operating at ramming speed, what happens if Lin tanks? His game against Miami the other night was awful. 1-11 from the floor and eight turnovers. I've heard pundits say that this may be similar to what happens in baseball when a pitcher faces a batting order the second or third time in a game. Athletes and coaches make adjustments. They review film and they find exploitable flaws. For Lin's sake, I hope he doesn't fall as fast as he rose, but I wouldn't rule it out.

[Brad]

Here's another article by Harvey Araton, also in today's Times, Disappointing Defeat Fine Tunes a Frenzy

That's really the question, isn't it? With the NBA hype machine operating at ramming speed, what happens if Lin tanks? His game against Miami the other night was awful. 1-11 from the floor and eight turnovers. I've heard pundits say that this may be similar to what happens in baseball when a pitcher faces a batting order the second or third time in a game. Athletes and coaches make adjustments. They review film and they find exploitable flaws. For Lin's sake, I hope he doesn't fall as fast as he rose, but I wouldn't rule it out.

I agree Dave and we here in NY (or at least I have) have been wondering how he would fare when he had a bad game. As you note, sports is all about adjustments. They're playing the Cavs on Wed so we'll see what happens.

The article by Howard Beck seems to suggest that he would be able to do that. We will see.

[Larry Kart]

What Ben said is that he seems to have some animus against Forbes. Well, that's his issue. As for his basketball points, not too much issue there. However, one of the reasons he's succeeded so far is because the D'Antoni systems fits his skills to a tee. Being in the right situation for anybody is common sense.

I don't care who you are but you can gain valuable lessons from an experience like his or anyone's who perseveres through hard work. It's made an impact on many young people, including my son about lessons you can learn.

It's not a nice story but a great story as it was hard work that got him to where he is righ now as shown in this article in today's Times by Howard Beck, The Evolution of a Point Guard

Who is "he" in your first sentence? If it's Ben, I think you're mistaken. His response to the Forbes piece carefully points out its errors in fact and logic. I don't think he has any animus against Forbes per se; rather, he suggested that one of Forbes' agendas when it comes to the business world led them to distort Lin's story in an attempt to fit that agenda.

[Brad]

Well, Larry I don't see it that way but it's not worth arguing about. I think you as a moderator can probably appreciate that

I was glad there to be the beginning when D'Antoni, having no other options, decided to put him in against the Nets. As the game progressed, I turned to my son and said Jeremy might score 20 and sure enough he surpassed it. I had been hoping for awhile that he would be put in because a couple of weeks before that he had come in at the end of a rare 30 point win against the Bobcats and played for a few minutes and scored about 7 or 8 points. I said to myself "not bad" even though it was garbage time.

We'll just to see how things progress.

[Jim R]

That article is wrong to indict Golden State and Houston for cutting him. He did have playing time with GS last year and didn't look anywhere near as good as he did this year. Both teams didn't have room for any more guards in their rotation; both teams needed to clear cap space in order to pursue bigger-name players they definitely did need; given how short the preseason was because of the lockout, and given how little practice time there is because of the lockout, it makes 100% sense that nobody had an opportunity to look more closely at third- or fourth-string player with a (rightfully) weak scouting report. Even if one of those teams had given Lin a chance, he wouldn't have exploded like he did, because he wouldn't have a perfect pick/roll partner like Chandler or a perfect free-wheeling offensive coach like D'Antoni.

Your post was very well-written, and I agree with just about everything you said. As a die-hard Warriors fan, though, I would have to say that the Warriors (and last year's coach Keith Smart in particular) should be less than proud of the way they utilized Lin while he was here. Smart did not do a very good job last year with his rotations and getting the most out of his bench players. The Warriors were- and still are- a middle of the pack team, not quite good enough to make the playoffs, and not quite bad enough to improve via the lottery system. Smart, like Don Nelson before him, tended to give his starters too many minutes, driving them into the ground, and yanking the less experienced bench players off the floor much too quickly after minimal errors. Jeremy Lin, when he did get a chance to play, was clearly instructed to play conservatively. He showed signs of being able to penetrate well and finish, but for the most part he played it safe. He was fairly efficient in helping to keep the ball moving, and demonstrated beyond any doubt that he could be a valuable piece for us as a defensive player (a weakness of ours at the guard position). His biggest weakness was his perimeter shooting, which he never really had a chance to develop due to his short stints on the floor. With our guards being our "star" players in terms of offense, Lin was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time in terms of being given a longer leash to be aggressive at the offensive end, but there's no doubt that he deserved more minutes under Smart. Considering the fact that Acie Law and (gasp) Charlie Bell both got more PT, Lin's talents- especially in terms of what he had to offer defensively last year- were wasted here. He may never have gotten the level of PT necessary to allow for the explosion of confidence he found in NY, but we'll never know.

It's also contrived to say we can learn from Lin that you must "Find a system that works for your style". Lin didn't shop his point-guard MBA to three or four corporations until finding the perfect one. He is succeeding because he is in a system that works for his style, yes; but that happened by chance and luck, not because of Lin's quiet noble determination.

There was certainly chance and luck involved in Lin getting the right opportunity at the right time, but I'd say there was plenty of quiet noble determination, particularly in terms of his off-season work on improving his shooting.

Finally, I just have to say how completely surreal this whole episode has been from the perspective of a long-time Warriors fan who saw him coming off our bench (but mostly remaining on our bench) last year. It's really difficult to believe, let alone describe.

[Brad]

Jim,

Did you read the Howard Beck article that I put up earlier today. It shows he was a work in progress and probably is. The Knicks were very lucky. One wonders what if he never got a chance: would he have ever been able to show his talents. You never know. I think that could describe many a person, maybe some among us. I think that is one of the wonderful things about this story. Now, I'm not sure why this nuttiness has erupted around him. I know why my wife is (she's Chinese) and watches his games. Heck, she even watched the Rising Stars Challenge last night. She's become a big Landry Field fan too. Me, I'm just glad the Knicks are relevant after the Isaiah Thomas years. Of course, we're still stuck with the Dolans.

This just shows that even a squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile

[Tjazz]

Did you see his 16 year-old picture?

Jeremy Lin xanga

Edited February 26, 2012 by Tjazz

[ejp626]

...One wonders what if he never got a chance: would he have ever been able to show his talents. You never know. I think that could describe many a person, maybe some among us. ...

This just shows that even a squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile

In a non-sports context, this describes my situation. A lot of work situations where I produced but wasn't really "making it" in part because the incentives lay with the consultants that could generate work, not just complete it. Now I am in a situation where the pressure to sell is non-existent, and I can focus solely on improving products. It's like night and day.

[Jim R]

Jim,

Did you read the Howard Beck article that I put up earlier today.

I had read it over a week ago, and had absorbed many of the same points he made via national and local media.

It shows he was a work in progress and probably is. The Knicks were very lucky. One wonders what if he never got a chance: would he have ever been able to show his talents.

Well... no, not if he never got a chance. Clearly, Lin was lucky that he was pressed into service due to the right circumstances, and the Knicks were lucky that he found his confidence and took advantage of the unlikely scenario. The talent had to have been there already, so the key word here is "confidence".

[bneuman]

Jim R - everything you say about the Warriors' organizational failings sounds reasonable. I think Lin blamed his timid playing last year on his lack of confidence. That's part of his story -- only this year was he able to trust in God and just go for it, yada yada. That doesn't mean the coaching staff didn't play a role too, or that his belief that he's at fault isn't just a product of his humble nature. But it could be that his play would have been just as timid with a better organization.

When most people rip on the Warriors and Rockets for overlooking Lin, though, they do so with no appreciation for the situation each team was in. The lockout-shortened training camp made everything a mess, especially for the Warriors, who had a new coach who couldn't talk to any of his roster until two weeks before the season started. Both teams already had too many guards to have much use for Lin, and both teams needed to clear salary room to try to make franchise-altering moves. If a criticism isn't subtle enough to acknowledge those points, it's probably not going to be subtle enough to draw on the sort of detailed knowledge of the Warriors' organizational deficiencies you have.

I did intend to rip on Forbes partly just for being Forbes. Why is a financial magazine writing an article about basketball? It's a bad, superficial article. The author doesn't care about basketball or know very much about it. He doesn't care about how great Lin is to watch, or appreciate how much work he had to put into it. He cares only about the potential Lin's story has for some lazy advice about how to be a real go-getter in the corporate workplace. Many of the lessons don't even make sense as analogies with the Lin story. If we really took Lin's career as an analogy for the workplace, the lesson would be that you should work really hard and hope to god that by a random lucky series of events beyond your control you end up being traded to the right place with the right boss. That's probably not bad advice for the real world, but that's not the article's message. The article's message is that you, the employee, can control it, and ought to shop your skills around until you find someplace you like. I guess that's nice if you're a high-powered MBA or something, but does he really need Lin for schlock like this? I wish he would work half as hard at thinking as Lin does at basketball.

The article draws heavily on Lin's media story as the humble, hard-working, selfless player, willing to make sacrifices like passing to Tyson Chandler. This is precisely the conservative message in response to the economic crisis: everyone ought to keep working hard, be humble, don't be outraged that your professional training is now worthless, and be ready to make sacrifices "for others", in the form of lower pay, less jobs, more cuts, et cetera. If you're feeling really frustrated about it, try some religion or something, it's good for your blood pressure. The popular media has co-opted Lin's accomplishments for a heartwarming bit of propaganda about how sticking to these values really can lead to success, now and then. So, it's not at all surprising to see a financial magazine regurgitate these tropes in the form of a set of tips to cheer you up on your way into the office on Monday. Sure, you might hate your job and the week ahead might look pretty bleak, but stick to it and you might score a game-winning basket someday too. There is a political motivation to the article, and it doesn't make me feel much favor for Forbes.

The other side of the conservative manipulation of Lin's story is the racial aspect -- the whole "it's so nice to see an NBA star who isn't a selfish, gun-toting egomaniac" thing. That doesn't appear explicitly in the Forbes article, although it is implied anytime his "selflessness" is praised so dogmatically. It did come up in the beginning of the thread, and appeared as a sort of logical extension of the article's ideas about Lin's selflessness. I think this practice of reviling selfish sports stars is dead wrong, so it probably intensified my disagreeable tone.

The Lebron story is fascinating because of how much white-hot rage toward him resulted from The Decision. No doubt it was a pretty dumb and arrogant thing to do, but how does somebody get that socially dumb in the first place? It would be great to make that money and be that talented, sure, but would it really be that great if it meant you had to miss that part/aspect of your life where you gained a little social common sense? Why didn't anybody in his professional or personal life suggest that wasn't a good idea? Why didn't a huge national media empire, full of presumably wise and morally superior people, suggest this wasn't a good idea? Why is the white-hot indignant rage always directed at individual, fallible athletes and the money they make, as opposed to the sports-media complex that makes even more money off the whole thing? (And does whatever it can to get its hands on a bigger share of that money, with no concern for the fans -- see this year's lockout.) The major sports media outlets actively and passively provide plenty of voice to the idea that individual athletes ought to be publicly judged for their moral character, but very little voice to the idea that all the sports leagues and the media bear any responsibility for how their machine molds these individual athletes. This is no surprise, since it might encourage people to direct their blind white-hot frustration toward those massive profit-making monopolies, rather than toward a few Lebrons or Iversons who can stand in as symbols for everything wrong with the post-1950s world.

I think that's enough of my politicized sports discussion, so I'll stop with it there.

I don't think Lin's performance against the Heat means his productive streak is over with. Miami has one of the best defenses in the league. Other teams -- even Dallas, who has a top 5 defense -- ran the same kind of double-teams against Lin, but they lack the youth and ridiculous athleticism that the Heat have. It's a huge sign of respect that the Heat showed him as much attention as they did and played as hard as they did. Also, the Knicks played a game the night before, and had to fly from New York to Miami for that night's game; by that point, the extreme amount of minutes Lin played over those 2-3 weeks really should have been catching up with him; they still need practice time to integrate him and Carmelo. It's not a big deal that he tanked that performance. He's a smart player, he has good court vision, he works hard -- he should be pretty okay for years to come. It's weird how dramatically effective his jump shot has been, given his scouting report. Hopefully the statistical regression there won't hurt him too much. It won't, if Carmelo shows up and Amare remembers how to play basketball.

Edited February 26, 2012 by Ben Neuman

[Jim R]

Ben, excellent post. The only thing I might quibble with is the idea that the Warriors had too many guards to have much use for Lin. Again, my primary disappointment with regard to his limited PT last year relates to the fact that he was probably our best defender at the guard position. Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry are both wonderful offensive players, but their defense (especially before the arrival of Jackson and Malone) has been sub-par. I think the choices of Law and Bell over Lin for minutes (albeit mostly in "garbage time") probably had more to do with tenure and what we had invested in them, and less to do with what they were actually able to contribute on the court. Law was a decent fill-in offensively, and Bell had a few decent defensive games, but neither was as solid a defender as Lin. Not only that, but Bell was a disaster on offense (may have set an NBA record for air-balls per minute played). Reggie Williams, who has also since been let go, was a good offensive player, if streaky as a shooter, but was also a very weak defensive player.

As it turned out, the decision to clear Lin's low-level salary off the books was an insignificant footnote in the failed attempt to sign the Clippers' DeAndre Jordan to what many believe would have been an exorbitant contract. But that's another story.

[Jazzmoose]

Your post was very well-written...

Yes it was. He'll never fit in here...

[Brad]

Knicks started slowly tonight but just blew the doors off the Cavs in the second half. Steve Novak, their three point specialist, just killed it. Baron Davis seems to have shaken off some rust and played really well.

[JETman]

Knicks started slowly tonight but just blew the doors off the Cavs in the second half. Steve Novak, their three point specialist, just killed it. Baron Davis seems to have shaken off some rust and played really well.

Although the Lin story is a nice one, it's been close to 20 years since I've really cared about the Knicks. I'm afraid that the personalities of the athletes in the NBA make it difficult to do so. I'm tired of all the hip-hop, in your face bullshit that has become an essential part of the professional game.

It is quite shameful that a franchise so important to the league's success hasn't managed to win a title since 1973!

I'm praying that the Dolans, who own Cablevision, sell my Rangers before they destroy them too.