Bill Bradley wrote:fdr2012 wrote:Bill Bradley wrote:I still think Lin is a better player than Felton with more upside, but Felton has better chemistry with this team and everyone is on the same page. It's still early and I'm sure some adversity will be coming so let's just see how the season plays out before the "I told you so" threads.
What upside? They guy is scoring 11ppg on 35% shooting? Lin is struggling and I think we should all admit that he's not as good as we all thought he was last season. Numbers don't lie.
As for Felton - the guy was selected #5 for a reason. When he's in shape, he's a very good, two-way PG. He's not just the "better fit", he's the better player right now and it's not even close.
You should know that numbers don't always tell the whole story. Harden joined that team the day before the season started and their whole system changed and is still being reworked now that McHale has taken a leave of absence. Lin is not being used to maximize his strengths. He is being used as a spot up shooter now and Harden is the guy running the offense. He's playing good defense though and is not turning the ball over like last season.
Hey... Lin's cool. Good player. Crafty player. Fast, can finish at the rim, good vision.. yadda yadda yadda.
But Felton's better. Felton, right now, is showing that he is one of the better point guards in the league. The same feeling people had during his last stint in NY where he was on the path to a possible all-star appearance before trade rumors derailed his and Gallinari's season. He had a couple of down years after we shipped him elsewhere, but here in NY, he plays with a passion. He has dedicated himself to the game, got himself in shape and is proving himself yet again. Lin is not of the same caliber. Just my opinion, but one that I hold firmly.
Felton is bigger, stronger, just as fast, more under control, much better defensively and can shoot from the outside and mid-range. Jeremy Lin's strengths? The pick and roll and dribble penetration... and Felton is no slouch there either. Most importantly, I think Felton is more of a pure point guard all at the same time. He's moving the ball and picking his spots almost flawlessly. He's no Chris Paul or Steve Nash with his dishing, but neither is Jeremy and I really don't see any reason at all to call Jeremy a better player than Ray, even if we're just comparing Lin's 7 games of "Linsanity" to the 6 Felton has played for us this season. At the end of the day, I have more trust in Felton with the ball in his hands and I think the Knicks made the absolute best choice, through and through. Hopefully it's just a matter of a few more games before Knicks fans can move away from the Jeremy Lin thing all together.