Don't Be Hurtin' Lin - The Jeremy Lin Thread 2

[kinein]

Jeremy Lin led the bench as Charlotte Hornets’ saving grace Friday
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nba/charlotte-hornets/article49405700.html
BY RICK BONNELL
rbonnell@charlotteobserver.com

New Discussion!

If Jeremy Lin had a joint that wasn’t wrapped in ice Friday night, then I didn’t notice.

His back, his knees, his ankles all benefiting from the inflammation-reducing power of frozen water. He looked wiped out and no doubt understood that Saturday night the Hornets would play at home against the Boston Celtics.

[yosemiteben]

Man I can't wait until we have enough data points that people don't have to bring up games from like two and three years ago to support arguments about Lin, either for or against him.

Folks around here generally don't care how Lin played before he put on a Hornets uniform.

[tonman]

I feel like Lin is being used exactly as our coaching staff and FO said he would when he was signed - 2nd string PG that often plays alongside Kemba in the closing group. He hasn't had dramatic shifts in his usage or in what is being asked of him.

yes and no.

just because he is playing backup PG and can slide over to SG the way the coaching staff wants him to play doesn't mean he's playing his game when he's on the court. you just have to look at some of the games he has played in his career coming off the bench. shoot he had a triple double and has scored 30+ off the bench.

the problem is that playing with Kemba and Batum he is not in position to be a scorer AND facilitator. in Houston, he had more opportunities to be a playmaker since Beverley doesn't really run an offense besides making the easy passes and Harden, though ball dominant, still plays off the ball at times or starts off the ball. the so called problem is that Kemba starts with the ball and sometimes the ball does not leave his hands. if it does, it either goes inside or to Batum.

I still don't think the Hornets play with enough pace. I don't see a lot of fast break points. if we are pushing the ball, even on a made FG, then you would see Lin's numbers go up a bit.

[yosemiteben]

I feel like Lin is being used exactly as our coaching staff and FO said he would when he was signed - 2nd string PG that often plays alongside Kemba in the closing group. He hasn't had dramatic shifts in his usage or in what is being asked of him.

yes and no.

just because he is playing backup PG and can slide over to SG the way the coaching staff wants him to play doesn't mean he's playing his game when he's on the court.

My post was in response to the argument that he's been inconsistent because of uncertainty in his role. I think we've been perfectly clear and consistent in what is expected of him. I'm not super interested in arguing about how he could be used based on how he played two seasons ago in a completely different situation.

[spaceballer]

Holey Moley, there are some really diehard Hornets fans out there despite the small market Charlotte fanbase. While some people have been hesitant to buy Batum or Lin Hornets jerseys because of the possibility that Batum and Lin could both leave the team in the summer, this self-professed Hornets superfan loved JLin so much that he actually tattooed Jeremy's signature into his skin (in front of his impressionable twin sons, no less!). I'm impressed and vaguely disturbed. Wow. That's some major fan commitment to a team, to mark your skin for life with someone's signature.

hornetssuperfan
‏@Hornetssuperfan

Thanks @JLin7 for signing my @hornets tattoo . Artist on his way over to get it inked in for life

https://twitter.com/Hornetssuperfan/status/675885678786445312

hornetssuperfan
‏@Hornetssuperfan

@JLin7 thanks again FAN for life !!! Thanks for signing @hornets tattoo inked in for life

https://twitter.com/Hornetssuperfan/status/676135153475977216

And are those Kemba's and MKG's signatures I also see on the Hornets tattoo? Can't really make out some of the others.

[qiantom]

I feel like Lin is being used exactly as our coaching staff and FO said he would when he was signed - 2nd string PG that often plays alongside Kemba in the closing group. He hasn't had dramatic shifts in his usage or in what is being asked of him.

yes and no.

just because he is playing backup PG and can slide over to SG the way the coaching staff wants him to play doesn't mean he's playing his game when he's on the court.

My post was in response to the argument that he's been inconsistent because of uncertainty in his role. I think we've been perfectly clear and consistent in what is expected of him. I'm not super interested in arguing about how he could be used based on how he played two seasons ago in a completely different situation.

People need to differentiate between consistent performance and consistent role. Consistent role really does not mean much because the role of a bench player is inconsistent almost by definition. You play well, you may play more; you don't play well, you don't play because the starters are gonna play regardless.

As for Lin, as mentioned by many, his role on the court shifts from quarter to quarter depending on why he plays with, which induces more volatility. You can ask someone to play one position each quarter in a rotating fashion. That is a consistent role but does it induce consistent performance?

In the end, Lin has a pretty special role as a combo guard on the team, which is a good role for him but he is not going to be as consistent as someone with a more traditional role. I have seen consistent effort from him every game, which is the consistency that will always be there.

[TTNN]

I feel like Lin is being used exactly as our coaching staff and FO said he would when he was signed - 2nd string PG that often plays alongside Kemba in the closing group. He hasn't had dramatic shifts in his usage or in what is being asked of him.

yes and no.

just because he is playing backup PG and can slide over to SG the way the coaching staff wants him to play doesn't mean he's playing his game when he's on the court.

My post was in response to the argument that he's been inconsistent because of uncertainty in his role. I think we've been perfectly clear and consistent in what is expected of him. I'm not super interested in arguing about how he could be used based on how he played two seasons ago in a completely different situation.

It was me saying that Lin's role was not consistent, mainly due to the way he was playing together with Kemba and Batum. Maybe I should explain a little bit, I don't meant to complain, but just stating the fact that could impact Lin's performance.

Starting the season, Lin finished the game playing together with Kemba and Batum, and all three of them were sharing the ball, so Lin got his share and responsibility in offense and playmaking.

Then he don't get to finish the game, and Batum start to play quite some time with the second team, and when Batum play with the second team, he start to take over and do most of the initiation of the offense, shoot more, and stuff for couple of games. Then he start to change his style, and share the play making with Lin, and that second team really played well with Batum in there for the following couple of games.

Then Batum play less with the second team, it is Kemba now play with the second team. And then it comes back with the same cycle as Batum, Kemba boost up his usage rate when he is playing in the second team, shoot a lot, take the game over, again, Lin left as secondary ball handler or pretty much wait for Kemba to get off the floor to take back the play making role. Yet, in the past two games, we start to see Kemba share the ball with Lin more when he was playing in the second team. And when Lin playing in the first team, he start to take on more offensive responsibility there.

As I said, these cycles could not be only on Lin, whether he was more aggressive or less aggressive, there is got to be due to the play style Kemba and Batum had when they play together with Lin. And Lin had to adjust to them, and also based on what's coach's need there. But it is obviously he need to adjust to Batum and Kemba, or wait for them to adjust first to pick his spot, so it is harder for him and things are less in his hand or control.

I don't meant to complain, coach Clifford mentioned at the beginning of the season that it takes 20 games to adjust the line up, and we could see that minor tuning there. But in no way we should say Lin's role is consistent in these 20 games, thus we should anticipate his performance to be consistent in those 20 games. I think that's not reasonable.

I wouldn't say Lin was misused in Hornets, but I wouldn't say Lin has been used correctly yet in Hornets either, I think this is not the final product of the team, and coach is still adjusting each player's role on this team to better fit everyone. There are a lot of players need to be optimized, and I'd think it is just not Lin's turn yet. I still think there are ways to further optimize Lin's game to give the team more option, thus to say this is exactly the way Hornets want Lin to play is not accurate. I don't think that's what Lin envisioned when he sign with Hornets, and I hope that's not coach Clifford envisioned either.

I still think there is room to grow for this team, and room to grow for Lin on this team, it is just we are not there yet. I hope people appreciate the adjustment Lin had to do on this team, and be patient instead complain about his inconsistency.

[spaceballer]

Jeremy's hair is picking up some buzz in the general mainstream non-sports media outside of the casual or diehard basketball audience. GQ published an article on Lin's hair over the weekend. I probably shouldn't be surprised, since Jeremy's been on the cover of GQ before and done photo shoots for more than one issue of GQ, I believe.

But most NBA players are pigeonholed into sports media unless you're world famous like Lebron or attracting negative attention due to a run in with the law (DUI/drugs/rape lawsuits/domestic battery/etc.) or gossip fodder with Kardashians or Barnes/Fisher TMZ fights over a woman or something.

Even this far removed from Linsanity, Jeremy is still picking up attention from non-sports prestige magazines like GQ (over inconsequential things like his hair ). He's still a draw for some press coverage and attention beyond the narrow confines of the sports media world, unlike most NBA players. That's probably a boon for a small market like Charlotte.

[bws94]

Man I can't wait until we have enough data points that people don't have to bring up games from like two and three years ago to support arguments about Lin, either for or against him.

Folks around here generally don't care how Lin played before he put on a Hornets uniform.

Memory lane stuff for sure. I think some folks may remember games Lin played against the Hornets and was effective and want to see Lin do that to other teams as a Hornet. But the other stuff is just other stuff.

[jtsmith]

Holey Moley, there are some really diehard Hornets fans out there despite the small market Charlotte fanbase. While some people have been hesitant to buy Batum or Lin Hornets jerseys because of the possibility that Batum and Lin could both leave the team in the summer, this self-professed Hornets superfan loved JLin so much that he actually tattooed Jeremy's signature into his skin (in front of his impressionable twin sons, no less!). I'm impressed and vaguely disturbed. Wow. That's some major fan commitment to a team, to mark your skin for life with someone's signature.

hornetssuperfan
‏@Hornetssuperfan

Thanks @JLin7 for signing my @hornets tattoo . Artist on his way over to get it inked in for life

https://twitter.com/Hornetssuperfan/status/675885678786445312

hornetssuperfan
‏@Hornetssuperfan

@JLin7 thanks again FAN for life !!! Thanks for signing @hornets tattoo inked in for life

https://twitter.com/Hornetssuperfan/status/676135153475977216

And are those Kemba's and MKG's signatures I also see on the Hornets tattoo? Can't really make out some of the others.

Looks like he tattooed hornets logo and had some of the players sign around it with marker. I don't think he tattooed everyone's signature.

[spaceballer]

Holey Moley, there are some really diehard Hornets fans out there despite the small market Charlotte fanbase. While some people have been hesitant to buy Batum or Lin Hornets jerseys because of the possibility that Batum and Lin could both leave the team in the summer, this self-professed Hornets superfan loved JLin so much that he actually tattooed Jeremy's signature into his skin (in front of his impressionable twin sons, no less!). I'm impressed and vaguely disturbed. Wow. That's some major fan commitment to a team, to mark your skin for life with someone's signature.

hornetssuperfan
‏@Hornetssuperfan

Thanks @JLin7 for signing my @hornets tattoo . Artist on his way over to get it inked in for life

https://twitter.com/Hornetssuperfan/status/675885678786445312

hornetssuperfan
‏@Hornetssuperfan

@JLin7 thanks again FAN for life !!! Thanks for signing @hornets tattoo inked in for life

https://twitter.com/Hornetssuperfan/status/676135153475977216

And are those Kemba's and MKG's signatures I also see on the Hornets tattoo? Can't really make out some of the others.

Looks like he tattooed hornets logo and had some of the players sign around it with marker. I don't think he tattooed everyone's signature.

It sounds like he has players sign with a pen/marker, and then he calls the tattoo artist over to trace over the signature to make the signature into a permanent tattoo.

[ChokeFasncists]

Ok lets chill on the mchale and harden bashing , dont want to get infected by the clutchfans haterade . Life is beautiful . Hornets are looking good . Lin is looking ok.

I'd say it's even more beautiful when one gets to cherish the freedom of expression after getting out of the progromming totalitarian regimes. What shame.

Rocking in the free world!

[spaceballer]

Found this on the Hornets sub on reddit. Apparently there's an entire youtube channel devoted to Jeremy's full offensive and defensive highlights for each Hornets game. Most highlight packages focus on offensive highlights, so it's nice to see one that includes a lot of defensive highlights.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChT1nedTH6IqjkO1w_9y0wA

[jtsmith]

Holey Moley, there are some really diehard Hornets fans out there despite the small market Charlotte fanbase. While some people have been hesitant to buy Batum or Lin Hornets jerseys because of the possibility that Batum and Lin could both leave the team in the summer, this self-professed Hornets superfan loved JLin so much that he actually tattooed Jeremy's signature into his skin (in front of his impressionable twin sons, no less!). I'm impressed and vaguely disturbed. Wow. That's some major fan commitment to a team, to mark your skin for life with someone's signature.


https://twitter.com/Hornetssuperfan/status/675885678786445312


https://twitter.com/Hornetssuperfan/status/676135153475977216

And are those Kemba's and MKG's signatures I also see on the Hornets tattoo? Can't really make out some of the others.

Looks like he tattooed hornets logo and had some of the players sign around it with marker. I don't think he tattooed everyone's signature.

It sounds like he has players sign with a pen/marker, and then he calls the tattoo artist over to trace over the signature to make the signature into a permanent tattoo.

was looking from my phone before and can see clearer now...
damn, now that's a fan.

[Braggins]

I think I'm in the minority, but I like the slicked back hair the best. The spikes are great but are a bit too jarring.

[phillycheese]

If I had Spencer Hawes' power of persuasion I would get Lin to rock the Harry Styles long flowing locks look. That way when he gets hit in the head, snap the hair goes flying and makes it an easier call for the refs.

[HornetJail]

Lin should work towards this

[bws94]

^that's worse than the Weeknd's hair.

[tonman]

Man I can't wait until we have enough data points that people don't have to bring up games from like two and three years ago to support arguments about Lin, either for or against him.

Folks around here generally don't care how Lin played before he put on a Hornets uniform.

Why not? I just have a pet peeve with people speaking for others in generalizations.

[tonman]

I feel like Lin is being used exactly as our coaching staff and FO said he would when he was signed - 2nd string PG that often plays alongside Kemba in the closing group. He hasn't had dramatic shifts in his usage or in what is being asked of him.

yes and no.

just because he is playing backup PG and can slide over to SG the way the coaching staff wants him to play doesn't mean he's playing his game when he's on the court.

My post was in response to the argument that he's been inconsistent because of uncertainty in his role. I think we've been perfectly clear and consistent in what is expected of him. I'm not super interested in arguing about how he could be used based on how he played two seasons ago in a completely different situation.

Then don't argue. Like Hansbrough coming in for mop up duty. Is that's all he is? Or given consistent minutes like he had for the pacers or early on with the raptors both playoff teams BTW he would actually play better score more rebound more than he is doing in the limited minutes he has played.

As long as this team keeps winning then there's little need to change. Let's see what happens if the Hornets go on a slump.