Who would have ever thought that an Asian born basketball player would have New York City in the palm of his hand. The Knicks were an embarrassment all year and coach Mike D'Antoni was so close to being fired. That was until 6 foot 3 200 pound Jeremy Lin came off the bench against the Nets last week. He scored 25 off the bench against one of the best Point Guards in the world, that was just the beginning.
Lin brought the Knicks back in that game vs the Nets to get their first win in 10 games. After that he had himself another great game, and win, over the Jazz. People still needed to see more, so the Knicks went down to Washington and Lin had a third solid game in a row beating John Wall and company.
Many people thought his first big test was agaisnt the Lakers. A physical Derek Fisher, Kobe, and two seven footers in the lane if Lin decided to take it to the basket. Let's just say he did alright, scoring 38 in the Knicks 4th straight victory. He couldn't be denied. The man from Harvard can play, it's an absolutely amazing story.
Looking forward, it will be interesting to see how Amare and Melo will play with Lin once they return. I think Amare will love what Lin does because he is a great pick and roll point guard. Melo I am more nervous about. His ball stopping one on one offense will take away from what Lin does. I don't think he will do that though, I see him stopping the ball less because he has seen first hand on the bench what Lin can do.
It really is amazing what one opportunity can do for a player, team, coach and city. Lin has taken advantage of that opportunity and then some. If D'Antoni doesn't take Lin off the bench in that Nets game who knows what would have happened. The Knicks were looking to release Lin and D'Antoni would most likely have been fired. It's safe to say D'Antoni saved himself, thanks to Jeremy Lin.
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