Saturday, March 17, 2012

RIP Linsanity?

Will Linsanity die as this CNN blog ( speculates?

Let us know your thoughts!


  1. Linsanity never died for me.

    You posted the post Melo numbers. Those are STAR PG numbers even on another team.

    Lin has kept the Knicks alive in almost every game he's played. If the Knicks didn't have such toxic teammates to ruin Lin's efforts especially defensively, Dantoni would still be coach and Lin would look even better.

    Lin is a great player. Linsanity rages on for me.

    1. They are starting to play better defensively. It's not as if JLin is an awesome defender either, although he is trying very hard, I can see that. Schumpert, Jeffries and Chandler are by far their best defenders.

    2. In today's NBA, the enforcement of the hand check rules have made it impossible for any pg to stop another.

      Even so called "elite" defenders like Rajon Rondo have great big men rotating and shotblocking behind them.

      I don't know what Lin's stats are on steals and blocked shots and deflections, but I would imagine he's doing just fine.

      I refuse to blame Lin for the subpar defense of his superstar teammates.

  2. if lin continues to start and play within himself and knicks keep winning, i don't see why linsanity can't continue...

    but if losses start mounting, it's bad news.

  3. I do still believe in Jeremy Lin. 'Linsanity' is dying because the media networks want it to die. They created it, like a Frankenstein's monster with unintended consequences.

    The media had no idea about the far reaching impacts on our culture. Sports fans are turning away from the Superstar athletes who have $100 million contracts, cheat on their wives constantly, and play selfishly, without any enthusiasm on the field.
    Jeremy Lin is the opposite of a superstar ego driven athlete. And that is why fans love him.

    Big name celebrity athletes are being overshadowed by this humble, hard working man. An Asian American man who suddenly makes Asian Americans relevant in our society.
    So the media needs to put a stop to it.

  4. I think we will support Jeremy Lin even he does not play! Linsanity will live on for at least 10 more years!!!

  5. Linsanity, as we knew it during the amazing February stretch, was going to end, regardless of the Knicks winning or good teams adjusting to Lin, when Anthony and Stoudamire were reintegrated. Why: Linsanity was based on the team revolving around Lin as core - like the Suns revolve around Nash, Bulls around Rose, Lakers around Bryant, or back in the day, the Bulls around Jordan or 76ers around AI. The difference in perception is how smoothly the Knicks would transition from the Linsanity Knicks to blending Stoudamire, Anthony, and Lin.

    Unfortunately, instead of smoothly reblending and rebalancing under D'Antoni, the team clashed. The transition has been bumpy, but ironically, the role Lin played last night against the Pacers is the role that Knicks fans wanted to evolve for Lin when Anthony and Stoudamire returned. So the actual path wasn't how we wanted to get there, but it looks we're getting where we wanted to go in the first place.

    I thought Davis supplanting Lin as 1st team PG whether or not Lin remained the nominal starter was a distinct possibility, until he tweaked his hamstring. Davis played better than Lin last night, but tweaking his hamstring goes a long way to ensure the majority of PG minutes remains with Lin, at least for the regular season. The botton line is Davis is brittle. Ironically, the more valuable Davis proves himself to be, the more care has to be taken that he stays healthy for the play-offs. As for Bibby overtaking Lin on the depth chart? Highly doubtful. Bibby didn't exactly light it up as Woodson's PG in Atlanta, either, nor since his Hawks days. Even in his best days with the Kings, after a forgetful start of his career as the the Vancouver Grizzlies PG, Bibby's weaknesses as a PG were covered up, like Parker's weaknesses as a PG are covered up on the Spurs.

    For Linsanity to return, Lin simply needs to be the centerpiece again. Next time, though, it will have to happen on a Nash-to-Suns-like arc. Lin became the Knicks engine for a glorious run temporarily and by accident. The next time a team makes Lin the centerpiece, it will have to be by design and on a long-term basis. Until then, Lin needs to work on his game and earn his NBA battle scars while growing to fill the prequel to Suns Nash: Lin still has to fill the shoes of pre-Suns Mavs Nash.

    He can do it. Lin has proven he has the potential.

    1. I DO NOT agree at all.

      Lin is already the centerpiece. The team has been his and his alone since the NJ game. The other Knicks and Woodson have tried to fight it, but the sport of basketball has a way of exposing people no matter what they try to do. And Lin has been exposed as a STAR.

      Unlike the preSuns Nash who was secondary to Dirk Nowitzki, Lin is the main man. When Lin has a bad game, usually the Knicks lose (Portland being the main aberration). When the Knicks win, it's almost always because Lin had a good game. Nor is Lin anything like the post Suns Nash who often does not cover the opposing PG on defense (Grant Hill's job) and does not have more than a tokeb presence on defense.

      Lin being the Knicks engine is NOT "an accident". Carmelo and Stat can have bad games and the Knicks can win. Lin CANNOT have a bad night for the Knicks to win because he is the catalyst for everything they do. Nobody, not even Lin, can change that.

      Mike Woodson can talk garbage all he wants in the papers about how Carmelo and Stat will be featured at Lin's expense. But it won't mean a thing because opponents know that Lin is the main guy to stop on the Knicks.

      I cannot emphasize enough the reality that basketball is a fluid sport in which the game itself and not coaching plans determine the hierarchy of who the best players are on the court. The game has exposed Lin to be not just the best player on the Knicks, but eventually one of the best players in basketball.

  6. Linsanity happened by aacident, but now the genie is out of the bottle, nobody can put it back anymore. Go, Jeremy, go!

  7. Depends on your definition of "Linsanity". I consider "Linsanity" to be where Lin was on the front page of ESPN every day, as well as all over non-sports international media, scoring 25 pts/10 asts every game, then yes, that's pretty much over. I think that's the most popular definition.

    If you mean it as Lin being a great PG in the NBA, then I think this only the beginning. I think the latest game shows that Lin can also be very successful in a "traditional" NBA offense.

    1. I used the well-worn Nash analogy upthread.

      Linsanity was like a burst of MVP Steve Nash. In order for Lin to get back to that level on a stable long-term basis, he needs first to develop into all-star Steve Nash of the Mavs. Separate from Lin's abilities, a team has to trust Lin has what it takes to be their centerpiece and leader. Nash built the necessary track record and leadership resume on the Mavs. He was a mature 30 yo when he rejoined the Suns as their starting PG. Lin is ahead of Nash's development curve in that Lin became a full-time starter in his 2nd year while Nash became a full-time starter in his 3rd year.

      Lin is a converted PG and has weaknesses as a PG that were exposed when the good teams adjusted to him. At that point, the D'Antoni system, which calls on the PG to do more than other systems, became too much for Lin. Woodson's system is allowing Lin to ease back and not be called on to create everything, break down every defense, and make every decision.

    2. Don't blame just Dantoni and Lin for the system not working.

      When a so called superstar like Carmelo Anthony refuses to buy into the system that yielded a 7-1 record with a team of one All Star center and a bunch of NBA castoffs, the system cannot be blamed. Not even Steve Nash would be able to turn that mess around, especially without Grant Hill assisting him in bringing the ball upcourt.

      Carmelo Anthony has chosen to fit into Woodson's system FOR NOW. When Anthony is committed, he is one of the greatest players in basketball. When he's not, he will bring an entire team down with him.

      Lin should be COMMENDED for trying to hold the Knicks together despite Anthony's petulance and shoddy play. Nor should Lin be blamed for not being able to handle Dantoni's system when it's actually Anthony that wasn't good enough to do the job right.

      Dantoni's system and Lin work just fine in 5 on 5, not 4 (or less) on 5.

  8. Linsanity becomes Lindiana last night with the pacers in the second game. How many more times Lin has to prove himself so that the critics suggesting to trade him will embarrass themselves?

    1. RIP, that's how some ignorant reporter would like to create sensation. This type of reporting is both negative and counter-productive. Lin doesn't have to prove himself, it is the minority who hates people like Tiger Woods and Jeremy that has to learn to change themselves to become an appreciative audience. Skills don't disappear, they will be there for life in any individual who pays the price to acquire those skills!!!

  9. I consider "Linsanity" to be an undrafted PG starting in the NBA and doing as much as any PG could on this Knicks team to get wins.

    By that standard, Lin is doing GREAT. I couldn't care less if he scores 8 or 38. If Lin is doing what it takes for his team to win, then that's good enough for me.

    Unlike a lot of people on this site or even on this thread, I do not demand that Lin become a "perfect" player who has no flaws and can cover up for his teammates' poor play. That is because no player in the history of basketball has been THAT good. I have watched the NBA for too many decades to believe that any single player can be flawless.

    Linsanity is alive and well, especially since I do not expect ANY player in the NBA to play great every single game.

  10. Ben Sin, so we have gone through time and let's review your article above - done, dead, R.I.P. Now Lin is getting better and stronger - $25m in the free market for 3 years - so it proves how wrong your interpretation of Woodson's remarks were. Time for you to re-learn your assessment trade in journalism. You did provoke an argument, but you lose in the end as I for one will never read what you write again.


  12. hey Timhoy, maybe you should put aside your clown homer glasses and realize that when I wrote the RIP Linsanity piece, I didn't mean I WANT it to die down, it meant that, at the time, given the facts and the quotes circulating, I THOUGHT it was going to happen.

    you being mad at me for analyzing a situation is ridiculous.

    Check this out, I actually wrote a glowing piece about Lin and what he means for Asian American basketball players back in 2010, BEFORE LINSANITY EVER HAPPENED.

