The Ifs and Buts Sports Barbershop

By Mjlover23

July 2010

 

Unless you watched the Summer League in Vegas, your response to Jeremy Lin would have been….WHO??? I was saying the same thing till I turned on NBA TV and seen this guy racing down the court and slamming through a one legged power slam! At 6’3” 200 lbs not only can he shoot, but his vertical is estimated at 30+ inches. The best thing about this guy is that it looks like he is the complete package! While everybody is raving about John Wall, DeMar DeRozan, and Ty Lawson, Jeremy Lin has “not so quietly” played his way into the NBA via the NBA Summer League.

Lin becomes the first Taiwanese-American to make the NBA, and the first Asian-American signed by the Golden State Warriors since 1947! There is a large Asian population in the Bay Area, which will make Lin an instant star! Please excuse me for all the exclamation points, but this guy is every coach’s dream! He can shoot, pass, handle the ball without turning it over, plays excellent defense, and among all of these superlatives….He’s a Harvard graduate! From all accounts, he was an average AAU player in high school but all of his coaches raved about his willingness to learn. While all the AAU players wanted to play against him because they thought he would be passive and a “pushover” on the court. As he moved into his senior year in high school he began turning the tables on his opponents. While Division I schools were not knocking down his door with scholarships, he let his grades get him accepted into one of the most famous Ivy League schools in Harvard.

Lin played his way into the lineup early in his Ivy League career, but his major contributions would come in his junior and senior years. Lin was the only player in the nation to rank in the top 10 in his conference in every statistical category! That may not sound like a big deal being in the Ivy League, but it is still Div I basketball. While he was an All-Ivy League First Team member his junior and senior year, he had some memorable games his senior year that got him invited to the NBA Summer League. He hit a crazy 3 pointer at the buzzer of a triple OT game vs William and Mary, recorded 15 points 4 assist and 3 steals vs Georgetown, had 17 points 8 rebounds 7 steals 5 assists and 2 blocks vs George Washington, and scored 30 points 9 rebounds 3 assists 3 steals and 2 blocks vs #13 UConn! To top It off, he was one of 11 finalist for the Bob Cousy Award and was consistently on the honor roll! He became the first player in the Ivy League to record 1,450 points, 450 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals. In his last two years at Harvard, he averaged 17 points per game while shooting 52% from the field and 37% from the 3 point line. My favorite stat line from his senior year is that he averaged 1 blocked shot and 2.5 steals per game!

The impressive thing about Lin getting a contract with the Warriors is that he only played a total of 74 minutes in 4 games! Averaging only 18 minutes a game he averaged 9 points per game and shot 52% from the field and 66% from the 3 point line! His head to head match up with John Wall was admirable too. It looks like this guy raises the level of his play depending on the opponent he plays against. That maybe good or bad, but I like his grit. This story isn’t over, and I’ll bring you more info on this guy’s path to success as I get it.

Twitter@mjlover23

The Richmond Olympic Oval will host the West Coast Basketball Classic on September 11 and 12. Register to play and learn more at http://www.westcoastclassic.ca