I really don't think he's been exposed as a fraud.

The Heat D'ed him up and kept the pressure on all night. The kid is going to have to learn to play with that kind of pressure and last night was part of the learning process.

Super Nintendo looked good out there on a positive note (for my fantasy team).

Lin got his pocket picked by both Heat point guards who subsequently dunked on him in the open court. The guy is sheet. He played a couple good games, but now it's over. Enjoy the 7th or 8th seed and a first round exit.

All 3 of the big 3 scored over 20 points. Bosh scorched the amazing Knicks bigs.

Lin got swatted by Joel Anthony, who had 5 blocks.

That you for taking the spot light off the Heat Lin.

I can't shake the ugly feeling that the Bulls are kicking ass en route to losing against Miami again.

The Heat just look unbeatable in a 7 game series.

Gunny Highway: The Heat D'ed him up and kept the pressure on all night. The kid is going to have to learn to play with that kind of pressure and last night was part of the learning process.

Super Nintendo looked good out there on a positive note (for my fantasy team).

Yeah that guy sucks.

Orgasmatron138: I can't shake the ugly feeling that the Bulls are kicking ass en route to losing against Miami again.

The Heat just look unbeatable in a 7 game series.

The only concern I'd have is that the Heat are peaking too early in the year. At this point, though, hard to imagine anyone - other than maybe, MAYBE the Bulls - hanging around past five games in a playoff series.

He has 45 turnovers in his last 7 games.

Maybe, just maybe, he's not great or shiatty.
Maybe he's just really good for a guy who just started playing a couple weeks ago and wasn't supposed to be anything at all.

Quiefenburger: He has 45 turnovers in his last 7 games.

He is the first player in NBA history to have at least 6 TOs in 6 straight games.

He is still young. There is a middle between "he is great" and "he sucks." but ESPN and the internet will not have that.

Byno: Orgasmatron138: I can't shake the ugly feeling that the Bulls are kicking ass en route to losing against Miami again.

The Heat just look unbeatable in a 7 game series.

The only concern I'd have is that the Heat are peaking too early in the year. At this point, though, hard to imagine anyone - other than maybe, MAYBE the Bulls - hanging around past five games in a playoff series.

I think they are going to crush people. The Thunder may be able to run with them so they can hang. The Bulls may run into the same problem as last year; Rose gets D'ed up and the offense goes to shiat.

jayhawk88: All jokes aside, Chalmers has been balling this year. Points, rebounds, assists, steals, FG%, 3P%, and minutes all up, significantly in most cases.

He has been a pleasant surprise. Loving his game this year.

IAmRight: In any case, the Knicks aren't going anywhere in the playoffs - even at their best, they're the 3rd best team in the conference.

He made his team better. That is what is important.

IAmRight: And realistically, he could've hit double digits in turnovers if some of his bad passes that people caught as they were going out of bounds counted against him. Or the refs didn't bail him out on a couple of terrible decisions trying to go through double teams.

He would have had more point IF he had made more shots.

FreakinB: Yeah, from an established guy. From a guy who's been playing for 2 weeks, you take it. Especially considering the fact that the Knicks actually move the ball now. I've said this before, but I don't think people realize just how little fun it was to watch the Knicks before Lin came in. Personally I had pretty much stopped since it was boring and repetitive. The fact that we're getting anything even decent from a PG is exciting.

You think you're going to get Mugzy to agree with you? He's the resident sports tag expert on everything.

Yeah, Lin turns the ball over too much, everyone already knows that. It's not going to stop him from beating his chest that he was "right" about how to stop a player 2 weeks into his NBA career.

Meh...just another guy the media did a disservice to by overhyping him. he's likely an average player that had some good games, but because of the hype, people expect triple doubles and game winning 3 pointers night in and night out.

Last nights game is a perfect example of when OTHER Knicks *cough MELO cough AMARE cough* need to step it up. Lin cannot save this team every single night. Lin looked physically and mentally drained that game. This break (they have one game in nine days) should be good for him to recharge. Starters getting some practice time together should help as well.

jayhawk88: I still think they'd have a chance to upset the Bulls if they met them in the second round, just because the Bulls seem to have so much trouble getting consistent scoring from anyone but Rose.

It wouldn't much matter, because I don't think the Knicks have an answer for Rose defensively. The number of wide open jumpers they'd get when the Knicks help on Rose's drives would be astounding.

IAmRight: I actually feel bad for Melo, because now he's in an impossible-to-succeed situation. Lin will get all the credit if they win. Melo will get all the blame if they lose. If Melo takes over and they lose, then people will call him selfish. If Melo doesn't take over and they lose, they'll call him a sh*tty leader/veteran.

I think the guy gets too much blame as it is and I agree.

IAmRight: Yes, but let's also remember that they probably win a lot of those games anyway. They've played a lot of crappy teams in that stretch - the only real feather in the cap was the Mavs win.

Yeah. I still think he was exactly what the Knicks needed at a time when they could have fallen off the face of the Earth.

IAmRight: That is something he had control over. I am pointing out things that he had nothing to do with which saved him from having an even worse game - he really looked awful.

True.

IAmRight: This. If the Knicks put in their decent defenders, then they will have no offense. If they want to score, then Rose is going to be able to score on every possession if he wants to.

Yep. Plus, Deng and Korver are averaging a combined 24 PPG. They'd probably get 35 per game against the Knicks with all the open corner threes they'd get.

Hey subby... the guy is playing in the NBA... what a failure he is. Do you get paid lots of money to play a sport?

Orgasmatron138: I can't shake the ugly feeling that the Bulls are kicking ass en route to losing against Miami again.

The Heat just look unbeatable in a 7 game series.

Hello, Dan Bernstein.

It's going to be a tough series but anyone who calls it either way in February aren't doing either team justice. Two defensive powers with complementary strengths and weaknesses. Assuming everyone is healthy (that means you, Rip Hamilton) it'll be something to behold. If this isn't the ECF the fans got robbed.

FreakinB: Yeah I don't like our chances against the Bulls either. But I do like that this is even a discussion.

Yeah I'm fine with that too. And it's not like they got their assholes punched inside out last night. They were playing their fourth game in five days against a more rested and motivated ("nobody's talking about us") Heat team, and with 9 minutes left they were down 6 despite playing horribly.

MugzyBrown: Can't handle good defense.

That was the sort of defense it's impossible to prepare for because there's no substitute for the real thing. It's not like Baron Davis did any better.

One reason why Lin did so badly is that D'Antoni did little to help him -- not that he could've; the team's so raw they can barely execute a pick-and-roll with consistency. But MDA said from the start it was going to be a learning experience. The game might've been closer if D'Antoni got more creative, but his main problem right now is that half the team is fresh off benches, planes or gurneys. The Heat have a full season to gel and are firing on all cylinders right now. The most valuable thing the Knicks got out of Miami was the game tape.

doubled99: Maybe he's just really good for a guy who just started playing a couple weeks ago and wasn't supposed to be anything at all.

I concur; he's neither a superstar nor bad. He's merely very good, which allowed him to torch the league when teams had absolutely no data on him. But even after everything settles down he should be good for at least 15 points and 7 assists a game, and if the Knicks can gel and get healthy, they'll happily take that. Unfortunately Melo and Amar'e aren't playing up to their reputations right now. They're basically league-average fowards until they get out of their funk, and if the finishers can't finish it's like the PG doesn't even have arms. The ceiling for the Knicks is really high, but until Melo and Amar'e seriously punish teams for focusing on Lin, it'll continue to happen.

FreakinB: From a guy who's been playing for 2 weeks, you take it. Especially considering the fact that the Knicks actually move the ball now.

Not to mention that he likes to drive into the paint while keeping his dribble alive. That will always lead to some turnovers but it also opens up all sorts of scoring threats. There were games where Linsanity took care of the ball, and it seemed to slow everyone down. One key is that the Heat were able to force him to do it, and that took away a lot of his options.

I hope he doesn't abandon what's been working for him. He does need to cut down on the turnovers somewhat, but I'd rather not see that result from excessive caution. I think a better ceiling for Linsanity would be to still get about 4 turnovers a game but get more assists and high-percentage shots out of them, a la Steve Nash in 2006-7 (.532 FG%, 18.6ppg, 11.6apg, 3.8to).

IAmRight: I actually feel bad for Melo,

The guy is a grade a douche who orders steak well done, no reason to feel bad for him. None.

Gunny Highway: I think they are going to crush people. The Thunder may be able to run with them so they can hang. The Bulls may run into the same problem as last year; Rose gets D'ed up and the offense goes to shiat

I still want to see what the Bulls look like with Hamilton healthy and starting. Having an actual option who isn't guarded by LeBron or Wade could make a pretty big difference.

jst3p: IAmRight: I actually feel bad for Melo,

The guy is a grade a douche who orders steak well done, no reason to feel bad for him. None.

I thought it was Lebron who orders steak well done. Melo does it too?

Come on, people! Don't you have someone in your entourage to tell you how to order steak so as not to look like a fool? If you don't want medium (medium-well if you must) order the lobster or pork.

thats your slant on things
nip this thing in the bud
cant drive to the hoop
chink in the armour
zipper down the defense
smarr peener
r's instead of l's

zOMG IM SO CLEVAR!!!!

/ oblig
// end thread

The Great EZE: I thought it was Lebron who orders steak well done. Melo does it too?

I think it's one of "those" things.

/that's raycess

Yanks_RSJ: IAmRight: This. If the Knicks put in their decent defenders, then they will have no offense. If they want to score, then Rose is going to be able to score on every possession if he wants to.

Yep. Plus, Deng and Korver Hot Sauce are averaging a combined 24 PPG. They'd probably get 35 per game against the Knicks with all the open corner threes they'd get.

FTFY.

Back to Lin. I liken him to the rookie baseball player who comes up and in his first 20 or so games he is tearing the cover off the ball because none of the pitchers know him or how to pitch to him. When the pitchers figure him out and start pitching to his weaknesses he has to be able to adjust or fail. Unfortunately this is when most rookies fail and slip back into obscurity. This is what I see happening to Lin. His first few game teams didn't know him or respect him so they didn't play too tight of defense on him and he was able to scorch them. So then after he got a little notoriety teams still didn't play very tight on him because they figured he had a hot hand and wouldn't keep it up, he still scorch them. So now teams are going to start running defense at him like they would with some of the other top point guards, if he can recognize what they are doing and adjust he will be good. Otherwise he will fall back into obscurity and just be another flash in the pan.

MugzyBrown: FreakinB: But he played really well against the Mavs and they're about as good as the Heat on defense. Plus you'll deal with 6 turnovers if it comes with 12-13 assists, as it has a couple of times.

Umm no you don't take 6 TOs with 12 Assists. That's bad for a point guard.

13 Assists and 6 Turns would put him about 31st in the league.

Somebody playing great has an assist/turn at 3-4, not 2.

I'd suggest you look at the top 10 assist guys stats again. 2+ is good, 3+ is amazing.

though i do enjoy hypocritical lin fans

HE'S SO GREAT
--but he's been playing for only two weeks...
SHUT UP ITS ENOUGH TO PROVE HE'S GREAT
--well hes had really a huge number of turnovers...
HE'S ONLY BEEN PLAYING FOR TWO WEEKS GIVE HIM TIME...
-- but you just said it was enough to..
SHUT UP ARE YOU RACIST?

IAmRight: let's also remember that they probably win a lot of those games anyway. They've played a lot of crappy teams in that stretch - the only real feather in the cap was the Mavs win.

Don't re-invent reality; they WERE the crappy team prior to Linsanity's emergence. As FreakinB pointed out, they were losing to everybody. At the time of the now-legendary Nets game Knicks fans had zero confidence they could beat ANYONE in the league. Granted they probably can't beat the Heat by any way right now but gosh, how much do you expect a single player to do? Taking a team that was getting blown out by the Nets into one that's expected to beat the hottest team in the NBA is a bit much to ask of any single player, much less one that was days away from being cut.

Also bear in mind that Melo and Amar'e are in serious funks right now. The Lakers aren't nearly as good as they used to be, but they're still a winning team and Linsanity basically beat them single-handedly. I mean, for fark's sake Bill effin' Walker was their starting small forward. Sans the media hype their starting lineup was basically a bunch of rookies and reserves and you're seriously arguing they should've beaten the Lakers?