Jeremy Lin
Joe Blow
guy.
Highlights look pretty impressive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVVzGm8SbOM&NR=1
Owning John Wall? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvkXmMcGfLo
VicXnews
news:0194c8c2-314c-4042...@x18g2000pro.googlegroups.com:
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/07/16/lin.andrews/index.html
Harvard's Lin testing out his basketbal IQ in Las Vegas
By Adena Andrews, NBA.com
Posted Jul 17 2010 1:29AM
LAS VEGAS -- Can't get an athletic scholarship to the Division I school
of your choice? Try the next best thing. Try enrolling at a little school
called Harvard University.
It's not the conventional route. But that's what hoops prodigy Jeremy Lin
decided to do.
After four years of matching wits and jump shots in the Ivy League, Lin
is now balling under the bright lights of the NBA Summer League in Las
Vegas for the Dallas Mavericks .
"It's great to get out here and play five on five. It's been a while,"
Lin said after a recent game in Vegas. "Obviously there is a lot of high-
level athletes. Overall, it's a fun experience"
Lin, captain of the California Division II state champs at Palo Alto High
School, was a shoo-in for the state's player of the year. He was first-
team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year.
Yet he received no Division I scholarship offers upon graduation.
So Lin went to his fallback plan and enrolled at Harvard. It wasn't his
crossover that scored him a spot in the Ivy League. It was his IQ. The
nation's oldest university does not offer athletic scholarships.
Lin, who averaged 16 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game as a
senior point guard for the Crimson last season, was voted All-Ivy League
First Team twice, was a finalist for the John Wooden and Bob Cousy awards
and also received an invite to the Portsmouth Invitational. The most
important accolades he left Harvard with were a 4.2 GPA and a degree in
Economics.
In his what seems like his non-existent spare time, Lin also was editor
of the school newspaper and interned for a California senator.
"The disadvantages [to playing at Harvard] -- no disrespect to the Ivy
League, but it's not like playing in a bigger conference like the ACC,
but the advantage is you play a disciplined game and you can't be one
step late," he said.
Lin's already impressed some important people around the league.
"He is deceptively quick, a sharp shooter and he's got a great basketball
IQ," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said, "I haven't administered any test or
talked in depth with him to test his other IQ."
Said Lin: "Being able to see defenses and rotate and see where the holes
are, that's going to take some adjustment. Overall, I try to outthink the
other team."
Lin, whose parents are from Taiwan, also stands to be the first Asian-
American in the NBA.
"I've been blessed by God to be in this opportunity," said Lin, signed
by the Mavericks after going undrafted in June. "I'm trying not to think
about it, to be honest. Because right now I'm in the process of trying to
make it. But being able to play in the Summer League, the college
situation, everything turned out perfectly. I'm just enjoying the ride."
Donald Lee, an Asian-American basketball coach near Lin's hometown in the
Bay Area said, "It's great to have players like Yao and Yi Jianlian, but
they are born in China and don't relate to the issues Asian-Americans
face day to day. As someone who is heavily involved in Asian-American
basketball communities, I think Jeremy will inspire more players to try
to be like him in the future."
At Harvard, all was not perfect. Lin dealt with racial slurs and plenty
of heckling from what is supposed to be the nations brightest in Ivy
League gyms. At Summer League he accidentally hit a player and a fan
yelled "He went ninja on him."
Still, Lin hasn't let the pressures of being undrafted, Asian-American or
the resident nerd on the team affect his play at Summer League. The
scrappy guard put up 12 points and two assists in his first Summer League
game and attacks the basket every chance he gets. Lin thrives on contact
and seemed at ease as he called plays with cotton up his nose from a
bloody play in the third day in Vegas.
"I'm just trying to play my game, just trying to showcase it," Lin said.
"Trying to be a playmaker, and that's not always scoring. It's other
little things"
Lins' goal is to land on someone's roster, and rumblings around gyms in
Vegas say Lin should have no problem finding a spot in the league. But
Lin has heard the "you're a shoo-in kid" speech before. He plays each
game as if he doesn't have a degree from Harvard to fall back on, if
needed.
He excelled in the classroom. An NBA court is next
$Bill
> According to ESPN, the Lakers are one of the teams interested in this
> guy.
>
> Highlights look pretty impressive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVVzGm8SbOM&NR=1
Pretty crafty looking guard. I especially like the play where
he's going left and after the picker leaves and turns his back,
he reverses and follows the picker right to the basket.
> Owning John Wall? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvkXmMcGfLo
Plays pretty good in traffic too. Al would like him. :)
Gary Collard
hE IS SUPPOSED TO GO TO CAMP WITH dALLAS, AND IS GIVEN A PRETTY GOOD
SHOT TO MAKE THE TEAM (dammit caps lock). Hard to see LA carrying 6
guards on a 13 man roster anyway, so he a huge longshot to end up there.
--
Gary Collard
SABR-L Moderator
gmcollard at yahoo dot com
http://twitter.com/LakerGMC
http://sarcastipundit.blogspot.com/
"It was a good idea to get science and democracy from the ancient
Greeks. It’s not such a good idea to get fiscal policy from the
modern Greeks." -- David Boaz
$Bill
> On 7/17/2010 4:27 AM, Joe Blow wrote:
>> According to ESPN, the Lakers are one of the teams interested in this
>> guy.
>>
>> Highlights look pretty impressive.
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVVzGm8SbOM&NR=1
>>
>> Owning John Wall? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvkXmMcGfLo
>
> hE IS SUPPOSED TO GO TO CAMP WITH dALLAS, AND IS GIVEN A PRETTY GOOD
> SHOT TO MAKE THE TEAM (dammit caps lock). Hard to see LA carrying 6
> guards on a 13 man roster anyway, so he a huge longshot to end up there.
You're assuming they re-sign Brown.
Gary Collard
If not they have to re-sign somebody else. Lin would be a 6th guard
(read: D-leaguer) in any case.
$Bill
> On 7/17/2010 3:26 PM, $Bill wrote:
>>
>> You're assuming they re-sign Brown.
>
> If not they have to re-sign somebody else. Lin would be a 6th guard
> (read: D-leaguer) in any case.
You mean sign since there would be nobody left to re-sign.