Boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr., made a stupid tweet claiming that Lin is getting all this attention because he's Asian. Mayweather is an ass. Lin is getting all this attention because he's showing heart and making the Knicks fun to watch again. Maybe it will be shortlived, but for the time being Lin deserves all the praise he's getting, no matter what his ethnicity.
Culinary Adventures on Valentine's Day
In case you think I only had thoughts of sports on this "Hallmark Holiday," I sent flowers to my wife and decided to cook dinner. We survived!
They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so I figured maybe it works for women too. Tuesday night I cooked a recipe from the Food Network Magazine with a few ingredient substitutions -- Indian Chicken Wrap and Sweet-and-Sour Carrots.
It should be noted that I have no culinary skills whatsoever. I took a cooking class and all I remember is how to carve an avocado. So I decided last week to try a little harder. I previously made Saucy Beef and Broccoli. What's next on Nick's Culinary Hit Parade?
Happy Va-LIN-tine's Day to all!
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KC Redding-Gonzalez
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Comments
Ichiro is still one of the most incredible players to hit baseball in many years.
The Jeremy Lin story is still an incredible (though, short-lived...) story in the NBA.
BUT - he's gonna start to see a lot of double-teaming when he has the ball now, and opposing coaches are going to key their defense on him while he will be getting none of the "superstar calls" that a Dwight Howard or a Lebron James gets when these people are mercilessly raping him every time he touches the ball.
If he's still shooting .500 and scoring 27 points a game after that, he's the real deal. If his numbers take a nose dive, he's an incredibly talented shooting guard out of the Ivy League who may be a bit mismatched at the NBA level...we'll see.
Still, the Knicks have won 10 games in which he has played and lost 5. In the 10 wins, he's averaged 27 minutes on the floor. In the 5 losses - 7 minutes.
That tells me he's probably the real deal. I hope so. It's a really great story if he is. It's pretty decent even if he isn't, though.
'Mello needs his touches and shots. Lin, at 9 assists per game the last 5 games, if I remember correctly, looks like he can probably transition fairly well from the 2 to the 1 spot, but he's gonna be like the point guards who played on the Jordan lead Bulls teams - a shooting guard put there unnaturally because of a superstar who already fills the 2 spot.
Jordan ended up playing point at the shooting guard spot, with the exception of bringing the dead balls up to half court. If that's a role that Mello can thrive in, and score his 25 points/game, should be cool. If not, it's gonna be choosin' time.
This kid seems to want the ball when the game is on the line, and it looks like he can make something happen in those situations. 'Mello is a great scorer, but he's never been a winner as long as I have followed him. Obviously it's too early to say that Lin is, but a few more buzzer beaters where he's calling for the ball in the final seconds, especially if defenses know he's gonna get the ball, a la Jordan, Malone, Barkley, Payton, Howard, O'Neal, Bryant, etc, and he can still score, screw 'Mello. Go with the new kid.
Anyone can score 30 points per game (if they're already good enough to be in the NBA) when they get 25 shots per game. Only certain, special individuals can consistently win games when those games are teetering between win and loss. If Lin is one of those players (and, I'm not saying he is, but he might be), and you don't hold on to him for dear life as a franchise, then you deserve the historically crappy team you own, and the one the Knicks personify.