Seth Rosenthal Brings The Word
The New York Post Was Dead Wrong About Woodson Burying Jeremy
BRIGGS wrote:Lin played one heckuva good game yesterday--he was flying around on defense and played a very efficient calm cool collected offensive game all the while spilling a good amount of blood that would send most people out of a game. This guy is real good.
And that's a pretty nice summary of where we are right now. Woodson, lo and behold, hasn't really directed the action away from Lin. He's getting Lin the ball in some different settings — most notably in catch-and-shoot situations from baseline inbound plays — but still running plenty of pick-and-roll and encouraging Lin to create in transition. It's only been four games — two of which were so lopsided that Lin and the rest of the starters played reserve-level minutes — but Lin has looked sharp as ever. Better, even. He's relying less on pull-up outside shots, reducing his turnovers, and participating in the team-wide surge of defensive effort. His numbers, meanwhile, still compare to those of of top-flight young point guards.
So, "Linsanity" may have duly perished, but Jeremy Lin appears to be alive and well. Instead of Lin being a D'Antoni-ball product and Woodson being a fun-squashing, point guard-stopper, it's looked so far like Lin is a pretty good basketball player and Woodson a pretty good coach. They're making each other look good, the Knicks are playing great basketball, and nobody particularly cares. It's kind of wonderful, really.
The fact that Woodson is slowing things down just a tad makes Iman Shumpert a better fit at lead guard. Until the earthly remains of Mike Bibby can make a jump shot, look for Shumpert and JR Smith in the backcourt, with Novak, Jeffries and a player to be named later with Mobb Deep.
Somebody get Jeremy Lin a cut man.
