While Knicks struggle, back-up Jeremy Lin messes around and gets a triple-double in the D-League

The New York Knicks have been dealing with quite a few issues this season, some of which are related to injury, but it was succinctly summed up on Friday night when Knicks blog Posting and Toasting wrote that they would “rather eat a cactus than watch these Knicks.” If fans aren’t quite ready to start eating desert plantlife, the intermediary between the two is probably tuning in to watch the Knicks’ NBA Development League affiliate Erie BayHawks play. And, if and when that happens, the New York faithful might be treated to some surprising performances a la the one back-up point guard Jeremy Lin turned in on Friday night.

The Asian-American Lin has shown in limited minutes this season that he probably isn’t the answer to the problems at the point guard position for the Knicks — and there are problems, Iman Shumpert fans — but that doesn’t mean the 23-year-old Harvard grad doesn’t have potential to someday be a rotational player at Madison Square Garden. In fact, Lin may have shown off a bit of that potential while making his Erie BayHawks debut on Friday night.

Lin messed around and got a triple-double while helping lead the Knicks-operated BayHawks to a victory over Morris Almond and the Maine Red Claws. The Knicks guard, on assignment with fellow end-of-the-bench Knickerbocker Jerome Jordan, played took full advantage of his 44 minutes and 22 seconds of playing time by scoring 28 points to go along with 12 assists and 11 rebounds in the 122-113 victory.

It wasn’t the stiffest competition, as most are wont to point out as soon as they see mention of the D-League, but consider the level of play around the D-League this season: the team Lin was facing, the Maine Red Claws, cut former 20-point-per-game-in-the-NBA scorer Ricky Davis earlier in the day after the 32-year-old averaged just eight points on 39 percent shooting through the first 11 games of his comeback season; Lin’s triple-double came on the same night that Sacramento Kings assignee struggled to a five-point, two-assist effort off the bench for the Reno Bighorns; and Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey recently said the talent of play in the D-League is the highest he’s ever witnessed.

Anyway, now that it’s clear that Lin isn’t going to put up a triple-double for the Knicks anytime soon and that he also wasn’t playing against the level of competition that I play with at the Bismarck YMCA, there are some bright spots that could come into play once Lin is called back up to the Knicks.

Jeremy Lin is better than Mike Bibby. This isn’t going out on much of a limb, but there has to be an advanced statistic available to prove that it’s true. Bibby is small, doesn’t rebound and has lost his shooting touch (the veteran point guard is shooting less than 40 percent from the field this season). If nothing else, the allure of potential being cooler than reality should be worth playing Lin over Bibby … right?

Lin’s out to prove that he’s more than a marketing tool. There was quite an uproar last season when Lin, an undrafted free agent, was given guaranteed money by the Golden State Warriors last season largely because he out-dueled John Wall in a Summer League game (and it didn’t hurt the marketing department that he had the large Asian-American population in the Bay Area hanging on his every move). The second-year pro was unable to stick with the Warriors out of training camp this season, however, and is now looking to prove that he has the game to back up the hype that surrounded him last season.

The kid can play. He was matched up against a vastly undersized Jerome Randle on Friday night, sure, but Randle was a prospect the experts at Draft Express fawned over prior to the 2010 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Lin showed a quicker first step than his looks would indicate and an understanding of how to run the pick-and-roll (he and Jordan ran it beautifully a few times Friday night) on his way to the triple-double. He seems to have room for development, too, considering his basketball IQ and age are both acting in his favor.

If Lin’s able to keep building his confidence on Sunday afternoon — Maine moved the game from 5 p.m. to noon to avoid any conflicts with the New England Patriots’ playoff game, apparently — it would seem that the second-year pro deserves another shot at Mike D’Antoni’s rotation. Considering the Knicks are riding a five-game losing streak and have their fans wanting to eat cacti, it couldn’t hurt to infuse a bit of new blood — even if it is only to decide whether Lin is stuck right in the middle of ‘too good for the D-League but not good enough for the NBA’ or whether there’s actually a bit of ridiculous upside in his future.

martin wrote:Bocker, I only caught 1st quarter. What's your take on what the 2 guys have to clean up before heading back to Knicks land?

I really think that Lin is ready. He just needs a chance. I like how he pushed the ball and its not just his passing. He sets up his teammates really well. His penetration is key. He has a change of pace that lets him get by defenders. He is the anti-Reezy in that he dribbles with his head up all the time. He also never picks up his dribble. He should have gotten over 20+ assists if his teammates did not miss open shots, I mean uncontested 10-15 footers. He has a nice stroke and can hit from 3 land. Lin is not afraid of contact. He rebounds really well in that he gets all long rebounds and cleans up the defensive board when the bigs box out. Did I mention that he LOVES to push the ball and his passing ability is very good. His defense is also very good. He does not SWITCH! He fights through screens and is long enough to bother shooters. He likes blocking post up players ala Michael Jordan from behind. I counted 3 times he tried to do this. In one of the games he played for the Knicks, I remember him doing this as well. His man-to-man defense is very good. He keeps in front of his man and contests every shot. His help defense is very good and he recovers to the right man when his teammates rotate to his man.

The bad...I only see one flaw. He needs to get stronger. His strength is enough as a rotation player but he will need to get a lot stronger if he wants to start. A couple of times he ended up on the floor when he got bumped. I would also like a better %age in the FT line.

The most impressive part is not the domination in the 1st half but in the 2nd half when the other team obviously game planned to take him off his game. He had 5 assists in the 1st half and he ended with 12. Lin made the other team pay when they collapsed on him. He did not force anything and is really VERY VERY good in setting up his teammates. The other team even switched defenders and used Morris Almond on him in the 2nd half.

I see Lin as Rubio Light and can be his equal when he gets stronger.

Jerome Jordan looked really good in the PnR. He knew when to roll and his hands are very good. He catches everything, granted that Lin was hitting him in his hands but still it was impressive. He occasionally boxes out and just tries to out jump other players but he is an active rebounder. His shooting form looks good, kinda reminds me of Medical Bill, but he was not hitting his mid-range Js. Jerome really got most of his points from Lin. I see him having problems with the likes of DHoward and Eddy Curry type players but will do well against KG type players. Jerome needs to work on boxing out and strength but I think he is a keeper. Can't teach height.

MaTT4281 wrote:I watched the wrong ****ing game...

Hahahaha, and you noticed this after it was over?

Lin did well, but I see that many here are taking this to mean that he can contribute something for the Knicks, and this is understandable given our point guard situation, where I think it's more to do with the Weak-Sauce status of the DL.

Not to say that Lin couldn't drop some dimes, but we should be careful.

NYKBocker wrote:

martin wrote:Bocker, I only caught 1st quarter. What's your take on what the 2 guys have to clean up before heading back to Knicks land?

I really think that Lin is ready. He just needs a chance. I like how he pushed the ball and its not just his passing. He sets up his teammates really well. His penetration is key. He has a change of pace that lets him get by defenders. He is the anti-Reezy in that he dribbles with his head up all the time. He also never picks up his dribble. He should have gotten over 20+ assists if his teammates did not miss open shots, I mean uncontested 10-15 footers. He has a nice stroke and can hit from 3 land. Lin is not afraid of contact. He rebounds really well in that he gets all long rebounds and cleans up the defensive board when the bigs box out. Did I mention that he LOVES to push the ball and his passing ability is very good. His defense is also very good. He does not SWITCH! He fights through screens and is long enough to bother shooters. He likes blocking post up players ala Michael Jordan from behind. I counted 3 times he tried to do this. In one of the games he played for the Knicks, I remember him doing this as well. His man-to-man defense is very good. He keeps in front of his man and contests every shot. His help defense is very good and he recovers to the right man when his teammates rotate to his man.

The bad...I only see one flaw. He needs to get stronger. His strength is enough as a rotation player but he will need to get a lot stronger if he wants to start. A couple of times he ended up on the floor when he got bumped. I would also like a better %age in the FT line.

The most impressive part is not the domination in the 1st half but in the 2nd half when the other team obviously game planned to take him off his game. He had 5 assists in the 1st half and he ended with 12. Lin made the other team pay when they collapsed on him. He did not force anything and is really VERY VERY good in setting up his teammates. The other team even switched defenders and used Morris Almond on him in the 2nd half.

I see Lin as Rubio Light and can be his equal when he gets stronger.

Jerome Jordan looked really good in the PnR. He knew when to roll and his hands are very good. He catches everything, granted that Lin was hitting him in his hands but still it was impressive. He occasionally boxes out and just tries to out jump other players but he is an active rebounder. His shooting form looks good, kinda reminds me of Medical Bill, but he was not hitting his mid-range Js. Jerome really got most of his points from Lin. I see him having problems with the likes of DHoward and Eddy Curry type players but will do well against KG type players. Jerome needs to work on boxing out and strength but I think he is a keeper. Can't teach height.

good stuff, thanks. I can see where the strength thing will come into play for both guys. interesting that you see Lin as a very good defender, I didn't come away with that impression when I watched, but it was sporadic minutes.

NYKBocker wrote:

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:D-League Allstars are NBA scrubs.

Word. The numbers don't translate.

You guys are too closed minded. So basically unless you were drafted high and came from a good basketball school you don't have what it takes?

Not at all.

I am just not going to get very excited about a strong NBADL performance. It just doesn't translate.

I will absolutely continue to root for Lin and hope he can drop some numbers on an NBA squad, but there is a reason he couldn't get significant burn in the NBA yet, and this reason is not that Mike D'Antoni is a dumb tyrant.