I think this is a key point, at least with Lin. When we talk of a player making others better, what do we mean? It isn't clear but I think raising the whole teams energy, emotion, game, motivation, etc. is a big part of it. Lin caused the team to rise to another level. I don't want to come off as anti-Melo, as I like the guy to a point. But I wouldn't say he does what Lin does to the team, at least not in the same capacity of "team". Yeah, Melo can carry a team and occasionally make great passes. Sort of like Stat can carry a team if he is on as well. But night in and night out, only a few players cause those around them's game to rise up, instead of sitting there and watching.
So, Lin might have had some poorer numbers against better teams, but if we are winning, what does that tell you? What does it tell you if a player puts up great numbers but the team loses? I will choose the former, every time, as it is a team game. And related, Lin had that knee bothering him sometime after the Dallas game. You could see it in his play. So, in large part to base an argument on a poor shooting % when the player was not only clearly playing hurt but also thrown into a situation and clearly taxed from waaaay too many minutes minutes, is just missing the point and what the player in Lin, brought.
exactly, I look at what lin did for guys like jeffries and chandler and novak especially and I am like, OK, this is the kind of guy that guys play for....
during the win streak, we saw the emergence of guys like novak, fields and chandler were living in lob city.... we got production from walker, shump was able to be a factor on offense, and jared jeffries actually looked like a competent offensive ball player... it seemed as if lin inspired great play from his teamates and this is the type of guy you want to hold onto...
so when I see stats like lin shot .34% vs teams over .500 I want to know is did they win or lose? better yet, lets look at that for a minute.. lin had 3 bad shooting games verses above .500 teams, one was vs the sixers, the mavs( a team he destroyed the week before) and the horrible 1-11 game vs the heat, I am sure if you take out that horrible miami game, it changes things dramatically.
but I would also like to touch on this point, and this is not to compare him to the great jason kidd, but it is worth noting... Kidd came to the nets in 2001-2002, the nets went from 26 wins the year before to 52 wins and the nba finals the very year kidd joined.. talk about impact.. this is what i want to see from a player you give up the farm for!! here were kidds stats thatyear... 14ppg/10assists/ 7boards and 3.5 turnovers a game... he shot 39% from the floor and 32% from 3 point land.. not even 40% from the floor.. Yet he was one of the best players in the league he finished second that year, and it was close, to Duncan in MVP votes....
Winning matters!!!!! leading men matters!!! results matter!!! lin showed flashes of that "it" factor.. guys were willing to run through walls for kidd... lin had jeffries, novak, shumpert,chandler, fields playing that same way!
telling me you are the best pure scorer in the league and never won a scoring title is laughable, and yes, I don't like carmelo and it just boils my blood he is on our team and came to our team in the fashion he did... Listen, melo is a very good allstar player who when on a streak can score the ball as well as anyone... but for me, that is where it stops.. as a BALL PLAYER, he leaves little to be desired, as a person, I think he is a creep...
sorry for being long winded.. LOL
Anyone who sits around and waits for the lottery to better themselves, either in real life or in sports, Is a Loser...............
TKF
) that we have to move on, somehow. 
9/12/2012 12:37 PM
