• Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Linball

I watched the Bulls-Knicks game the other night pretty closely, and I still can't tell how good Lin is or is not. He had an impressive block of Rose at one point. On the other hand, Rose just ate his lunch most of the evening. Clearly went at him.

Now, granted, this is probably the best point guard in the league. But it is notable that he thought he could abuse Lin to the degree he did. On the other hand, he's only a handful of games removed from a 13-assist, 1-turnover performance. And he keeps scoring in the 15-20 range. So I don't know.

They were on him a lot on Chicago sports radio - and Chicago sports radio typically isn't the meatball fest that other cities roll out - for not being able to go to his left. They raised a good point: If you are working as hard as he had to in order to earn a place in the league, and there is no question he did so, wouldn't being able to use both hands be way up on your point guard checklist? Weird.
 
Really this explains better than anything why I don't watch the NBA anymore. Whether it's Carmelo Anthony or Tracy McGrady or whoever, there's a guy who is thought to be "The Key" because he makes the most money or is considered the biggest star, and teams go on and on this way for years and years because the guy is SUPPOSED to lead them to greatness. I can't even begin to understand the evaluation methods teams use. But every time anyone wonders about that, the stock answer is "because that isn't how the NBA works" and everyone within the NBA just kind of goes along with that.
 
LongTimeListener said:
Really this explains better than anything why I don't watch the NBA anymore. Whether it's Carmelo Anthony or Tracy McGrady or whoever, there's a guy who is thought to be "The Key" because he makes the most money or is considered the biggest star, and teams go on and on this way for years and years because the guy is SUPPOSED to lead them to greatness. I can't even begin to understand the evaluation methods teams use. But every time anyone wonders about that, the stock answer is "because that isn't how the NBA works" and everyone within the NBA just kind of goes along with that.
Click to expand...

53_lebron_jameslarge_image-1.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Granted, it was a weak stretch in the schedule.

But the Knicks were winning with a lineup of Bill Walker, Jared Jeffries, Tyson Chandler, Landry Fields and Jeremy Lin, with Steve Novak and Iman Shumpert coming off the bench. I mean, it tangibly demonstrated how easy it is to win in the NBA with just about any competent talent, if you move the ball, keep your head up, set picks, etc.

Then Stoudemire came back and they won a few more games, because he is pretty well suited to pick and roll basketball and actually thrives in that kind of game -- it worked fairly well with Steve Nash.

Carmelo Anthony comes back (and they had added J.R. Smith a game before) and since then they are 3-8, including the win a few days ago against Portland, which is playing like a D-III women's basketball team. I thought it was kind of laughable when Anthony was about to come back and people were questioning if he would actually make the team worse, but how laughable is it in hindsight?

So, with that picture in your rear view mirror. ... of course the solution is to marginalize the guy who correlated with the team actually winning games, and put in 5 plays that isolate the guy who correlates with the team losing games, or as option 2, put Stoudemire in the post, where he is much less effective than he was playing pick and roll.

It's so idiotic it just about defies belief. I mean how do you think you are going to sell that dogshirt to the fans and celebrities who had actually gotten energized and were showing back up for the games?
 
For the last few years, I have been told constantly that it is a "star league," and that you "win with superstars."

Between the Miami Smoke Machine and the Knicks, along with watching the Bulls win some nights with five guys from my high school's team, I am starting to wonder how true that really is.
 
Speaking of celebrities ... you know what would make for good reading? Spike Lee's thoughts on the matter. He was the most Linsane of anyone.
 
deck Whitman said:
For the last few years, I have been told constantly that it is a "star league," and that you "win with superstars."

Between the Miami Smoke Machine and the Knicks, along with watching the Bulls win some nights with five guys from my high school's team, I am starting to wonder how true that really is.
Click to expand...
When is the last time a team has won a championship without a superstar? Miami has been together one year, it's a little early to say it's not going to work.
 
JC said:
deck Whitman said:
For the last few years, I have been told constantly that it is a "star league," and that you "win with superstars."

Between the Miami Smoke Machine and the Knicks, along with watching the Bulls win some nights with five guys from my high school's team, I am starting to wonder how true that really is.
Click to expand...
When is the last time a team has won a championship without a superstar?
Click to expand...

The answer is the Pistons.

I guess what I mean is multiple superstars. I don't know that you can just play fantasy basketball with your roster and expect to win titles. The Lakers did it with Kobe and Shaq, so it's not like it absolutely can't be done. But I think that roster balance and chemistry is/was undervalued.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top