1176 replies to this topic

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

Carmelo, not surprisingly, has seen his DWS improve this year with Tyson Chandler (and despite the fact he was playing through a series of injuries that also adversely impacted his offensive before he recently got hurt badly enough that he had to sit out).

In 22 games, he has .9 DWS. Extrapolated over an 82 game season, that's 3.35 DWS. To account for the sample size, extrapolated over 77 games, its 3.15--an improvement over his best defensive year when he played with a healthy Camby and Kenyon Martin (79 and 71 GP, respectively). Similarly, Amare's numbers are improving as well.

It seems easy to reason that playing with Chandler and Howard would improve Carmelo's defense by this selected metric.

[jon abbey]

Oh and JR Smith going to Knicks is reality?

With Billups down, what are the chances he does not end up with the Clippers?

Both teams are pushing for him hard, I'd also pick the Clippers if I were him, but he is a Jersey boy.

[TomRicardo]

Both teams are pushing for him hard, I'd also pick the Clippers if I were him, but he is a Jersey boy.

Wonder if Melo will let JR drive his car again?

Edited by TomRicardo, 14 February 2012 - 02:15 PM.

[amlothi]

Lin has the perfect name for NY Post headline puns

I agree with you. I'm just disappointed by your examples.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Point Guard
Puttin the MSG Back in the Garden

With all of the possibilities, I'm not sure why these two were included. They have nothing to do with his name, and would work for anyone who wanted to highlight a Chinese or Chinese-American player.

In addition, puns involving Nintendo and ninjas aren't that good, in my opinion, since the you'd have to go via some convoluted route to try to link Lin to anything Japanese. (For example, Lin, who was born in California, comes from a Taiwanese family. Taiwan used to be controlled by Japan.)

There's the potential for much more creativity here without needing to go with generic racial references or simply finding words that rhyme with Lin (too many).

Isn't this all a short lived Lin-fatuation anyway?

[johnmd20]

With all of the possibilities, I'm not sure why these two were included. They have nothing to do with his name, and would work for anyone who wanted to highlight a Chinese or Chinese-American player.

True, there are so many Chinese-American players lighting up the NBA right now, I can see how it would be a confusing headline.

[bowiac]

Carmelo, not surprisingly, has seen his DWS improve this year with Tyson Chandler (and despite the fact he was playing through a series of injuries that also adversely impacted his offensive before he recently got hurt badly enough that he had to sit out).

How are DWS calculated? The basketball-reference DWS glossary was not super helpful in this regard, just referring me to Dean Oliver's defensive ratings. Is it tracking individual matchups, or is it just a composite based on team defensive performance while said player is on the court?

[singaporesoxfan]

I agree with you. I'm just disappointed by your examples.



With all of the possibilities, I'm not sure why these two were included. They have nothing to do with his name, and would work for anyone who wanted to highlight a Chinese or Chinese-American player.

In addition, puns involving Nintendo and ninjas aren't that good, in my opinion, since the you'd have to go via some convoluted route to try to link Lin to anything Japanese. (For example, Lin, who was born in California, comes from a Taiwanese family. Taiwan used to be controlled by Japan.)

There's the potential for much more creativity here without needing to go with generic racial references or simply finding words that rhyme with Lin (too many).

Isn't this all a short lived Lin-fatuation anyway?

You know, I've heard the Super Lintendo pun for over a week and it never once occurred to me that it had anything to do with ethnicity, as opposed to him being able to jump and run like a moustachioed Italian plumber on a quest to save a princess.

[BigSoxFan]

Lin has done the impossible - he's made a team with Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony likeable. What a story.

[jon abbey]

Lin was getting toasted in the first half in Toronto tonight, turning the ball over repeatedly with Calderon using him like a turnstile. But he hung in, D'Antoni switched Shumpert onto Calderon and let Lin (attempt to) guard Barbosa, and NY pulled off another miracle comeback on the road, capped by a Lin 3 to win it with .5 left. Unbelievable, fuck a SI cover curse.

[JBill]

ESPN Lakers beat guy:

The Lakers' players lounge just erupted when Lin hit that big 3. World Peace emerged and ran through the locker room yelling 'Linsanity!!'

https://mobile.twitt...611728756289536

[singaporesoxfan]

Va-Lin-Time is my guess for the NY Post headline

[jon abbey]

Va-Lin-Time is my guess for the NY Post headline

No, they kind of used that today already: VaLINtine's Gift, referring to Amar'e coming back.

I'll guess Lin-gendary!

[The Social Chair]

If it ends tomorrow it will still be one hell of a story,

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

Didn't get to see the game, but the live blog makes it sounds outrageous.

What about "Linsurmountable!"

[Infield Infidel]

136 - Most points in first five starts
30 - Most turnovers in first five starts

[dolomite133]

I agree with you. I'm just disappointed by your examples.

I agree that the Crouching Tiger reference is a clunker. But the word play in the second reference, putting a double meaning to MSG, is pretty good. I've never heard that one before.

[jon abbey]

Three steals in the last 3:09 for Shumpert, very impressive:

[Royal Reader]

People only like him because of his religion. He'll never make it as a Quarterback in the NFL.

[CoRP]

No, they kind of used that today already: VaLINtine's Gift, referring to Amar'e coming back.

I'll guess Lin-gendary!

Me love you Lin time.

[jon abbey]

The Post went with Lin on both covers, the back one is pretty funny:

[TomRicardo]

Lin has done the impossible - he's made a team with Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony likeable. What a story.

Hey now, Carmelo hasn't been around.

[TomRicardo]

136 - Most points in first five starts
30 - Most turnovers in first five starts

A lot of the TO he is getting is trying to run the pick and roll with Chandler. Chandler has stone cold hands if they are not above his hand. I have absolutely no clue why Amare spent time on the court last night because he clearly wasn't 100%.

[bosockboy]

That was a straight up Jimmy Chitwood isolation. The NBA needs this....love or hate the Knicks. This kid single-handedly has people talking about the NBA.

[jon abbey]

So while Lin is the obvious mega-story, the reason NY has been able to come back late on the road the last two games is their strong defense down the stretch. MIN only scored 11 points in the 4th the previous games, and TOR only got 12 last night.

Last night, TOR had six possessions from 3:09 remaining until Lin tied it on the 3 point play at 1:05 and couldn’t even get a shot off the rim:

3 steals by Shumpert
2 blocks by Chandler
1 where Kleiza got a phantom foul call (the replay showed that he was literally not touched but stumbled on his own) and hit 1 of 2 FTs

[Worst Trade Evah]

Me love you Lin time.

Held up by an Asian woman? Hot!

I'm not a big basketball guy obviously but what a great story. The look back over to D'Antoni who just waves and apparently says go for it was pretty neat.

One thing I don't get though -- he hit the shot with 0.5 seconds left. At that point, a whole bunch of people came on the court, including a bunch of Knicks bench players, coaches or whatever. Couldn't they have been given a technical or something? The game wasn't over. Why were they on the court? Is that allowed?

Edited by Worst Trade Evah, 15 February 2012 - 10:54 AM.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

So while Lin is the obvious mega-story, the reason NY has been able to come back late on the road the last two games is their strong defense down the stretch. MIN only scored 11 points in the 4th the previous games, and TOR only got 12 last night.

Last night, TOR had six possessions from 3:09 remaining until Lin tied it on the 3 point play at 1:05 and couldn’t even get a shot off the rim:

3 steals by Shumpert
2 blocks by Chandler
1 where Kleiza got a phantom foul call (the replay showed that he was literally not touched but stumbled on his own) and hit 1 of 2 FTs

Shumpert really is a fantastic defender. He reminds me a little bit of Tony Allen, though not quite as strong. He pressures the ball as well as anybody in the league and slashes well on the offensive end. If he ever develops a reliable jump shot, he's going to be a great player.

[jon abbey]

One thing I don't get though -- he hit the shot with 0.5 seconds left. At that point, a whole bunch of people came on the court, including a bunch of Knicks bench players, coaches or whatever. Couldn't they have been given a technical or something? The game wasn't over. Why were they on the court? Is that allowed?

TOR called an immediate timeout so they could get the ball at half court.

[jon abbey]

Shumpert really is a fantastic defender. He reminds me a little bit of Tony Allen, though not quite as strong. He pressures the ball as well as anybody in the league and slashes well on the offensive end. If he ever develops a reliable jump shot, he's going to be a great player.

Tony Allen is the benchmark I've been using also for his defensive play. Interestingly, someone just posted both their numbers so far this year, points allowed per play (from Synergy, a pay site), and Shumpert is outperforming Allen so far this year:

Shump / Tony Allen
Overall: 0.74 vs. 0.88
Iso: 0.53 vs. 0.71
PNR BH: 0.83 vs. 0.73
Post-up: 0.56 vs. 1.38
Spot-up: 0.78 vs. 1.04
Off-screen: 1.05 vs. 1.12
Handoff: 0.92 vs. 0.15 (Very small sample – 12 plays)

[BigSoxFan]

Shumpert really is a fantastic defender. He reminds me a little bit of Tony Allen, though not quite as strong. He pressures the ball as well as anybody in the league and slashes well on the offensive end. If he ever develops a reliable jump shot, he's going to be a great player.

Unfortunately, Celtics fans said the same thing about Tony Allen for years (re: jump shot). Regardless, Shumpert has a spot in this league because of his defense. A one-on-one game between Avery Bradley and Shumpert might take 2 hours to complete.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Unfortunately, Celtics fans said the same thing about Tony Allen for years (re: jump shot). Regardless, Shumpert has a spot in this league because of his defense. A one-on-one game between Avery Bradley and Shumpert might take 2 hours to complete.

Yeah, I'm certainly not holding my breath.

The odd thing about Shumpert though, is that it looks like he has decent form and a good touch, and he very rarely misses badly, he just misses very often. He also (most likely) leads the league is missed dunks. I think D'Antoni has been getting on him about it, and I expect him to stop trying to dunk in traffic as often, and hopefully that'll improve his shooting percentage around the rim. At the very least, he recognizes that he's not a good shooter yet, and has stopped shooting as often as he was early in the season.

[CoRP]

The Linsanity may soon be over. Guess who can't go to his left?



Camparison versus other top NBA PGs

[Royal Reader]

To be fair, being unable to go to your left is not an insurmountable obstacle in becoming an NY sports hero.

[RedOctober3829]

The Yellow Mamba

[lars10]

The Linsanity may soon be over. Guess who can't go to his left?



Camparison versus other top NBA PGs

I would say that if you gave Lin the same number of shots as Chris Paul that their charts would look very similar...He just doesn't have enough shots yet so there's obviously more shots on the right side.

[collings94]

Is anyone in sports, a bigger story then Jeremy Lin? The only guy that is as hot as him is Ndjokevic.

[collings94]

The Linsanity may soon be over. Guess who can't go to his left?



Camparison versus other top NBA PGs

Maybe, but you can't argue with his production. If they keep giving him the right and he's ripping guys apart, why should he go to the left? I like to think NBA scouts are smart enough to figure out that he doesn't go to the left, so chances are Toronto tried to force him left, but it just didn't work. Sometimes things that look like glaring weaknesses are not always so, hell, Rondo can't hit a shot outside 10 feet but that hasn't stopped him from being one of the leagues top PGs.

[TomRicardo]

I can draw a chart of where a gimpy Stoudamire loves to live. Want to guess where that chart would show?

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

Lin's distribution of shots is far, far down my list of concerns over the Knicks. What are they, you ask?

• Amare Stoudemire is not the same player offensively, and he's even worse defensively. He has no lift, and looks stiff as a board. Its unclear if all the added weight (muscle, to be fair) is impeding him, if its general deterioration, or if its his back. But this is not anywhere close to a max player right now, and its not a "system" or "fit" issue.
• Lin has bigger concerns than his predilection to go right--he'll wear down the way opponents are getting physical with him, especially at the minutes he's playing. Jose Calderon abused the guy last night. Thankfully, they had Shumpert to come in and lock him down, but that will be an issue moving forward against good 1's.
• Melo/Lin/STAT chemistry. If you need more information on this, I'm sure Skip Bayless is talking about it.
• Is Baron Davis ever playing? We could use him.
• Outside shooting from the backcourt. Lin is not a reliable spot up shooter yet, and neither are Fields or Shumpert.

Yeah, I generally have some concerns. Not to throw too much cold water on this thing...

[jon abbey]

Amare looked awesome against the Bulls before his brother was killed (34 and 11), although Boozer seems to bring out the player in everyone (Bosh woke up against him in the playoffs last year also). I feel better about Amare than I did a few weeks ago, I'm sure he didn't do much of anything basketball-related for a week, so let's give him a few games to get back into the flow.

[A Bartlett Giamatti]

Amare looked awesome against the Bulls before his brother was killed (34 and 11), although Boozer seems to bring out the player in everyone (Bosh woke up against him in the playoffs last year also). I feel better about Amare than I did a few weeks ago, I'm sure he didn't do much of anything basketball-related for a week, so let's give him a few games to get back into the flow.

I hope you're right. I'm going tonight--I can't remember the last time I was this jacked up for an in-person...anything, really.

Of course, with what Lin is doing to ticket prices, I might not eat for a week. But this thing is going to end, probably soon, and being at the Garden tonight will be worth the arm and leg if even just for the first quarter.

[jon abbey]

Two weeks ago, on the verge of being released for the third time this season. Today, his own Nike sneaker:



http://www.sneakerfi...1-linsanity-pe/

[CreightonGubanich]

To be fair, being unable to go to your left is not an insurmountable obstacle in becoming an NY sports hero.

This needs more recognition.

Lin reminds me a little bit of Sam Cassell. Same sort of herky jerky offensive game that allows him to be effective despite less-than-ideal quickness and shooting ability. Uses his size well to get his shot off.

Obviously, Sam Cassell is an all-star and was a great player in the league for a long time; I'm in no way suggesting that Lin is or ever will be as good.

I am, however, suggesting that Lin immediately adopt Sam's celebration dance.

[SemperFidelisSox]

Tyreke Evans will destroy him tonight.

[ThePrideofShiner]

Interesting story about a guy in Oregon, who predicted three years ago that Lin could do something like this:

http://online.wsj.co...2995441868.html

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

So while Lin is the obvious mega-story, the reason NY has been able to come back late on the road the last two games is their strong defense down the stretch. MIN only scored 11 points in the 4th the previous games, and TOR only got 12 last night.

I didn't get to see the game, but when the Knicks play Chandler, Jeffries, Walker/Novak, Schumpert, and Lin, they are a VERY good defensive team. Lin may not be a great on the ball defender, but he certainly has great anticipation, and I think he is averaging close to two steals a game.

The Linsanity may soon be over. Guess who can't go to his left?

The fact that Lin prefers to go right and almost exclusively dribbles with his right hand isn't news. People could see this from game 1. He's been attacking teams that overplay him by splitting the double team and heading down the middle of the lane.

BTW - interesting article on how to run the P'n'R - http://www.nytimes.c...k-and-roll.html

[teezy]

Tyreke Evans will destroy him tonight.

you forgot just how bad of a team the kings are.

[Tokyo Sox]

Interesting story about a guy in Oregon, who predicted three years ago that Lin could do something like this:

http://online.wsj.co...2995441868.html

Yeah, was just going to post something similar from Bloomberg:

Knicks 'Linsanity' Has Stat Geeks Saying Told You So

[Freddy Linn]

[jon abbey]

13 assists in 26 minutes tonight, looks like he's done for the night with NY up by 27.

[ishmael]

To be fair, being unable to go to your left is not an insurmountable obstacle in becoming an NY sports hero.

This. Wins. The thread.