The Knicks’ Jeremy Lin Keeps His Cool as Heads Spin Around Him
Jeremy Lin not only outscored Kobe Bryant by 38-34 Friday night at Madison Square Garden, but he also had the audacity to better by a point Carmelo Anthony’s team high this season.
‘He got 38 points in the context of team basketball,’ Coach Mike D’Antoni said after his Anthony-and-Amar’e-Stoudemire-less Knicks beat the Lakers, 92-85. Was that a message to the injured Anthony, who watched from the bench, where he could not disrupt the resurgently fluid D’Antoni offense with isolation play?
It turns out the much-maligned Knicks bench isn’t that bad, as long as it is starting and Lin is facilitating. Surely more plot twists are ahead in a season that continued Saturday in Minneapolis against the Timberwolves, but the new Disney-like paradigm stars some guy off the street who found a pair of magical sneakers.
Stories like Jeremy Lin’s rarely happen in big-money professional sports, and especially with a franchise like the Knicks, long known for big-ticket acquisitions like the none-too-compatible forwards Anthony and Stoudemire last season.
Hence, the emergence of Lin is hard to believe, even for someone who has already lived a variation of it.
Sometimes, people just need a chance. Lin wasn’t drafted, ended up being signed by the Warriors and spending most of his time on the bench. This year, he was picked up by the Knicks and got his chance when injuries and circumstances depleted the Knicks roster enough for the 4th string Point Guard to be needed. What he has done since then is nothing short of astounding. Keep your eyes on Jeremy Lin!