Who needs Chris Paul when you have Jeremy Lin?
The Harvard sensation, at the moment, seems to be the answer to Knicks fans prayers as, for the second night in a row, he has helped lead the team to a much needed win in front of a raucous Garden crowd. Mind it it has only been two games, but you can't say the past two nights haven't been the most enjoyable Knicks games to watch all season long. I can honestly say it was the most fun I've had watching this team since the Melo deal was made last year.
Watching the Knicks has pained me as a fan this year. The lack of movement, the lack of passion and the lack of excitement at times made me sick to my stomach. It looked like a one man show with the remaining four standing around watching.
At the time of the Melo trade, I wasn't as excited as most other New Yorkers. I understood that we were getting arguably the best pure scorer in the game and the deal had to be done but it just didn't sit well with me. Although they were barely above .500 at the time of the swap, the Knicks were such a fun team to watch. It was a bunch of guys who played hard and played together and really meshed well as a group. They were made up role guys who fed off each other and produced an up-tempo style of basketball that fit under D'Antoni's system. Nobody expected them to play as well as they did and just as it seemed that the team was fully meshing, they trade it all away for a superstar. In theory, this was great but as a fan and enthusiast of an underdog story, it killed me a little. It was all done on hype and pressure produced by the media to make New York a must see basketball market yet again. Don't get me wrong, Melo is a great player and I do believe he is doing everything in his power to make this a winning team whether it be shooting the rock or distributing it around a little more. But on the flip side, I miss the dynamic of Felton, Gallo and Chandler. Mosgov was even promising.
I don't want to go any further into the trade because it is a topic all in itself that I could go on for days about. The point is that this kid Jeremy Lin the past two games has provided a spark for a team that needed one desperately. He has played with confidence, shown he can create off the dribble and dish and score, but most importantly played with heart. Is he the Knicks long term solution at the point guard position? That is left to be seen but the kid plays hard and he's got the Garden faithful chanting "MVP" when he's at the free throw line. Lets give Linsanity a shot for a while and see if the Harvard grad can formulate a winning team.
P.S. The Knicks starting back court has got to have the highest IQ in the league. Can we get that looked in to?
I have said this numerous times. I said it as soon as the deal was done and have said it on some people's posts on here. I never agreed with the Knicks dealing away players that made the team exciting. I am not a Knick fan, but hard to agree with breaking up a team that had fans excited to attend MSG every home game again.
ReplyDeleteOn the night before the Super Bowl, I hung out in the hotel's sports bar with a few colleagues. We were tired from the week leading up to the big game, but also looking forward to the Super Bowl. And then, on the television in the restaurant, we saw highlights of the Knicks-Nets game played that night. And I remember someone sitting across from me said, "Jeremy Lin scored 25 points!?!?" It was almost funny, like, what a fluke! And here we are just nine days later and Lin has taken over the sports scene. What a great story to cover, especially because of how much people in New York are drawn to his story right now.
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