All Things Considered, Jeremy Lin Is Actually Doing Alright in Houston
By Rafael Uehara
Last week marked the one-year anniversary of Jeremy Lin emerging as a person of interest in the NBA. Mike D’Antoni was forced to turn to the Harvard graduate for relief at the point due to an injury to Baron Davis and poor play by Toney Douglas in early February, 2012. With Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony sidelined, Lin led the Knicks through a magical 10-game stretch in which he lit up the league (or at least the Nets, Raptors, Timberwolves, Wizards, Jazz and Kings). Overhyped coming into the season, the Knicks stumbled to a disappointing 7-15 start and it was only after a seven-game winning streak behind Lin’s prolificacy that they started playing like a team that would eventually make the postseason.
Eventually, Anthony returned, D’Antoni was forced out, guys like Deron Williams made a concise effort not to get beaten by Lin, and he tore his meniscus late in March. Opting not to hamstring themselves financially, the Knicks chose not to match the offer tendered by the Rockets and off to Houston Lin went. The third-year pro was projected as a perfect fit to Kevin McHale’s pick-and-roll heavy offense, which provided Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic career seasons in 2012. But then, three days before the start of the season, general-manager Daryl Morey managed to trade for James Harden. Harden is just a better overall player, therefore he has taken precedent over Lin in the offense.
Statistically speaking, Lin’s season has been very underwhelming. He ranks 287th in the league in scoring per possession, posting a .482 effective field-goal percentage and the Rockets score more efficiently when the better shooters Toney Douglas and Patrick Beverly sub in at the point, according to NBA.com/advancedstats/. Lin’s jump-shot just hasn’t evolved at all. According to basketball-reference.com, Lin has hit only 32.8% of his jumpers this season, including just 31.6% from three-point range and 37.3% on spot-ups. And if that continues to be the case, it’s hard to see a scenario in which he ever becomes a productive option paired alongside Harden in the backcourt.
How is Lin doing alright then? Context. Lin is coming off a serious knee injury, one that likely affected his lift and limited the progress he attempted to make on his jump-shot in the offseason. He is listed as a third-year pro, but had only 26 games under his belt at the start of the season. Lin is essentially only concluding his rookie season now as far as game experience goes. He remains in a stage of development. Obviously he has struggled to coexist with Harden but it’s important to note this is an experiment that was not to set to occur up until three days to the start of the season. Harden is a ball-dominant two-guard with whom Lin can only have featured the most raw of his skills and he had little to no time to adapt as the campaign got under way.
But he has still managed to showcase his talent whenever he has the opportunity to do what he does well. According to mysynergysports.com, Lin is shooting 49.2% on pick-and-rolls and ranks in the top 40 in scoring per possession over 189 such plays. He has gotten to the rim 205 times (about 4.2 a game) and shot 61.5% there. About only 40 players that get to the basket at the same rate shoot a higher percentage.
Lin hasn’t had the ball enough in his hands enough to inspire the sort of attention he did last year and with good reason; Harden is just better. That doesn’t mean he can already been a tagged a terrible $25.3 million investment. Lin has been a meaningful part of the Rockets’ offense ranking fifth in the league in scoring per possession if you cared to pay attention. There is obviously plenty to work on, and whether or not he develops a jumper that permits him to be an option off the ball will define the path for his career in Houston. But taking in consideration all the circumstances, from the injury to the abrupt change of his role, Lin is actually doing alright.
Editor's Note: Rafael Uehara is the managing editor of 'The Basketball Post'. More of his work can be found here and he can be followed on twitter @rafael_uehara.
Last week marked the one-year anniversary of Jeremy Lin emerging as a person of interest in the NBA. Mike D’Antoni was forced to turn to the Harvard graduate for relief at the point due to an injury to Baron Davis and poor play by Toney Douglas in early February, 2012. With Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony sidelined, Lin led the Knicks through a magical 10-game stretch in which he lit up the league (or at least the Nets, Raptors, Timberwolves, Wizards, Jazz and Kings). Overhyped coming into the season, the Knicks stumbled to a disappointing 7-15 start and it was only after a seven-game winning streak behind Lin’s prolificacy that they started playing like a team that would eventually make the postseason.
Eventually, Anthony returned, D’Antoni was forced out, guys like Deron Williams made a concise effort not to get beaten by Lin, and he tore his meniscus late in March. Opting not to hamstring themselves financially, the Knicks chose not to match the offer tendered by the Rockets and off to Houston Lin went. The third-year pro was projected as a perfect fit to Kevin McHale’s pick-and-roll heavy offense, which provided Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic career seasons in 2012. But then, three days before the start of the season, general-manager Daryl Morey managed to trade for James Harden. Harden is just a better overall player, therefore he has taken precedent over Lin in the offense.
Statistically speaking, Lin’s season has been very underwhelming. He ranks 287th in the league in scoring per possession, posting a .482 effective field-goal percentage and the Rockets score more efficiently when the better shooters Toney Douglas and Patrick Beverly sub in at the point, according to NBA.com/advancedstats/. Lin’s jump-shot just hasn’t evolved at all. According to basketball-reference.com, Lin has hit only 32.8% of his jumpers this season, including just 31.6% from three-point range and 37.3% on spot-ups. And if that continues to be the case, it’s hard to see a scenario in which he ever becomes a productive option paired alongside Harden in the backcourt.
How is Lin doing alright then? Context. Lin is coming off a serious knee injury, one that likely affected his lift and limited the progress he attempted to make on his jump-shot in the offseason. He is listed as a third-year pro, but had only 26 games under his belt at the start of the season. Lin is essentially only concluding his rookie season now as far as game experience goes. He remains in a stage of development. Obviously he has struggled to coexist with Harden but it’s important to note this is an experiment that was not to set to occur up until three days to the start of the season. Harden is a ball-dominant two-guard with whom Lin can only have featured the most raw of his skills and he had little to no time to adapt as the campaign got under way.
But he has still managed to showcase his talent whenever he has the opportunity to do what he does well. According to mysynergysports.com, Lin is shooting 49.2% on pick-and-rolls and ranks in the top 40 in scoring per possession over 189 such plays. He has gotten to the rim 205 times (about 4.2 a game) and shot 61.5% there. About only 40 players that get to the basket at the same rate shoot a higher percentage.
Lin hasn’t had the ball enough in his hands enough to inspire the sort of attention he did last year and with good reason; Harden is just better. That doesn’t mean he can already been a tagged a terrible $25.3 million investment. Lin has been a meaningful part of the Rockets’ offense ranking fifth in the league in scoring per possession if you cared to pay attention. There is obviously plenty to work on, and whether or not he develops a jumper that permits him to be an option off the ball will define the path for his career in Houston. But taking in consideration all the circumstances, from the injury to the abrupt change of his role, Lin is actually doing alright.
Editor's Note: Rafael Uehara is the managing editor of 'The Basketball Post'. More of his work can be found here and he can be followed on twitter @rafael_uehara.
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