The New York Knicks keep on learning more and more about their phenomenon Jeremy Lin. What seems to be more clear than ever is that it's something that might be sticking around longer than a few weeks.
Lin continues to display that he has all the tools to not only succeed at the pro level, but thrive and produce on a winning team. The victory over the Dallas Mavericks was the latest evidence.
(via TaiwaneseNOTChinese)
Lin went against the Dallas Mavericks' fairly solid team defense and showed that stopping him isn't an easy thing. Shawn Marion is one of the best individual defenders in the league and helped hold LeBron James in the NBA Finals last year, but Marion was blown by on several occasions, forcing help defenders to come over and breaking down the Mavericks defense.
It didn't get much better when matched against Jason Kidd. Or Dirk Nowitzki, who Lin just backed up on behind the three-point line and unleashed a dagger three.
Lin also made crisp decisions whenever he got that initial penetration. If he was met by a defender on his way to the basket, he made the right decision to find the open man on the outside. With two men primarily focused on him, one with initial defensive responsibilities and another (usually a big man) coming to meet him, someone had to be open somewhere on the floor. If he couldn't find that open man, a turnover usually resulted.
When no one met Lin, he drove inside and got to the basket, which usually resulted in free throws, an inside assist to one of the bigs for a slam dunk, or a layup of some sort.
Not that Lin's game was limited only to his dribble penetration. Sometimes he could just dribble around the outside and find the right guy, like Steve Novak. On defense, he crowded his defender and managed to make a few impressive plays with big steals.
But in general, Linsanity's success revolves around his athleticism and skills that help him break down the initial defense, then having the smarts to make the right decision when he does that. That's generally what makes you an NBA point guard, and that's where Jeremy Lin seems to be heading.
To discuss Linsanity with Knicks fans, head on over to Posting and Toasting.