Many expected the New York Knicks to eventually pick up their level of play after a devastating 8-15 start to the lockout-shortened NBA season. Yet no one believed the Knicks' guardian angel would come in the form of an undrafted, gawky, Asian-American Harvard grad with an atypical jump shot.
A little over a week ago, Jeremy Lin was a faceless benchwarmer. In only his second season, Lin has already been a part of three teams — four, if you include his six-day stint on the Knicks D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, in January. His highest NBA scoring total was a measly 13 points and he had never started a game.
But all Lin needed was a chance to shine. In a Feb. 4 game against the New Jersey Nets that saw Amar'eStoudemire in foul trouble and Carmelo Anthony in a shooting slump, coach Mike D'Antoni opted for Lin. Seeing increased minutes for the first time in his NBA career, Lin spearheaded a comeback victory with 25 points, catapulting himself to overnight fame.
Including his first shining moment against the Nets, Lin has led the Knicks to five straight victories, contributing at least 20 points and seven assists in each game and outdueling stars like Deron Williams, John Wall and Kobe Bryant along the way. Adding to the shock value is the fact that the Knicks' victories have come largely without the involvement of perennial All-Stars Stoudemire — who has missed several games due to the tragic death of his brother, Hazell — and Anthony, who is out with a groin injury.
Lin has seamlessly replaced these leaders with a mix of emotion, effort and pure talent. Before Lin's emergence, the Knicks' point guard duties were split between ImanShumpert, an inexperienced rookie who is better suited as a defensive-minded shooting guard, and Toney Douglas, who is plagued by Jamalcrawforditis: the propensity to take mortifyingly ridiculous shots and occasionally sink a few, thus enticing the victim to continue attempting circus shots with the irrepressible notion that more will fall through the net.
Now that Lin has been identified as a force in the backcourt, Shumpert has excelled in his new role as a playmaking two-guard and Douglas has kept Lin's former seat on the bench at a comfortable 92 degrees. Yet Shumpert and Douglas have not been the only players affected by Lin's game. Tyson Chandler, the Knicks 7'1" center, has been inundated with alley-oop passes and high percentage buckets due to his seemingly indefensible pick-and-roll game with Lin.
Though the eruption of "LINsanity" has been a godsend for Knicks fans — pun intended, since the pious Lin wishes to someday become a pastor — Lin's streak raises some questions.
First, does Lin truly have staying power? Sure, he's had five straight stellar performances and he has proven himself against good teams and bad. But some NBA analysts attribute his success to his novelty. Opponents have not seen enough of Lin to create a formula to defend him.
Furthermore, Knicks fans are interested to see how Lin will fare when Anthony and Stoudemire return to the lineup. Clearly, Lin will have to play a more altruistic offensive role when prolific scorers are on the floor.
Until these questions are answered, no one can predict Lin's future with the Knicks. Nonetheless, Lin's 38-point spectacle against the visiting Lakers has forced doubters to concede that Lin has the potential to remain an effective starter for years to come.
For now, the one drawback to LINsanity is that coach Mike D'Antoni is reaffirmed as a competent strategist with every Knicks victory, though the Knicks clearly need a changing of the guards … er, coaches. The Knicks' guards are meshing for the first time since the Allan Houston-Charlie Ward era.
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Zach Drucker is a senior majoring in international relations and Spanish. He can be reached at Zachary.Drucker@tufts.edu.
