splendid

reelbrains:

In which New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin gets a NY Times profile.

With every game, every precision pass and every clever drive to the basket, Lin is raising expectations, altering the Knicks’ fate and redefining the word “unlikely.” On Twitter, fans and basketball pundits are using another term to describe the phenomenon: “Linsanity.”

At draft time, in June 2010, Lin was again overlooked. N.B.A. teams had their doubts — about his defense, about his jump shot, about his ability to keep up with the league’s elite athletes.

They were the kind of concerns scouts have every year about dozens of prospects, from all sorts of programs and all sorts of backgrounds. Yet there was no escaping Lin’s unusual pedigree and the subtle sense that he did not fit a profile.

The qualities that make Lin unique, and seemingly held him back, are now the qualities that make him a sensation. Knicks fans were clamoring for Lin before he threw his first pass at the Garden. They roar louder for his shifty layups in traffic than they do for Carmelo Anthony’s.

Lin is the proud underdog defying scouts, stunning opposing defenders and forcing reassessments with every daring burst into the lane. He is more than a novelty now, but also more than just an underrated player finding success.

I’ve been peeping Lin from my peripherals ever since I heard he was signed on, not really daring to look fully on for fear that it was too good to be true.

I’m so glad to hear that his contract’s been finalized, even if he’s not being paid anywhere near the same amount as Carmelo It’s-all-about-me Anthony, and that he got the chance to start instead of warming the bench and going in 4 minutes at a time. I’m also pleased that the Knicks are getting some wins out of this (finally).

Linsanity!