Good Lord, I thought through my under-caffeinated haze, I’m actually thinking I should write something about Linsanity. How horribly unoriginal, eh? Every wannabe sportswriter with a keyboard and a byline is spewing forth seemingly endless column inches about Jeremy Lin. And I’m going to say something that hasn’t already been said? Good luck with that….
Don’t get me wrong; Lin’s a great story. The kid’s the very personification of what can happen when someone pursues their dream and continues to believe when no one else does. Even Kobe Bryant is impressed, saying that Lin’s a testament to perseverance and hard work. He’ll get no argument from me on that count.
So here’s my take on Lin: he IS a great story…but why couldn’t this story have played out with him in a Trail Blazers uniform? Given the currently inept point guard play on display at the Rose Garden, why aren’t the Blazers turning over every rock from San Jose to Tallinn to Beijing? I have to believe that there’s someone somewhere who could do a reasonable impression of Jeremy Lin for the Blazers.
The moral of Lin’s story is that sometimes you have to look in unexpected places to find a solution to your problem. Who would have thought a Chinese-American kid who looks like an accountant with a Harvard degree would light up Kobe Bryant and the Lakers? And why haven’t the Blazers been able to find someone like Jeremy Lin? Surely Lin isn’t the only example of someone with the talent, drive, and desire to make it big…if only the right situation comes along.
Watching Raymond Felton struggling at the helm of the Trail Blazers’ ship, I find myself wondering if another Linsational prospect might be looking for a place to land. Having been cut by Golden State and Houston, Lin found his place with a New York Knicks team struggling to stay afloat due to injuries. Something clicked, and now America finds itself caught up in the Linsanity.
When you’re 6’4”, 200 lbs., and Chinese-American, no NBA scout is going to fall over in awe. To his credit, Lin persevered. Now he’s taking advantage of his opportunity and proving the doubters wrong. Perhaps he just needed the right situation in order to flourish, but there’s little doubt that Jeremy Lin would be an upgrade over Raymond Felton.
Last Thursday, The Girlfriend and I set out on another pilgrimage to the Rose Garden. Lob City was in town and presenting an opportunity to see how Portland stacked up against one of the younger, more athletic teams in the NBA. When all was said and done, the Blazers failed the test. Badly.
Wherefore art thou, Jeremy Lin?
After losing to Washington (and how is that even possible?) at home, it was hard to feel optimistic going into the game against the Clippers. My concern turned out to be well placed. Lob City exposed the Blazers as a team with no point guard, few consistently reliable shooters, and only two rebounders. Not exactly a recipe for an NBA championship, eh?
The 74-71 loss to the Clippers was one of the sorriest efforts I’ve seen from an NBA team. The Blazers scored 27 points in the first quarter, 44 over the final three, including all of 11 in the fourth quarter. Nicolas Batum scored 15 points in the first quarter…and four over the final three. Raymond Felton was…well, he started the game and then disappeared.
As bad as all that sounds, the Blazers had things under control at halftime. Midway through the third quarter, they were up by 18 (50-32). Then an already ugly game took a turn for the worst. The Blazers scored 17 points over the game’s final 21 minutes, 16 points off their final 37 possessions. Bad passing, poor shot selection, silly fouls, porous defense, lack of rebounding…the final three quarters featured all that and less.
After 48 minutes of NBA basketball that would have embarrassed a junior high school team, there’s no way to sugarcoat the obvious. The inescapable reality is that the Blazers aren’t a very good team. No NBA team not named the Wizards should struggle to score 70 points…and yet the Blazers did just that.
Almost halfway into the season, it seems clear the ship is sinking. The Blazers’ roster is stocked with players who can’t shoot (Craig Smith? Kurt Thomas? Really?) or rebound (everyone besides LaMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby). As bad as those problems are, the biggest and most obvious problem is at point guard.
Once upon a time, I was a point guard. I understand the responsibilities and the pressures that come with being responsible for your team’s offense. I remember all too well what a lack of confidence in your game can do to your effectiveness and your ability to lead your team.
Raymond Felton has played like a point guard with no confidence in his game. You can see it in his body language, his demeanor, and the tentative, uncertain way he runs the Blazers’ offense. Thursday night’s effort was about as bad as it gets- 24 of the most forgettable minutes you’ll ever see a point guard play. Perhaps most telling was Felton’s being on the floor for only two minutes during the fourth quarter. The end of the game found him deservedly buried on the bench.
In basketball, numbers don’t lie. In Felton’s case, those numbers tell the story of someone whose presence on the floor was without impact or import:
– 0-7 shooting (0-1 in 3pt attempts)
– 0 points
– 2 assists
– 2 rebounds
– 5 turnovers
No disrespect to Felton, but you could have put me in one of those snazzy “Rip City” uniforms and the results would have been about the same. OK…maybe I wouldn’t have grabbed those two rebounds, but you get the point.
Felton’s understandably frustrated, but his frustration is pointed in the wrong direction. Instead of blaming Coach Nate McMillan for not having confidence in him, perhaps it’s time Felton took a good, long look in the mirror. It’s time to stop whining and figure out what’s wrong…and then go about fixing it.
Perhaps it’s time he experienced a little Linsanity and reacquainted himself with hard work, persistence, and belief in his game. Perhaps he should remember that he’s a professional basketball player, and that “What have you done for me lately?” is the code all NBA players live by. No one’s going to take pity on Felton, nor should they. In the NBA, you perform or you sit. Why Felton is starting instead of commiserating with Greg Oden on the end of the bench is anyone’s guess.
Having said that, Felton’s performance in Saturday’s win over Atlanta (14 pts., 6-11 FG, 8 assists…and only 2 turnovers) was a step in the right direction. He says he has himself together mentally. I hope’s he’s right. Still, one game does not a trend make, and it doesn’t prove that things have changed. Stay tuned….
Until and unless the Blazers fix their point guard problem, this season will continue circling the drain and the team will be lucky to finish above .500. Jeremy Lin isn’t going to walk through the door at One Center Court. That’s not to say that [insert name of alleged Blazers GM here] shouldn’t be beating the bushes in search of an upgrade at point guard.
Once that problem’s solved, maybe he can work on finding some players who can shoot and rebound….
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