Golden State Of Mind

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/jeremy-lin-is-no-fluke/

Montaigh

Anonymous1337 - February 11, 2012 via mobile reply

I am so happy for Lin

Less happy that this has somehow become one of the warriors most dramatic storyline this season

Duby Dub Dubs - February 11, 2012 via mobile reply

How can Lin be sooooooooooo good? I think he has some mad b-ball skillz, but ended up in the right place at the right time with the right coach, system, and everything.

I hope he continues to do well, but think he’s just riding an incredible, and I mean UNBELIEVABLY INCREDIBLE HOT, HOT, HOT STREAK!!! I do not mean to put Lin down because he’s got incredible heart, motor, extremely high b-ball IQ, and mad b-ball skills and fundamentals.

callahan - February 11, 2012 reply

Never mind. I take it back. I am stoooopid.

callahan - February 11, 2012 reply

Nice recap here before tonight's MIN game

Both Nate Silver and Magic contend that Lin is the real thing.

achiappanza - February 11, 2012 reply

Lin is a Moneyball NBA Case Study

All the “experts” were MORONS. Jeremy Lin has been this good for years but “experts” were downplaying his good plays and amplifying his mistakes to fit their prejudice/discrimination of him as a player. There are probably hundreds of young Jeremy Lins out there who deserve a chance but never got one, just how Jeremy Lin got ZERO D-I scholarships despite being California HS player of the year. Even Kobe Bryant called the “experts” out saying their pre-Moneyball scouts all missed on him:

Kobe on Lin:
“He has been phenomenal,” Bryant said. Players don’t usually come out of nowhere. If you can go back and take a look, his skill level was probably there from the beginning, but no one ever noticed. … It is a great story. It is a testament to perseverance and hard work."

Here is an article about Stanford’s coach lying to Jeremy Lin about no scholarships available:
http://www.zagsblog.com/2012/02/10/coach-says-jeremy-lin-was-misled-by-stanford-coach/

BayMind - February 11, 2012 reply

All the "experts" were MORONS.

haha, cause they didn’t anticipate a black swan event? They’d have been morons to think Lin would be this good based on his existing skills at the time. It’s like planning your retirement to be hitting the state lottery, one person comes out a winner and all the others who think that way become losers while they guys who succeed with the proper plan never get any press. You can feel bad about this forever but it don’t bother me at all. I’m moving on to how are we gonna stop Lin when he plays here? I hope our boys know enough about his game to figure it out.Maybe dump a big plate of EpicUdon on his head?

Skeptic con Urquell - February 11, 2012 reply

same old song

You ridiculed everyone who wanted to even give Lin a shot, Skep. You were wrong. You still are. It’s not a black swan event – it was predicted, and was predictable.

Rasputin10 - February 11, 2012 reply

it was predicted, and was predictable

Well yeah someone has to win a lottery but that don’t make it a good decision to spend money on tickets.Lin showed nothing remarkable before and while we had him so saying we let him go was a mistake is just foolish, players with the same apparent skills come and go throughout the league constantly so do you want to keep all of them just in case they turn out to be the one? This team has lots of structural problems that they shoulda solved long ago but not keeping an undrafted 3rd string guard is not a decision we should be worried about.

I finally figured out why "all the experts" blew it on Lin.

Everyone evaluating him had a lower IQ than he does!

That includes basketball IQ, also!

:-)

Moneyball stats show Lin was victim of discrimination

This pre-draft analysis crushes any claim Lin was an unpredictable success rather than a discrimination victim. It nails both his strengths & weaknesses.
http://hoopsanalyst.com/blog/?p=487
College and the NBA still rely on flawed prejudiced opinions; basketball scouts are completely behind on Moneyball. Jeremy Lin received zero D-I scholarships and went undrafted, when his performance should have netted him multiple scholarship offers and a 1st round draft status.

BayMind - February 11, 2012 reply

Yep, a lot of people are saying that. The more you look into it, the more your realize that they may be up to something.

Which is why Lacob did something very special when he picked him up. Apparently, his son and Lin were friends and were playing schoolyard ball together. He should have never let him go, because his initial instincts were correct. He knew!

What "Moneyball" stats are you talking about

There are plenty of NBA players who went undrafted, only to go on to have successful NBA careers. How did they slip through the cracks? Guess what – scouting isn’t perfect. Asian stereotypes probably did play a part in his lack of college recruitment and NBA draft status, but it’s not as if it’s the ONLY reason, as you seem to imply. NBA teams have drafted Asian players before.

That's horse manure. I'm not saying there's no discrimination, but it's better to work hard and try to be the best you can be than rely on that sh*t.

callahan - February 11, 2012 reply

This pre-draft analysis crushes any claim Lin was an unpredictable success rather than a discrimination victim

Did you even bother to read it? It says nothing of discrimination in there, just says he’s not terrible and has some potentially interesting stat correlations to guys who turned out to be decent players.

SCREW THE WARRIORS

WERE ALL KNICKS FANS NOW

Badly Browned - February 11, 2012 reply

another big positive here is

The success of Jeremy Lin has brought the GSOM community together and collectively we are all very happy for him.

maryjane - February 11, 2012 reply

Lin is NOT a system QB. Oops I meant PG.

So many parallels with Tom Brady and Jeremy Lin. Jeremy Lin is NOT a system point guard. He is merely ultra gracious in giving credit to D’Antoni even if he thinks otherwise.

Last year Jeremy Lin led the Warriors in PER and 2nd in plus/minus. He led all NBA guards last year in steals and blocks per-36. MULTIPLE advanced stats showed the kid deserved more playing time instead of rotting on the bench.

It isn’t D’Antoni. D’Antoni’s smartest move this year was giving Lin playing time, which is something Keith Dumb couldn’t do all season long last year. I can’t believe Keith Dumb gave Acie Law 20 minutes a night last year over JLin.

BayMind - February 11, 2012 reply

I agree. As Shaq recently pointed out, D'Antoni's system is not why Lin does well.

Shaq has low BB IQ and he is wrong.

D’Antoni offense spreads the floor very well, Lin has plenty of lane to penetrate and always initiates it with elbow or top p&r.

Look at our offense – Biedrins is in the middle clogging the lane, Lee clogging the lane etc. Only when Biedrins sitting and we go small do we have a lane to drive ( and dish ).

farid - February 11, 2012 reply

Right, and everyone else has high BB IQ...Shaq made a very valid point, and his BB ball IQ is very high.

IHe demonstrated that over and over again, when I first saw him play, in San Antonic…while in High School!

it's both system and play

People need to realize that yes while Lin definitely has the skills he has the perfect skills needed for D’Antoni’s system. His system demands a good pick and roll PG who can drive and dish and make the right pass… It’s very PG centric, and demands less of the PG being able to make a jump shot than the PG making a good pass or penetrating. It also demands a good big man finisher. Lin has the skills, but D’Antoni’s system maximizes the effectiveness of those skills.

it’s both system and play

QFT. I mean, it sounds like the simplest thing, but it’s amazing how many posters seem to have such a hard time grasping a basic concept like this. Or, more likely, they do grasp it, but choose to ignore their smarter angels in the name of staking a bold rhetorical position. Is Brady a fantastic quarterback? Obviously. Has he been hugely helped in his career by Belichick? Obviously.

I sometimes wish there were a special flag for “oversimplification.” Sports, like most things in the world, tends to involve multiple variables.

Sleepy Freud - February 11, 2012 reply

At the same time, how often have we heard that coaches don’t really make a difference? So which is it?

I've never quite agreed with that.

If a head coach doesn’t make the difference why are they the first target when a team is playing poorly? Because a good coach can implement a system that maximizes the talent of all of his players, but at the same time they can do the opposite if they don’t understand their players well. Every sport has a coach… if they weren’t important, why have them?

new Knicks fan

I’ll always love the Warriors, but i’m more excited to see the Knicks play. Lin brings an energy whenever he’s on the court. You saw it in GS in his very limited playing time. Now NY gets to enjoy the energy and excitement he brings when he steps on the court. Lacob and mgmt. should have understood this and kept him on the team. Did he not showing anything in practice the entire year he was a Warrior? I highly doubt it.

tig8 - February 11, 2012 reply

Heh

Well Lin certainly showed he had a jumper last night. Now he just needs to do it consistently. Man it’s crazy how he went from almost being cut to being the starting point guard of the Knicks.

One thing I notice about his layups – he almost always uses his right hand. It’s obvious he doesn’t like to use his left to shoot (though he can still dribble with it). It’s something he will definitely need to work on in the offseason. He is crafty around the rim though, which allows him to keep using that right hand.

You bet. His jumper is really coming along. So is his left hand.

He still goes right a lot more, but he scored on a double pump, left hook layup, two games ago, with a big man on him.

I'm not sure how much blame can be put on the FO and coaching

Once again, NOBODY thought he would be this good. There’s a reason D’Antoni used Lin as a “desperation” move against the Nets. The only problem I had with releasing Lin was that Lin was on a rookie minimum contract and there was no reason to cut him.

I also don’t think Lin would have gotten the same opportunity here, and probably would have remained a player with great per 36 stats but not enough minutes. It’s a good thing he went to the Knicks.

he could have been developed into a good trade asset, which this team needs more of

Even playing 12-15 mpg for a season, we would have seen his potential, but he didn’t get that unfortunately

this year we could have had Lin and Klay playing together, would’ve been nice to see

Lin's contract is up after this year

He’s a FA because his contract included no qualifying offer. So I’m not sure what “good trade asset” means, unless you mean that we could have traded him mid-season to a contender in need of point guard depth.

You think we should sign him after the season? That'd be funny haha

GSWarrior1818 - February 11, 2012 reply

conventional hierarchy

the n.b.a. isn’t as biased with respect to a player’s ethnicity or skin colour as some Lin advocates made out. [hoops programs in div. one universities are a different story] . There’s plenty of bias, on the other hand, in favor of draft picks or vets with n.b.a. resumes (A. Law last season) over the non drafted masses. Nelson of course was an exception proving the rule, and who were the players trimmed when he got axed ? Morrow, Watson, and after Smart’s season, Williams and Lin.

the team is shallow in talent, and combined with the forfeited first round pick, it’s poor in trade assets. Lin was their sole effective, hard-nosed perimeter defender last season, and his toughness, athletic strengths, and experience battling forwards in college meant that he could take on some wings with a few inches on him. the front office only needed to let his offense improve, which it was, and exercise patience. it appears they didn’t anticipate how much other teams would have interest in him. there was only a ‘conflict’ with having Jenkins on the roster if they contrived it, because there was no preseason or training camp to assess the players side by side, and there was always the d-league team if for the one who wouldn’t get court time in the bigs.

the.monk - February 11, 2012 reply

In hindsight they made a huge mistake firing Nelson

As their first move.

farid - February 11, 2012 reply

Why was that a huge mistake?

Why was that a huge mistake?

continuity, too many irons in the fire at once.

add Tolliver to the list of the non-drafted players

deemed expendable after they purged Nelson. Tolliver made some thoughtful comments in Min about how much he owes Nelson . he’d probably make an excellent credit counselor, sorely needed in these times. developing young players isn’t all about wins and losses ; Morrow, Williams, Tolliver got more opportunities in part because of the so-called disastrous seasons that pushed Nelson out the door.

the.monk - February 11, 2012 reply

btw, it wasn't just releasing him that was the mistake

it was also wasting amnesty on Bell

everything stemmed from going after DJ which was a pipe dream, and most everyone definitely knew that

Yeah I really did not get that run at a restricted free agent

I mean, who does that? Do the Warriors understand the concept of restricted free agency?

I’m starting to think is was just an excuse to use the amnesty on a cheap contract. If they use it on a big contract and nobody claims the player then the bottom line gets reduced.

I believe that too

I actually wrote the same thing BEFORE Bell was amnestied. I said that I believed Bell would get the amnesty because the ownership wouldn’t be willing to eat all that money and get nothing in return.

Think about it...

How many teams can do next to nothing and still make a profit?

Think the Bobcats can do that? Our fan support is the double edged sword that keeps management paralyzed.

Lacob is still standing by that amnesty move in a recent interview about LIn....

Which he should.

Make a move and stand by it, or else you look really bad. Can you imagine him saying we really screwed that Bell move up big time? LOL

Houston had no qualms about admitting they screwed up in the Lin deal....

If you do not fess up, you not only lose your credibility, but you are doomed to repeat your mistakes. That is something we (Warriors) do quite well….

I just think it was the plan

Offer a guy some $$ you know the other team will match and do the Bell move. All as planned. Why admit you were wrong if your plan worked.

lol...Yeah, but Lacob recently said he really did not believe Jordan's deal would have been matched.

Something about Irzay being notoriously cheap….etc. Even that excuse demonstrates a gross miscalculation.

hehe

What was he suppose to say? “We expected them to match this and we did it just because we were bored that day”

Instead he called the Clips cheap…now that is some funny stuff coming from the Wonders.

lol...the apologetics of this FO are non-existant...which is why we are stuck with our head in the sand...

Someday we may pull it out, and discover why everyone else is more successful with the talent that we let go!

Except if we had him we would not have signed Nate.

Again, yet another Warrior “safe” move.

qin - February 11, 2012 reply

I guess we are not desperate yet. The Knicks were more desperate....

Yeah, it is a good thing a lot of players went away from GSW with "locked" in positions.

D’Antoni and the Knicks were going to let him go, but wanted to see what he can do. That says it all. He got some minutes against Boston (I think), and they were not happy that they had enough of a look at him, so, they started him against the Nets the very next game, right before his $750K would be guaranteed. The rest is history. I think he will now get his $750K (lol). The important thing to keep out of all this, is that they started him and gave him the opportunity. A lot more than we did…

cybermaldonado - February 11, 2012 reply

Once again, NOBODY thought he would be this good. There’s a reason D’Antoni used Lin as a "desperation" move against the Net

You mean NOBODY with the Warriors thought he was this good. Teams don’t start guards from the back of their bench out of pure desperation. The Knicks thought there was a chance Lin could play and they wanted to find out. If the Warriors had any such evaluation like that about Lin why didn’t they play him last season when the team was 20 games out of first place and Smart was still playing Monta 40 minutes a game?

There is now way to let the Warriors off the hook here. Smart can get a pass because he knew he wouldn’t be back, so why should he have of cared.

Agree. That, applies to Reggie getting a few starts at the end of the season, also.

Folks that claim no one knew about Lin being very good are not being very honest. Lacob picking him up is indicates that somebody knew! And, you wil never know how good a player can be unless you play him! The Knicks did that. We did not.

For example, WHAT IF, when Steph was out for those 9 games, this season, Lin had started,

and had a four game winning streak going with 28 points per game, and 8 assists! Well, we would be at .500, and making a trade for Curry and getting a biggie…..(lol) Right, because everyone may think that it is far fetched (in here), that is why Lin is starting for the Knicks and not for us.

Jackson would not have done that

He would’ve started Monta at point and put in someone at SG. The coaching set up since the start of the new ownership has required both coaches to take as few risks as possible, so they could keep their jobs. That’s why we saw so little of Lin last year, that’s why I doubt we’ll ever get a good look at Jenkins or Tyler this year.

He started Ish Smith!

123707THIZZ - February 11, 2012 reply

Wow, really?

Must’ve blocked that out of my mind. Huh…over Jenkins?

Yes, Ish got a start.

G-State - February 11, 2012 reply

this

We were way out of contention, and our best bet was to tank to get a low pick… and yet Monta still played 40+ minutes a game as well as all of our starting lineup while our bench players didn’t get a chance to grow: thats why the left. We thought they had no skill because they didn’t get a chance to showcase it.

Coach probably said he wasn’t going to play the kid because, like Keith Smart, he wasn’t going to hang his first year coaching on a guy that was unproven. They drafted Jenkins which says everything about how they felt about Lin. It’s just another example of the short sited thinking that plagues the Warriors.

Do they even have a long term plan?
I think it’s do very little, win a bit, keep the 18k+ fans showing up to home games and screw anything that would rock the boat. As long as the team keeps making its $20mil+ a year nothing else matters.

While that may have been true about Cohan

I feel as if the issues with this ownership group stems from something else – impatience. Lacob wants to win now, which is why he used his amnesty on an expiring contract and made a hard run after DeAndre Jordan. Unfortunately, this team cannot win now, and cannot win in the future. He needs to be serious about rebuilding, not make these silly runs after RFAs, try to trade for Dwight Howard and other stuff. It also seems as though he is trying too hard to copy the Boston Celtics method of winning a championship – I think that he hired Mark Jackson to be the next Doc Rivers.

Of course, in the end the product on the court is just as bad.

Different Owners

Things still feel exactly the same, especially when you come back with the exact same starters as last season. The owner is just the front man now instead of Rowell.

Next home loss I want the camera to target the “Freakout” cause if your going to do that for wins I want to see the same for a loss.

Well I completely understand that

In the end this is the same team making the same mistakes and with the same record.

The same mistakes?

We’re a much more talented team than we were when Lacob took over.

Change doesn’t happen overnight.

The lack of patience on GSOM is pathetic.

Change appears to be happening overnight in NY! And, I have a different take on the talent we had.

Warriors fans are TOO patient. Something that this blundring FO knows all too well. I would not be surprised if all Lin was to them was a PR gimmick!

No, change isn't happening overnight in New York.

It only looks that way if you haven’t been paying attention.

New York’s current situation is the result of a plan that started back in 07-08 aimed at landing LeBron.

That laid the groundwork for them to get Amare and Carmelo.

Overnight? Are you freakin’ kidding? Look beyond the tip of your nose!

Yes, I am sure the Knicks were planning three years ago on Lin!

And, the five game win streak with Lin at the PG helm has been mostly without Amare and Camelo. By change happening overnight, I am talking about the Knicks risking on an unheralded player and winning! Literally, it is happening overnight! We had that player for a year.

So your issue is that the Warriors should be risking more on unheralded players?

You mean, like:

Monta Ellis
Reggie Williams
Klay Thompson (the risk was in giving up Reggie)
Epke Udoh
Kelanna Azubike
Anthony Morrow
Anthony Tolliver
Chris Hunter
Vladimir Radmanovic

Is there any team over the past five years that has taken more risks on more unheralded players?

Furthermore, it’s not like it was any sort of grand plan on the Knicks part. He was a bottom-of-the-rotation guy who got a shot because the guys ahead of him were sucking and/or hurt.

The Knicks were on the verge of cutting him!

The ceiling for this team is a first round playoff exit

And BTW, Warriors are the LAST fans you want to criticize for being impatient. We’ve stuck with our team despite their awful play throughout the years. Or are we suddenly not allowed to criticize the Warriors front office?

This, all day and twice on Sunday!

I see an absurd lack of patience on GSOM.

First of all, I was responding to your specific comment about the team making the same mistake with the same record after like a year of new ownership. The new ownership was being criticized for what they’re doing, despite the fact that they are clearly on a multi-year plan to get better.

Secondly, yes, a lot of people on GSOM deserved to get raked over the coals for impatience. Look at people who were calling Klay a bust after 3 games, for example (with no camp, despite the fact that he was obviously adjusting to the speed of the NBA game). Look at people who were demanding that we trade Curry because he missed a few games with an ankle injury.

The attitude on this board is largely that any plan that takes longer than a week to execute is, in fact, not a plan at all but rather an indication of hopeless incompetence.

It’s ridiculous.

The new ownership confuses me, and I'm not sure I trust whatever plan they're going for

I’d feel a lot better if they got rid of Riley. I believe they’re grooming someone for the GM role though, so hopefully that works out soon. I feel they’ve been impatient in coaching transitions, first with firing Nelson, then giving Smart only a one year trial period. They clearly want to bring the Warriors to the playoffs as soon as possible, but I fear it’s at the expense of young player development. Sports blogs will always be impatient, we all know better than Smart/Riley/Jackson/Lacob/ESPN/etc./etc.

Well, I disagree about Nelson and Smart.

Nelson had to go. His heart wasn’t in it. He wasn’t engaged. We also needed to change the culture.

The team had no intention of keeping Smart long term. Why do you think the second year of his contract wasn’t guaranteed? He could have pulled off a miracle if he kept the job, but I really do think his failure was ultimately not failing to make the playoffs – it was his horrid rotations (in an interview with – I think – kawakami he specificaly mentioned that he was struggling to understand Smart’s rotations) and basically showed nothing to suggest that he was a good long-term choice.

Which isn’t surprising, largely because he was hired by default, since it was so late before the season that there was no opportunity to do a real search.

Where is this info coming from

they are clearly on a multi-year plan to get better.

That includes using the amnesty and cutting some guys to make a dumb run at a restricted free agent?

Or do you have insider information that they are actually looking to trade some of their players, unlike what they are saying in public?

I admit we were too quick to trash Klay. But you’re mistaking impatience for something else – the fact that most Warriors fans have had their hearts stomped on by management for decades and have no reason to believe that it can get better. That’s why the ownership and the players are being trashed. It’s not impatience. If Warriors fans trusted management to do anything correctly, then you wouldn’t be reading all this stuff.

Or do you have insider information that they are actually looking to trade some of their players, unlike what they are saying in public?

Huh?

The warriors have been clear about their willingness to trade players. You can read any number of public statements from Lacob and West about the need to get better. Lacob specifically said in his most recent interview with Kawakami that they’re looking to get better, but that they’re not going to make a bad trade just for the sake of making a trade.

The rumors are that they were willing to offer a package built around Monta for Paul, and perhaps a package built around Curry for Howard.

That includes using the amnesty and cutting some guys to make a dumb run at a restricted free agent?

What players do we not have that we would have had if we hadn’t made the run at Jordan? Lin? No. The team clearly indicated that they like Wright better. Lin would have merely been cut later. Reggie? The drafting of Klay eliminated any meaningful minutes for Reggie.

Lacob specifically said in his most recent interview with Kawakami that they’re looking to get better, but that they’re not going to make a bad trade just for the sake of making a trade.

Lacob said this in the interview

I’ve assured Monta that we are in fact not trying to trade him. We really value him and we want him here. I think he’s a tremendous player and a unique asset. And it would take a helluva deal that really made sense for the organization as a whole in order for us to trade Monta Ellis.

He also said that he thought Lee was a great player – so we want to make a trade but aren’t willing to trade our “best” players unless we obviously win in the trade (which is an easy decision to make).

The team clearly indicated that they like Wright better. Lin would have merely been cut later.

And yet we decided to sign Nate instead of playing Wright. Lin, BTW, was relatively cheap to keep on the team.

The drafting of Klay eliminated any meaningful minutes for Reggie.

Reggie was a RFA. He would have been a nice cheap asset to have.

Please show me an example of a owner/GM saying – even in response to a direct question – that he was planning to trade a non-malcontent, major-minute, fan-favorite player without a clear deal on the table.

And yet we decided to sign Nate instead of playing Wright. Lin, BTW, was relatively cheap to keep on the team.

Yes. Wright was a long-term prospect. You don’t make the decision based on him-or-Lin based on who you think is going to be better this season. You do it based on your expectations 2-3 years down the line.

Reggie was a RFA. He would have been a nice cheap asset to have.

His value evaporates if he can’t get minutes behind Monta, Rush, Dorell, Klay, and McGuire.

Besides which, he was clear that he wanted to go where he could get minutes. It’s bad form to keep a player who says he wants to go somewhere he can play just to stash him on the bench.

Please show me an example of a owner/GM saying – even in response to a direct question – that he was planning to trade a non-malcontent, major-minute, fan-favorite player without a clear deal on the table.

So you don’t believe his statements that he won’t trade Monta, but you WILL believe statements that he is willing to do a trade?

You don’t make the decision based on him-or-Lin based on who you think is going to be better this season. You do it based on your expectations 2-3 years down the line.

Turns out those expectations may have been incorrect

His value evaporates if he can’t get minutes behind Monta, Rush, Dorell, Klay, and McGuire.

Then trade him before the season starts. The Pacers did that with Rush because they had lots of wings. The Warriors should have attempted to get value back for him.

So you don’t believe his statements that he won’t trade Monta, but you WILL believe statements that he is willing to do a trade?

Yup.

Because I don’t think he’s an idiot. (Caveat: I know people who have worked with him extensively). And only an idiot says, “Yes, I’m looking to trade one of my core-rotation, fan-favorite players.”

That’s a great way to destroy the player’s value.

Turns out those expectations may have been incorrect

You’re right. They may have been.

But they may not have been. And you don’t know yet. And neither do I.

I will point out that the Minny game was the first time an opposing team had played competent P&R defense against Lin, and don’t be fooled by the 20 points – Lin did not have a good game. And they did it without hedging, without aggressive double-teams or forcing him to make tough decisions.

I’m not saying I think Jenkins will be better than Lin. I am saying that we have no way of knowing, and if you’ve paid attention to things beyond the box score and watch the games with an eye to what the defense is doing (or not doing) then it makes a lot more sense to be a little cautious before you declare Lin someone who will definitely be better than Jenkins in 2-3 years.

don’t be fooled by the 20 points – Lin did not have a good game.

I’m fooled by it. 20 points aint bad unless it took 20 shots and 8 turnovers to get them ?

It took 24 shots and 6 turnovers.

Sleepy Freud - February 12, 2012 reply

And 7 FTAs.

Skeptic con Urquell - February 13, 2012 reply

It took 24 shots and 6 turnovers.

haha, at least that’s not 20-8, I’d hate to be a prophet.

What players do we not have that we would have had if we hadn’t made the run at Jordan? Lin? No. The team clearly indicated that they like Wright better. Lin would have merely been cut later. Reggie? The drafting of Klay eliminated any meaningful minutes for Reggie.

I must have missed it, but when did they indicate they liked Wright (assume you mean Chris here) more than Lin? Also, why did drafting Klay eliminate minutes for Reggie? I mean, I guess your assumption is Ellis will never be traded. If that’s the case, then I disagree with your philosophy. We should have already traded Monta when he had some value, kept Reggie and Lin, and start developing the talent we have better. I think Warriors fans mistake excusing the team for what they think the FO will do as opposed to criticizing for what they should do. Just because the FO gives a reason for making a move doesn’t mean it’s off limits in terms of second guessing. That’s what we’re here for.

Sorry, I wrote Wright instead of Jenkins.

Spider Jerusalem - February 11, 2012 reply

I have a lack of patience for bad process.

This team is doomed for as long a David Lee is on the roster. Plain and simple.

as*

Spider Jerusalem - February 11, 2012 reply

Even if I - for the sake of argument - agree with you

How does that justify getting upset about other reasonable moves?

Spider Jerusalem - February 12, 2012 reply

Well, I don't get upset about other reasonable moves.

I’m just aware that they don’t matter.

Fixing the windows while the foundation is cracked isn’t anything to get excited about.

The results do not show that.

And I agree with doubleteapot… 1 playoff appearance in 17 years. I’d say we’re pretty damn patient since we continue to fill up that arena.

GovernorStephCurry - February 12, 2012 reply

We’re a much more talented team than we were when Lacob took over.

If we kept the same 2009-10 team and they were healthy…much better team.

"We had to evaluate to see if there was something there or not."

This is exactly what Smart was doing with Acie Law…

Go Warriors!

cybermaldonado - February 11, 2012 reply

Right, the Knicks evaluated Lin in a game and a half. Smart evaluated Law over, and over, and over, again...

:-)

As much as I'm rooting for Lin to be a long term success...

I’m going to withhold my judgement longer than 4 games. I’m really interested to see how he does after he has a rough game and/or they lose. In other words, how will they respond to adversity. It’s inevitably going to happen.

After a year with the Warriors, D-League, two cuts, and, now, this, you must be the only one in the world "wondering" about how Lin responds to adversity!

That's me :)

lol....I hear you. We all are pinching ourselves to determine what is real!

Nonetheless, if there is one thing we all know about un-scholarshiped, undrafted, unwanted Lin, is that he handles adversity well.

See, that's the reason I'm still reserving judgement.

Nobody really knows who he is. Just about everyone knows what he’s done in the last 4 games, but I’m not sure that’s enough time for the rest of the league to react. Factor in that in these 4 games there hasn’t been many mistakes to point out. Preparation is extremely important in this league. If there is one thing we do know, the scouting on Lin has been a joke.

I'm with you

I look forward to seeing him in a playoff series. Still, even rooting for him last year, I never thought he could do what he’s done these past four games. He’s beaten all my expectations already, let’s just see if he can continue to rise.

Also

I want to see if he can develop chemistry with Melo over the course of the season. I worry that Melo’s iso plays will halt the offensive flow too much.

Yea, I’m not so excited for Melo’s return.

On the other hand, I can’t wait for Stoudemire to return. I’m expecting/hoping his game to return to his form playing with Felton.

He can now have four bad games, in a row, in NY, and get a bye from everyone!

I’m going to withhold my judgment longer than 4 games. I’m really interested to see how he does after he has a rough game and/or they lose

and after defenses start laying hard fouls on him so he thinks before driving. Once he has a rep they are gonna start taking him more seriously and playing him harder.

Don't people remember why GSW signed him in the first place?

It’s because he had a great summer league and showed up the #1 draft pick a couple years ago.

It’s not like you can say they had no idea. If they had no idea he could play, they wouldn’t have signed him in the first place.

For the same reason, we shouldn’t have signed Nate Robinson, and we should be playing Charles Jenkins a lot more. Not to mention Jeremy Tyler. When you’re a bad team, you should be developing young assets. Oh, well.

There was a conversation about Lakers picking him up

If we didn’t. So he could have been a Laker.

farid - February 11, 2012 reply

Would have been pefect for Kobe, Gasol, Bynum, and, an aging Fisher.

Would have been perfect

for west coast ball. Much better than him in NYK for us cali fans.

Talent Evaluation

We’re not very good at it. Yah, sure, Lin may have been a victim of “circumstances”, but this is why we’ve sucked for two decades.

By the way, just wanted to say I’ve always appreciated your stat analysis. Keep it up!

axelfoley - February 11, 2012 reply

this...

Somehow we don’t like to develop our young players… I think it’s a coaching issue to be honest: when Don Nelson coached, he had no problem playing guys like Morrow and CJ heavy minutes… Thats the reason why Reggie, Morrow, CJ, and all of those D-leaguers got chances on other teams to play (even Cartier Martin got a shot on another team). Instead, we play our starters over 38 minutes per game and we lose, and then when we’re out of contention we still play them that many minutes… The coaches and the FO need to get it in their thick heads that this team isn’t going anywhere and if they want ot make moves for game changers you gotta have young cheap assets… I mean thats how we got Lee. Instead, we let our good talent walk… I think CJ, Morrow, Reggie would have gotten us something of value (probably a mid level vet). Instead we got nothing… And with Jenkins and Tyler we will continue to get nothing from them because we want to win now with Nate Robinson…

The high expectations for a flawed team are an issue too

When the thought process from owner to GM to coach is that this team is ready to make the playoffs, developing rookies takes a back seat to winning. And that usually means going with the veterans.

sportsguy950 - February 11, 2012 reply

That's why you don't hire someone with no experience

He’s looking to make a splash in his debut year, not you know, coach his young team.

Development

We did bust our ass off on developing Acie Law, too bad he’s sitting on a couch right now

Lawrence9ers - February 11, 2012 reply

I know why Jeremy Tyler isn't getting minutes.

Because he has so much potential that they want to hide him from this trade deadline. They know if they show him to the rest of the NBA then other teams will demand him in any big trade.

Wishful thinking.

G-State - February 11, 2012 reply

EVANS, i do not understand why this SIMPLE concept is not more abundandly clear to the FO

its like maybe they are too confused because they know too much details they overlook the simple and obvious? Im at a total loss… but ur point will be getting recd by me next cuz it reflects my exact position..

PIRATEWARRIOR - February 11, 2012 reply

For the same reason, we shouldn’t have signed Nate Robinson

Nate has been more than a success here. He’s led the bench to some impressive performances. If Jenkins has it we’ll find out in good time.

Spider Jerusalem - February 12, 2012 reply

Why wait?

Greg Monroe or Jeremy Lin?

what’s a more of an ill feeling? Greg Monroe make the all star or Jeremy Lin becomes the Most Improved Player of the Year and make the playoff while Curry rehab on his ankles?

Lawrence9ers - February 11, 2012 reply

Both

the FO had a swing and a miss on both players… one more strike and they’re out