Jeremy Lin is the mortar to Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire’s bricks.
Look at Lin’s obese point total the last four games – 25, 28, 23, 38. He’s shooting 58% from the field, and the Knicks have won all four of those games.
However, his physical game doesn’t impress me as much as mental game. As his shot efficiency indicates, Jeremy Lin makes smart decisions. He plays defense, he takes the open shot, he finds the open teammate, he gets to the free throw line.
Compare those numbers to Carmelo Anthony’s his last four full games:
Points – 25, 26, 26, 11
FG% – 44%
Knicks win/loss – (2-2)
(Yes, those two losses came against Boston and Chicago, but Lin’s dominance against the Lakers allows the juxtaposition.)
In today’s sports world, teams buy this false notion:
The more star players, The more wins, The more Championships
Dear New York Yankees, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, & Philadelphia Eagles,
It doesn’t work like that.
Jeremy Lin is a special player. Midway through the fourth quarter yesterday, Lin hit a long two right in (I think) Pau Gasol’s face, then two possessions later hit an open three from the corner. The crowd was nuts.
The next play is a Jeremy Lin fast break. He goes up strong, and when everyone expects a hard foul and two Lin free throws, he hands it off to Billy Walker for the uncontested layup.
Without any proof, Carmelo Anthony, Toney Douglas, Iman Shumpert, Billy Walker, and almost everyone else on the Knicks (and league for that matter) would go up strong that next play – maybe get the And1, and get the crowd even MORE into it.
But that pass did it for me. It proved will always make the smart play, unaffected by outside forces. With Lin calling the shots, the team will stay focused and won’t get lost in the heat of the moment, which has been a huge hole in the Knicks game since they acquired Anthony.
Fans are obsessed with points, home runs, touchdowns… but not equally important aspects like assists, base hits, and blocking. Even if Lin doesn’t average twenty points per game this season (he won’t), his game translates into winning basketball. It seems to me Lin would be okay with averaging five points and eleven assists per game. Contrarily, point guards like Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury would not, and it’s why they never won an NBA Championship.
Jeremy Lin is not the most athletic player on the Knicks. He doesn’t have the best shot, he’s not the strongest, and he turns the ball over. But sports teams need to learn championships require the perfect mix drink of talent, not five shots of Tequila.
The Jason Kidds, the David Freases, the Derek Jeters. It’s the player that brings something different to the table and doesn’t look for attention. You can argue the Knicks are a better team without their two best players. Right now they are, but Carmelo and Stoudemire will make the Knicks better…
….so long as they play Jeremy Lin’s game.
Time to Schein 
This whole situation puts me in a awkward place as a Knick fan. I mean, Lin is doing an awesome job as a facilitator on the floor and I do agree that his success is highly contributed to his intelligence. But once those other two come back things will change. I believe that he can co- exist with Amare because the offense will be similar to how he and Nash were in the Phoenix days. However Melo=No Bueno. He’s a ball stopper and hes going to disrupt however things flows. (Besides he plays no defense) but thats another story lol. If Melo Adjust his game (which will never happen) their can be Potential if not, Other Knick fans And I will be highly disappointed in the foreseeable future.
Yeah I think Carmelo is overrated. He’s an incredible scorer, but he cant’ do anything else. He hogs the ball and disrupts the offense. Hopefully Lin can distribute the ball to Carmelo when he’s open and not just asking for the ball in the high post
Lin is averaging 5 turnovers per game since his hot streak. He has decision making issues to work on.