Jeremy, who?
The Knicks’ decision not to match the Rockets’ offer sheet Jeremy Lin had the potential for disaster if the team got off to a slow start and Linsanity was reborn in Houston. Lin is off to a fair start with the 4-4 Rockets, happily playing second fiddle to James Harden, who the team acquired from the Thunder just days before the season. But Raymond Felton is not allowing room for regrets. Through five games, he’s reminded Knicks fans that he was a very solid point guard before being traded to the Nuggets in the Carmelo Anthony deal.
Felton was frustrated by the trade and struggled in Denver. He was admittedly out of shape after the lockout last season and his play suffered in Portland. But he looks much like the player that was a potent 1-2 pick-and-roll punch with Amar’e Stoudemire two seasons ago and when the power forward returns from injury the hope is Felton can spark Stoudemire’s return to stardom. Ultimately, Felton is a better fit for this team as a player in Mike Woodson’s system and as a background figure, who won’t steal the spotlight away from Carmelo Anthony the way Lin did.
Anthony can get the bright lights and Lin can still be a star, just in a smaller market. It’s a scenario Lin obviously prefers, too.
“I went into an absolute shell for a few months in New York,” Lin told Yahoo! Sports in a story that was posted on Wednesday.
“I went through a phase when I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I didn’t want to talk to my friends. I didn’t want to give anybody close to me a chance to mess up our relationship. I saw how publicity and fame changed certain people around me, and changed how people looked at me. And I hated it.”
In the column, Lin explained that the attention he was getting from Mike D’Antoni disappeared when Woodson took over as coach and was preaching an offense run through Anthony and Stoudemire.
“It changed,” Lin told the website. “Different style, different coach.”
Much has been made about the Knicks’ veteran-laden team after the signings of Jason Kidd, Rasheed Wallace, Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas. Lin left the oldest team in basketball for the youngest in Houston.
“I just turned 24 and I’m pretty much the average age here,” Lin says. “There I would be the second- or third-youngest. And I would be in a position to have to lead with so much still to learn; with so much urgency for everything to happen now. I do feel like for my career, I’m in a better position in Houston. Here, we’re learning together. It’s almost like we’re thrown into the fire and you’ve got to figure it out. And the best part is that we have a coach [Kevin McHale] who knows exactly what he’s doing to lead and guide us. It’s different, because we’re so young, we’re going to have to make mistakes, and grow.”
The Lin-Knicks match made for an explosive scenario last February, but right now it seems best left in the past. It’s working out for Lin and the Knicks.
D’An the right man?
I know Mike D’Antoni has a relationship with Kobe Bryant, but not a coach-player one — except for brief stints during Olympic basketball.
D’Antoni seemed overmatched by Carmelo Anthony, and Bryant sounds even more intense and demanding than the Knicks star. Still, given his history with Steve Nash, D’Antoni would have been a fine choice for the Lakers had it not been made while passing over Phil Jackson.
Jackson’s best quality has been managing stars and the Lakers have three of them. The talent is not the question it’s how to manage it, and no one is better at doing that than Jackson, especially when it comes to Bryant.
Feel-good story turned bad
The Rockets took a chance on Royce White when they selected the Iowa State forward with the 20th pick in the draft because of his anxiety condition.
But it was presented as a nice story where White would get to play in the NBA despite this sometimes-debilitating issue. But putting this into reality has proved much more difficult than originally thought. First, the sides had to work together on forming a plan where White would not have to fly as often, and would be able to drive to certain road games. But that was a minor hiccup after what’s gone down this past week.
The Rockets have considered sending White to the D-League as he has yet to play in any of their games. Then White started skipping practices that he says were excused, but the team says otherwise and plans on fining him for every practice and team-organized therapy session he misses, according to the Houston Chronicle. White has even take to Twitter to call the team “inconsistent,” among other things, in their handling of him.
It sounds like a D-League stint is the best call for all involved, especially since White is buried on the Rockets’ bench, but whether he is willing accept that remains to be seen.
Then there was one
The Pistons routed the 76ers Wednesday night in Philadelphia to get off the schneid and leave only one team left winless.
It should not come as a shock that the 0-7 Wizards get the honor considering their two best players, John Wall and Nene, both have yet to play a game. But the news keeps getting worse as Wall was expected to come back by Thanksgiving, but now Christmas seems more likely.
At least Washingtonians have the Capitals to root for. Oh, right . .