The Los Angeles Lakers may be having a forgettable season so far based on performance, but point guard Jeremy Lin is doing his best under the roughest of circumstances.
According to Greg of Sportige, Lin is "plowing through" whatever Lakers coach Byron Scott throws at him. Whether it involves benching Lin or using other players such as Jordan Clarkson instead, Greg argued that the point guard has made the best out of an otherwise bad situation.
"It's the second season in a row Lin loses a starting spot for no good reason and has to deal with that on top of playing next to a shoot first, second and third guard (which is out for the season by now) and now even play on a team trying to lose as much as possible," Greg wrote. "Through it all, he's doing quite nicely, considering the circumstances."
Greg added that Lin makes the most of whatever minutes given to him, scoring 11 points in 21 minutes with 5-of-9 from the field. He also argued that Lin was being let down by "priorities set by the Lakers for the rest of this season."
"Scott isn't exactly helping trying to get his best scorer (potentially) back on track," Greg argued. "This is tanking at its finest: Giving a useless coach a job on the sidelines to play inferior players as much as possible."
Greg contended that the Lakers have created "a D-League situation" that would only end up in disaster.
"This is a walking, talking, embarrassing disaster, with Scott's name written all over it," Greg wrote. "He's not alone in this, but he's a huge culprit."
Based on their dismal performance so far this season, it seems that the Lakers wanted to trade off Lin as part of their rebuilding strategy. However, Tim Keeney of Bleacher Report contended that Lin has faced unrealistic expectations as an NBA star.
"Because of his unbelievable run with the New York Knicks that drove a nation Linsane with puns, and because of that over-inflated, back-loaded, poison pill of a contract, he carries the unreachable expectations of a star," Keeney wrote. "But he's not a star. He's a solid offensive point guard with legitimate defensive limitations."
Keeney added that the point guard was "an aggressive ball-handler who thrives in the pick-and-roll game." He cited NBA.com statistics that Lin was "shooting at 57.3 percent at the rim and 38.5 percent on threes from above the break," noting that both numbers were "rock-solid."
"His field-goal percentage is low because of his atrocious mid-range shooting, but the right coach could get him to cut down on those shots and thus improve his efficiency," Keeney wrote.
Keeney contended that when it comes to Lin, expectations have to be adjusted.
"He's not someone who's going to transcend defenses and look great on a bad Lakers team," Keeney wrote. "But on a good team, he can be a reliable backup point guard who comes off the bench, runs the offense and provides a scoring punch to the second unit. That's a valuable asset, and plenty of contending squads could stand to improve by adding him."
Keeney concluded that any team "trying to win right now" should consider placing Lin on the roster if the Lakers decide to put him on the trading block, given his international popularity.
"Ultimately, any potential suitors will have to weigh the cost versus value, determining if Lin's offense is worth the bloated cap hit," Keeney wrote.
