• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Jeremy Lin: Asian American, Harvard Grad... NBA great?

Status
Not open for further replies.
OpinionatedCyborg said:
yeah, this is just like when ramon sessions appeared on sports illustrated 4 years ago when he averaged nearly 20 apg over 5 games for the bucks... or when mike james got serious media coverage when he was averaging 25 ppg, 7 apg on great percentages for a couple weeks back in 05/06. o wait, neither of those guys got much media attention at all.

I am just bitter because I've been saying all along that Lin is a decent player who deserves to be in this league, but he's gone from being totally irrelevant to being hailed as a superstar.... just insanity. /basketball hipster

e: add Darren Collison to the list. guy barely gets any minutes until Chris Paul is injured. Suddenly he's scoring 20+ ppg and getting around 10 apg in his rookie season. Totally on fire. People start saying the Hornets should get rid of Paul and look to a Collison future. even though he got some media coverage, it wasn't nearly to this extent.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I knew he was going to be decent too. I wanted the Lakers to sign him last year, but the Warriors offered him more years than the Lakers did. I wanted him this year too, but he didn't clear waivers and was picked up by the Knicks.
 
tubster68 said:
Lin is a great player, but has bad music taste =(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BHqw-h2Rus
Click to expand...

wtf_is_this_shit_Very_Disturbing_Childrens_Book_RE_We_dont_say_ampquotGermanampquot_in_America-s400x297-59009.jpg
 
OpinionatedCyborg said:
yeah, this is just like when ramon sessions appeared on sports illustrated 4 years ago when he averaged nearly 20 apg over 5 games for the bucks... or when mike james got serious media coverage when he was averaging 25 ppg, 7 apg on great percentages for a couple weeks back in 05/06. o wait, neither of those guys got much media attention at all.

I am just bitter because I've been saying all along that Lin is a decent player who deserves to be in this league, but he's gone from being totally irrelevant to being hailed as a superstar.... just insanity. /basketball hipster

e: add Darren Collison to the list. guy barely gets any minutes until Chris Paul is injured. Suddenly he's scoring 20+ ppg and getting around 10 apg in his rookie season. Totally on fire. People start saying the Hornets should get rid of Paul and look to a Collison future. even though he got some media coverage, it wasn't nearly to this extent.
Click to expand...
Yes you are.

Ramon Session never scored as much as Lin and didn't win 7 straight in the biggest media market where basketball hasn't been relevant for a decade.

Mike James was a loser. So was Darren Collison.

I'll add a few more names. Bobby Sura. Dan Dickau. Sundiata Gaines.

These guys weren't winners. They didn't have the narrative like Lin who was literally about to be cut from the team. They didn't have 2 of their biggest stars injured and turn the team completely around. They don't have the underdog story from high school, college, and NBA.
 
I couldn't care less about his ethnicity. His story is interesting simply because he was about to be cut and only got his shot because of two star player injuries.

The many layers of this thread has been hilarious to read btw.
 
Interview with Jeremy Lin's 85-year old grandmother and 63-year old uncle in Taipei.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/s...grandmother-watches-along-with-taiwan.html?hp

...

Lin Chu’s face lighted up every time her grandson came on the screen. But each time he fell or was knocked down or elbowed by the Raptors, who played a pugnacious, battering defense against him, her face froze.

“I don’t know too much about basketball, but this is not how it should be done — why do they do it?” she said with dismay. “I know nothing about basketball. I only know when Jeremy puts the ball in the basket he has done a good thing.”

...

Lin’s uncle volunteered his views on one of the most contentious questions on the Internet about Jeremy Lin and his family: whether they are Taiwanese or Chinese. “For sure, they are Taiwanese,” Lin Chi Chung said. “I spoke to Jeremy Lin’s father, who is my younger brother, and he said, ‘Make sure you point this out.’ ”

...

While acknowledging that the maternal grandmother is still fond of mainland China, where she sponsors a scholarship at her hometown’s high school, Lin Chi Chung said that mainland Chinese culture and Taiwanese culture both dictate that Jeremy Lin’s identity should be determined by his father’s side of the family.

“We are a male-dominated society, so while I know there are relatives on the mother’s side on the mainland, you should go by the father’s side, and that is Taiwanese,” he said.

Lin Chu remained quiet for the most part during the discussion of her grandson’s identity, preferring to discuss his basketball abilities. She said that she was struggling to understand her grandson’s basketball games because while Lin’s father has been sending her videos of the games for years, she has not tried to watch them until the past few weeks.

“My grandson would say, ‘Did you see the films?’ and I hadn’t, but I would tell him I did,” she said.

...
Click to expand...
 
Fenderputty said:
I couldn't care less about his ethnicity. His story is interesting simply because he was about to be cut and only got his shot because of two star player injuries.

The many layers of this thread has been hilarious to read btw.
Click to expand...

I could care less about his ethnicity. I honestly think it's probably the most important thing about his recent rise to fame. It's significant, although in an ideal world it wouldn't be.
 
tubster68 said:
Because if I'm assuming that most of his fans would agree with whatever he says on public. Its his social power that I'm talking about not himself.

Anyways I'm going to end this, getting out of hand, especially when no one understood what i meant.
Click to expand...
Just because he's Christian, it doesn't mean he has some agenda against Gays.
 
SoulPlaya said:
Just because he's Christian, it doesn't mean he has some agenda against Gays.
Click to expand...

Lin is a Democrat. In high school he was an intern for State Senator Joe Simitian.

His college friends say he's never pushed his religion on others.

Lin is indeed a devout Christian—he held a regular Bible study group in the dorms he shared with Magnarelli, Blankenau, and others—but is more open-armed inclusionary rather than evangelical browbeater, the type who invites you to church, and, should you not be interested, shrugs it off with a smiling "No sweat, dude."
Click to expand...
 
Let's talk about how the kid set a career high for assists tonight but only had 10 points. Or something relating to actual basketball. and not Lin's potential political/religious agenda.
 
The thing for me was that the Knicks were at the point of being a joke to most people and he was the biggest reason things got better. I don't really hear anyone seriously saying he is going to be a superstar but he has made what was an almost unwatchable team fun to watch. And the Knicks are now playing like a team, I am not deluded though they are not a contender but if they continue to play hard like they have since Lin has been put in they should be a fun 1st round matchup.
 
SoulPlaya said:
Just because he's Christian, it doesn't mean he has some agenda against Gays.
Click to expand...

True. GAF hears "Christian," and they immediately think of Fred Phelps, when they could also think of Fred Rogers. Until Lin says he hates gay people, let's give him the benefit of the doubt.
 
lucius said:
The thing for me was that the Knicks were at the point of being a joke to most people and he was the biggest reason things got better. I don't really hear anyone seriously saying he is going to be a superstar but he has made what was an almost unwatchable team fun to watch. And the Knicks are now playing like a team, I am not deluded though they are not a contender but if they continue to play hard like they have since Lin has been put in they should be a fun 1st round matchup.
Click to expand...

whoops. too late.
around the 15s mark.
diane sawyer knows what's up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uamVAnaSEuk
 
zmoney said:
Ah, I get it. Y'all like watching prima donnas who don't give a damn for 75% of the season. Got it. So seeing someone like Lin must be rather refreshing since he actually seems to care.
Click to expand...

no he actually shoots over 30% for a game...
 
Yes go Lin! I'm all about the basketball now. I'm not sure why I even like this guy, it's just kind of fun to root for an underdog and I like all the insanity this is causing. I want him to keep playing like this forever.
 
numble said:
Interview with Jeremy Lin's 85-year old grandmother and 63-year old uncle in Taipei.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/s...grandmother-watches-along-with-taiwan.html?hp
Click to expand...

The explanation of him being Taiwanese is stupid. It isn't about mother line or father line, the real reason is that Taiwanese people don't identify themselves as mainlanders, even if they have relatives in mainland. I guess the uncle just wants to be politically correct. Then again, Lin is American first, so the whole discussion is kinda worthless.
 
zmoney said:
Ah, I get it. Y'all like watching prima donnas who don't give a damn for 75% of the season. Got it. So seeing someone like Lin must be rather refreshing since he actually seems to care.
Click to expand...

How is it any different from the NBA? The only thing that matters in NCAA basketball is the tournament, that's why attendance for regular season games is declining.
 
Neo C. said:
The explanation of him being Taiwanese is stupid. It isn't about mother line or father line, the real reason is that Taiwanese people don't identify themselves as mainlanders, even if they have relatives in mainland. I guess the uncle just wants to be politically correct. Then again, Lin is American first, so the whole discussion is kinda worthless.
Click to expand...

It's not a Mainlander/Taiwanese thing, it's a Chinese/Taiwanese thing. It's whether or not there is an identification with being "Chinese." For instance, a Hong Kong University poll indicates 60% of Hong Kong people identify themselves with the label Chinese. National Chengchi University in Taiwan regularly polls people on identity in Taiwan and find that 39% of Taiwan people identify as "Both Taiwanese and Chinese".

Of course 0% of Hong Kong people and 0% of Taiwan people should identify with being Mainlanders, because they're not from the Mainland.

Anyway, he's probably going to be like most celebrities in Taiwan and say he identifies with both, even if he doesn't. The celebrities know they can't risk inflaming the huge Chinese market.
 
numble said:
It's not a Mainlander/Taiwanese thing, it's a Chinese/Taiwanese thing. It's whether or not there is an identification with being "Chinese." For instance, a Hong Kong University poll indicates 60% of Hong Kong people identify themselves with the label Chinese. National Chengchi University in Taiwan regularly polls people on identity in Taiwan and find that 39% of Taiwan people identify as "Both Taiwanese and Chinese".
Click to expand...
Ah, I see.

numble said:
Of course 0% of Hong Kong people and 0% of Taiwan people should identify with being Mainlanders, because they're not from the Mainland.
Click to expand...
It should be above 0%. There are indeed people who see both HK and Taiwan being part of China. Then again it's also a question of translation ("zhong guo" or "da lu").
 
What is happening to this thread? I was excited someone from the Ivy league doing well for a team in NYC, even though it is Harvard (I went to Columbia). I hope the Cinderella story lasts a bit longer.
 
bigboss370 said:
would've been so much better if they were losing, so that he didn't have the guarantee of OT to fall back on.
Click to expand...
I think D'Antoni might not have let Lin run the play like that if they needed a point or two rather than being tied. If Lin hadn't had that big big shot on his resume already, I really think D'Antoni calls the timeout to run a play.


What's really amazing (in a kinda bad way) about Lin's turnovers is how he can rack up like 8-9 assists to one turnover before the first half is over, then accumulate another five turnovers almost in a row right after. It's like that eighth assist turns off his 'take care of the ball' mode.
 
Zzoram said:
That's just stupid. Talk about his games instead of speculating about his politics.
Click to expand...

When people are literally trying to pin him as a Republican because he was near Stanford (wtf?) and are factually incorrect I think it's not unreasonable to want to clear the air before moving on.
 
zmoney said:
Ah, I get it. Y'all like watching prima donnas who don't give a damn for 75% of the season. Got it. So seeing someone like Lin must be rather refreshing since he actually seems to care.
Click to expand...

Like anyone cares about conference tournaments... its all about seeding and hype until the big tournament.

But by all means, protect the sanctity of college sports.
 
zmoney said:
Ah, I get it. Y'all like watching prima donnas who don't give a damn for 75% of the season. Got it. So seeing someone like Lin must be rather refreshing since he actually seems to care.
Click to expand...

The NBA is basketball at its highest level.

Once the playoffs start.
 
I don't get why this is getting so much media attention. Unknown players have a stretch of good games from time to time in all sports.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

American Ancestry
2
51
2K
diffusionx replied
How to Live Through a Great Decline
16
338
Unknown Soldier replied
The American Revolution | Ken Burns
0
198
Men_in_Boxes replied
Netflix: The Great Flood, Korean apocalyptic drama
3
170
shamroxor replied
NBA finals
2 3 4
183
5K
HeisenbergFX4 replied
Top Bottom