New York Knicks: What has Lin done for both his team, the fan base and his head coach…
By A. Mazzolini
Tonight the
{EC ~ Atlantic} (11-15) will host the
{WC ~ Pacific} (15-11) at the mecca of basketball, Madison Square Garden. With this type of game you would say that the fans would be going crazy, but with the way things are going for the team from the Big Apple the proper was to say it is that the fanbase will be going in “linsanity”. Since Jeremy Lin has been inserted into the line up the Knickerbockers have gained confidence and have won three in a row. While the Lakers are always up for games on big stages, which means this should be a very good game to say the least.
The Knicks are in third place in the Atlantic, behind 3.5 games the Celtics and 7.0 game to the division leading Sixers. The Lakers are second in the Pacific, behind 1.5 games to the Clippers, the team they share STAPLES Center with. And while New York needs this game more than their opposition, the LA franchise wants to get to the top of their division and wants this game as well. In the race for the playoffs the Lakers are in the fifth slot in the West, while the Knicks are in ninth, tied with the Cavs, but just 1/2 a game behind the last playoff spot in the East.
If you look at the home record for the team from the East it’s under .500 at 6 and 7, which does not bode well for the home squad in this game. On the other hand for the team from the West they are 4 and 9 on the road, which bodes even worst for them. However it is not going to be easy as LA holds a nine game winning streak against NY and four in a row at MSG. As far as the Vegas insiders are concerned it’s the Lakers favorite by 3.5 and that is not saying much, based on the fact they are playing a 11 and 5 team in the Knicks.
I am sure that if you go to the upper linked sites you will get a great preview for this game, I am going to concentrate on just one point. The second year guard that was not played much until the last games is now doing two things for his franchise and its fans: keeping the team alive when it comes to the discussion of who is making the playoffs or not, and maybe more important and less talked about, he might be keeping his head coach’s job safe, at least until the end of the season.
If you think that Lin has not been a difference in the prior seven games before the entrance of the 6’3″/200 lbs guard, who is averaging 25.3 points and 8.3 assists in the past three games, was 2 and 5 and they were looking horrible. And this has happened as the New York franchise has been without the services of their top stars in Carmelo Anthony, out with strained right groin, and Amar’e Stoudemire, who has been gone from the team because of the loss of his brother. And I doubt you can find anyone who would be able to say that with such a struggling team, missing the top players, they would turn around and win three in a row. It’s getting so big that the fans are now buying “Linsanity” t-shirts.
As a result of this sudden righting of the ship head coach Mike D’Antoni should also be secure for now, as he is looking to bring this team into the playoff run and I doubt anyone would want to rock the boat then. Does this mean that the coach will be safe after the season? That I would be less secure about, but with a good run in the playoffs anything can be possible in this day and age, and we are also in the city that has Tom Coughlin coaching in it, and we all know how many times most people had him gone and now he is the Super Bowl winning coach. Who knows, in the city that never sleeps anything can happen, so to see a team like the Knicks going from being sub .500 to having a great run in the post season might not seem so insane, or just we say “linsanity”?
In the end check out the game, as you might not just see the great new player for the Knicks but you could also be looking at one of the last times at many Lakers in that uniform. This is not just a shortened season but one where I see a handful teams ready to make many personnel changes, so to see the teams as they were this might just be the year to be watching the NBA.