Jeremy Lin News: A Look at His Stats and Where He Needs to Improve in Second Half of NBA Season
Roughly 43 games into the 2013-14 NBA season, Jeremy Lin has enjoyed highs and lows in a season which has seen him improve his shooting and overall play, but has had to deal with inconsistency in his role and minutes.
On the surface, things seem to be going well for Lin, who has shown himself to be a formidable sixth man off the bench for the playoff-bound, new and improved Houston Rockets, who find themselves enjoying a strong 36-17 season, only two games behind the San Antonio Spurs for the Southwest Division lead. In addition, Lin has been enjoying a marked improvement in his shooting, hitting 46.5 percent from the field at the NBA All-Star break, including 34.0 percent from three-point range, making him all the more valuable to have on the Rockets roster, especially during times when injuries to James Harden and Patrick Beverley forced Lin to take on more duties in the backcourt; averaging 14.3 points as a starter in 25 games this season when he was inserted into the starting lineup.
However, despite the upside to the situation, not all is cheery news for Lin fans. In 18 games where Lin came off the bench, Lin's retooled shooting marksmanship has not been as effective thanks to a lack of shots and minutes. Off the bench, he is averaging only 27.8 minutes per game, as opposed to the 33.4 minutes he enjoyed as a starter. However, where Lin is hurt most on the numbers is in shots allowed; only getting 8.7 field goal attempts as a starter, which is down from the 10.1 shots he's averaged starting.
While the decline in his numbers thanks largely to his loss of the starting point guard role and reduced minutes may have played a role in the popular Asian-American point guard missing the All-Star Game this season, Lin has shown much promise, which can carry over to an effective second half of NBA action if he minds a few things:
Keep up the Good Shooting
By the numbers, Lin is in much better shape than he was before the season's halfway mark last year. This year, Lin is averaging 13.3 points, slightly better than the 12.6 points he was averaging in the first 55 games last season before the All-Star break and before a recent slide dragged that number down to 12.7 points. With his previous 46.5 field goal percentage, he is also shooting better than at the half last year, when he was only hitting 43.4 percent from the field; from downtown, Lin is shooting more accurately than he was last season, when he was only hitting 31.7 percent from three-point range.
Clearly, the work Lin put into his offseason reworking his shooting form has been paying dividends for him. He has to continue that into the second half, especially down the stretch in March and April. Last season, Lin got hot down the stretch, largely thanks to increased playing time with injuries to Harden and Chandler Parsons. Over the last five games this season, however, Lin is shooting a mere 30.0 percent. However, all shooting slumps can be overcome; Lin just needs to be patient and not rush his shots. If he sticks to the fundamentals that he worked on during the summer, he should be in good shape.
Protect the Ball
Unfortunately, Lin's career problem with turnovers has continued to plague him this season. Averaging a career 2.6 turnovers, Lin has coughed up the ball 2.7 times on average this season--119 times--which is only a little less than 100 shy of his total from last season. As much as Lin can help on offense, a tendency to turn over the ball will make McHale skittish about giving him more playing time, especially considering that the Rockets are typically turnover-prone thanks to the wild and frenetic pace of their offense.
Part of protecting the ball comes through experience, making good judgment calls, while the other part comes in trying to be a bit more careful and patient when it comes from moving the ball up court. Lin can be prone to mental errors when holding the ball and has been caught sleeping on occasion. To get past that, he simply has to slow things down a tad when moving the ball. It might be counter to the Rockets' run-and-gun philosophy, but sometimes, it's slow and steady that wins the race.
Patience is a Virtue
Yeah, there's been a theme of patience here, but it's not one to be taken lightly. More often than not, be it on defense or offense, Lin has found himself getting into trouble when he rushes. Whether it's the upbeat tempo of the Rockets' playing style or just a part of Lin's game--or perhaps both--is hard to say, but either way, rushing on the court is a good way for opponents to take advantage of a lapse in carefulness. The point guard is the one controlling the style of play on the floor, and for Lin to be the best floor general he can be, he has to make sure that he's paying attention to the little things, like picking his shots, looking over his shoulder for any sneaky defenders fishing for steals, and setting up his teammates carefully for the best play instead of the quickest. If he can do that, then the rest should fall into place.
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