Lin the transformer

Dear readers unless you live under the proverbial rock or in some housing project without cable or the internet on the dark side of the moon you have heard of Lin-sanity. Jeremy Lin the new flavor of the month and newly anointed savior of the Knicks is doing his thing - and boy as a Knick fan am I glad. (See this black man blush) But the funny thing is that as I watch Mr. Lin do his thing I can't help but think back to the days when guards like Walt Clyde Frazier, Rory Sparrow, Darryl Walker, Rod Strickland and Mark Jackson handled the rock with grace and poise. Now I am please to say that today you can now add to that list the name of Jeremy Lin. Now wait before you navigate away or get pissed off thinking that this is another hype blog or me over praising the guy - This is not that at all - rather I want to submit to you that it will be this Asian American man from Harvard who will actually save the entire NBA. Now wait a sec and stop laughing - just hear me out real quick. I made mention of those other Knick guards for a reason and that reason is that every one of those guards achieved success not because they were great in and of themselves but because they each played fundamental basketball and threw the ball into the POST. Yes I said it. THE POST. THE BIG MAN SHALL RISE AGAIN - to the dismay of David Stern and yes the current coach Mike D'antoni. You see the pundits are worried whether Lin can play along side Melo and A'mere. But that is not the question. The question is will the NBA embrace the BIG man again and allow true point guards to reign once again. Look at the numbers of Tyson Chandler since Lin has started - THEY ARE ALL UP. As a matter of fact the boy has Jarred Jefferies looking good out there - now that's a point guard for ya. But seriously I wonder about the NY and sorts media because they call Lin the new Steve Nash - REALLY - That very same media is now crediting D'Antoni system for working and they are questioning the play of Melo. What? The Lin led Knicks are nothing like the Suns under D'antoni. First of all they play DEFENSE and as I said before they feed the post and yes Novack is dangerous behind the three point line but gone is Billie Walker and Mr. Jefferies hoisting up threes like mad. Gone is the over the top frenetic tempo and blatant disregard for the big man. Chandler is now an option not just a body to get garbage points. The offense is controlled and organized. The tempo is under 130 beats per minute to a more sustainable 80 bpm. Now Lin has a shot and is big enough to go inside and lay the ball up so he looks like a faded facsimile of Nash but he is nowhere like Steve Nash. Will Melo and A'mare fit in? Of course they will because the boy is a point guard. Melo had the ball in his hand so much because who else is gonna control the pill since trading Bullips - A'mare? Remember in a recent game A'mare took the last shot and a three pointer at that - way to go D'antoni great plan out of a time out. Back to the NBA. David Stern and the higher ups made a conscience decision to phase out the big man for more of an uptempo west coast type of offense. This effectively killed the big man. The funny thing is that although the Stern assisted suicide of the big man killed him during the regular season in the post season the big man always seems to raise his ugly head. DON'T BELIEVE ME LOOK FOR YOURSELF: 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks over Miami Heat 4-2 / 2009-10 Los Angeles Lakers over Boston Celtics 4-3 / 2008-09 Los Angeles Lakers over Orlando Magic 4-1 / 2007-08 Boston Celtics over Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 / 2006-07 San Antonio Spurs over Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0 / 2005-06 Miami Heat over Dallas Mavericks 4-2 / 2004-05 San Antonio Spurs over Detroit Pistons 4-3 / 2003-04 Detroit Pistons over Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 / 2002-03 San Antonio Spurs over New Jersey Nets 4-2 / 2001-02 Los Angeles Lakers over New Jersey Nets 4-0 / 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers over Philadelphia 76ers 4-1 / 1999-00 Los Angeles Lakers over Indiana Pacers 4-2 / 1998-99 San Antonio Spurs New York Knicks 4-1 / 1997-98 Chicago Bulls over Utah Jazz 4-2 / 1996-97 Chicago Bulls over Utah Jazz 4-2 / 1995-96 Chicago Bulls over Seattle Super Sonics 4-2 / 1994-95 Houston Rockets over Orlando Magic 4-0 / 1993-94 Houston Rockets over New York Knicks 4-3 / 1992-93 Chicago Bulls over Phoenix Suns 4-2 / 1991-92 Chicago Bulls over Portland Trail Blazers 4-2. EVERY ONE OF THESE TEAMS THAT WON HAD A BIG MAN IN THE MIDDLE OR A DUO/DOUBLE HEADED DRAGON PLUGGING UP THE MIDDLE. NOW FOR THE KNICKS TO CONTINUE THEIR WINNING WAYS THEY TOO WILL HAVE TO ADOPT THE BIG MAN PHILOSOPHY AND THE REMAINING QUESTION IS CAN D'ANTONI ADAPT TO THE NEW NBA WITH JEREMY LIN AT THE POINT. walt clyde frazier mark jackson Jeremy Lin

A quick thought on Signing day 2012

Exercise your right to engage in meaningful discussions - say what's on your mind - leave a comment. The month of February is upon us and I am so please to be reporting from Atlantic City on this incredible 67 degree day yes in February. I think today will always be remembered for two events first: the passing of Don Cornelius the man behind Soul Train and second: the hottest day in my lifetime 67 degree in February. But one other thing took place this day or within the last day or two and that was college signing day 2012. Now normally I would be too thrilled about the collegiate signings especially since it is a joyous time in all the recruits lives but an article in the USA Today made me start to think about something. Here is the article from USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2012-01-31/recruiting-classes-success-alabama/52909880/1 Now the article itself is a fine article and it was very informative - Jack Carey did his thing but what caught my eye was the by-line "Champ Alabama rolling in recruiting, too". I read the line and for some strange reason my mind went back to the civil rights era and the memory of college stars Jim Brown of Syracuse, Bill Russell of University of San Fransisco and Arthur Ashe of UCLA all of whom would go on to be civil rights activist and upstanding men of the black community. Now I fully understand that today the colored only signed are down, the back of the bus is no longer reserved for blacks only and that Yes Jim you can date white woman in the public but that does not mean all is well and we should rest on our laurels. With that said two questions came to my mind: 1. Does the athlete of today have any responsibility to continue the activism of yester-year, and 2. should black and brown athletes make/take a stand and attend a historically black college as a boycott to other schools to make a statement regarding civil rights? Or if not civil rights just the policies that adversely affect them today? While you think about that take a look at this round table from way back when we couldn't ride in the front of the bus, or eat at certain counters when colored signs were used.