The Case For Why Jeremy Lin Should Start
By Mike Garcia
The Lakers have an interesting situation at point guard. They are three-deep at the point guard position with Jeremy Lin, Steve Nash, and Jordan Clarkson established. Of the three players, Jeremy Lin is the player who should be starting for the Lakers.
At first glance, it makes sense to start Nash over Lin. Nash has had a tremendous career. Outside of Kobe Bryant, he’s the only player on the Laker roster to be a sure-fire Hall-of-Fame player. He is an eight-time All-Star and two-time MVP. He deserves the respect of the league and organization. That’s what most likely got him the starting position. Yes, he was a tremendous passer last year. At the end of last season, he nearly averaged an assist for every two minutes of play. Yes, he still has some ability to shoot. Unfortunately health got in the way and he couldn’t suit up for every game. In fact, he suited up for just fifteen games last season, starting only ten.
Considering how last year went, the Laker organization cannot afford to bank on Steve Nash playing consistent minutes over an 82-game season.
The only player who could hold fort for the Lakers was Steve Blake. During a stint in November, he was averaging double-digit points and assists, fitting in perfectly within the Mike D’Antoni offense. Once he was out with injury, Xavier Henry had a stint at point guard. Kendall Marshall was later picked up from the NBDL just to get normalcy out of the point guard position. He played 54 games, starting 45. The Lakers were racking up losses after a .500 start.
The Lakers can’t afford to do that again.
Jeremy Lin became popular during “Linsanity” for the New York Knicks. The Knicks were an injury depleted team, scrapping for every win they could get. Lin led the team with quality pick-and-roll play and timely perimeter shooting. His aggression to the hoop caught defenses off-guard. He was a 20-10 point guard for nearly two months.
The Houston Rockets picked him up and started him all 82 games the following year. He couldn’t build the same cohesiveness with the Rockets that he had with the Knicks. His aggression was being exploited. He became turnover prone. His jump shot went from timely, to streaky.
But, he played every game. In 32 minutes of playing time, he averaged 13.4 points per game and 6.1 assists per game on 44.1% shooting from the field. Steve Blake averaged 9.5 points per game and 7.6 assists per game on 37.8% shooting from the field for the Lakers last season.
Both players played roughly the same amount of minutes. Statistically, Lin comes out ahead.
If this was 2013 with Blake on the roster, it would only make sense to start Blake and play him a minimum of 30 minutes per game. Nash would have the opportunity to play every game in 10-15 minute stints.
Instead, it’s 2014 with Lin on the roster. It only makes sense to start Lin and give him the majority of the minutes. Nash deserves to play as many games as he can during the last season of his career. Limiting his playing time gives him that opportunity. It’s a win-win situation for both players.
So, why do you think Byron Scott doesn’t see it that way? Do you think starting Jeremy Lin is the right decision?
Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.