For Jeremy Lin, tonight was likely the worst performance of his young career with the Lakers. His final stat line looked ugly: 22 minutes, 0-2 FG, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist.
Even Lin was able to admit that tonight’s game was a “huge” step back for him.
Jeremy Lin called tonight a "huge" step back for him personally: "It's not a little step back. It's a huge step back for me."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) November 17, 2014
It’s not putting it lightly that Lin’s play tonight was abysmal. Despite notably Kobe Bryant imploring Lin to be aggressive even during the game, the guard seemed more willing to fade into Bryant’s shadow as the Black Mamba continued chucking up shots trying to salvage the game.
Too often this season, Lin has followed a solid performance up with a bad one. His inconsistency this season has frustrated the Lakers fans who are desperate for a quality starting point guard to go alongside Bryant.
While still a young season, Lin certainly has to learn to assert himself with or without Bryant in the lineup. We’ve already discussed the possibility about Lin coming off the bench, but the Lakers don’t have a replacement even remotely close to Lin’s talent level, making his play all the more frustrating.
While Lin may say the right things, his actions on the court are going to define him. Considering he’s in a contract year, he’s due to either make himself lots of many or cost himself big bucks.