The Big Picture of Jeremy Lin's Success with the New York Knicks

Jeremy Lin? New York Knicks? You following? Excellent.

This isn't the first and it definitely won't be the last article you'll ever read on the Harvard point guard that's transformed not only New York basketball but, to an extent, the entire NBA.

He is, in every sense of the word, a phenomenon.

And regardless of whether you think he's got the skills to match it with Dwyane Wade or Kevin Durant and regardless of whether you think he'll continue to succeed in the long run, you've got to give him some credit for what he's done with the New York Knicks.

The Knickerbockers were simply helpless at the start of the year; they couldn't buy a win and they didn't at all seem like the playoff contender people had speculated they would be.

January saw them not only lose games to teams like the Charlotte Bobcats, but between the Jan. 12 and the Feb. 3, the Knicks recorded three wins and 11 losses. They were well of pace in their division and conference—in terms of both wins on the board as well as skill level.

New York wasn't a happy place to be.

That was until Feb. 4 came around, Lin came off the bench, and, well, the rest is history.

We all know the wins and the points and the assists and the turnovers—it's all been discussed before.

And whilst I'm not jumping with both feet on the Linsanity bandwagon, the big picture success he's had with this Knicks side since that night on Feb. 4 is truly incredible.

Before, they sat 8-15 and falling away in both their division and the Eastern Conference. Now, they sit 18-18 and only three games off the lead in the division. They've also made it back to the No. 8 seed in the conference and are making a charge toward those seeds above them.

Throw into that mix, the Knicks now rank in the top two across the league in both steals and opponent turnovers, and the significance of their turnaround becomes more evident.

Consider it in the context of the league, and New York's success since Lin started playing paints the Knicks as one the top teams in the league, despite sitting at 18-18 currently.

From Feb. 4 onwards, and not including matches currently being played as of publishing, the Knicks have the fifth-best record in the league and the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Yup. Their 10-3 record under Lin is better than sides like Orlando, Dallas and both Los Angeles sides. Full standings can be seen below:

NBA standings since Jeremy Lin (Feb. 4, 2012)                  

Eastern Conference	Western Conference
Miami Heat (11-2)	San Antonio Spurs (10-2)
Chicago Bulls (11-2)	Oklahoma City Thunder (11-3)
New York Knicks (10-3)	Memphis Grizzlies (10-4)
Orlando Magic (10-4)	Los Angeles Lakers (8-5)
Indiana Pacers (7-6)	Los Angeles Clippers (8-6)
Detroit Pistons (6-7)	Dallas Mavericks (8-6)
Boston Celtics (6-7)	Houston Rockets (8-6)
Philadelphia 76ers (6-8)	Phoenix Suns (8-6)
Atlanta Hawks (6-8)	Minnesota Timberwolves (8-7)
Cleveland Cavaliers (5-9)	Golden State Warriors (6-7)
Washington Wizards (4-9)	Sacramento Kings (5-9)
Toronto Raptors (3-9)	Portland Trail Blazers (5-9)
New Jersey Nets (3-10)	New Orleans Hornets (5-9)
Milwaukee Bucks (3-10)	Denver Nuggets (5-9)
Charlotte Bobcats (1-10)	Utah Jazz (5-10)

Linsanity—fan or not—is more than just hype and sensationalism.

It's the proven success of the New York Knicks and the fact that under Lin, they are better than the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. How high the Knicks get in the seed rankings is yet to be unseen, but if they continue to perform in the same fashion and yield the same results, a top-four seed is not out of the equation.

That truly would whip Madison Square Gardens into a frenzy, as the New York Knicks would justify the tag that they are indeed a genuine playoff contender.

Little picture? Lin is a great point man with some excellent hands, riding the wave of momentum.

Big picture? Lin is turning New York's season around and he's doing it by putting the ball in the net and wins on the board.

Which, at the end of the day, is all he really needs to do.

Read more articles by Dan here or follow him on Twitter @dantalintyre.