Jeremy Lin: Breaking Down the Fact and Fiction of NY Knicks Sensation

Jeremy Lin's success has been, by far, the biggest story in sports this year. Almost everyone has an opinion on Linsanity as its hype grows with each passing game.

It seems that for every supporter of the Knicks' breakout point guard, there is a detractor.

Keep reading for a breakdown of what they are knocking his game for, and if their opinion actually carries some weight. 

If Jeremy Lin Was So Good, Scouts Would Have Known About Him

FICTION

Scouts did know about Jeremy Lin. And they thought he was pretty good too.

In February of 2010, Jonathan Wasserman of NBADraft.net did a profile of the Harvard standout.

Here's a quick snapshot of his scouting report:

"

Jeremy is deceptively quick and athletic ... Noticeably has a quick first step ... Has nice touch around basket, he's very crafty with the ball, excellent at changing direction ... He sees a lane and takes it, and he's not afraid to get fouled ... Can adjust his body and shot in mid air, absorbs contact well...

"

They also noticed the flaws in his game that have come up now that he is a star for the Knicks.

"

His dribble is too high making it easy for opponents to strip the ball away ...When fatigued tends to force the issue, turn the ball over, and take questionable shots...

"

The fact that he played against lesser competition in college turned a number of teams off of Lin, despite his excellent production.

He most likely would have been drafted had a better basketball school taken a chance on him. But scouts certainly noticed him and thought he had a shot to be a good player.

Jeremy Lin Is a Product of Mike D'Antoni's System

FACT

Lin is certainly finding success because of his coach's faith in him and the offensive system of New York. Of course, he's not 100 percent—or even 95 percent—a product of the system, as Jason Terry has boldly stated. But it has something to do with his emergence as one of the league's elite point guards.

Coach D'Antoni allows his guards to control the pace and tempo of the game while flashing creativity. However, it takes a special player to excel in the scheme he has set up.

Steve Nash won two MVP awards and arguably could have taken home a third with D'Antoni in Phoenix. The Suns PG averaged a ton of assists and had plenty of opportunities to score himself as well.

But when someone like Toney Douglas, Mike Bibby or Iman Shumpert tries to facilitate, it's clear they are overmatched.

It takes a great basketball player to run D'Antoni's system, and Lin has proven to be more than capable.

Jeremy Lin Will Suffer When Carmelo Anthony Returns

FICTION

Carmelo Anthony is an amazing basketball player, he just needs a good point guard to find him in position to score and keep him happy. He hasn't had that opportunity with the pu pu platter of terrible PGs that New York was trotting out before Lin saved the team.

He's earned the black hole title for a reason, but it's been out of necessity. The guy has had to do everything himself and isn't a capable enough passer to find Amar'e Stoudemire down low, making the offense stagnant.

Now that Lin has found a spot in the starting lineup, things are going to be much different. 

His stats are certainly going to be affected, but mostly in a positive way. Expect his assist numbers to skyrocket while his point totals take a slight dip. 

It will be easier and more effective for Lin to dish it to Carmelo, a much better scorer, if the Knicks want to win. 

Opposing coaches are still going to game-plan to stop Amar'e and Carmelo, making Lin the third option. He's proven time and time again he's a great scorer when needed.  

Jeremy Lin Will Suffer as Teams Get More Tape on Him

FACT

It's becoming well known that Lin struggles when he goes left. He's also a rhythm jump shooter. 

Defenders are going to really start forcing him to go left when he drives and disrespect his shot. Obviously, that can fail, as evidenced by his performance in the fourth quarter of Sunday night's game against the Mavericks.

It's still worth it for teams to allow Lin to shoot over the other marksmen on the team and get him out of his comfort zone in the paint.

It's almost a sure thing that Lin will have some struggles during what basically amounts to his rookie season. Regardless, he's got an extremely high basketball IQ, and Mike D'Antoni is a great coach.

They will make the necessary adjustments to continue Lin's success, and the poor play, should it happen, will not last long.

Jeremy Lin Can't Sustain Long-Term Success in NBA

FICTION

This is just a ridiculous statement. As evidenced by his incredible string of amazing performances during the month of February, Lin is here to stay. He's obviously a quality basketball player, and his displays of skill are absolutely no fluke.

Guards don't just come along and destroy the reigning NBA champions. Over the past five games, the Knicks PG is averaging 22.2 points, 10.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from deep.

Those stats aren't a mistake. Lin is simply this good, and he's only going to get better as he gets more experience and as his team gets healthy.

Jeremy Lin's Turnovers Will Become His Achilles Heel

FICTION

Lin is a good setup artist—his turnovers almost always come when he's in the paint and stuck between putting up a shot or kicking it out.

He's only going to improve in this area as he gets more confidence and his teammates know where to position themselves on the floor.

You almost never see Jeremy throwing the ball away aside from those drives, and he's a obviously a gifted passer.

Lin will figure out how to find the shooters when he goes to the hole, and the turnover issue will be no more.