New York Knicks: What Will Jeremy Lin Be a Year from Now?

It's so easy to get caught up in hype after an impressive run in any sport. 

This is why I refused to hop on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon after just his third start. A larger sample size was needed to see what type of player he would be in the long run.

After nine starts, I've bought into the hype just a little bit more. It's still a small sample, but it's obvious that Lin can play.

He may turn over the ball excessively, but his shooting, passing, quickness, agility, basketball IQ and even his defense cover that up. The energy he brings to Madison Square Garden hypes up the crowd and the rest of the team feeds off it.

At the same time people must know that the Palo Alto kid is not anything close to Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook or Tony Parker. 

Most of Lin's wins have come against cupcake teams in the NBA like the Sacramento Kings, New Jersey Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Washington Wizards. His two biggest wins came against the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks, both of which have aging point guards who were not able to keep up with Lin.

His turnovers have been a major liability for the Knicks and when the New Jersey Nets played him a second time after they got film on him, they were able to contain him for more than half of the game until he went off on a little run in the fourth quarter.

Lin's gameplay doesn't justify "Linsanity" or all of the hype that he's been receiving. 

Now it's true a large portion of the hoopla is because of his background as a Harvard kid and by being the first Chinese-American to play in the NBA, and because of this, he'll be a perennial All-Star the same way Yao Ming was voted in every year. 

That being said, Lin will be a solid contributor and an NBA starter for years to come. He's not going to be any of the point guards mentioned above, but there is value to what he brings to the floor. 

People must realize that there is a gray area in the debate about Jeremy Lin. Rather than saying that he's a solid point guard, the "Linsanity" hype machine, along with every single pun that people have came up with his name, makes it look like he's the best player in the NBA.

On the contrary, those who don't want to buy into the hype, say that he'll just be another average player once the hype dies.

Neither of those claims are close to being true.

This is not a black-and-white debate. There are some aspects of the game that Lin does well and there are others that are a tad overhyped.

As mentioned above, his Knicks have defeated some bad teams and he's turned the ball over a lot. However, Lin definitely passes the eyeball test and he's a true facilitator. He's quick, flashy and he's only going to get better the more he plays.

One can also make the case that Mike D'Antoni's system has elevated Lin's game. D'Antoni worked wonders with Steve Nash and Ray Felton in previous years. Steve Nash won two MVPs with D'Antoni's system and Felton was averaging over 17 points per game last season in his brief stint with the Knicks. 

In fact, after Felton was traded to Denver, he only averaged 11.5 points per game. This year with Portland, Felton is just at 10 points per game and he's averaging three fewer assists per game than he was last year in D'Antoni's system.

Denying that D'Antoni has absolutely nothing to do with Lin's success is foolish and ignorant. He's an offensive-minded coach who runs a point-guard friendly offense. 

This doesn't mean that it's the only reason why Lin is succeeding, but it's definitely part of the story.

It's part of a murky story that no one can decipher. Part of the story is talent and skill. Part of it is the system. Another part of it are the opponents he's played. Some of it is even confidence and just being on a hot streak.

When everything simmers down, we're going to get a solid facilitator, averaging points in the high teens and close to double-digits in assists.

Perhaps there will be a bump in those numbers if he continues to play for Mike D'Antoni, but that's what Lin is: a B-list NBA point guard.

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