Jeremy Lin: Benching Star Point Guard in Crunch Time Is a Mistake

Jeremy Lin has his faults, but benching him during crunch time, like Mike D'Antoni suggested, would be a huge mistake. 

The second-year guard from Harvard certainly isn't the best player in the world, which is what you would have thought after his first two weeks in the NBA.

He still turns the ball over too much (3.6 per game; 5.7 as a starter), he is vulnerable on defense and he plays out of control, especially on the fast break.

But is Baron Davis, D'Antoni's preferred crunch-time player, really better at those things?

Davis is 32 years old and coming off a back injury, and is far from 100 percent. He's averaging 2.6 turnovers in just 14.6 minutes per game since returning to action.

If you extrapolate that out to 37 minutes per game, which is what Lin plays as a starter, Davis would be turning it over 6.6 times per game.

Yikes.

Obviously, the sample size is small and Davis is still recovering, but there is no guarantee the Knicks will see an improvement over Lin's biggest weakness when B-Diddy is in the game.

As far as experience, sure, Davis wins out. However, how much difference can experience really make when you're dealing with a slow, limited player?

Will it make up for the fact that Davis is shooting just 29 percent? Will it make up for the fact that he's clearly not the same young, explosive player anymore? Will it help him play against first units, which he's yet to do for the most part?

Not so much.

But this isn't all on Davis. Even if Lin had a better backup, taking him out during crunch time would be a mistake.

The most important part of Lin's game is his unmatched passion. He hasn't had a long career, but it seems that every time the Knicks are in a desperate situation, he steps up and is always incredibly fired up about it.

I'm talking Joakim Noah-like enthusiasm. I haven't been to a Knicks game, but Lin's battle cry looks ferocious. Simply put, he loves to play this game, and that attribute can't be counted out when dealing with play in the clutch. 

It's evidenced by how much better Lin has been in the second half of games, but also by the countless big shots he's already knocked down. Heck, even against Boston, a game in which he struggled mightily, he hit a key 3-pointer late in the game.

So, Mr. D'Antoni, I know your ability to shake up lineups is what led to the discovery of Linsanity in the first place, but you need to practice patience this time.

Just because Jeremy Lin turns over the ball at an alarming rate and hasn't score 20 points in the last four games, don't bench him when he's most valuable.