[Mr. 19134Participant]

Sorry for the long title but I’ve always been a fan of ambitiosly long titles and I wanted to prepare for some reading, anyways earlier today I read this great article on ESPN which put in words my belief that a coach can make or break the careers of a player and how it’s so important for players to find the right system and coaches.

By Chris Broussard
ESPN The Magazine
Archive

 

AP Photo/Kathy KmonicekJeremy Lin has thrived since taking over as the Knicks’ starting point guard.

 

 

So what gives? How does Jeremy Lin go from getting cut by two mediocre clubs — theGolden State Warriors and Houston Rockets — to starring on one of the league’s biggest stages, all within a period of three months?

 

 

To find out, we asked some of the league’s talent evaluators, and here’s how they explained the 6-foot-3 Harvard grad’s ascension from undrafted D-Leaguer to New York Knicks energizer. Lin, who was beaten out by Goran Dragic and Jonny Flynn for Houston’sbackup point guard spot in December, has averaged 25 points and eight assists while shooting 58 percent from the floor over the past three games.

 

 

No one wanted to take credit away from Lin, but no one was ready to declare him the nextSteve Nash, either, and no one was ready to call out the Warriors and Rockets (or all the other teams that passed on him in the 2010 draft) as numbskulls. But they said that there’s more at work than Lin’s ability.

 

 

For one, Mike D’Antoni’s system plays a huge role. D’Antoni often was referred to as an offensive genius during his great run with the Phoenix Suns. Well, judging from his inability to mesh the talents of Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, we’ve seen that he’s not quite all that. D’Antoni is more like a one-trick pony, and his one trick is a terrific offense for a point guard.

 

 

Lin’s surge is just the latest evidence that a competent point guard who possesses natural point guard instincts and doesn’t give up his dribble easily will look much better in D’Antoni’s offense than in just about any other system. Remember Chris Duhon? Three years ago, he averaged 11.1 points and 7.2 assists on 42 percent shooting (all career highs by a mile) for D’Antoni’s Knicks. Now, he’s a three-points-per-game scorer while backing up strugglingJameer Nelson in Orlando.

 

 

How about Raymond Felton? He actually garnered All-Star consideration while starting for the Knicks last season, and his career-high numbers (again, by a mile) of 17 points and nine assists per game warranted it. Since leaving D’Antoni, things haven’t gone as smoothly. First, Felton found himself backing up Ty Lawson in Denver, and now he’s averaging 10 points and less than seven assists while shooting just 37 percent with Portland.

 

 

Heck, even fantastic Nash wasn’t so fantastic before hooking up with D’Antoni. A two-time All-Star who never averaged as many as nine assists per game in Dallas, Nash was light years from being an MVP candidate or Hall of Famer. In fact, his last season in Dallas was so ho-hum (14 points, eight assists per game) that Mark Cuban didn’t even try hard to re-sign him.

 

 

Enter D’Antoni, and the rest is history, as Nash’s scoring, assists and field goal percentage all skyrocketed and blazed a trail all the way to Springfield, Mass. And, in case you’re wondering, Nash is still running D’Antoni’s system for Alvin Gentry in Phoenix.

 

"If a point guard can’t find success in D’Antoni’s system, he’s not a point guard," one league executive said, "At least not an NBA point guard."

 

Lin’s predecessors in New York this season, Toney Douglas and Iman Shumpert, are fine talents, but neither one is a real point guard.

 

 

So what is it about D’Antoni’s system that’s so great for point guards? Golden State coach Mark Jackson, who played 17 seasons in the NBA and ranks third all time in career assists, broke it down.

 

 

"He gives his point guard a lot of freedom," Jackson said. "The ball is in the point guard’s hands a lot. They run multiple pick-and-rolls and they spread the floor. The spreading of the court makes it tough to help on the point guard, so he has more room to operate. That’s key, so Mike’s offense works to the advantage of a playmaking point guard."

 

 

Lester Conner, a longtime point guard in the league who’s now an assistant coach with theAtlanta Hawks, agreed, but stressed that it’s not all about D’Antoni.

 

 

"Mike runs some nice offensive stuff, but he’s not making the right pass or hitting the 18-foot jump shot," Conner said. "Lin’s doing that. So it’s a combination of a good system and a player that knows how to play."

 

 

TNT analyst Steve Kerr, who served as president of the Suns while D’Antoni coached in Phoenix, said that even though D’Antoni’s system is favorable for point guards, it takes a special playmaker to pick up the system as quickly as Lin has.

 

 

"When you think about all the backup point guards Phoenix tried behind Nash all those years, nobody really jumped out in terms of mastering the system or at least using the system to inflate their stats," Kerr said. "So I think this kid is legit. He’s got great feel for the game. It is a good system for him but it’s not like anybody can just jump in there and do what he’s doing. People are going to adapt and try to cut off penetration and make him shoot, but he’s a good player."

 

 

In this three-game stint in which he has outplayed John Wall, Devin Harris and perennial All-Star Deron Williams, Lin has kept his dribble alive, shown great ability to penetrate off the pick-and-roll, finished well at the rim and found his shooters on the perimeter when drawing multiple defenders. In short, he has played like many established legitimate point guards do.

 

 

Another factor in Lin’s emergence has been D’Antoni’s belief in him. Sources say that Lin was outplaying hampered Baron Davis badly in practice and that that helped him earn D’Antoni’s trust. And with Douglas and Shumpert struggling mightily and Davis’ sore back killing him, D’Antoni had no other options but to give Lin the opportunity to play through his mistakes.

 

 

So, although Lin has been great, he also had eight turnovers against Utah and gave up 29 points to Washington’s Wall.

 

 

"A player can only be as good as his coach thinks he is," one league executive said. "There are a bunch of guys who are one coach liking them away from being a decent player in this league. If your coach has you on a short leash and pulls you out every time you make a mistake, you’re going to play like crap.

 

 

"Jeremy Lin is just like a whole bunch of guys," the executive continued. "I’ve seen three guys in the D-League recently who are like him. He’s no better than he was two weeks ago. But he’s been given an opportunity with a coach who believes in him."

 

 

Jackson agreed. "Having a coach that believes in you is more than half the battle," Jackson said. "I tell people all the time that I could’ve been a guy that — if I had been drafted by somebody else, who knows how long I would’ve played in the league or how successful I would’ve been. But the Knicks drafted me and Rick Pitino believed in me and gave me the ball and I played 17 years. So I’m a guy that believes the confidence a coach has in a player is a bigger part of an individual’s success than most people think. I’ve seen coaches kill players by taking a guy out when he makes mistakes."

 

 

Jackson said he’s overjoyed for Lin and the success he’s having. He had no idea how good Lin could be because he never saw him play. Moments before the Warriors’ first practice, the team cut Lin to clear enough salary-cap space to offer DeAndre Jordan a four-year, $43 million contract that the Los Angeles Clippers ultimately matched.

 

 

D’Antoni’s seat was getting awfully hot before Lin led the Knicks to three straight victories. The front office was being patient with D’Antoni and, understanding how point guard dependent his system was, wanted to give him a chance to coach with a true playmaker.

 

 

The guy the suits were waiting for was Davis. But it has turned out that the guy they needed, at least so far, was Lin. And, although D’Antoni’s "discovery" of him might have saved Lin’s career, Lin’s emergence could end up saving D’Antoni’s job.

 

 

This article immediatly reminded me of the situation in Philly with Evan Turner.  Turner is filed with enormous potential and can do so many things on a basketball court yet his leash with Collins is so short I dunno how he manages to even breathe.  So many games I’ve watched Turner come out ready to explode then get taken out right away for either a turnover, or somethign inexplicable.  

Against the Clippers for instance Turner came out the gate hot, he hit his first 3 FG’s before being taken out of the game for letting Chris Paul among all people take him off the dribble.   Turner finished the game 3-4 with 7 points in only 12 minutes.  Had Turner gotten 30 plus minutes it was the type of game he could of went off for a career high.  The Sixers lost that game by a Chris Paul jumper and scored only 77 total points.

We went through this his rookie year but played it off because he was a rookie.  Now in his 2nd year Turner is ready to explode onto the scene as a one of the premier young guards in the league but wait…Doug Collins has other plans.  For the season Turner is only getting 24 MPG and is averaging about 9, 6, and 3 in those minutes.  If Turner were playing for another team he would easily be averaging around 16, 8, and 5.  

I wanted to start a discussion on players that you guys feel are being lowballed by their coaches.  Player who you feel would excel giving the right situation and what that situation may be.  Also do you think any of the players in this years draft would benefit or fail in certain situations or on certain teams?

[Knicksboy42Participant]

 He’s not getting lowballed by his coach anymore, but I think Gordon Hayward is something. I don’t think he has a comparison because he was a shooter in college, but last time I checked he was shooting somewhere south of 40. He can get to the basket, and he can dunk with force. I think as the Jazz flip to the young guns era, Hayward is gonna be what we thought Omar Casspi was going to be, a athlete who could play decent defense and handle his own. 

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 I apologize for the way that is formatted.  On my screen the words I wrote were darker then the actual article.  The last 4 paragraphs I wrote and I had it darker and spaced so their was no confusion as to when my words started up again and when Brousard’s ended.

I know many of you feel that Anthony Randolph is a player whose victim to never having anybody believe in him, and despite playign for his 3rd team and 4th coach has yet to find himself in the right situation on a loaded Wolve’s bench. But I do believe their might be some hope for him, he’s still only like 22 and I think if he found a way back home to the Hornets that he could salvage his career who are already trying to do that with Jason Smith.

Andre Drummond is a guy I believe in this years draft has to go to the right team.  Ideally I’d like to see him land on a team who already has a great young PG and need a big man.  The Cavs and Warriors would be a great fit while I think the Bobcats and Hornets would be a terrible situation for him.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

Yeah I like Haywards game a lot.  I didn’t think he was drafted high but I did think it was dumb to draft him ahead of Paul George and unlike many people I said this during the draft.  But putting George aside Gordon got a lot of game.  My cousin came in the other day talking about him and telling me how he thought the was a shooter and was surprised to see him throw down nasty dunks.  My cousin told me that took him off guard because you rarely see white guys who are labeled as shooters dunk as hard as Hayward does. 

I also like how Hayward handles the ball and passes and you can clearly see that he use to play some PG in high school.  Hayward would be a great fit in a trianle offense.

[DurantsWingspan]

I agree with you very much. I think Evan Turner’s situation can potentially hurt him. Most players it would. Anthony Randolph, Ekpe Udoh, Hasheem Thabeet, players like that may not ever be able to recover from their lack of minutes in their first year or years, but I don’t think players like that would have ever been that great anyways. But I think Evan Turner is so mentally tough that he will still progress just as well. SEven though he isn’t getting star minutes, he improved dramatically from last year. A similar case with James Harden. Not necessarily the coach not believing in them, more so a case of them not exactly fitting in perfect with a good team that has other options. But Harden is beginning to get the green light and is taking advantage of it. I think when the time comes, Turner will get the green light and will follow suit. I’ve also seen Terrence Jones get benched instantly for a miscue, ten times quicker than any of the other Wildcats. But I do not think this hurts Jones. Callipari is tougher on him because he is a Sophomore and Calipari believes in him. Even though he takes him right out, he tells him that he is a top 5 player in the country and has to play like that. It is a challenge to Jones and I think it has been working. In the Vanderbilt game, he came out on fire after Cal pulled him. I think it has a lot to do with a coach believing in you, and not only your playing time this year, but believing in your future.

[Future_Scout]

  "If your coach has you on a short leash and pulls you out every time you make a mistake, you’re going to play like crap".

sooo true.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 DurantsWingspan I agree with you 100%

And James Harden was in the exact same position except the Thunder eventually traded Jeff Green which opened up shots and minutes for Harden and he took off and hasn’t looked back since.  If the Sixers traded away Iggy, Turner would blossom with more minutes and shots just like Harden only the Sixers aren’t going to make any big changes which could potentially cripple them for the future.

The Sixers are being too hard headed, if they were smart and had balls they would pull the trigger on an Iggy trade to allow Turner to blossom only they aren’t bold enough to make a move like that and wouldn’t jeopardize a team for one player.  While many would agree with that I couldn’t disagree more.  Evan Turner is so important to the future of the Sixers and they should be obligated to do what they can to make him comfortable and allow him to succeed.  Grooming him to be the 8th guy off the bench is just insane to me.  

 

[rtbtParticipant]

What do you think is currently going through the minds of the Golden State GM and coaching staff, who blew it big time in terms of Jeremy Lin? I guess you could also throw Houston’s GM and coaches into the mix.

[rtbtParticipant]

This article was very interesting and reiterates what many who really understand basketball already knew, The relationship between a coach and player is often the key to his success or failure.

If a coach demonstrates confidence in you and makes it clear you’re not coming out of the game if you make a mistake, you can play at a high level.  However, if a coach doesn’t express confidence in your game, most guys cannot play their best game.

We’ve seen this happen so many times in the history of the NBA. A guy is on Team A and rarely plays and when he does get in the game, his performance is subpar. He gets traded to Team B where the coach likes his game, gives him plenty of court time, and suddenly his game blossoms.

[Jlv2011]

 

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 I don’t think GSW is all that upset considering they are playing Ellis and Curry and both those guys are presumably better than Lin (I’m assuming he comes back to earth, though still shows he is a NBA point guard). 

I wonder if some Coaches think they are helping the rookie players by being extra tough on them. I know people see Love as great, but now I wonder if Rambis thinks all that time giving him the quick hook (when he was clearly the Wolve’s best player) is part of what made him become a better player. 

[rtbtParticipant]

I don’t follow GS, in fact I never see them play. Who comes off the bench to back up Curry? Please leave Ellis out of the equation because he’s a SG.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

Evan Turner was rewarded tonight with 14 minutes against the Bobcats.  SMH.  This is madness and has to end there is no reason to give Turner 14 minutes against the Bobcats I dunno how to look at this positevly.

And the Warriors replaced Lin with Ish Smith who they eventually cut also.  Now they employ Nate Robinson off the bench whose been playing really well for them, but they also have some good wings and move Ellis over to the point a lot.

And I’d imagine Golden State is proud of Lin because they were the one’s who signed him as an undrafted rookie they just had to cut him trying to sign D. Jordan which in my eyes was never going to happen so it was a waste. 

[DurantsWingspan]

It upsets me to see Turner playing such a small role as well. He was my favorite prospect in years and to see him get picked up by my hometown sixers obviously made him one of my favorite players in the league. I think Evan is so mentally strong that he will overcome the lack of playing time and continue progressing, and when he does get the playing time he deserves he should hopefully explode, whether or not that will be with the Sixers I don’t know, but I hope. I like Iggy and love this run they are making but they are not going to win a championship, they shouldn’t kid themselves. They don’t have to completlely rebuild because they have a lot of talent who can play now that are still young with loads of potential. If they just get rid of Iggy for a good young big and get rid of Brand, they will be in great shape. The problem is who would want to get rid of a young big for an aging wing?

[sheltwon3Participant]

I think on most teams, Evan Turner would put up 20 points, 5 assists and 5 to 6 rebounds and shoot about 47 to 50 percent.  Bobcat should give up one of their future 1st to get him because he would allow Kemba Walker or Augustine to be more of a shooting point that they want to be. 

[sheltwon3Participant]

Collins seems to be hard on rookies and him and Larry Brown probably killed off a lot of young player’s carreers.

[sheltwon3Participant]

That is why those coaches work well in short quick fixes but do not stay with the same jobs long term.

[tuck243Participant]

I was set to write a HUGE article/post about opportunities in the NBA but compare it to the NFL QB… With this Lin situation it would help prove my point that if you have an oppourtunity to mess up then you would have more success stories…  Well this just took all the words right off my laptop…  LOL…  Also, the Mikey D system and saying that it made Nash a HOF is something I’ve said for years…  I even put the Duhon ish in there especially since he broke the NYK single game assists record due to Mikey D…  Good ish for posting this I really had no clue Chris wrote this….  Saved me a lot of time…

[tuck243Participant]

10 years or so…..  It’s late but the ones always come to mind is Bassy, Bayless, OJ, Mike Beasley, and E. Turner…  I think for some players confidence is the key and some need the room to dominate but have to play a different style…  Brandon Jennings and Tyreke Evans are prime examples of players who are young and given the opportunity to shine…  No doubt in my mind any of the 5 people I just named would have the same success as them if handed the ship…  Now all are forced to be role players…  Bassy is all but done…  That’s sad because he was suppose to be Chris Paul to LeBron James remember???  He had the talent and desire just went to the Blazers sat the bench (like EVERY damn Blazer) got yanked out when he made a mistake then was forced to be a role player…

That’s why college is important sometimes…  Especially for cases like Bassy… If he was a Top 3 pick then he would have no other choice but to be the head of a team no matter how poor he plays… (John Wall?)  Now he’s a role player backing up Steve Nash…  Ish is ridiculous…

 

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 @rtbt

GSW play Nate Robinson and Charles Jenkins as back up point guards. Jenkins was their second round pick this year and listed at 6′ 3" 220. I’m not sure when they signed Robinson though. Those guys have played a lot because of Curry’s injury. But if Curry hadn’t been injured they probably would have kept him on the court 38 minutes a game or so. Ellis slides into the PG slot when Curry sits from time to time and they bring in big guards Brandon Rush and Klay Thompson.  Remember, Ellis is only 6′ 3" and 175, he is pretty small and is in fact better suited physically to guard PGs than SGs. I suspect their plan before Curry went down was to play Ellis minutes at PG with these big guards and also play Curry with the big guards as well. It is tough on their defense having those two smaller guys out there at the same time. Ellis said it when they drafted Curry that they didn’t make a great front court pair because of their similar limited size and strength. Lin’s a little bigger than both of them actually, but it would be far from ideal to be playing Lin with one of them and having Lin guard the bigger 2Gs. 

Maybe GSW is kicking themselves. But I think they are much more hoping that one of their big guards pan out. It would be a little awkward if their three best guys were all 6′ 3" and they were trying to develop another 6′ 3" new draft choice and a first round draft choice guard (Klay Thompson). 

I’m just giving GSW a free pass on this one because they had a log jam at the small guard position even though the smallest of the bunch does play two guard. 

I’m also not going to look down on the Rockets for cutting Lin before he played because (a) at least they recognized him as having some value because they signed him before any other team could and (b) the Rockets have very good guards in Lowry and Keving Martin. The organization just needed the salary cap room and Lin was the guy with unguaranteed contract. 

[BA30Participant]

I am not done with the initial article, but Felton came into the league this year out of shape (fat for a  pg) and nothing else needs to be said about his numbers in Portland. His points/assists numbers were very good in CHA even with Wallace being the centerpiece to their offense and only dipped when Augustine was added to their team. I watched a ton of CHA games with Felton and they never let him play the game.

[BA30Participant]

I am from Ohio and a big Buckeye fan so I can’t tell you how much I respect Turner’s game. With that being said, to put up the scoring numbers you are talking about with efficiency, he needs to develop his outside shot. With his form and release there is no excuse for him not improving on his 3 point shooting. The 8 assists and 5 rebounds would be easy for him to get in the right system. If they don’t want to use him right he can come to the Cavs.

[DurantsWingspan]

I agree but Klay Thompson is 6’7 not 6’3

[DurantsWingspan]

I agree but Klay Thompson is 6’7 not 6’3

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

Yeah Klay is 6′ 7" but Jenkins their second round draft choice is 6′ 3". Also if Lin had turned into this star in GS, then their three best players would be Monta, Curry and Lin, all 6′ 3" with an undersized power foward being their fourth best player and two freshly drafted rookie guards to find minutes for to develop. It just didn’t make sense to continue to gamble on Lin because of GS’s roster. 

[Mr. 19134Participant]

I honestly believe Turner could average a double double in points and rebounds this year if Iggy was traded.  Turner rebounds the ball better then any guard I can remenber besides a young Jason Kidd.

And Turner worked with hall of fame coach Herb McGee during the offseason and moved his guide hand from the top of the ball to the side of the ball. Both McGee and Thad Matta said during the lockout that Turner’s shot looked great.  Even this year when he shoots it’s always on rim and he got a nice shooters touch.

Turner’s biggest problem besides his 3 pt range which will come in time because I’ve watched him before Sixer games in warmups and he nets all his 3’s is confidence.  Collins is destroying his confidence.  He’s also as we know a streaky shooter.  He can miss 4 in a row but then catch fire and hit his next 7.  Basically he needs to start and play 30 minutes then you’ll see what the 2nd pick in the draft was suppose to look like.

In the meantime he’s turned into a great defender.  

Thankfully the Sixers lost a couple games now and hopefully management will realize that changes need to be made.

[Author]

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