Anybody else following this?

I heard about him when the Warriors brought him in. Like many other asian-americans, I was totally intrigued and couldn't wait to see a yellow "bruduh" make it in the NBA.

I don't follow the Warriors closely but it seemed like there wasn't much word on him. I heard he didn't play many minutes.

I watched the highlight reel of his last 2 games and am totally happy to see that he's getting the minutes and playing in a system that allows him to shine. Being in NY isn't also a shabby market to be in.

freshfunk;706105 said:

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Anybody else following this?

I heard about him when the Warriors brought him in. Like many other asian-americans, I was totally intrigued and couldn't wait to see a yellow "bruduh" make it in the NBA.

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Yeah, good to see Lin doing well in the NBA. The Warriors gave him his first chance, but didn't really give him the opportunity to show his skills. He had two strikes against him: Asian and being from Harvard. At school he dominated but wasn't drafted. He's had a great couple of games, but we'll see how he does consistently.

Linsanity!

Why aren't there more Asian American football players?

I want Jeremy Lin to succeed but I'm afraid consistency is the big question. I don't want to jinx his rising star by jumping prematurely on the bandwagon. When he gets to 25 points per game averaged for a season, I will begin buying my Jeremy Lin bobbleheads.

I don't see his race being a strike against him. Why do you say that? If anything it helped him here in the Bay Area. The number of Asian fans that would turn out to see Yao Ming was ridiculous. Owners understand that. He's a Jason Kidd type without the same level of athletic ability. Time will tell if he sticks.

Genetics and it's not a chinese game. Most asian american parents didn't play.

http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/height-chart.shtml

The NBA is extremely afro-centric. That is just what they are used to coaching. And that is how the teams are used to playing.

Much like the Hollywood summer-time blockbuster, it is less than awe inspiring, but sells to the team and the public.

When the Knicks' extreme need fades, Lin will just slowly get less playing time regardless of performance.

That is Stern's way to continue marketing the game.

okaydo;706124 said:

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Why aren't there more Asian American football players?

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Do Samoans and Pacific Islanders count?

I think the Warriors signed him because he is Asian. Lots of Asian basketball fans here

There is a full cemetary of former league guys that were good, and could have improved their NBA teams but got junked after 3 months, two seasons, whatever just because they didn't play the type of ball the NBA wanted to market.

pappysghost;706145 said:

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Genetics and it's not a chinese game. Most asian american parents didn't play.

http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/height-chart.shtml

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Which genetics are Asians lacking? The Bruce lee athleticism or the Yao Ming height problem? Check your stereotyping at the door.

GB54;706148 said:

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I think the Warriors signed him because he is Asian. Lots of Asian basketball fans here

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Just like the way the Dodgers signed Fernando, that hack, because of the potential for Latino fans. All hype and horrible mechanics (keep your eyes on home plate, hombre!).

SchadenBear;706146 said:

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The NBA is extremely afro-centric. That is just what they are used to coaching. And that is how the teams are used to playing.

Much like the Hollywood summer-time blockbuster, it is less than awe inspiring, but sells to the team and the public.

When the Knicks' extreme need fades, Lin will just slowly get less playing time regardless of performance.

That is Stern's way to continue marketing the game.

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Absolutely. I can think of no possible reason for why Stern might want to get Jeremy more exposure. He certainly doesn't need him to gain another foothold in the Asian market. After all, Yao is still playing in the NBA, right?
:sarc:

tommie317;706154 said:

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Which genetics are Asians lacking? The Bruce lee athleticism or the Yao Ming height problem? Check your stereotyping at the door.

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The height problem, as well as a culture that promotes academics over athletics. In terms of raw numbers the pool of tall Asians is smaller, and Asians make up only 4% of the US. On top of that, what percentage of Asian parents do you think would rather have their kids practicing hoops 4 hours a day over studying for SATs? I wouldn't consider it much of a stretch to say it's lower than the national average.

pingpong2;706161 said:

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The height problem, as well as a culture that promotes academics over athletics. In terms of raw numbers the pool of tall Asians is smaller, and Asians make up only 4% of the US. On top of that, what percentage of Asian parents do you think would rather have their kids practicing hoops 4 hours a day over studying for SATs? I wouldn't consider it much of a stretch to say it's lower than the national average.

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This is 100% fact.

I am speaking as an Asian.

If he was black this wouldn't even make the news.

tim94501;706169 said:

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If he was black this wouldn't even make the news.

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News = Reporting about something that is "NEW."

An Asian-American Harvard grad taking the NBA by storm hasn't happened before, if I recall correctly. (I honestly could not give a f--- about the NBA.)

What Lin is doing is "new," so thus it's "news."


That's why some singer displaying the middle finger during the Super Bowl halftime was big news, and not the guy who died in Afghanistan over the weekend.

Soldier dying in Afghanistan = not new.

Singer pulling the middle finger at the Super Bowl = new.

I disagreed. The Lin story is newsworthy because of three reasons: 1) Lin is Asian-American, 2) came from Harvard, and 3) was an undrafted player.

So even if he was black the media would still be all over this story because of reasons #2 and #3 above. When's the last time you saw an undrafted player that nobody wanted (he was cut by the Warriors, after all) going off for 25 and 28 points in back-to-back games in the NBA? John Wall hasn't even done that this year.

The media was all over Landry Fields last year, too. For a guy that was only averaging about 10 ppg, Fields was newsworthy because he was a guy that came from Stanford and being only a second-round draft pick.

tommie317;706154 said:

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Which genetics are Asians lacking? The Bruce lee athleticism or the Yao Ming height problem? Check your stereotyping at the door.

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Are you seriously attempting to argue that height is not a major obstacle for people of Asian descent attempting to play basketball at the highest level?

:headbang:headbang:headbang:headbang

It helps he is playing in the largest media market in the world. If he was doing this in Memphis or Milwaukee it wouldn't be getting nearly the press.

Holmoephobic;706188 said:

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Are you seriously attempting to argue that height is not a major obstacle for people of Asian descent attempting to play basketball at the highest level?

:headbang:headbang:headbang:headbang

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Can u average out all the heights of Asians who play in the nba and tell me what it is? And why they are challenged by their height in the.nba?

The tallest woman in the world lives in china. The tallest active basketball player is from China (7'9"). You know there are regions in china where 6'5" is not out of the norm?
You know having a population of 4 times the US that in sheer numbers they will have lot of short and a lot of tall people.

Sports pririority, competition level, history of bball in the country have way more to do with lack of Asian nba players than genetics

Stern would give his right nut for Lin to be a star Star basketball player and you go to Harvard.

tommie317;706154 said:

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Which genetics are Asians lacking? The Bruce lee athleticism or the Yao Ming height problem? Check your stereotyping at the door.

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+1

One of the best pure shooters that I've seen at any level was a japanese american player I knew in high school. He turned down D2 schools and went to the Furd.

NYCGOBEARS;706204 said:

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+1

One of the best pure shooters that I've seen at any level was a japanese american player I knew in high school. He turned down D2 schools and went to the Furd.

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Definitely true with point guards in my experience. I've always thought Asian players, Asian-American and Asia-born , represented an opportunity for Cal in a money-ball kind of way. It was one of the reasons I was really pulling for Max. Cal should have been all over Jeremy Lin. At [U]the very least[/U] as a recruited walk-on.

Wouldn't hurt when Larry Scott starts marketing the Pac-12 in Asia.

calumnus;706210 said:

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Definitely true with point guards in my experience. I've always thought Asian players, Asian-American and Asia-born , represented an opportunity for Cal in a money-ball kind of way. It was one of the reasons I was really pulling for Max. Cal should have been all over Jeremy Lin. At [U]the very least[/U] as a recruited walk-on.

Wouldn't hurt when Larry Scott starts marketing the Pac-12 in Asia.

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If Cal had an Asian point guard who could ball out, Haas would be sold out for every game.

pappysghost;706140 said:

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I don't see his race being a strike against him. Why do you say that? If anything it helped him here in the Bay Area. The number of Asian fans that would turn out to see Yao Ming was ridiculous. Owners understand that. He's a Jason Kidd type without the same level of athletic ability. Time will tell if he sticks.

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You're making my point. If they viewed him strictly as a basketball player, then he'd have equal opportunities rather than being seen as some sort of novelty. Let's not pretend that racism doesn't exist here in sports. It took decades for blacks to be seen as legit QBs rather than "an athlete". White running backs who aren't bruising fullbacks are rare, and even rarer, white cornerbacks.

As for taller, Asian American kids, most of those whose ancestors emigrated here came from southern China, who are, on average, much shorter than their northern brethern or from Taiwan. My family came from the Canton region, and are short though a couple of my uncles are 6 and over.

It's news for several reasons:

1. Asian American
2. Went to Harvard.
3. Went in undrafted.
4. 4th string coming off of bench scoring 20+ points to win the game.

I do think he's in a ripe market (ny Asians) but the guy was a top 5 player in Cali when he graduated high school. The fact that he got no D1 offers shows the bias in recruiting.

Anyway he dominated at D2 and was recognized by the Warriors because he happened to ball with the sons of one of the owners or management (it's in a recent sf gate article).

It looks more like he was passed up when he shouldn't have been than the league just looking for an Asian dude to put on the floor.

Imagine if "Tiger Moms" emphasized sports like they do academics and classical music studies?

pappysghost;706145 said:

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Genetics and it's not a chinese game. Most asian american parents didn't play.

http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/height-chart.shtml

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The height thing is as much nutrition as genetics. North Koreans are something like 4" shorter on average than South Koreans.

tim94501;706169 said:

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If he was black this wouldn't even make the news.

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Why is his Chinese ethnicity making this newsworthy? Did everyone just forget about Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, and Yi Jianlian?

I thought Wang Zhizhi was newsworthy (first Chinese player) and so was Yao Ming (first Chinese player to dominate). But Jeremy Lin? Nice story and good kid, but not the revolution everyone suggests it is.

I read somewhere that he really wanted a Pac-12 offer but Cal, Stanford and UCLA all took a pass.

510Bear;706222 said:

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Why is his Chinese ethnicity making this newsworthy? Did everyone just forget about Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, and Yi Jianlian?

I thought Wang Zhizhi was newsworthy (first Chinese player) and so was Yao Ming (first Chinese player to dominate). But Jeremy Lin? Nice story and good kid, but not the revolution everyone suggests it is.

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First of all, Wang Zhizhi and Yao Ming are Chinese nationals. Jeremy Lin is a Chinese-American.
Secondly, Wang and Yao are 7-footers. Jeremy is at a more modest 6'2. The fact is that 1) folks don't identify with Goliath as much, and 2) the game has a special bias for tall players, for having a couple of 7-footers in the league mean little to everyone else.
It is revolutionary.

NYCGOBEARS;706211 said:

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If Cal had an Asian point guard who could ball out, Haas would be sold out for every game.

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Thomas Fang?

LethalFang;706242 said:

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First of all, Wang Zhizhi and Yao Ming are Chinese nationals. Jeremy Lin is a Chinese-American.
Secondly, Wang and Yao are 7-footers. Jeremy is at a more modest 6'2. The fact is that 1) folks don't identify with Goliath as much, and 2) the game has a special bias for tall players, for having a couple of 7-footers in the league mean little to everyone else.
It is revolutionary.

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Not to mention that Yao and Wang were groomed from birth to be basketball players (some would go as far as to say Yao was conceived specifically to play basketball, given who his parents are).

Jeremy grew up like the rest of us (other than being incredibly talented and dedicated to playing ball), and isn't freakishly athletic (which isn't to say he's not very athletic). To many, he represents the dreams that the rest of us had but knew we could never attain. When you talk with him, you'd never guess that he's a professional basketball player; he seems like any other guy.

BTW, technically he's Taiwanese-American if we're talking about nationality and want to be PC. Ethnically, he's Chinese (Han).

...but, I think the term [prefix]-American is kind of stupid to begin with. He was born here, so nationality-wise he's an American, no suffixes or prefixes.