Daily Show catches linsanity

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Sorry if this is a bit late. It's even funnier than the SNL video I linked to earlier.

Linsanity on SNL

Pseudo-Chinese gibberish -- didn't Shaq do the same to Yao Ming when he first came in the league? I think Yao Ming played it off: "Chinese is hard!" or something like that.

Wikipedia: ... Lin has regularly heard bigoted jeers at games such as "Wonton soup", "Sweet and sour pork", "Open your eyes!", "Go back to China", "Orchestra is on the other side of campus", or pseudo-Chinese gibberish.[7][155][157] Lin says this occurred at most if not all Ivy League gyms. He does not react to it. "I expect it, I'm used to it, it is what it is," says Lin.[155] The heckling came mostly from opposing fans and not as much from players.[160] According to Harvard teammate Oliver McNally, a fellow Ivy League player once called Lin the ethnic slur chink.

Jeremy Lin in historical perspective

This is an interesting statistical analysis of the significance of Jeremy Lin's performance in his first 4 games. As Magic said during the Lakers-Knicks half-time show: "Jeremy Lin is FOR REAL"!

His 20 points and 8 assists (but below 50% shooting percentage) last night against the Timberwolves may have elevated him to roughly the 5 streak level. The other factor that needs to be considered is that these were his first 5 games as a starter. As far as that goes he's number one in recent NBA history, beating out Allen Iverson.

It's kind of shocking to think that a phenom like Kenny Anderson turned out to be an "average" NBA player. (Video -- "Greatest guard ever in the history of NYC HS basketball.") But that's what happens in a field that selects effectively from a large talent pool.





Does this look like a future NBA All-Star? (Age 15)

Jeremy Lin represents

Jeremy Lin, in da house! A Jason Kidd-like performance. I thought he was going to wash out of the league. Lin was not heavily recruited out of HS and played his college ball at Harvard.

Breakin' ankles

A beautiful video on the crossover dribble.

They got (some) game

Will Jeremy Lin become the first (full) Asian-American and first Harvard grad to play in the modern NBA?

NYTimes: ... A little-known 6-foot-3 point guard, Lin wowed an N.B.A. summer league crowd by upstaging the league’s No. 1 draft choice. He signed a two-year contract with the Golden State Warriors and is edging toward becoming Harvard’s first N.B.A. player in more than 50 years.

... There was a time when Lin was on the junior varsity that Diepenbrock marveled that a 13-year-old would implore teammates, “There’s a double screen!” There was the state championship game against powerful Mater Dei when, in the waning seconds, Lin dribbled toward a screen, calmly retreated and restarted a play that ended in his clinching layup. There was the state tournament game when his Palo Alto teammates looked listless, so Lin uncharacteristically scored 35 points.

My cousin Richard Chang had a shot at it 20 years ago. A 6 foot 7 forward, he was heavily recruited out of Edison high school in Los Angeles, and played at Cal. If it weren't for a knee injury the summer after a freshman season where he saw a lot of playing time, I think he could have made the NBA. A torn ACL back then was a big deal -- he has a scar the length of his lower leg from the surgery. Richard was cut by the Warriors before the beginning of the season (could still happen to Lin), back in the late 80s. When I was a grad student at Berkeley I overlapped with Richard on campus, and undergraduates were always amazed to learn he was my cousin. "RICHARD CHANG is your cousin?!?" they'd ask. I learned a lot about big time sports culture and the sense of entitlement that athletes have. When I visited him in Huntington Beach the ushers would let us into the local movie theaters for free!

Anyone remember Harvard running back Eion Hu (all-time Harvard rushing leader in 1996)? I think he's a doctor now ;-)

Beijing ballers

[I'm delayed at EUG waiting for my flight to SFO. Thank god for wifi...]

Check out this awesome video about a Nike 3 on 3 basketball tournament held in the Forbidden City, called Bejing Young Masters.