Jeremy Lin vs. John Wall

Update: Do it. Sign with the Lakers.



My man-crush plays against the #1 draft pick and holds his own.

Via Truehoop (ESPN's blog): "Zach Harper of Hardwood Paroxysm on the John Wall-Jeremy Lin fourth quarter battle: "Funny thing happened on the way to the Bellagio … Jeremy Lin and John Wall faced off in the fourth quarter of the Wizards-Mavericks game in Vegas and pretty much played each other to a standstill. That’s right. An undrafted Harvard, SMAHRT kid, point guard went toe-to-toe with the number-one pick in the NBA draft and sort-of held his own. The final box score will show John Wall with an impressive 21 points (let’s just forget about the 4/19 shooting), 10 assists and seven rebounds. But it won’t show that the majority of the Lin’s 11 fourth quarter points were the result of him getting the better of the 'best player in the draft' for times than Wall will care to remember. Lin and Wall played the equivalent of an iso chess match on the hardwood game board. The kid from the Ivy League refused to back down from the YouTube sensation and while Wall walked away with the highlight reel, Lin walked away as the fan favorite."

But Lin's shot could use some improvement, from SLAM Online: "Though he has compiled pretty solid percentages this season (35% 3FG, 52% FG), his mechanics are less than ideal. His release point is almost behind his head, requiring him to cock the ball back and slowing the whole process down a bit. In general, the more motion there is in a shot, the more room there is for something to go wrong, leading to inconsistency. That said, some shooters can get past these kinds of technical errors through lots of work and repetition"

Still, his aggressiveness on drives into the paint and quick first step are worthy of notice. Particularly for the Mavericks, on the bench behind Jason Kidd and Jason Terry would be great experience, even if it was limited to simply practicing with them. And Lin can essentially do everything JJ Barea can do at a reduced cost (not that Mark Cuban likely cares, rolling around in his billions of $$$).

And it bears repeating. If Jeremy Lin were African-American instead of Asian-American, he would be guaranteed a spot on some roster in this league. Let's hope the Mavs, or someone else, keep him around.

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In other NBA-related news, the Heat have formed a super trio. Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski is one of my favorite writers/reporters on the NBA. He sums it up quite well:
- Lebron's No Ring Circus
- Lebron's Free Agency Saga

However, I am impressed with Wade and Riley's operation. With Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller on board, this team will do some damage. But a ring next year? Not probable. The Heat still have no answer to a Bynum-Gasol-Odom led frontline. Kobe, Artest, Fisher/Blake matchup well with Wade, Lebron, whatever-scrub-PG.

Lakers in 2011.