[xstreaminsanity]

Here's where I think the hype lies (in no particular order, just as I think about them).
<ol>
<li>The Knicks were 8-15, now they're 17-17. Anyways you cut the stats, and regardless of who it was against, they've gone 9-2 since Feb. 4th. And if the Playoffs started today, they've be in. And shoot, one of their first 15 losses was to the Bobcats.......:|</li>
<li>The underdog story. This story has the potential to be one of the best underdog stories of all time for multiple reasons.</li>
<li>He's Asian-American. There are a few Asian-American/Asian (I honestly mean Oriental since Asia does cover a few countries) players who have tried to play in the NBA. To my knowledge, off the top of my head, the two longest running were Yao and Yi. There were a few Asian guards that just couldn't cut it in the NBA. So to see an Asian-American who is of similar height to average Americans (not really short, not really tall) who had to climb his way up, it's a tale almost anyone could love.</li>
<li>He's brought energy and flare back to the Knicks. Yes, the TO numbers have gone up for the team, almost exclusively from Lin. The FG% is essentially the same, but they seem to be shooting a little more. Before Lin, Melo was normally one of the players with the higher APG on the Knicks, not their PG. And by flare, I mean the win over Toronto, the 38 against Kobe, the "in the eye" of Dirk. Yeah, Melo and Amare can dunk, but that can get old real quick.</li>
<li>While they have been 9-2 since Lin's surge, most of those were without Melo, and about half were without Amare. Your two highest players are out and you expect someone to step up; Chandler, Fields, Shumpert, someone with normal rotation time (even Jeffries). Not the guy who primarily sits on the end of the bench and previously had a career PPG of less than 5 (I think) all while the other players seem to be playing better.</li>
<li>He's humble. It makes me so happy to hear him defer his stardom to his teammates and how much they've helped. I hear it from LeBron at times, but he's mostly talking about the other stars on the team. Lin on a regular occasion is pointing out a play someone may not have recognized from a player people don't pay that much attention to and always calls it a team game.</li>
<li>Um, he's playing in New York. </li>
</ol>

The kid can play and he's gotten better on his TO (last three games - 7, 3, 4). He has the team playing at a faster pace it seems. He's bumped up everyone's confidence and that makes them play better. Yes, the two losses they've had since Feb. 4th were against two horrible teams, but that wasn't solely Lin's fault. The game against New Orleans had a lot to do with Lin (9 TO) but some of his teammates were 1-5 or 1-8 even). But in the game against the Nets, he had 21pts, 9ast, 3to, 4stl, and 7reb. That's a great stat line for a PG. And yeah, he fouled out of the game, but he still played 36 minutes before fouling out.

I guess my main thing is, there's reason to have hype for this kid. He can play, he's only 23, he's got a great story, and he has helped the Knicks come back. Is he the second coming of John Stockton? No. Michael Jordan? No (though some people like to photoshop it to be so, lol). Does it warrant his cards selling for so much? Eh, not really, but then again, I never understand cards selling for more then $50. But he is having a great year so far and it seems to be getting better. Let's see what they do after the All-Star break.