The first ingredient in Lin's meteoric rise to stardom is his phenomenal ability to get to the basket. Though Wednesday, among players with at least 75 attempts within six feet of the rim, the only point guards who take a higher percentage of their total shots from that range are Boston's Rajon Rondo and Sacramento's Tyreke Evans (if you consider him a point guard). And while both Rondo and Evans' short-range field goals are assisted more than a quarter of the time (meaning a teammate created the high-percentage opportunity for them), Lin is creating those attempts all by his lonesome -- only 10.3 percent of his field goals within six feet have been assisted. With a 51 percent conversion rate on close shots (which make up more than 55 percent of Lin's total attempts), it's easy to see why the Knicks' phenom is shooting 50 percent from the field, seventh among guards with at least 135 tries.
In addition to setting up high-percentage shots in the lane, Lin's quick first step and attacking style naturally lead to a large number of free throws, which are great for enhancing offensive efficiency (the league averages 76 percent more points on possessions ending in free throws than on non-free-throw possessions). Per 100 field-goal attempts, Lin is attempting a staggering 52.4 free throws, an exceptional rate for a backcourt player. Among guards, only Oklahoma City's James Harden (63.3) and Detroit's Rodney Stuckey (54.7) have better ratios of free-throw attempts to field-goal attempts than Lin. Although he's only knocking down 75 percent of his shots from the charity stripe -- a mark that ranks 38th out of 43 guards with at least 70 attempts -- Lin is making enough to boost his efficiency, given the frequency with which he draws fouls.
But perhaps Lin's greatest contribution to the Knicks' offense has been his playmaking ability. Early in the season, New York employed a number of non-passers at point guard, including Iman Shumpert (who assists on a paltry 18.7 percent of teammate field goals when on the court), Toney Douglas (also 18.7 percent) and Mike Bibby (15.8 percent). This led to coach Mike D'Antoni using noted ball-stopper Carmelo Anthony -- he of the career 15.5 percent assist rate going into 2012 -- as the team's main distributor, in a point-forward role.
The results were predictably bad, as the Knicks' offense stagnated in the absence of a true playmaker. But after Lin assumed the mantle of New York's primary point guard seven games ago, the team's scoring output has improved from 1.011 points per possession to 1.052, in no small part because Lin has a healthy 51.5 percent assist rate, second-highest in the league behind Steve Nash's 58.7 percent mark. This development shouldn't be too surprising: Research on the individual stats most associated with on-court impact consistently finds that assists are strongly linked to increased offensive efficiency.
And efficiency has definitely been the name of Lin's game during his recent run. His true shooting percentage, which measures the average number of points a player generates per possession when he shoots, compares favorably to that of other star players. Moreover, according to the formula for offensive efficiency from Dean Oliver's book Basketball on Paper, Lin is producing 1.073 points per possession for the Knicks (compared to the league average of 1.03), and is using 33.2 percent of New York's possessions while on the floor, one of the highest usage rates in the league. Only two players -- Kobe Bryant (36.2 percent) and Russell Westbrook (33.7 percent) -- shoulder a greater proportion of their team's offensive burden than Lin has this season, and Lin's offensive efficiency is considerably better than either Bryant's (1.049 points per possession) or Westbrook's (1.031).
The only players in the NBA to use more than 30 percent of team possessions and post better efficiency marks than Lin? Heat teammates LeBron James (33.1 percent of possessions, 1.189 points per possession) and Dwyane Wade (31.1 percent, 1.111). So, offensively, Lin is currently among elite company.
Defensively, Lin's metrics also suggest he's playing at an above-average level. According to 82games.com, opposing point guards have a 15.1 Player Efficiency Rating when matched up with Lin (league average is 15.0), but the Knicks are 5.5 points per 100 possessions of defensive efficiency better with Lin in the game, and his career 4.0 steals percentage (the percentage of opponent possessions that end with a steal by the player while he was on the floor) is indicative of a player with the length and athleticism to bother opposing ball-handlers.
Want more evidence of Lin's impact on D? Before he began seeing heavy minutes, New York was allowing 1.018 points per possession, but that number has dropped to 0.962 since Feb. 4 (to put that number in perspective, consider that the NBA's best defense, the Philadelphia 76ers, have allowed 0.968 points per possession this season). Because of these factors, Lin's regularized adjusted defensive plus/minus rating is plus-0.2, placing him above the league average (and far above the average for point guards, who tend to rate negatively on defense in plus/minus systems).
Clearly you worry more about what my opinion is on Lin that what your opinion is on Lin lol. Awww.. I was just saying it's highly unlikely he'll continue his ways unless he is a legit superstar NBA player (from his skill set it seems unlikely and that's based on my views which you definitely don't like). If he does well and shuts me up great for him, but I have just as much right to post an opinion up on Lin as anyone else here and just because I don't conform to your beliefs doesn't make me a racist, Asian hater. And I've already stated I'd take Lin over our crappy backup PG's any day of the week. He has talent, just probably not what we are seeing right now (again my opinion before you go off cursing and taunting). Is he a great story? hell yes. Is he legit? I personally don't think so as of now but I'm not an NBA scout to tell you that I'm 100% accurate. I'll eat crow if he is in fact a can't miss star. I've eaten plenty of crow before (with Frye last year but he's back to being sucky anyway).
