Jeremy Lin Believes Lower Expectations Will Make Him A Better Player For Houston Rockets In 2013-14 NBA Season

Jeremy Lin had a tumultuous year in his first season with the Houston Rockets, but the former Harvard University standout believes that he will have a better performance in the upcoming 2013-14 NBA season.

Lin, who signed a lucrative deal with the Rockets last year after a breakthrough year while playing for the New York Knicks, said that high expectations put a lot of pressure on him to perform well and it backfired on him.

But now that the Rockets have acquired superstar center Dwight Howard to pair up with high-scoring guard James Harden, the 25-year-old point guard believes that there will be less pressure on him next season.

"From a personal standpoint, there's a lot less pressure this season. I've had such a wide spectrum of literally no expectations to having every expectation. Now it's kind of going back down to some lower expectations," Lin said in an ESPN interview.

Lin, who became famous with his impressive five-week run during his stint with the Knicks that led to the "Linsanity" mania, averaged 13.4 points and 6.1 assists last season, but was often criticized for his inconsistency. In the 2012 NBA Playoffs, the Palo Alto native averaged just 4.0 points and 2.0 assists in four games.

With fewer burdens on his shoulders, Lin hopes that he can manage expectations and treat his struggles last season as motivation to perform well next season.

"Learning to manage and deal with expectations and which voices to tune out takes time. You have to fail at it to get to where you want to get to," said Lin.

Aside from Lin, Turkish center Omer Asik will also be one of the players to watch out for in the upcoming season. The 27-year-old center publicly expressed his frustration after the Rockets acquired Howard and asked to be traded, knowing that his playing time will be affected significantly.

Asik recently practiced for the Rockets after his stint in FIBA EuroBasket. When asked about his trade demands, Asik declined to talk about it and vowed to do whatever their coach asks him to do next season.

"I have no comment on the trade demand. I'm just here to do my job, that's all I can say. I think [Howard] is the best center in the league and he's a great addition for the Houston Rockets, and we'll see how it goes. I'm a basketball player, and I'll do whatever the coaches say," Asik said.