Linsanity touched down in Houston this summer in a hoopla of fanfare and high expectations for the young, talented Asian point guard that took the basketball world by storm last season in New York.
Yet, thus far, Jeremy Lin hasn't quite been the offensive sparkplug that Houston was likely under the impression that they were getting for $29 million over the next four years.
True, there are still miles to go before this 2012-13 NBA campaign is put to sleep, the current season only seven games old for the Houston Rockets. But if a good start is any early indication of what the season will be like for players, then Lin's production-both in points and assists-needs to get a kick-start if the Rockets (3-4) want to experience liftoff into the 2013 NBA Playoffs.
During the course of his first two games against the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks, Jeremy Lin's 12-point and 21-point games, respectively, and combined 15 assists and 14 rebounds gave him average totals of 16.5 points, 7.5 assists and 7.0 rebounds in his first two games. Those aren't quite the 22.5 points and 8.7 assists he put up in his first 12 games starting for the Knicks during the Linsanity stretch, but still very solid numbers with room for growth.
In the last five games, however, Lin's numbers have taken hits in virtually all categories. In games against Portland, Denver, Memphis, Detroit and Miami in the last two weeks, Lin's point total dropped more than six points, rounding out to a 10.0 points per game average over the last five games. In addition, his assist totals, while consistent, have also dropped to 6.0 assists in the last five games.
His rebounds have been sliced nearly in half in the last nine days, plummeting to 3.6 boards in that time frame.
The only good number to have seen a decrease is Lin's turnovers, something that he was criticized for doing too often in New York. While committing 3.5 turnovers in the first two games, Lin has reduced his turnover ratio to 2.2 in the last five games-a necessity for a team that has averaged roughly 20 turnovers in the last several games.
All in all, Lin's current game averages tally up to 11.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.3 turnovers this season.
While those are respectable numbers for an average point guard, the Rockets weren't in the market for an average point guard when they gave Lin a sizeable salary to convince him to take his act off Broadway. And an average point guard isn't what is going to help Houston compete in the talent-laden Western Conference, or even the super-tough Southwest Division with neighbors such as the San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Hornets or the Dallas Mavericks.
Granted, Lin is still new to Houston and no doubt is still getting adjusted to a new offensive system, a new superstar in James Harden and new teammates. Those things take time. But in a division this tough, Lin can ill afford to be slumping, lest the Rockets find themselves in an early hole that may prove too much to overcome down the stretch in April. If Houston has any hope of reaching the playoffs, it's going to rely on how successful Lin can be in finding the magic touch again that made him an overnight star. Otherwise, it could be a very long season for Rockets fans.
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