[DC 86]

[quote author=Publius link=topic=16812.msg192092#msg192092 date=1492780109]
Thanks for posting.  If he's good, I hope we don't make the same mistake we did with Jeremy Lin.

Jeremy Lin ramped up his game considerably after college and during college.  As a sophomore, he started for Harvard against Stanford in a 111-56 loss, and scored 0 points in 21 minutes.  He had five personal fouls, two steals and a turnover.  TJ called it his worst college game, but Stanford had a Sweet 16 team that year.

Trent Johnson said he really didn't develop at all until his junior and senior seasons.  Stanford had committed to Landry Fields, and they had a big post game.  Harvard's coach Tommy Amaker took his time with Lin and did well with him.

And then, of course, no NBA team took him either.  Then Lin set a record by being the only NBA player to score 20 and have at least 7 assists in each of his first five starts.
[/quote]
Indeed. Lin didn't receive any scholarship offers out of high school, so Stanford was not alone in failing to forecast that he would improve to being an NBA caliber player. To his credit, Lin improved every year in college (FG% increased from .415 to .448 to .502 to .519); even so as a pro he repeatedly cut and was sent to the D-League multiple times before catching on with the Knicks for good. Granted Lin was in Stanford's back yard but it's unfair to characterize us as having made a mistake without benefit of hindsight. We did actively recruit him as a walk-on.

[DC 86]

[quote author=Publius link=topic=16812.msg192092#msg192092 date=1492780109]
Thanks for posting.  If he's good, I hope we don't make the same mistake we did with Jeremy Lin.

Jeremy Lin ramped up his game considerably after college and during college.  As a sophomore, he started for Harvard against Stanford in a 111-56 loss, and scored 0 points in 21 minutes.  He had five personal fouls, two steals and a turnover.  TJ called it his worst college game, but Stanford had a Sweet 16 team that year.

Trent Johnson said he really didn't develop at all until his junior and senior seasons.  Stanford had committed to Landry Fields, and they had a big post game.  Harvard's coach Tommy Amaker took his time with Lin and did well with him.

And then, of course, no NBA team took him either.  Then Lin set a record by being the only NBA player to score 20 and have at least 7 assists in each of his first five starts.
[/quote]
Indeed. Lin didn't receive any scholarship offers out of high school, so Stanford was not alone in failing to forecast that he would improve to being an NBA caliber player. To his credit, Lin improved every year in college (FG% increased from .415 to .448 to .502 to .519); even so as a pro he repeatedly cut and was sent to the D-League multiple times before catching on with the Knicks for good. Granted Lin was in Stanford's back yard but it's unfair to characterize us as having made a mistake without benefit of hindsight. We did actively recruit him as a walk-on.