Imo, you don't have to see Lin perform at his current high level over a whole season (or two, or half) to know that he's for real... a new star. If a player just scores 25 or 30 points in a night after months of warming the bench, you can (and should) say 'Yeah, let's see you average anywhere close to that for a while before we believe in you.' But for a kid to LEAD HIS WHOLE TEAM, manage the Knicks' whole offense (brilliantly), do it for 45 minutes in his first NBA start, and still score like he scored... that cannot be a 1-or-2-game fluke. It must the real thing.

It's as if... oh, for example... you see someone create a great painting. Or perform complicated surgery. But you only see him do it ONCE. Do you need to see it again to know that this person is a great artist/surgeon/anything? Obviously not. I.e., there are tasks whose level of difficulty is SO HIGH, that only a true expert can pull it off. What we've seen from Jeremy Lin cannot be a 1- or 2-hitter. It's impossible.

So how did D'Antoni miss all this talent sitting on his bench for 5 weeks? I dunno. Same way the Warriors and Rockets missed it, I guess. It's weird. But hey, it's also D'Antoni. Same guy who, upon realizing that he could have a breakout star on his hands, let him play 45 minutes to near-total exhaustion in his first NBA start. Go figure.

But the Knicks are likely to be a lot harder to beat next time we meet. This kid is for real, and he's pulling that whole team together with his talent and energy. It's a great, great story.... wish it was happening in Boston!

-------

You know, I wasn't going to write about the whole racial thing, but it's been brought up, so I'm just gonna throw in my 2 bits.

I loved watching Lin play last Saturday (I luckily happened to catch his breakout game), and again vs. Utah. The story is dramatic and exciting, a lot like Lin's play. But his race had nothing to do with it. Zero. I am not Asian. The fact that Lin is was irrelevant to my experience. I think most fans are like that.

And that's the beauty of sports, of being in the arena. It's very close to a perfect meritocracy (if we ignore the sometimes-undo influence of the refs, which we must anyway). Race, religion, skin color, bad breath or the color of your hair will not help or hurt your success. If you're good, you win. If you suck, you don't. It's real simple that way. The way it should be.

So if the media want to hype this kid Lin because he's Asian, well.... I guess there's no stopping them. But we fans, I believe, do not give one stinking DAMN what color/race he is. He is what he is. If that's a great player, welcome to the NBA, kid. If not... well, it was fun while it lasted.

End of rant.