How Mike D'Antoni's faith has led to Jeremy Lin phenomenon

It’s no secret now – everybody has heard of Jeremy Lin. A ‘nobody’ point guard stars for the Knicks not once, not twice, but for five consecutive matches.

It’s almost a wonder that a movie hasn’t been made yet about him as he continues to put up 20 points, plenty of assists and somehow carry this New York side to win after win.

He’s gone from being a sitter to a starter and from being a nobody to a hero:

– 25 points and seven assists against the New Jersey Nets.
– 28 points and eight assists against the Utah Jazz.
– 23 points and ten assists against the Washington Wizards.
– 38 points and seven assists against the Los Angeles Lakers (and Kobe Bryant)
– 20 points and eight assists against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

All in the space of a week.

And whilst Lin and the Knicks have earned every single point in the past week, and they deserve all credit, spare a thought for Mike D’Antoni—the coach of the Knickerbockers.

Not long ago was he copping criticisms from every which direction as the Knicks struggled for consistency and struggled for wins.

Now, he looks like a legend.

And whilst he can’t be held responsible for the success of Jeremy and his phenomenal play, he must receive some of the credit for his faith and trust in his young Asian point guard.

Perhaps most scary for sides to come against New York in upcoming matches is the fact that Lin is gathering more and more support and all the Knicks players and coaching staff are placing more and more faith in the kid.

After his first match of the streak against the Knicks, D’Antoni had this to say about Lin:

“We’ve seen him do bits and pieces and sometimes, I thought he was trying to do a little too much. We told him to do what he does, but don’t try to do everything. The biggest thing is he has a point guard’s mentality…”

Cautious, but optimistic you might say. But after Lin backed it up against the Jazz two days later, he had this to say about the point guard:

“I’m riding him like friggin’ Secretariat…”

Now that sounds like a little more confidence to me.

Jeremy Lin then went on as a starter against the Washington Wizards and after he had another 20-point night and won the game for the Knicks, D’Antoni said:

“I think it’s for real. The things that are real are his vision, which won’t change; his speed, which won’t change; his knowledge of the game, which won’t change. I think it can only get better…”

Now that D’Antoni’s starting to sound like he knows he’s on to a good thing in Lin, the line he said after the win over Kobe Bryant’s Lakers was a true reflection of the faith he has in the kid.

“I have never seen anything like this. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. For Lin to go unnoticed for this long—hard to do. To be honest with you, 38 points? I was shocked. He got 38 points in the context of team basketball.

To me, that really says it all…”

I know you can’t give all the credit to D’Antoni for what Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks have done in the past week, but you’ve got to recognize that when it works, it works.

And right now, for whatever reason, it’s working for Lin.

D’Antoni’s growing confidence and faith in Lin will only hold him in even greater stead for the rest of the season and perhaps the Knickerbockers can once again be dreaming of the NBA playoffs.

Jeremy Lin – who’d have thought it?

Even Tim Tebow would be proud.