Stephen A. Smith on ESPN radio Now!

[nyk_nyk]

Screamin' A. Smith is a perfect example of what you call a closet hater.

Anyone who is not Black is his enemy. From my studies at university (yes, was forced to take psychology for an elective), something bad must have happened to him in the past or he was wronged by someone, so that now, he thinks everyone is against him. He kicks and yell, obviously, in order to prove he is always right.

Everybody knows he is a little man, an idiot, and a jerk. He give black people a bad name. Sometimes I wish another black person with authority (like Magic Johnson) would tell Screamin' A. Smith to STFU, idiot. You don't represent us.

Did you even listen to the show?

[clumsy]

I like Stephen A. I don't agree with him always but i'm not the type to get angry if there is a disagreement. Max Kellerman too...too bad they got that dude in LA now.

[Lercher]

Woody's on ESPN 1050 now.

[KingofNy]

Don't you guys get it? Stephen A. needs drama to get you all to listen to his show. Without calling out a star like Lin, talking bad about Melo, or questioning our recent good play, none of you would even care to listen to him today.

Lin is playing just fine. We don't need him to be a superstar, we just need him to be an average PG. I don't care what title the media wants to give him. All we know as fans is that he is a special player that has made us a MUCH better team and filled a void (pg) that we desperately needed to have filled.

[LINvincible]

Did you even listen to the show?

SAS said he's a "marginal" point guard. That could be debatable but to call Lin a "marginal" player is completely off base.

Again, can "marginal" players put up numbers like that through 21 games? Really.....can they? Of course, your argument will be the number of shots taken (like throwing up 20-25 per night), but dude is shooting 46% on the field with 14 shots per contest.

Steven A might not admit it but what he is really alluring to is the "eye ball" test. He 'looks' like a marginal player and the fact that he is Asian makes it worst. If we were to present all the numbers of the starting point guards in the league with NO NAME attached to it, are you going to tell me Lin won't be in the top 10? Seriously...

[blahwoop]

quit using such a small sample size and comparing it to others that have years in the league.

There are plenty of players that put up crazy ass numbers for a short amount of time and then fade into oblivion.

don't know why you need to rage about someone calling him an average player. You make it sound like he said Michael Jordan was a marginal player or that CP3 is an average PG.

Calling him an elite PG or a terrible PG is ridiculous but anything between that range is definitely arguable.

he's an average (oops i mean GOOD) PG that has upside and he is definitely proving that he is not a product of d'antoni's sytem in the last 3 games.

[JazRedGT]

Don't you guys get it? Stephen A. needs drama to get you all to listen to his show. Without calling out a star like Lin, talking bad about Melo, or questioning our recent good play, none of you would even care to listen to him today.

Lin is playing just fine. We don't need him to be a superstar, we just need him to be an average PG. I don't care what title the media wants to give him. All we know as fans is that he is a special player that has made us a MUCH better team and filled a void (pg) that we desperately needed to have filled.

Great point! Great post!!

[JS3]

Hats were made to be eaten.....

[KnickKnack]

Whatever people may think about him, he had some very good points. He never once said that Lin was garbage or didn't deserve to be in the NBA. In fact, he said Lin would be a very good point guard in the future.

His point was that the team, as previously structured, didn't make sense with Lin as the focal point when you still have two star guys that are still in their prime. Lin's shot attempts have dropped and his TOs are also down as a result of him not carrying such a heavy load. It's working, so hey.

Lin isn't as big a star as people are makinig him out to be. He still has a ways to go. He had some good moments but that doesn't make you a legit star PG. Nate Robinson had some great games for us but you earn a rep in this league during the playoffs. People get so emotionally hurt over Lin. He's good but he's not THAT guy yet. He'll improve each year and hopefully he will be among the top pgs in the league. We all know he still has issues with his dribble and his court awareness could improve a bit.

I agree that Melo and Amare have to be the guys to take this team to a title. We get there as a team but those pressure moments will be put on their shoulders as the conerstone guys. This is how it works in the league with every team loaded with a star or two... or three.

I do agree. Hit the nail on the head.

Jeremy Lin is good. Two years he'll be great. His work ethic is solid, and hopefully Baron will continue to mold him. He has a gift, we all saw it. Now it just has to become consistent - even against top tier teams (when he starts making the heat look bad, then he has become a premier PG).

[KnickKnack]

SAS said he's a "marginal" point guard. That could be debatable but to call Lin a "marginal" player is completely off base.

Again, can "marginal" players put up numbers like that through 21 games? Really.....can they? Of course, your argument will be the number of shots taken (like throwing up 20-25 per night), but dude is shooting 46% on the field with 14 shots per contest.

Steven A might not admit it but what he is really alluring to is the "eye ball" test. He 'looks' like a marginal player and the fact that he is Asian makes it worst. If we were to present all the numbers of the starting point guards in the league with NO NAME attached to it, are you going to tell me Lin won't be in the top 10? Seriously...

Oh come on now! He was talkin' sh*t about Amare and Carmelo at the beginning of the season - it has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with how the season is going.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] <= seen this rant about Amare and Melo?

I love Lin - he's all over my computer now. But, can't we admit that he hasn't become consistent - YET. Lin is still growing, and SAS isn't saying Lin isn't the future - he's saying the complete opposite.

To earn SAS's trust is hard enough. Given the fact that he's been a reporter for years and years, and he's been through every era, that's the reason why he hasn't went all-in on Lin yet.

Doesn't hurt his ratings either. People listen to SAS just to call in and argue with him.

Or make threads about him.

Catch my drift?

[red32]

DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?! Hahaha... Stupid A** Smith was so fired up this morning. Hey, I guess Lin's new nicked name is "the marginal point guard" or "marginal lin."

[nuckles2k2]

SAS said he's a "marginal" point guard. That could be debatable but to call Lin a "marginal" player is completely off base.

Again, can "marginal" players put up numbers like that through 21 games? Really.....can they? Of course, your argument will be the number of shots taken (like throwing up 20-25 per night), but dude is shooting 46% on the field with 14 shots per contest.

Steven A might not admit it but what he is really alluring to is the "eye ball" test. He 'looks' like a marginal player and the fact that he is Asian makes it worst. If we were to present all the numbers of the starting point guards in the league with NO NAME attached to it, are you going to tell me Lin won't be in the top 10? Seriously...

Lin's ranks among PGs right now:

Efficiency: 19th

Points per game: 15th

Assists per game: 15th

FG%: 14th

3-PT%: 46th

Steals: 9th

Turnovers: 5th highest among active PGs

Assist to turnover ratio is 59th among all PGs in the league.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

I'm not saying that the use of the word "marginal" is exactly fair, because Lin obviously has game, has a good basketball IQ, and is athletic. So there's no reason to think that he can't get better, and as much of a blowhard that SAS is..he never says that Lin can't or won't get better.

But saying that if you compare his stats to the "top ten" PGs and that they'll stack up, when he's only in the top 10 in one statistical category that's important for a PG....what point are you making?

When Brandon Jennings has a higher EFF than you, you have some work to do.

[LeFlume]

DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?! Hahaha... Stupid A** Smith was so fired up this morning. Hey, I guess Lin's new nicked name is "the marginal point guard" or "marginal lin."

Too bad. It should be "The best PG who ever played the game"

[NYk_Reloaded718]

I know this has nothing to do with the thread but JJ HICKSON was bought out by the kings, i would love to have him on this team coming off the bench for us backing up Amare while we have jeffries backing up Chandler.

P.S Stephen A Smith is G.O.A.T lol call him lame all you want the guy is entertaining to listen to. He does have some good points sometime.

[nuckles2k2]

By the way, don't get me wrong with that post...I think Lin is more than adequate for the team we have right now, and I'm as big a fan as any.

There's a serious love affair with PGs in the league right now, but you don't need an All-star one to win a chip. You need a smart PG more than anything, and Lin is already that.

The last PG I remember putting up crazy numbers in the Finals was Tony Parker in 2007, but he also had Duncan and Ginobli to attract some defensive attention.

So Lin doesn't have to be in the ranks of the CP3, D-Will, Nash, Rose, Westbrook, Kyle Lowry, Ty Lawson, etc. Because the common denominator with those guys is 0 rings.

Parker and Rondo are the only 2 top-tier PGs with rings, and their teams had Duncan/Ginobli/Coach Pop and KG/Pierce/Ray Allen/Doc Rivers/Tom Thibs.

So let's not get caught up in exactly how good Lin is, cause in the current landscape of the NBA, it might not mean all that much if we're not getting everything, and more, from our star front court and wing players...and defense.