Stephen A. Smith on ESPN radio Now!

blahwoop

Benchwarmer
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

Benchwarmer
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.


:aplause:

Great point! Great post!!
 

KnickKnack

Rookie
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

Rookie
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.

http://youtu.be/C5ClotDTqj0 <= 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

Benchwarmer
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

Superstar
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.

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/playerstats/12/2/eff/1-1

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/p...er-game/qualified/false/position/point-guards

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

All Star
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

&#9733;KNICKS-TAPE&#9733;
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

Superstar
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.
 

VeryGundy

Benchwarmer
I don't understand why anyone would get bent out of shape over what SAS or any other mediots said. It's just an opinion like yours or mine.

Last I check, Dolan do not consult SAS when he makes a personnel decision.
 
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.

Well a few weeks ago he said Lin would never be great. And he also blamed D'Antoni being fired on Lin during one of his rants.

I didn't listen to this episode since I already know what to expect. You have to remember though this guy is from the media, anything to help his ratings. That's a big part of his job. I don't think too many people look to SAS for knowledge on basketball, but people watch him for entertainment. What better way to entertain people than by saying controversial things and yelling it on top of that?

Take it in stride. I hear people getting upset over Berman for making up rumors, SAS for his stupid rants, or Isola for sounding like a bitter mess everytime he speaks. Just let it go. That's their job.

At the end of the day, everyone is reposting Bermans articles, reposting SAS's radio show, and resposting Isola's articles or twitter comments.
 
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BrianMan

Benchwarmer
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.

You took one psychology course in college....and that made you feel like you were qualified to make these assumptions? Wow.
 

udgnim

Rookie
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.

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/playerstats/12/2/eff/1-1

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/p...er-game/qualified/false/position/point-guards

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.

Lin #7 among PGs in "Scoring per 48 Minutes"

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/p...8Points/qualified/false/position/point-guards

I can manipulate stats too
 

NYCLakerfan

Rotation player
Lol what did SAS say that was so bad Lin is not as good as a lot Knicks fans think yet. He's not an all star level player but he's decent enough at this time for NY.
 
I heard 5 minutes than shut it off. Started getting a headache and it wasn't worth it. As usual his show sucks and I'm looking to change the dial.

To sum up cheese doodles: Lin is marginal, what he accomplished didn't count because it was against bad teams, plus Dallas and LA. But he makes excuses why the LA game didn't count. More excuses on why Lin didn't accomplish much if anything. We get it.

And yet this team WITH Melo and Amare wouldn't have won many, if any games during Linsanity even if they were against weaker teams. They're odds of reaching the playoffs would be terrible right now.

And to top it all off....He's continued to coddle Melo and blame the sudden downfall of the Knicks all on MDA. No blame whatsoever to Melo, who is getting paid a ridiculous amount of money but he can't be a professional and earn his millions of dollars because he's too busy pouting. The Knicks were in the hunt for the playoffs and now they're only just getting back inside the playoff cutoff line.

Complaining about Lin (still?) and continually propping up Melo after all that's happened is just baffling. You are full of it if you don't see his bias right now.
 

onex0is0

Benchwarmer
You took one psychology course in college....and that made you feel like you were qualified to make these assumptions? Wow.


Fundamentals. Once you learn that, the rest (upper levels) is a piece of cake. Screamin' A. Smith fit the profile......as someone who has been bullied/wronged/cheated in the past (perhaps during his youth). How he talks and respond, and how readily and quickly he put up his guards. Those are obvious signs.

Psychology. Fun and interesting class. Easy Mickey-Mouse class for student-athletes to pass. GPA booster for the rest of college population.
 
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munco

Benchwarmer
Stephen A Smith is the most obnoxious guy covering sports. The only guy comparable is Skip Bayless. Both these guys basically state outlandish stuff regularly to stay in the news.

In the case of Stephen A Smith his debate technique is to simply talk louder versus coming up with good arguments. In other words he argues how kids do in elementary school.
 
Stephen A Smith is the most obnoxious guy covering sports. The only guy comparable is Skip Bayless. Both these guys basically state outlandish stuff regularly to stay in the news.

In the case of Stephen A Smith his debate technique is to simply talk louder versus coming up with good arguments. In other words he argues how kids do in elementary school.

Totally agree. After writing my post, I thought if there was a journalist I respect less and that's Skip. Do they still debate each other on that ESPN morning show? If they didn't try to raise drama they'd be out of a job.

And to add I'm surprised that SAS talking on the radio is thread worthy.
 
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