Jeremy Lin was the Most Impactful Player for NY Knicks during 2011-2012 Regular Season (When Playing)

Really? Was Jeremy Lin the Most Impactful Player for NY Knicks during 2011-2012 Regular Season when he played for 35 games and not sidelined with injury? Yes, but it's not my opinion. NBA.com +/- Stat says so. 

The debate is still ongoing in the twitter world and among NBA writers/fans.

Some said it was just a big hype and it was really the NY Knicks defense anchored by DPOY Tyson Chandler that led to the Linning streak?  Or did Jeremy Lin actually inspire the Knicks to play better team offense and defense?

Which player made the most overall impact for the Knicks in defense and offense whenever he stepped on the floor?

I decided to use NBA.com +/- stats to find the answer. 

For those who are not familiar with this stats, this is the +/- wikianswer definition:

"The +/- stat is tied to team performance during the time that that particular player is on the court. The games official scorer records the differential in terms of gain (plus) or loss (minus). "

Throughout the season, this +/- stat is perfect to measure the overall impact of a player on the court because a high +/- number will give the team more chances to win the game. Simply said, we want players who can not only score but defend well (individually or as a team) to prevent the other team from scoring.

The official NBA +/- Stats for NY Knicks 2011-2012 Regular Season is as follows:

The official NBA.com +/- Stat for NY Knicks 2011-2012 Regular Season

Landry Fields is surprisingly ranked  #1 with 213 +/- in 66 games even with his poor shooting last season. Perhaps Toronto Raptors is not totally crazy paying him  $20M for 3 seasons. He can only get better, right? Steve Novak is ranked #2 with 178 in only 54 games (12 fewer than Landry).

How about Jeremy Lin ? Jeremy Lin is ranked #3 with only 35 games! (with 142 +/-)

Tyson is ranked #4, Melo is #6 and Amare is … dead LAST at #17 with -44.

Well,  there is a small problem with this ranking because some players played more games than the others so the ranking might favor those who played more games like Landry. So we need to divide it by the number of games in order to get the average +/- per game. This will allow us to compare the +/-impact of a player in a game. Also, we need to remove players who played fewer than 25 games (J.Jordan, R.Balkman, D.Gadzuric) because these backup players most likely played in garbage time (the last 5 minutes when one team is winning by 15-20 points) and the other team players did not play as hard. We want to see which players made the most contribution when the game still matters.

So who ranked the best at Average +/- per game for the Knicks in 2011-2012 regular season? Who made the most impact in the game everytime they stepped on the floor?

Average +/- per game for NY Knicks 2011-2012 Regular Season

Yes, you guessed correctly! Jeremy Lin is ranked #1 with an average of 4.06 +/- per game.

It means that whenever he stepped on the court in a game, he either used his scoring skills and defensive prowess to outscore the opponent by 4 points OR he magically transformed his teammates to do the work for him.

And you wonder how come Melo is only ranked #7 at 1.96? After all he was the top scorer for the Knicks. Well, he either expended a lot of energy to score a bunch and was too tired to play defense OR he magically transformed his teammates to play bad defense. I prefer to think the former although you can feel free to choose the latter.

I dare not speculate why Stoudemire was last at -0.94.

So there it is, folks!  Whenever people ask you if Jeremy Lin is overrated or just a big hype, just point to this +/- statistics that NBA.com has generously provided for all of us.  Whether Jeremy Lin used magic or skills to inspire NY Knicks to outscore the opponents by 4 points every game, he did make the Knicks play better team offense and team defense.

On a more important question: Does it mean Jeremy Lin will be the best player in Houston Rockets 2012-2013? It is very likely if he follows the same +/- pattern but he definitely needs to prove that he can play more than 35 games to silence many doubters.

What attracted people to Jeremy Lin's Christianity? Why did he credit Jesus Christ so much in his life?

Another re-post from jeremylin.net discussion thread.

No cartoon yet :)

Psalm234September 24, 2012 6:41 PM

@eb5attorney, 

You are 100% correct in stating "JLin's faith in Christianity and the way JLin acted upon his beliefs are what made the difference ". All Christians and non-Christians can witness how JLin's faith actually made a difference in serving other people's needs and not for his own fame and success. And that's what attracted many people to him and it certainly reminds people that he tries to do the same thing Jesus Christ did over 2000 years ago to minister to the poor and needy. Many Christian athletes pray or point to the sky to give credit to God on the field/court but they don't go above and beyond to do the ministry to care for others as an extension of their personal faith.

But does this prove or disprove the existence of God or Jesus Christ's spirit in Jeremy's life? Well, a big yes for Jeremy and a big maybe for other people. In his testimony, Jeremy already listed 13 miracles that had to happen for Linsanity so he clearly has put some serious thought to look back and personally feel the hands of God throughout the Linsanity run. Other people might credit Linsanity to karma for doing good things in his life but one thing for sure people cannot discredit how Jeremy felt the presence of God guiding the Linsanity phenomenon. So other people watching from the outside can only say maybe God orchestrated it with Jeremy's cooperation (he's got a free will after all) or it's just a coincidence for those 13 'miracles' to happen one after another.

Fortunately, we all get to watch what happens next in Houston. Personally, I think God is not done yet with his big plan for Jeremy. It may or may not translate to an NBA championship one day but that's not what's important for God and Jeremy according to his testimony.

"The thing that I learned through Linsanity is that there's nothing in this world that can offer that will provide me with true joy, fulfillment and satisfaction. There is only thing that can truly and eternally satisfy you … that's Jesus Christ"

You've got to understand where he's coming from to want to tell other people about what Jesus has done for him. When he was down and depressed not playing in GS, traded away from Houston and about to get fired from NY, it was God's words and Jesus' words through his prayers that got him through a tough time. He simply wants to share with other people what God has done for him.

Before I became Christian, it was hard for me to understand what it actually feels like by having personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It sounds weird and unnatural to have 'relationship' with someone who lived 2000 years ago. But later on, things just happened through prayers and Bible words became alive that made me feel that maybe Jesus is still alive in spirit and God is real. What also strengthened me in my faith is hearing how other Christians like Jeremy also shared the same joy, peace to live through all the hardship of living in the world.

Again, it is not my intention to 'convert' others to become Christians. Do I want others to feel the peace and joy that Jeremy also talked about? You bet. But if others are not open to it, that's okay. Christians are only supposed to share the good news, not to force it to others as many have misunderstood.

Faith can definitely be a contentious issue. It's always important to focus on the common ground and less of the differences among people of different faith or opinions. In this case, as JLin fans we all want him to succeed in Houston whether he can be a good role model for kids, Asian-American, Christians, non-Christians, people who are discriminated , etc. I truly enjoy and appreciate the thoughtful posts that people post here, definitely a fresh breath of air compared to other newsgroups. 

Go JLin!

"Is the Bible accurate? Which book is helpful to answer tough questions about Christian faith?

This is a re-post from jeremylin.net discussion thread. 

I hope I will find time to add the cartoon later on.

Psalm234September 24, 2012 12:22 AM

This is for wilc, willydilly and others who engaged in a great discussion about Biblical accuracy. 

If you like to read a detective story, there is a great book "Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel (ex-Chicago Tribune investigative journalist and an ex-atheist) that addresses these questions using his investigative skills. I found them to be very helpful in enriching my faith and providing answers to some of my questions.

http://www.amazon.com/Case-Faith-Journalist-Investigates-Christianity/dp/0310234697

Award-winning reporter and author Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ) once again uses his investigative skills to address the primary objections to Christianity. As a former atheist, Strobel understands the rational resistance to faith. He even names the eight most convincing arguments against Christian faith:

1) If there's a loving God, why does this pain-wracked world groan under so much suffering and evil?

2) If the miracles of God contradict science, then how can any rational person believe that they're true?

3) If God is morally pure, how can he sanction the slaughter of innocent children as the Old Testament says he did?

4) If God cares about the people he created, how could he consign so many of them to an eternity of torture in hell just because they didn't believe the right things about him?

5) If Jesus is the only way to heaven, then what about the millions of people who have never heard of him?

6) If God really created the universe, why does the evidence of science compel so many to conclude that the unguided process of evolution accounts for life?

7) If God is the ultimate overseer of the church, why has it been rife with hypocrisy and brutality throughout the ages?

8) If I'm still plagued by doubts, then is it still possible to be a Christian?

As a Christian, I always believe God wants his children to question and deepen our faith on why we believe what we believe so we can always be ready to give an explanation to anyone whos asks us for a reason for our hope. (1 Peter 3:15)

I definitely do not want to resurrect the discussion because it won't be fair to other JLin fans here :) but I thought I'll share something with my fellow JLin fans that has been useful for me personally and to teach Sunday School. Now if we want to discuss if God really took over JLin's body during his 3-pointer at Toronto, that might be interesting :D

Have a blessed week everyone!