Jeremy Lin Invades Chinatown

How can you explain this one?  I will steal George Bush’s vocabulary: I was in shock and awe.

I’ve heard of other teams coming in here and having “their” fan, who are mostly from Washington DC, cheering harder than the Wizards fans.

What was difference this time is the fans of the Knickerbockers cheering “Let’s go GIANTS,” along with “Let’s go Knicks” and then to top it off with, “Let’s go Lin.”

Jeremy Lin, yeah the new fashion of the NBA.

He seems to be the new golden child of the media. Funny thing is, I knew this was going to happen to the Wizards.  I didn’t doubt John Wall one bit, but we knew that Jeremy Lin was coming in here to play.

Jeremy has skills, he can shoot, he can pass, and his basketball IQ is amazingly high. He’s got sneaky quickness.  It’s hard to hate the guy; he’s that underdog you always love to root for.

Lin finished with 23 points, 10 assist, and 4 rebounds.  That’s a great stat line for a guy who has only played a handful of games this season.

John Wall wasn’t so bad either. He finished with 29 points and 6 assists.

Please check out the POST GAME QUOTES courtesy of the Washington Wizards PR:

 

WASHINGTON WIZARDS VS. NEW YORK KNICKS

FEBUARY 8, 2012

KNICKS 107, WIZARDS 93

WIZARDS HEARD COACH RANDY WITTMAN

On the Wizards’ performance:

“The game boiled down to containment. We were not able to contain the basketball all night. Whether it was pick and roll or balls kicked out. We got it to six going into halftime.  They were the aggressors who had us on our heels from a defensive standpoint, which led to the fouling.”

On the Knicks missing their leading scorers:

“You should always expect to do better, no matter who you play against. After this game, I wish they would’ve played again, and see what we could have done. They spread the floor well tonight. There wasn’t a lot of ball stoppage, and their ball movement was great. They deserve a lot of credit.”

On Jeremy Lin’s performance:

“He did a nice job again. We have been watching film on him for weeks. He was playing with a lot of confidence and a guy his size when he gets inside, he makes the right decisions with his passing and can finish at the rim. He is playing with a lot of confidence and he has been doing that since he joined the Knicks.”

WIZARDS FORWARD TREVOR BOOKER

On the game:

“It’s frustrating. In tonight’s game, they didn’t have their two superstars and we didn’t play good enough to win. When they did have their key players, we came within a possession from beating them. Their pick and rolls killed us. They came out more aggressive than we were. The aggressiveness from the shooters and the guy rolling was the key to their victory.”

On Jeremy Lin:

“I wasn’t surprised by his game play. I played against him in Summer League and I saw his potential there. He is developing into a good player. He really has a bright future ahead of him.”

WASHINGTON WIZARDS MAURICE EVANS

On the Wizards’ performance:

“I feel really comfortable and excited to be out there.  I was a little frustrated that it didn’t translate into a win tonight. Throughout the season we have played a number of teams missing their star players, and we have yet to capitalize on that. Although, we are missing some of our players as well, this was a golden opportunity to gain some momentum off of a win against Toronto.”

On the Knicks’ performance:

“They executed extremely well and you have to give them credit for that. Jeremy Lin made all the right plays all night long and played very unselfish. As a result, he ended up with 23 points and 10 assists. He was able to those guys going. They are playing really well.”

On the Wizards’ energy:

“We are a family and we are a team and when we do a bad job, we do bad together. Everybody just has to play with more energy on the ball. We need the bigs to continue to step up and the wing players to continue to bring more energy.”

WIZARDS GUARD JOHN WALL

On the game:

“We played basketball, we knew they were going to come in and make shots without their key players. We didn’t execute and do the things we needed to do to get the victory. They spaced the court and knocked down big shots. As a team we didn’t do a good enough job to disrupt their rhythm. We just have to play harder and make the key stops, especially late in the games.”

On Jeremy Lin:

“He did a really good job running pick and roll and managing the game. If we stepped out on the shooter, Lin was able to get a layup. I knew he could play basketball and if you are a guard that can run pick and roll in their coach’s offense you have a very good chance to excel.”

KNICKS COACH MIKE D’ANTONI

On Jeremy Lin:

“He’s making things easy and the rest of the guys around him are playing the way we want to play. He controls it—Tyson (Chandler) in the middle and Jeremy (Lin) on the outside. They are doing a heck of a job for us.”

On the impact of Jeremy Lin on the team:

“Well, it puts everyone in their position. (Iman) Shumpert looks really good. His defense now is very good and he is a good two or three. Jeremy puts everyone in the right spots and calms us down.”

KNICKS GUARD LANDRY FIELDS

On Jeremy Lin opening up the floor:

“Well you see it. The kind of attention he draws not only allows me to shoot but to make cuts. He did a good job of finding me on those tonight. If they are focused on him it allows me to do what I do that much better.”

KNICKS FORWARD JARED JEFFRIES

On Jeremy Lin’s performance:

“He plays with great pace and tempo. If you look at his last few games, I bet he has been one of, if not, the best point guards in the league. He gives us a lot of energy and we feed off of that.”

On missing Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire:

“We are a team. We know that our leaders are out right now. We know we have to step up in different ways and make the commitment to win. Right now we are playing well, but we have to try and keep on rolling.”

KNICKS GUARD JEREMY LIN

On the game:

“The game was obviously a lot of fun. We just played well. I think everyone gave us really crucial minutes. We played a whole team game both defensively and offensively and I think that’s the most important thing.”

On being called the “real deal”:

“It hasn’t even been a week yet, so I’m not really too worried about that. I just want to make sure I do what I can to help the team win every time I step out on the floor. I’m not really too worried about proving anything to anybody right now.”

On if he had imagined such a successful start:

“Last year? No, I don’t think so. I wouldn’t have imagined this. At the same time, it’s just a blessing from God and I’m just along for the ride.”

On what he has learned in his first three NBA starts:

“It’s really hard to play heavy minutes — you get really tired. I have a new respect for everyone who plays this many minutes every single night