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» Wednesday, February 8 2012

He takes no satisfaction in proving he wasn’t a one-hit wonder, because he could be “like a two-time wonder.” And no, he doesn’t consider himself all that smart, regardless of that Harvard education. “That’s a stereotype,” Lin said Tuesday. “(Former Golden State teammate) David Lee would be the first to tell you, he always calls me the dumbest smart guy he knows. Depends on who you ask I guess.” Toronto Star

Madison Square Garden Co.'s fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 22% as the National Basketball Association's work stoppage hurt the media- and-sports company's revenue. The NBA work stoppage delayed the start of the professional basketball league's regular season by about two months, cutting the combined number of preseason and regular season games to six from 40 a year earlier. The former component of Cablevision Systems Corp. has continued to post a profit since it went public early last year. Cablevision spun off MSG to separate its cash-rich cable businesses from its more financially volatile entertainment properties. Wall Street Journal

Amar'e Stoudemire is not expected to rejoin the Knicks until Monday, head coach Mike D'Antoni said on Wednesday. Stoudemire left the team on Monday after his older brother Hazell died in a car accident in his home state of Florida. "This is a tough time for him," D'Antoni said. New York Daily News

The Knicks are still hoping to sign free agent shooting guard J.R. Smith with their "room exception" but the Minnesota Timberwolves could provide serious competition, as they also have the room exception (a pro-rated $2.5 million salary slot) and could offer Smith more minutes and scoring opportunities. Smith, a New Jersey native, has indicated on Twitter that he has strong interest in playing for the Knicks. MSG.com

Harvard graduates have spent the last 300 years conquering the Manhattan job market. They've been doctors and lawyers and bankers and senators. One of them, however, did something this week that they've never managed to do before. He saved the Knicks' season. Jeremy Lin, the 23-year-old Knicks guard, has ascended from afterthought to New York folk hero in half a week. He is now the Knicks' starting point guard, leading them to two straight wins and scoring 25 and 28 points, respectively, this after topping 10 points just twice in a two-year career. He's also combined for 15 assists in the two games—no other Knick is averaging more than 4.2 assists per game this season. Just 19 days ago, Lin was playing a game for the Erie Bayhawks of the NBA's Developmental League. Wall Street Journal

Lin, who holds an economics degree, said he spent most of his summers working on dribbling, but cannot pinpoint when he developed the stealth movements he's burning the league with. "I'm working on trying to make it more deceptive," Lin said. Lin's actual genius is that he does things the rest of the Knicks do not do. While star Carmelo Anthony's game focuses on long shots, Lin drives to the rim consistently for high-percentage shots. Anthony's performance on Saturday, when Lin became a sensation, was a case study in inefficiency. Anthony took just two shots at the rim and made both, according to hoopdata.com. He took seven from 16-23 feet and missed all of them. Lin took eight shots at the rim and made six of them. In Monday's win against Utah, he took seven shots at the rim and made six of them. Lin's role will only increase. On Tuesday, Anthony was ruled out for one-to-two weeks with a groin injury, and Amar'e Stoudemrie said he'd take more time off in the wake of his brother's death. Wall Street Journal

“It’s really quite amazing what he’s done,” said Glenn A. Fine, the former inspector general of the Justice Department, who was drafted out of Harvard in the 10th round by San Antonio in 1979 but did not try out because he won a Rhodes scholarship. “And after these two games, it looks like he has a pretty good chance to stick.” At least 10 Harvard players have been drafted by the N.B.A., according to university records. Five were drafted in the 1970s, including the sportscaster James Brown, one of the nation’s top high school prospects in 1969. Brown was taken by the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth round in 1973, but did not earn a roster spot. In 1985, forward Joe Carrabino was drafted in the sixth round by the Denver Nuggets and guard Bob Ferry, the brother of the Duke star Danny Ferry, was taken in the seventh, by the Hawks. And in 1987, Keith Webster was drafted in the seventh round by the Utah Jazz. New York Times

None of them made a roster, and for some time, it appeared that Harvard’s lasting contribution to the N.B.A. would be a nonstudent, Tom Thibodeau, the current coach of the Chicago Bulls, who was an assistant at Harvard from 1985 to 1989. Webster came close. He tried to make the Jazz as the team’s third point guard, behind the starter Rickey Green and John Stockton. He was one of the last three players cut, a victim of stiff competition and guaranteed contracts, but not before playing the entire preseason. The first time Webster saw Lin play, against Cornell in Lin’s senior season, his seat was near a group of coaches. The consensus among them was that Lin was not N.B.A. material. “I stuck my neck out and said, ‘I think he’s going to make it,’ ” Webster said. “He’s 6-3, really athletic, has good hops and long arms. And his best attribute is his vision. Fundamentally, he leaves his feet a lot and his jump shot’s kind of funky, but he gets to the rim with his crossover and he’s a great finisher. In some sense, it doesn’t surprise me that he made a team and he’s doing well. It just goes to show what you can do if you work hard.” New York Times

Stoudemire’s status remains up in the air for Friday’s game against the Lakers and Saturday’s game in Minnesota — his agent, Happy Walters, said more would be known in “a couple of days” — but the Knicks know they will be without Anthony for the rest of the week and perhaps next week as well. New York Post

With point guard Baron Davis (back, elbow) and forward Josh Harrellson (wrist) already on the shelf, Jared Jeffries got his first start of the season at power forward Monday, and Anthony’s injury likely thrusts Billy Walker into the lineup at small forward and Steve Novak and Jerome Jordan into the rotation. “One-to-two weeks, I guess — we’ll see,” coach Mike D’Antoni said of Anthony’s absence. “With the attitude and effort playing as well as we did [Monday], we’ll come up with some wins. “You’re definitely not happy that he’s out, or Amar’e. But we just have to understand our limitation and play even harder. If we do that, there are other areas of the game we can pick up and try to get a win.’’ New York Post

 
 

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