Jeremy Lin Show plays to full house as Harvard defeats Santa Clara

By Elliott Almond
ealmond@mercurynews.com
Posted: 01/04/2010 10:40:04 PM PST
Updated: 01/05/2010 09:30:51 AM PST
Jeremy Lin didn't want to think about all the fans who had crammed into the sold-out Leavey Center on Monday night.

But his Harvard teammates let him know anyway.

"They said it looks like Hong Kong," Lin said after Harvard defeated Santa Clara 74-66 in front of 4,700.

A nervous Lin didn't have his usual superb scoring game, getting only six points. But the senior sensation from Palo Alto High tied a career high with nine assists to help the Crimson (11-3) cruise past the Broncos, who lost their fourth in five games.

"When your senior leader scores six points in a road game and they win, that's why he's more than just the leading scorer," Santa Clara coach Kerry Keating said.

Former Stanford star Anthony Goods sounded like a lot of Bay Area fans on hand:

"I'm here for the Jeremy Lin Show," he said.

As much as he finds it embarrassing, Lin has become a show for the Asian-American community. Family and friends lingered after the game to hug and greet him.

"I've never had a game with more support than this," said Lin, who started the day averaging 18.3 points per game.

Many, like parents Shirley and Gie-Ming Lin, wore black T-shirts with the words "We Believe" on the front and the "Jeremy Lin Show" on the back.

Lin, a 6-foot-3 guard who leads the Crimson in scoring, rebounding, assists and three-point shooting, doesn't like to discuss the cultural phenomenon surrounding his basketball prowess.

But
it was evident Monday night where the curious came out to see what the fuss was about.

Franklin Yee of San Francisco doesn't normally go to basketball games, particularly in the South Bay.

Yee's friend Tiger Wong got the word from his dentist.

Gie-Ming Lin took his son to the YMCA to play basketball when he was 5.

He picked basketball after watching NBA highlights, not because he someday hoped to make a point about stereotyping.

But the Taiwanese immigrant never imagined the adulation his son would receive for playing the sport.

Alvin Shen of Union City understands why.

"There's a lot of significance to it," said Shen, who attended church with Lin when they were kids. "It's a different kind of barrier. There's a lot of stigma even in this day and age. It seems silly."

It sure does to those who play with and against Lin.

Goods, who is scheduled to undergo hip surgery Wednesday after playing in the NBA Developmental League, worked out with Lin over the summer.

"He has improved so much," Goods said. "He'll play pro somewhere."

Lin made only 2 of 5 shots against Santa Clara but played solid defense and kept the offense active with his assists.

Freshman Kyle Casey benefited, scoring a season-high 27 points as Harvard won its fourth consecutive game. Christian Webster added 15 points.

Marc Trasolini led Santa Clara (8-9) with 22 points and Robert Smith added 14.


Lin, former Palo Alto High star, making an impact at Harvard
By Alex Pavlovic
apavlovic@mercurynews.com

Posted: 01/03/2010 07:25:04 PM PST
Updated: 01/03/2010 10:22:30 PM PST


Click photo to enlarge
Harvard's Jeremy Lin (4) drives for the basket in front of... (Michael Dwyer, Associated Press)«12»Related Stories
Jan 4:
Jeremy Lin Show plays to full house as Harvard defeats Santa ClaraJeremy Lin logged onto ESPN.com recently and found himself staring at a familiar face: his own.

After years of being overlooked, the Harvard star had finally burst onto the national scene, and no one was more shocked than him.

"It's something I never would have thought I'd experience," Lin said. "There have been a lot of surprises, but that's definitely one of the big ones."

Lin should be used to it by now. He has been surprising people his whole career and hopes to do it again this summer at the NBA draft.

The former Palo Alto High School star has Harvard (10-3) in the running for its first NCAA tournament appearance in 64 years, but that's not the only history he's hoping to make this season. Lin's numbers have put him in line for a shot at the NBA, which hasn't had an Asian-American player in more than a decade (Rex Walters, a former high school star in San Jose whose mother is Japanese, is believed to be the last) and hasn't had a Harvard player in 57 years.

"I've been around high-level programs, and I'd put him in the same category as any of the guys I've seen," said Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, who has also coached at Duke, Seton Hall and Michigan. "He's one of the best-kept secrets in the country."

Thanks to 30 points against No. 10 Connecticut last month, and 25 points three nights later in an upset of Boston College, the secret is out on Lin. UConn coach Jim Calhoun called Lin one of


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the better players he has seen, and ESPN draft analyst Fran Fraschilla compared him to a young Steve Nash.

But not everyone is sold. NBAdraft.net president Aran Smith said pro scouts are worried that the 6-foot-3 Lin doesn't have a true position.

"Right now I don't think he's that close to playing in the NBA," Smith said. "He's not really a pure point guard. He's a better scorer than he is at running a team, but he's not a great shooter."

Lin is accustomed to being overlooked. As a senior at Palo Alto, Lin was named all-state and led an upset of nationally ranked Mater Dei in the state title game, but he was ignored by everyone except Harvard and Brown. Stanford, his hometown school, only offered the chance to walk on. "I understand the business side of it, but I really wanted to go there," Lin said.

Lin chose Harvard, where he has studied economics and become the face of the basketball program, even interviewing Amaker before he was named coach. Thanks to his team-leading 18.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists, Harvard already has a school-record 10 non-conference wins this season.

"We've placed a lot on his shoulders, but he's handled it brilliantly," Amaker said.

Lin has become a popular figure on message boards and YouTube, but he knows there's more to his growing fame than his scoring ability. There are just 20 Asian-American players in Division I — less than 1 percent — and Lin, whose dad is from Taiwan, is easily the most successful of the group.

He regularly deals with racial taunts from opposing fans and believes that his ethnicity played a part in his lack of scholarship offers, but it's not a subject he likes talking about.

"I wish I could just be seen as a basketball player," Lin said.

Although he has become adept at steering the conversation away from his background, Lin's ethnicity might prove to be a boon to his professional prospects.

"It definitely helps with the fan base and will be in his favor," said Smith, who scouted Lin during summer league play last year. "It will give him more of a shot. I wouldn't count him out."