New Warrior Jeremy Lin draws the cameras, says he’s ready to play

New Warrior Jeremy Lin draws the cameras, says he’s ready to play
Posted by Tim Kawakami on July 21st, 2010 at 3:24 pm | Categorized as NBA, Warriors

There were more cameras and reporters and the whole shebang for Jeremy Lin’s introduction at the Warriors’ facility today than at any Warriors event since… umm… probably Media Day last October.

And if I subtract any event that did not include free food, then I’d say this was the biggest gathering of assorted media since Don Nelson’s hiring in August 2006.

There were probably five times more media representatives at W’s HQ today than were on draft night, when they picked 6th overall.

Pretty powerful showing for an undrafted point guard from Harvard. But obviously, Lin’’s from Palo Alto High, and he’s also Asian-American, in a market that is rumored to have a few Asian-Americans walking around and buying tickets and clicking on stories and blogging and etc.

Overall, Lin was poised, confident, and, as usual, not particularly in love with speaking as a role model for the Asian-American culture–which, believe me, I understand.

He just wants to play ball.

He also made it clear that he expects to earn a rotation role right away, backing up Stephen Curry.

I don’t know about that–especially with Lin’s shaky jumper–but just standing next to him, I can tell you that he’s certainly big enough and rangy enough to cover a lot of ground.

If he can play the angles, and muscle past the quicker guys on the dribble… Lin has a shot at this. I wouldn’t expect him to be the Warriors’ back-up point guard right away, but I’m not ruling out some kind of role this season.


I also think it’s clear that,even if this wasn’t directly ordered by the incoming owners, it was done with Larry Riley believing it was what Joe Lacob and Peter Guber wanted.

That the Warriors didn’t offer a summer league spot to Lin… and weren’t in on him until a few days ago… and then suddenly offered him a 2-year, partially guaranteed deal days after the sale was announced…

Well, that has NEW OWNERS MAKING A SPLASH stamped all over it. (With the added benefit of not costing very much.)

I didn’t tape Lin’s session with the TV cameras, but there were some highlights form it…

* He made it clear that he thinks he can make an impact right away.

“From my point of view, I’m ready to go,” Lin said. “I’m ready to play. I’m thankful the Warriors are giving me that opportunity.”

* He thinks the best model for the way his game could develop is Phoenix 6th man Goran Dragic, especially the way Dragic attacks the rim in the pick-and-roll.

“Neither of us is a freak athlete, but we’re both effective and know how to play the game,” Lin said.

Dragic is a crafty, daredevil player who happens to back-up Steve Nash, whom some people believe is Curry’s greatest role model.

That is a smart comparison. By a smart guy.

* How does he describe his game? “I’m a playmaker,” Lin said. “I’m always attacking the rim and have somewhat of a reckless style. I try to be everywhere at once.”

* Said that his performance matched against John Wall in the summer league was definitely the event that raised his NBA stock. Lin scored 13 points, attacked the rim, and held his own against the No. 1 pick throughout the game.

And said he was thankful to the Mavericks for putting him on their summer league team.

“I knew all along I could play with (NBA players),” Lin said. “I’m thankful to Donnie Nelson. He was the only one who gave me a chance to get on a summer league roster.”

Now here’s the transcript from the print-media gaggle…

—JEREMY LIN, some questions and answered edited for length/

-Q: I know you’ve had some media attention, but when you get a group like this, does it sort of amaze you?

-LIN: I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of something like this before. This is unbelievable. Words can’t really express my feelings right now and how happy I am and how grateful I am. This is crazy.

-Q: Why didn’t you play for the Warriors’ summer league team?

-LIN: They didn’t… they were already full.

-Q: When was the Warriors’ first contact with you about signing?

-LIN: I heard from my agent yesterday around 4 or 5 in the afternoon. We hadn’t made a decision yet. I hadn’t really heard anything about that because I told my agent I didn’t want to hear anything until it was final.

He told me they had been talking for a few days.

-Q: So the Warriors hadn’t been on you for that long…

-LIN: No, no. I think it was all within the last week.

-Q: How aware were you of other teams being interested?

-LIN: There was a lot of stuff on the internet and I was reading that for the first time…

-Q: What have the Warriors told you about your possible role? Have they said you’re competing for a back-up spot?

-LIN: I think they want me to come in and compete, yeah, for a back-up position. I think there’s a need for guards right now.

-Q: Minutes right away?

-LIN: It just depends on how I develop, how I perform. It could be… it’s all based on my performance. It’s tough to say right now without me having been through any training camp or anything.

-Q: Do you feel like you’re ready to play point guard in the NBA?

-LIN: I feel like I’m ready to play and I feel like my game is very suitable for the NBA style, because I’m a slasher and there’s a lot of pick-and-rolls.

-Q: What was your approach to playing against Wall in the summer league?

-LIN: My approach to that game was no different than any other game. It was just to play basketball and to stay true to my game and what I do best and not to go outside of myself.

-Q: Do you think you can keep up with NBA point guards defensively, especially the smaller, quicker ones?

-LIN: Yeah, I think being 6-4 with shoes and a pretty decent wingspan, I think I’ll be all right.

-Q: Was Dallas involved trying to sign you?

-LIN: Yeah.

-Q: How tough a call was that for you to not pick Dallas knowing that Donnie was the one who gave you the shot?

-LIN: Donnie took care of me. He really took care of me. He really, really did. I’m not just saying that. And I’m really thankful to him. I actually am going to call him right after this.

It was tough, obviously, because I was there for 10 days before the summer league training. And I had met with Donnie in Portsmouth back in March or April. That was a tough decision.

I’m very thankful. But at the same time, I couldn’t pass on this opportunity.

-Q: Because this is home, or because there’s a possible role here… or all of that?

-LIN: Just everything. All of the factors combined, this was the best situation for me.

-Q: When you say Donnie took care of you…

-LIN: He let me go out there a week early. He invited me to his lake house for July 4th festivities. He scheduled some media stuff for me. He went out of his way to take care of me.

-Q: Did you go to the lake house?

-LIN: Yeah I went… It was me, Omar Samhan (and a few other players).

-Q: You think Donnie Nelson saw something in you?

-LIN: He has a different type of vision than most people do. I think he saw something inside of me or my game at Portsmouth that he fell in love with. He’s been saying consistently that he thought I need some time to develop before I was NBA-ready, but he saw potential in me. So I’m very thankful to him for that.

-Q: Who have you talked to with the Warriors’ organization?

-LIN: Today, just the people who are here right now. And I talked to Larry Riley on the phone last night.

-Q: Some people don’t like or don’t do so well playing at home because there’s so much pressure and attention. Maybe there’s more pressure for you here and expecting things right away?

-LIN: I’m not really worried about that right now. I’m just going to play my game and see where that takes me. And I’m not worried about filling shoes or meeting other people’s expectations. That’s never how I’ve approached the game.

-Q: Was there a thought that you’d go to the D-League this year?

-LIN: During the process? Yeah, during the process you think about all the potential options. Overseas, D-League, NBA… There were times when that crossed my mind absolutely.

-Q: And now, are you thinking no way for the D-League or is that still maybe a possibility?

-LIN: It’s always a possibility if you don’t play well. It’s always a possibility that you could get cut, waived, if you dont play well.

But that’s not the attitude that I’m going to come into training camp with. I’m going to come in to ready to compete, ready to fight for my time, for my spot on the team.

-Q: You’ve said going back to high school that you think of yourself as a basketball player more than as an “Asian-American player.” But because you’re here and the fan base has so many Asian-Americans, do you understand how much impact you’ll have?

-LIN: I don’t think I fully understand it yet, but I think I will later on. I’m getting a glimpse of it right now.

-Q: There are some stories that mention some slurs that you had to endure when you played at Harvard. How bad was that?

-LIN: It was bad the first couple times. But I just learned to block it out. It taught me a lot. It just made me a better player, just mentally stronger.

-Q: Did it stop?

-LIN: Uhh, no.

-Q: Do you expect it to continue at the pro level?

-LIN: Yeah.

-Q: The Warriors have just been sold, as I’m sure you know. What do you think about that and that you might be the first personnel move that involved the new owners?

-LIN: Well, I’m very thankful to the new ownership for giving me this opportunity. I know that this wouldn’t have happened without their approval.

In my opinion, I think they’re doing a great job.

-Q: Have you talked to either of them?

-LIN: I haven’t personally talked to them, but my agent has and I’ve heard stuff that they’ve said to my agent.

-Q: It’s possible that they asked for this…

-LIN: It’s possible. That’s something that you’d probably have to ask my agent.

-Q: What part of your game do you need to work on?

-LIN: My jumpshot. Just developing a consistent jumpshot out to the three-point line. That’s what I’m going to focus on the most up until training camp.

-Q: Toby Gerhart ran into some stereotypes about being a white running back. Have you run into any of those things or talked to people about it?

-LIN: I actually roomed with Omar Samhan from St. Mary’s. He was on Dallas with me. And we have very, very similar stories. Not really recruited out of high school and went on to have a pretty good college career and now we’re back in that underdog role.

So I got to talk to him a lot and he’s been real supportive. It’s nice to have someone to relate to.

-Q: How about the Ivy League stereotypes?

-LIN: I feel like an Asian from Harvard… if you think about that, you’re not going to think, ‘Oh, a player in the NBA.’ I understand that. That’s just the way it is.

There haven’t been that many Asian-Americans. There haven’t been that many Ivy Leaguers. So… I understand that. But I’m hoping I’m breaking the stereotypes.

-Q: What was the situation when you were coming out of high school with the local schools?

-LIN: They were… the Pac-10 schools wanted me to walk-on. The Ivy League schools, Harvard and Brown, were the two ones that really wanted me to go there and play for them. I was deciding mainly between those two conferences.

I didn’t really want to walk-on. I wanted to go somewhere the team wanted me. Not somewhere I’d have to go and potentially not have a spot on the team.

-Q: Before you played Wall, who was the most pointed guard you’d gone up against?

-LIN: I played Tywon Lawson in high school in AAU and also at Portsmouth. He’s always been a handful.

-Q: Do you mind if I ask what your GPA at Harvard was?

-LIN: My GPA was not a 4.2. That’s been the rumor. It’s not even possible. My friends have been absolutely killing me about that. I had a 3.1 at Harvard.