Then promptly, last night, Lin went for a career high 38 points and 7 assists in a victory over the visiting Lakers.

Lin scored 89 points in his first three starts. According to Elias, that’s the most points by any player in his first three starts since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.

If you missed last night’s game, here (via the CBS Eye on Basketball blog) is a video of all of Lin’s field goals:

Reader Sam Angean sent me a link to an article by Timothy Dalrymple, “Jeremy Lin and the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations.” Dalrymple, a philosopher and former top-ranked NCAA gymnast, looks at the stereotypes that plague Asian-American athletes and particularly Lin. It’s worth a read if you have time today.

Finally, here’s one Knicks fan’s response to Linsanity (and to Carmelo Anthony’s recent struggles):

via SB Nation and @OleDirtyBZA

‘Linsanity’

Last Saturday against the Nets, Lin had 25 points and 7 assists in 36 minutes off the bench. It was only the second NBA game all season that he had played more than 7 minutes. In his first two starts, Monday against Utah and Wednesday at Washington, he had 28 and 23 points and 8 and 10 assists, respectively.

As of this writing Lin is averaging 30.3 points and 11.8 assists per 48 minutes. Had he played enough games to qualify, he would be sixth in the league in both points and assists per 48 minutes. Lin is second in the league in PER (John Hollinger’s player efficiency rating that combines stats such as true shooting percentage, usage, and rebounding rate), trailing only LeBron James.

As of January 23rd, Lin was playing for the Erie BayHawks of the Developmental League. (On January 20 he had 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists in a win over Maine.) Less than three weeks later, he’s the topic du jour on Twitter, sports blogs, and all of ESPN’s talking-head shows.

So where did this kid come from, and what’s his story?

No Respect?

You may have heard that Lin had no scholarship offers coming out of high school. This, despite leading his team to a state title and being “the runaway choice for player of the year by virtually every California publication.”

But Lin was determined to go to UCLA, Cal, Stanford, or one of the Ivy League schools. None of the Pac-10 schools showed any interest (though Lin says Stanford was “fake interested”), and the Ivies don’t give out athletic scholarships. If Lin had set his sights on a mid- or low-major, things might have worked out differently.

Lin went to Harvard, where he was a two-time All-Ivy League First Team selection and, as a senior, a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award. But no one took a chance on Lin in the 2010 NBA Draft and only one team, the Mavericks, invited him to play in the Summer League.

After an impressive Summer League performance, Lin got free agent offers from four teams. He signed with the Warriors for the 2010–11 season. Three times during that season, the Warriors assigned Lin to their D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns. For the season, Lin played in only 29 games, averaging 2.6 points and 1.4 assists in 9.8 minutes.

The Warriors waived Lin as soon as training camp opened for the 2011-12 season. The Rockets claimed him off waivers then let him go less than two weeks later. The Knicks picked up Lin after rookie guard Iman Shumpert got injured on opening day. A few weeks later, New York assigned Lin to the D-League.

Since Lin’s breakout game against the Nets last week, the Knicks are 3-0. Lin led the team in assists in all three games and points in two of the three. (Tyson Chandler scored 25 points to Lin’s 23 Wednesday against the Wizards.)

Linsanity skeptics will point out that two of these three games were against the lowly Nets and Wizards, but Lin bested All Star point guard Deron Williams and 2011 rookie-of-the-year John Wall. He also went for 28 and 8 against the 13-10 Jazz.

Photo by Kathy Kmonicek, AP

Jeremy Lin: The NBA’s Only Taiwanese American

Jeremy Lin is the NBA’s first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese ancestry. All other Asian-American players (and there have only been four) have been of Japanese or Filipino descent.

Lin’s father, Gie-Ming Lin, grew up in Taiwan, where he become obsessed with basketball, despite having few opportunities to watch, much less play, the game. The elder Lin said that the chance to watch the NBA was one reason he decided to pursue his Ph.D in engineering in the United States.

Gie-Ming Lin went to Purdue (naturally). But even as an adult working on his doctorate, he had never picked up a basketball and didn’t feel comfortable playing against his peers. So he studied tapes of basketball games. Analyzing NBA games on his VCR became an obsession. And Gie-Ming passed down his extensive knowledge of the game to his children, among them Jeremy.

Lin’s ancestry made him a fan favorite when he played in the Bay Area, with its large Asian-American population. But Asian stereotypes might also have been responsible for Lin’s lack of opportunities coming out of high school and college.

His ethnicity also made him the target of racial slurs in college. Lin told Time that he received racially motivated taunts in most, if not all, Ivy League gyms.

Lin responded to those taunts with grace, and now he is doing more than perhaps any player before him to dispel old stereotypes about Asian Americans and basketball.

Do you want more Jeremy Lin?

Here’s Lin dominating an intramural flag football game:

Here, Lin breaks John Wall’s ankles then throws down on the Wizards:

And a couple of other Linsanity-related links:

• Mike Prada at SB Nation explains Lin’s success.
• You can buy the official Knicks “Linsanity” T-shirt here.

Ferrell, who is in the Big Easy shooting a movie with Zach Galifianakis about “political rivals who are seeking the same congressional seat” (must see), got especially clever with the visiting Bulls’ lineup, introducing Joakim Noah as “a Scorpio and a terrible dancer” and announcing that Luol Deng “collects rare birds and has a pet dolphin named Chachi.”

Watch the entire thing from CSN Chicago:

The Bulls ended up winning 90-67.

Will Ferrell doing the intros at last night's Hornets-Bulls game. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

John Wall’s reaction is the best part of the whole sequence.

The NBA does everything it wants with no input from FIBA publicly until now, apparently.
FIBA, the International Basketball Federation has determined that Kenyon Martin is a free agent, owing nothing to any team from China. He does not have any contract obligations at all.

The International Federation of Basketball took the decision on Martin’s playing prospects because it has the ultimate responsibility for basketball’s international affairs, similar to FIFA, the International Federation of Soccer or Football as it is known in most parts around the world.

Up till now, FIBA has had a limited role in negotiating player transfers from leagues around the world to the NBA, but their role is enhanced now with the emergence of so many other leagues paying top salaries and higher level skilled NBA players going to those markets.

Mostly, FIBA is recognized for supplying the rules for the Olympics and for other international tournaments between countries.

FIBA plays with a different set of rules and different markings on the court. The courts have a key (from the free throw line in towards the baseline) that is trapezoid in shape.

Unlike MLS, the NBA chooses to play by its own American rules. These rules have worked fine for the NBA as it has reached more popularity with each passing year.

But, would the NBA adopt its rules to the FIBA rules if FIBA asked them to?

For FIFA, a player is ineligible to play in international soccer tournaments if they play in a club league that does not follow FIFA rules.

FIBA doesn’t have the same power in basketball that FIFA has in soccer. But, the Martin case shows that FIBA is flexing its muscle and will make other power plays in the near future.

The organization wants to have more influence on the American game because its power internationally would grow substantially if the NBA was willing to follow more often what it dictates.

FIBA’s role is changing and it may not be anymore just about player transfers or tournaments between countries.

FIBA is probably itching to get the NBA on board for a big-time international team/club tournament in which team champions from the different countries play each other like what FIFA organizes for Soccer.

This kind of high-profile international team/club tournament would make the organization rich beyond its wildest dreams and bring it the power it so desperately craves.

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Howard Alperin is Managing Editor of AmericanizeSoccer.com

There is more back-to-back scheduling for teams than other years, meaning they play two nights in a row, and some back-to-back-to-back, meaning they play three nights in a row, at times throughout the season as well.

Frankly, this year is awesome.

It’s nice to be able to see a favorite team more often each week. It makes the week go by faster. It seems more enjoyable and more challenging for teams.

Every game counts in the West; there can be no nights off. The standings in the West are so close from top to bottom. With the exception of Oklahoma City, just about every team can be outside the playoff picture with one or two losses in a row.

Eleven of the 16 teams in the West look to battle for the eight playoff seeds all season.

The East is different because there’s less parity than the West. More teams are sure to make the playoffs and the real race could be for the last seed. Still, with the season going by at a faster pace, movement in the standings can happen quicker and the chance for redemption is right there either the next night or the night after.

Now, second team players matter more than ever. A solid bench is counted on all the way down to the 12th man. And, these players are able to develop and display their skills more often for fans.

Also, there seems to be a little more spontaneity in the degree of play this season.

Take for instance, the LeBron dunk from this past week, one of the best of his career. Some of this difference could be due to the play generated by the mix of combining starters and non-starters with the lack of an extended training camp.

Of course, the owners will never go for this kind of shortened season. They are missing revenue for eight home games.

So, maybe the NBA should shorten their season, but not the amount of games. Typically, the regular season starts late October-beginning November and it goes through the end of April. What if the season started on Christmas every year?

A more compact, dense 82-game schedule puts it all out there. If necessary, schedule like baseball, and bring a team in to visit for two nights in a row, when possible (in conference).

One other idea is to make the first round of playoffs go best-of-three, second round could be best-of-five and Conference Finals and NBA Finals can be best-of-seven games.

There are more than 125 days from Christmas to late April. If necessary, add some dates to late April and/or early May and start the playoffs a week or so later. It can be done.

Starting at Christmas time worked. It was a great holiday gift and rallied the fanbase from coast to coast.

Ending in late June for the finals is still a more than 6-month season.

Howard Alperin is Managing Editor of AmericanizeSoccer.com

However, after last night’s Blake Griffin dunk, I think some people are getting a LITTLE bit carried away.  Was it the best dunk of the year?  Of course.  But how quickly we forget dandies like these.

Four Dunks That Top Blake Griffin’s Throw Down

Vince Carter over Alonzo Mourning

Why is this dunk better?  One huge reason: the degree of difficulty.

The Griffin is four inches taller than Vince for one.  Of course, it’s not necessarily fair to hold Griffin’s height against him, but the fact of the matter is dunking is more impressive when a little man does it.  The other factor that contributes to the difficulty is the fact that Mr. Carter dunked the ball over one of the greatest shot-blockers in history.  Of course, Kendrick Perkins is no slouch, and is a little larger than Alonzo, but the dunk over Zo remains more difficult than what Blake did last night.

Past the difficulty, each dunk had it’s greatness.  Blake through the ball through the hoop, Carter rocked it back farther than maybe any dunk ever.  Both had the surprise factor going as well.  Nobody was really expecting either dunk.  But for now, Vince > Blake…if not by much.

Shawn Kemp Reverse Dunk (#2 in the following clip)

Alright, now we can really compare apples to apples, as Griffin and Kemp are basically the same size.  What makes this dunk so great is that it would have been fantastic if it had been in the dunk contest with no defenders around.  But it wasn’t.

Kemp breathtakingly takes off from outside the lane, then goes up and under to the other side and dunks it ON the Golden State big man under the hoop.

As good as Blake’s dunk was, he simply went straight up and dunked it on Kendrick.

Again, not trying to take away from Blake’s dunk at all, but Kemp’s had more flash AND a higher degree of difficulty.

Vince Carter’s Inverted 360. (The first dunk in the following clip)

The greatest slam dunk contest dunk of all time.

Oh sure, VC’s through the legs dunk in the same contest was almost equally as breathtaking.  Air and the Human Highlight Reel had some incredible showcases as well.

But this dunk had it all.

It was Vince’s first dunk of the night, and I will never forget the feeling I got when I saw it happen.  We all remember him looking into the camera and dictating that “It was over.”

Not only did he spin the OPPOSITE way of most 360s, but he also held the ball in his right hand and had to time his tomahawk just right so as to not miss the hoop completely.

Now of course, you could say that since Blake’s dunk was ON somebody, it had a higher degree of difficulty, but I’m not sure we will ever see a dunk as vicious as what Vince-sanity through down to launch the greatest set of dunks in dunk contest history.

Vince Carter Over Frederick Weiss

Quite simply, the greatest dunk of all time.

I mean, he literally jumped OVER the seven-footer.

Credit: Darren McNamara/Allsport

So what do you think?  Were these dunks better than Blake’s from last night?

My first thought was that Rob Lowe had said something provocative. Then I had an awful thought that maybe someone had gotten injured, sick, or worse…but I immediately was reassured by the tone of voice of the speaker.

No, this wasn’t a negative Twitter explosion. It was a jubilant.

And then I found out why.

And oh me, oh my.

Blake Griffin was the reason for the Twitter explosion, and as soon as I saw the monstrous and absurdly athletic “dunk” he threw down on Kendrick Perkins I knew why. Watch the video if you, like me, didn’t see it last night:

The reason I put dunk in quotation marks above is because it almost looks like Griffin’s hand doesn’t touch the rim. You can see the ball slipping out as his arm comes down towards the rim. It’s more of a “throw down” than a dunk.

Although, in the postgame interview, Griffin said that his hand did touch the rim this time, unlike in past spectacular slams. Not that it matters. It’s breathtaking either way.

And one spectacular slam in particular that he is referring to is Griffin’s famous throw down over Timofey Mosgov of the Knicks.

In case you’ve forgotten, watch the video below. I promise it’s a different video than the one above.

It’s incredible how similar the dunks are. Both are perfect showcases for Griffin’s scintillating blend of athleticism and power. But is one better than the other?

Chime in.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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To sign up for free right now, click here.

* – If you really love them, and they love sports, you’ll pass this win-win opportunity along to them.

My team for tonight is set. Here is my roster:

• G – Kemba Walker, CHA
• G – James Harden, OKC
• F – Kevin Durant, OKC
• F – Chris Bosh, MIA
• C – Roy Hibbert, IND
• C – Tyson Chandler, NY
• U – Al Harrington, DEN
• U – Mario Chalmers

As you can see, I prioritized scoring forwards over all other positions. The salaries for Durant and Bosh are actually quite reasonable, so it made sense to build around them. And Walker, Harden, and Chalmers are all solid values at their price. You only have $100,000 to build your team, so you must be judicious in how you use it.

But you may not like my team. Fine. Prove that you can build on better. I you can, maybe you’ll win a greater piece of the $200 than I will. Regardless, you don’t have to pay to enter, so you might as well give it a shot while you’re procrastinating on this fine Friday afternoon (which we both know you’ll be doing at some point).

So sign up and post your roster below.

By the way, you now only have five hours, 49 minutes, and 1 second (as I type this) since rosters must be set by 7:00 ET. Don’t procrastinate.

Then let the trash talk and money-winning begin.

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And when you’re done, entertain yourself with Pau Gasol’s doggy-paddle defense and the 22 funniest pictures of the superstar Spaniard.

Yesterday, after re-setting my lineup for this weekend’s DraftStreet freeroll tournament (click here to join here for free), I counted down the 22 most unintentionally hilarious pictures of the famously photogenic Gasol.

I had no intention of posting again about Gasol today, because I was Gasol-ed out after yesterday and because a Spaniard playing in Los Angeles doesn’t exactly scream “Midwest,” but after stumbling upon the animated GIF below what choice did I have?

Behold, the greatness of Paul Gasol playing defense against Blake Griffin:

GIF source: HachisVertas.net via Reddit

There are so many things I could say about this GIF (including that I’d love to see whatever thunderous dunk Blake Griffin threw down), but in lieu of that I’m just going to watch it 17 more times and chuckle heartily to myself as Gasol attempts to perfect the doggy-paddle defense.

Pau, you da man.

I found the act and react photos rather humorous, as I often do with pictures involving Gasol.

And this got me to thinking…

Few athletes have as many unintentionally hilarious pictures of themselves floating around the Internet as Gasol does. He’s a great player, one of the best big men of his era (side note: I was pissed that he’s not available for Friday’s DraftStreet freeroll tournament — join here, it’s free, $200 in cash prizes on the line), but the guy is just goofy looking and his more exuberant moments feature some very funny facial expressions.

He’s like the Spanish Chris Bosh.

So here are my favorite unintentionally hilarious Pau Gasol pictures, presented in no particular order…except the last one.

This picture is from our friends at The Sports Hernia, which they titled thusly: “Pau Gasol to miss Game 3 after maddening eruption in anal cavity.”

Sounds about right.

As for this next picture, via Yahoo Sports, I literally laughed out loud when I came across this one in Google Images. I believe the proper Interwebs descriptions for this is, When you see it…

And how can you not love this picture? I miss Yao.

And if Pau thought he could wear a shirt like this at any time in his life and not have it live in Internet infamy, well he was wrong.

Same goes for turtlenecks. Sorry Pau, but turtleneck pictures will always come back to haunt you.

Which reminds me of a certain picture of myself from back in the day in which I’m wearing a Dan Marino jersey over a white turtleneck and garish Zubaz pants. Thank goodness that is only hanging on the wall in my parents’ house and not floating around the web. For now…

And though we’re having a few chuckles at Pau’s expense in this post, he should know that it’s done with the utmost respect and admiration for his game and on-court passion. Remember, he is a champion a couple of times over.

Not sure much commentary is needed for the rest of these, and we’ll kick it off with a four-pic montage of Screaming Pau. As they say on 1310 The Ticket…Pau Pau! Pau Pau!

And last but certainly least, my all time favorite picture of Pau Gasol. I will neither confirm nor deny that this picture was Photoshopped. I find it far more entertaining to pretend it was not.

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Did I miss any? Let me know below.

Play in one of DraftStreet’s salary-cap style one night leagues, that’s what.

If you are friends with Matthew Berry and other fantasy sports aficionados on Facebook and Twitter, you have probably seen links to DraftStreet’s site. Now you can participate in tournaments with MSF writers and other readers, courtesy of the fine folks at DraftStreet.

In fact, to kick off our relationship with DraftStreet, they have set up a freeroll tournament for us that will result in $200 in cash prizes being awarded.

Click here to sign up, for free, right now.

Then take a look at my team…think you can beat it? I so you have until Friday January 27th at 7:00pm ET to sign up, at which time your rosters will lock and the Live Scoreboard will be available.

This free contest will be salary-cap style drafting where everyone tries to assemble the best team out of the available players. You will have a $100,000 budget to build a team of 2 forwards, 2 guards, 2 centers, and 2 utility players. Each NBA player has been assigned a price based on their expected fantasy performance.

I’m in there. I’m sure Jon will be joining. You know Keith loves games like this. So make sure you set your roster and give us a run for our, *ahem* money…because there is real money at stake here with no investment necessary; why would you stay on the bench? Get on the floor.

What are you waiting for? Click here to pick your team.

He has helped turn around a Cavs team that only won 19 games a season ago, and he has done so in spectacular fashion.

Image source: ESPNCleveland.com

Irving had a rough start to the season in the opener at home. He only had six points on 2-12 shooting, but he quickly turned it around in the next game. The opener turned out to be his only game in single-digit scoring so far this season, and he has not dipped below twelve points in a game since.

In the time leading up to the draft many people in Cleveland, including myself, were hoping that the Cavs would draft Derrick Williams out of Arizona. He would fill the need at the forward position and would provide a dual threat as an inside and outside scorer.

These feelings were mainly due to the fact that Kyrie only played 11 games at Duke. He looked great in those games, but it is tough to get excited about a player with such a lack of experience. The Cavs drafted him and then took Tristian Thompson with the fourth pick in the draft.

The opener came and went, and some fans were upset with Irving’s play. It was warranted, but the whole team came out flat. He came back in his next game with 14 points in only twenty minutes on the court.

Irving’s third game turned out to be a turning point in his very young NBA career. He had a layup at the end of regulation that would have defeated the Pacers, but he could not finish. The Cavs would lose in overtime, and dropped to 1-2.

The Cavs started January with a win over the Nets, and have been playing great basketball the whole month. They are 5-4 this month, which is impressive considering they just finished a 7-game road trip that saw them travel all over the country.

In January, Kyrie Irving has been Cleveland’s best player. In nine games he has reached 20 points six times, including in each of  his last five games. He has also recorded at least four assists in every game this season.

Comparing Kyrie to the other rookies is quite simple. He is averaging over 17 points a game. Two of the other top rookies in the NBA, Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams, must combine their points to eclipse that number. Williams in under ten points a game, which should make all Cavs fans feel much better about having Irving.

Rubio is one point guard, but another big name point guard is Kemba Walker. His Bobcats went up against Kyrie and the Cavs on Monday, and Kyrie won the battle. Kemba had 14 points in 38 minutes, while Kyrie had 25 in 35 minutes.

What helps Kyrie be so effective is the team around him. Many of the other top rookies are playing on very bad teams, while Kyrie has a solid team around him. Coach Byron Scott employs a ten-man rotation, which allows Kyrie and the starters to get the rest needed to compete in this condensed season. It also helps having a coach like Byron Scott, who knows a few things about being a successful NBA player.

The true test for Kyrie is coming up. On Friday he will go up against Derrick Rose, given that he is healthy, and the Bulls. A week from now, he and the Cavs will travel into Miami, which is a big game for Cleveland, given the obvious reasons. The Cavs finish up the month with two games against Rajon Rondo and the Celtics, so we will all see how Kyrie steps up in those games. Based on his current play, there is no reason to expect him to slow down at all.

Kyrie has pulled off some ridiculous shots this season, which usually see him spinning an impossible lay-up off the glass. Here is just one of many from the best rookie in the league.

Firstly, John Wall.

I know. Before you crucify me and call him the future of the league, just relax. I think John Wall WILL BE a major game-changer. The problem is…he’t not there yet.

He can score; however, it is erratic. He can’t shoot the three-ball well yet, and the biggest reason Wall should have stayed longer in college is ball control. In the first five games of this year, Wall has had 4, 6, 4, 1 and 7 turnovers. He has had some good rebounding and assist totals, but you cannot give the ball away that much and be an elite point guard. That is also my knock on Russell Westbrook and I am a diehard OKC fan.

On a side note, I love the Dougie, but I didn’t love how Wall came in his first game and did it in his pre-game announcement. It showed me a lack of maturity. Win something first before you boogie, or Dougie, or whatever.

The second guy, who I think is much worse off than Wall, is DeMarcus Cousins.

Cousins has demanded a trade from the Sacramento Kings and has been reported to have had shouting matches with coach Paul Westphal.

According to Yahoo Sports, Westphal said, “…when a player continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team, it cannot be ignored indefinitely.”

Cousins was ordered to stay away from the Kings’ Sunday game against the New Orleans David Sterns, I mean Hornets.

How bad is it that you are ordered to not even come to the game when you have some skill and power down low, but you are such a distraction that they don’t even want you in the building?

I can understand sending away guys past their prime who are more distracting than they are worth (Stephon Marbury), but when you are young and talented and still get benched maybe you should figure out that the team isn’t the problem; YOU ARE.

Cousins demanded a trade according to the Kings. Of course, Cousins’ agent denies it, but either way Cousins needs to grow up. The Kings say they won’t deal him, but do you keep him and destroy your locker room? You have some other options at the post position, so if you dealt him it wouldn’t be a tragic loss.

I don’t know if another year of school would have helped Cousins’ maturity, but I do know right now the Kings are taking a lot of painkillers for the headache that is DeMarcus Cousins.

Both of these guys are John Calipari-coached athletes. Does it reflect poorly on him and how he encourages one-and-dones to come play for him and just lets them run wild so he can win? I don’t know. Just something to think about.

It features the best pure scorer in the NBA.

Image source: Reddit

I’d say he’s living up to the quote, wouldn’t you say?

“Don’t let the hype get to you, just stay humble and hungry, and do what you do best: HOOP!”

That pretty much sums up Kevin Durant doesn’t it?

In case you missed it last week, here is the latest and greatest example of Durant doing what he does best:

And in related athlete yearbook photo news, here is another picture from that same yearbook. This one features former Maryland star and current NBA player Greivis Vasquez.

Image source: Reddit

That must have been one hell of a high school basketball team.