I want to mock Toronto Raptors fans for thinking that Jeremy Lin was going to be a solid addition for them, really I do, because my whole pathetic existence is preoccupied with finding new ways to make fun of the Raptors, their fanbase, and their city, but I can’t blame them for being optimistic. Lin was legitimately good for the Hawks, way better than I anticipated going into the season, and while Raptors fans likely didn’t have firsthand experience of that fact (because who the heck is watching Hawks games), the stats and highlight videos told a true story of a surprisingly competent Lin.
Something about playing for a team where the games actually mean something must have broken him (and Marc Gasol, poor guy). Playing for the Hawks, it’s no big deal if you mess up, because everyone’s messing up all the time anyway and your specific screwup won’t get noticed besides Dominique Wilkins quipping “That was a TERRIBLE pass by Jeremy” in that voice of his. The national media doesn’t know you exist, and the local media barely knows you exist. Playing for the Raptors is different. They have this thing called “expectations” which hang like a precariously suspended hammer over every aspect of the team. There is pressue. There is scrutiny. And Lin responded by going out and bricking everything.
Probably just an unlucky streak, mixed in with an overwhelming desire to contribute right away leading to some anxiety. I don’t have any specific insight, but I bet he was angrily shaking his head after a lot of those attempts from deep. And unlike Brook Lopez, who only shakes his head angrily after makes, these headshakes were after his myriad misses.
Well, Raptors fans can stop worrying now. Lin is totally fine, he just needed a whole quarter-plus of “the time of garbage” to get his feet under him and start making some shots. He only hit one three, but his midrange game was as nice as ever. And it’s a good thing too, because if Kyle Lowry is out for any length of time after his injurement at the hands/feet Mitchell Robinson, Toronto is going to need meaningful contributions from him. Fred VanVleet can’t do it all himself.