It’s going to be a long season for Jeremy Lin in Los Angeles. The Lakers aren’t going to be very strong defensively, and that’s on everyone. But after the Warriors beat the Lakers, 120-105, Thursday night, Kobe Bryant — taking on a pseudo-coaching role, it seems — was clear that Lin will have to make his defense a priority this season.
By way of Mark Medina at the Los Angeles Daily News, comes Kobe’s statement about Lin’s defense:
“Jeremy’s biggest challenge, which he loves, is I’m really going to challenge him to be a great defensive player because he can. He has the speed. He has the length. He has the size. But he’s never had to take on that challenge to be a great defensive player.”
Lin agrees.
“It starts with me at the top and being aggressive,” the new Lakers point guard said. “I have to be at the top of the key and not let guys get comfortable.”
As Medina notes, it’s almost as if Jeremy is just reiterating what Kobe has already told him.
“That’s pretty much all I talk to him about on the court,” Lin said of discussing defense with Kobe. “He’s pushing me and demanding a lot from me. He’s definitely taking a mentorship role with me on the court. That’s something I don’t think I’ve had in my previous four years in the league.”
While some might crumble under the weight of Kobe’s expectations, it seems like Jeremy’s handling it well; Lin’s almost embracing the taskmaster tutelage, regardless of the form in which it might come.
Lin believes Kobe’s presence is “important and something I love.”
After Thursday night’s loss, Lin said of Kobe: “It’s a blessing he’s here in the same locker room.”
A standard eye test usually denotes Jeremy as a minus on the defensive end of the floor, but the Rockets actually gave up fewer points with Lin on the court last season.
Houston’s defensive rating (team points given up per 100 possessions) was actually 2.3 points lower when Lin was in one of the guard spots. Sure, Patrick Beverley accounts for some of that, but the team’s defensive rating with Beverley was only .2 points better than when Lin was on the court. Conversely, the Rockets’ offensive rating plunged 3 points when Lin was on the court, too.
But it’s Lin’s defense we’re discussing here.
Jeremy has a lot of work to do aligning with Bryant’s lofty expectations of him on the defensive end of the court. As the season drags on, and the legs crumble following the continuous pounding on the hardwood, defensive alacrity can wane. Lin isn’t as awful a defender as casual fans might believe, but he appears a long way off before he’s up to snuff for Kobe.
Will Kobe be happy with Lin’s defense at the end of the 2014-15 season?
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