https://newyork.sbnation.com/2012/2/24/2821437/linsanity-jeremy-lin-new-york-knicks-miami-heat-nba-american-pie

The Night That Linsanity Died?
By Ed Valentine@Valentine_Ed Feb 24, 2012, 10:36am EST

Say it ain't so, Lin-maniacs! Was Thursday night in Miami, a night the Knicks were pounded by the Heat 102-88 and Jeremy Lin had his worst game as a member of the New York Knicks, the night that Linsanity died?

Lin shot 1-for-11, scored just eight points, had eight turnovers and said after the game the Heat's defense suffocated him to the point where for the first time in his life, it was hard to just dribble the basketball. Did the Heat also kill Linsanity?

Jay Graves of Knicks Fanatics has penned a terrific post today titled 'The Beginning Of The End Of Linsanity.' Here is a snippet of it:

Anyone that has ever grown up in the hood and is now raising kids in the suburbs feels the pain of Jeremy Lin this morning. We all understood what Lin was going to run into last night even before he arrived in Miami. We've all experienced the same thing with our kids when we wanted to see just how good they really were. Remember the day when you said to yourself, "My kid is the best player in the league and looks like a complete stud but I just don't know bruh!" So you had to put him in the ride and take the inevitable drive. You took him straight to the ghetto where all the real ball player's were and he learned that he was good but not as good as advertised.

The rock star known as Linsanity learned a valuable lesson in South Beach on Thursday night. He learned that he still has some work to do before he becomes as good as advertised in the NBA. Don't hate on him though because he's still legit but he's got mad work to do to become one of the elite point guards in the league and New York learned that just by having talent isn't going to get it done.

Graves is right. A crash was inevitable, especially against the biggest, baddest bully in the NBA when Lin was the player with the biggest bulls-eye on his chest.

The question for the Knicks is, what happens now? Can Lin learn from what the Heat did to him? Can he begin to cut down on his turnovers? Can the Knicks, with scoring talent everywhere you look, put all the pieces together? Is one basketball enough?

Related: What Are The Knicks Going To Do About Carmelo Anthony?
The real work for the Knicks begins now. Lin's play the past few weeks has lifted the possibilities and the expectations for the Knicks. Now that they have seen just exactly how far they have to go before reaching the elite level they aspire to, can they get there? Can Lin morph from Linsane super-hero to solid point guard who can distribute the ball to all the talent around him and run a solid offense that isn't a turnover waiting to happen?

It may not be 'Linsanity' in its purest form, but the Knicks season will depend on it.


We have to wait now until after the All-Star break to find out. In the meantime, I'm thinking melancholy Knicks -- sort of feel like Don MacLean singing 'American Pie' this morning.