Jeremy Lin News: ‘Linsanity’ Could Start Again for Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott announced that he is planning to start Jeremy Lin at point guard again before the 2014-15 NBA season ends.
Scott said in an interview on Sunday that Lin could regain the spot he held earlier in the season as he is planning to start the 26-year-old playmaker in their final 10 games of the season.
Lin, who was acquired in a trade with the Houston Rockets during the offseason, started at point guard in their first 19 games of the season after veteran point guard Steve Nash went down with season-ending injury.
However, Lin failed to live up to expectations as he was inconsistent throughout his ride as a starter, which prompted Scott to boot the former Harvard University standout out of the starting lineup in favor of Ronnie Price, who was also eventually replaced by rookie point guard Jordan Clarkson.
Lin has shown flashes of brilliance over the past few weeks. In eight games this month, the Palo Alto, California, native averaged 12.4 points and 5.6 assists to go along with 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals.
Scott praised Lin for his recent performances, and the first-year Lakers coach wants to see if the fifth-year guard can sustain his momentum as a starter in their final 10 games of the season.
"I want to see how much of a difference it is now as opposed to the start of the season," Scott said via InsideSoCal. "He knows the offense better and he knows what I need from him every single night on both ends of the floor. Now to see him in a starting role, it would be a little bit of a change. He was thinking so much back earlier in the season."
Earlier in the season, Lin said that he was struggling to adjust to the Princeton-based offense and playing off the ball most of the time when Kobe Bryant is inside the playing court.
Scott is unsure, though, whether or not Bryant really affected the way Lin played as a starter earlier in the season. But even without Bryant on their roster, the veteran coach pointed out that Lin will have the same role.
"It will be the same. I want to keep it as simple as possible," Scott said of Lin's role. "But anytime you don't have Kobe on the floor, it will be different. You can play without the ball a whole lot more since he draws so much more attention, he draws easier shots. When he's not on the floor, it makes it tougher."
As for Clarkson, Scott said that the rookie will still play significant minutes and he also wants to see how the 22-year-old will react to his role off the bench. The former Missouri standout averaged 13.9 points to go along with 4.2 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 22 starts this season.
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