How Will Jeremy Lin's Injury Impact the Nets?
How Will Jeremy Lin's Injury Impact the Nets?
Written by Nick Agar-Johnson (@NBAJohnson) on 03 November 2016
Written by Nick Agar-Johnson
(@NBAJohnson) on 03 November 2016
The Nets announced today that Jeremy Lin will miss the next two games with a strained left hamstring. With Greivis Vasquez also currently out with an ankle injury, the Nets will have to rely on some unproven point guards for the next stretch of games.
The Nets announced today that Jeremy Lin will miss the next two games with a strained left hamstring. With Greivis Vasquez also currently out with an ankle injury, the Nets will have to rely on some unproven point guards for the next stretch of games.
Brooklyn managed to put up a strong performance last night in a win against the Pistons, a playoff team from last year that had won three of their first four games. However, the victory was tempered by an injury to Jeremy Lin, who left the game late in the second quarter after a hamstring injury and did not return. After evaluation, it appears that the situation is worse than Nets fans may have initially thought:
This injury is a huge blow to a Brooklyn team that appeared to have found a solution at point guard after spotty play from the lead guard spot last season. The timing of the Lin injury could not be worse, as Greivis Vasquez is still out with an ankle injury and Caris LeVert still at least a few weeks away from making his season debut. Although Randy Foye is set to return to the lineup for Friday's game against the Hornets, the Nets will still have a thin guard rotation until Lin returns to health.
Kenny Atkinson relied on Sean Kilpatrick to run the offense after Lin went to the bench, and Kilpatrick ended the night with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists. Lin notably pulled Kilpatrick over on the sideline down the stretch and appeared to be discussing the offense with him, and Kilpatrick's comments after the game seemed congruent with the notion that he may be leading the offense for Brooklyn over the next stretch of games:
Despite his desire to involve the rest of his teammates, Kilpatrick has not been relied upon in that sort of a role during his brief NBA career. According to Basketball-Reference, he has averaged just 1.8 assists per 36 minutes in his 40 career games. Kilpatrick ran the pick-and-roll on 19.2% of his possessions last season and was incredibly efficient as a scorer, ranking in the 94th percentile as a P&R scorer according to Synergy Sports. However, his passing out of the pick-and-roll left a lot to be desired, as teammates shot just 3 for 23 on passes generated from Kilpatrick's pick-and-rolls.
Sean Kilpatrick has been on fire to start the season, and Brooklyn can benefit from giving him more opportunities. If he can get other players involved and expand his role on offense, Brooklyn might be able to weather the storm of Lin's injury. Playing point guard is not Kilpatrick's traditional role, but defenses will have to respect his all-around scoring ability in a way that will be able to generate open looks and help Kilpatrick to get everyone involved.
Another player who will see a jump in playing time after the Lin injury is Isaiah Whitehead. After essentially only playing garbage time minutes in the first four games (including a DNP-Coaches' Decision in Brooklyn's first win against Indiana), Whitehead started both the third and fourth quarters before being brought out for Sean Kilpatrick and Joe Harris respectively. Unlike Harris, Foye, and Kilpatrick, Whitehead is more of a combo guard than a pure 2, and Atkinson's decision to start the second half with Whitehead at the point seems to indicate his faith in the rookie's ability to generate offense.
Whitehead's playing time may end up being more dependent on his defensive play than his offensive capabilities. Although Whitehead has shot just 35.3% to start the season and has turned the ball over 12 times already in limited minutes, he is an athletic defender with a 6'9" wingspan that has the potential to be a pesky defender at the point of attack--his first NBA points were on a layup in transition after he jumped into the passing lane to snag an errant pass from Tony Snell. Kenny Atkinson may continue to have Whitehead play with the starters and sub him out early, as he did in the third and fourth quarters of last night's game.
The timing of Greivis Vasquez's return will be the biggest question in how Brooklyn will cope with Jeremy Lin's injury. Kenny Atkinson may look to start Randy Foye at point guard since Foye started for Brooklyn throughout the preseason prior to his injury. Even if Isaiah Whitehead and Sean Kilpatrick can step into some point guard minutes as well, the Lin injury leaves Vasquez as the only guard in Brooklyn's rotation who plays primarily at the point. Vasquez is a willing passer who averaged 9.0 assists per game in 2012-2013 as a starter in New Orleans, but his recent injuries have sapped his already below-average foot speed. Choosing between Isaiah Whitehead and Greivis Vasquez is basically an offense/defense choice, and going with Kilpatrick or Foye instead would be a huge role change for two players who have been shooting guards playing mostly off-the-ball up to this point.
The Jeremy Lin injury news is an unfortunate and terrible break for a Brooklyn team that looked very exciting to start the season. Lin is Brooklyn's second-best player behind Brook Lopez, and his ability to drive to the rim and make solid passes will be sorely missed. The Nets did not have much in the way of point guard depth to start the season, and Greivis Vasquez being injured at the same time as Lin makes the situation even more distressing. Although Sean Kilpatrick and Isaiah Whitehead can fill in (hopefully with some veteran help from Randy Foye), the Nets will probably look to survive the Lin injury by spreading the lead guard responsibilities to a few different players. Regardless of how Kenny Atkinson will look to cover for Jeremy Lin's absence, the Nets will sorely miss Lin and fans will have to hope that he is fully healthy when Brooklyn re-evaluates him.
Brooklyn managed to put up a strong performance last night in a win against the Pistons, a playoff team from last year that had won three of their first four games. However, the victory was tempered by an injury to Jeremy Lin, who left the game late in the second quarter after a hamstring injury and did not return. After evaluation, it appears that the situation is worse than Nets fans may have initially thought:
This injury is a huge blow to a Brooklyn team that appeared to have found a solution at point guard after spotty play from the lead guard spot last season. The timing of the Lin injury could not be worse, as Greivis Vasquez is still out with an ankle injury and Caris LeVert still at least a few weeks away from making his season debut. Although Randy Foye is set to return to the lineup for Friday's game against the Hornets, the Nets will still have a thin guard rotation until Lin returns to health.
Kenny Atkinson relied on Sean Kilpatrick to run the offense after Lin went to the bench, and Kilpatrick ended the night with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists. Lin notably pulled Kilpatrick over on the sideline down the stretch and appeared to be discussing the offense with him, and Kilpatrick's comments after the game seemed congruent with the notion that he may be leading the offense for Brooklyn over the next stretch of games:
Despite his desire to involve the rest of his teammates, Kilpatrick has not been relied upon in that sort of a role during his brief NBA career. According to Basketball-Reference, he has averaged just 1.8 assists per 36 minutes in his 40 career games. Kilpatrick ran the pick-and-roll on 19.2% of his possessions last season and was incredibly efficient as a scorer, ranking in the 94th percentile as a P&R scorer according to Synergy Sports. However, his passing out of the pick-and-roll left a lot to be desired, as teammates shot just 3 for 23 on passes generated from Kilpatrick's pick-and-rolls.
Sean Kilpatrick has been on fire to start the season, and Brooklyn can benefit from giving him more opportunities. If he can get other players involved and expand his role on offense, Brooklyn might be able to weather the storm of Lin's injury. Playing point guard is not Kilpatrick's traditional role, but defenses will have to respect his all-around scoring ability in a way that will be able to generate open looks and help Kilpatrick to get everyone involved.
Another player who will see a jump in playing time after the Lin injury is Isaiah Whitehead. After essentially only playing garbage time minutes in the first four games (including a DNP-Coaches' Decision in Brooklyn's first win against Indiana), Whitehead started both the third and fourth quarters before being brought out for Sean Kilpatrick and Joe Harris respectively. Unlike Harris, Foye, and Kilpatrick, Whitehead is more of a combo guard than a pure 2, and Atkinson's decision to start the second half with Whitehead at the point seems to indicate his faith in the rookie's ability to generate offense.
Whitehead's playing time may end up being more dependent on his defensive play than his offensive capabilities. Although Whitehead has shot just 35.3% to start the season and has turned the ball over 12 times already in limited minutes, he is an athletic defender with a 6'9" wingspan that has the potential to be a pesky defender at the point of attack--his first NBA points were on a layup in transition after he jumped into the passing lane to snag an errant pass from Tony Snell. Kenny Atkinson may continue to have Whitehead play with the starters and sub him out early, as he did in the third and fourth quarters of last night's game.
The timing of Greivis Vasquez's return will be the biggest question in how Brooklyn will cope with Jeremy Lin's injury. Kenny Atkinson may look to start Randy Foye at point guard since Foye started for Brooklyn throughout the preseason prior to his injury. Even if Isaiah Whitehead and Sean Kilpatrick can step into some point guard minutes as well, the Lin injury leaves Vasquez as the only guard in Brooklyn's rotation who plays primarily at the point. Vasquez is a willing passer who averaged 9.0 assists per game in 2012-2013 as a starter in New Orleans, but his recent injuries have sapped his already below-average foot speed. Choosing between Isaiah Whitehead and Greivis Vasquez is basically an offense/defense choice, and going with Kilpatrick or Foye instead would be a huge role change for two players who have been shooting guards playing mostly off-the-ball up to this point.
The Jeremy Lin injury news is an unfortunate and terrible break for a Brooklyn team that looked very exciting to start the season. Lin is Brooklyn's second-best player behind Brook Lopez, and his ability to drive to the rim and make solid passes will be sorely missed. The Nets did not have much in the way of point guard depth to start the season, and Greivis Vasquez being injured at the same time as Lin makes the situation even more distressing. Although Sean Kilpatrick and Isaiah Whitehead can fill in (hopefully with some veteran help from Randy Foye), the Nets will probably look to survive the Lin injury by spreading the lead guard responsibilities to a few different players. Regardless of how Kenny Atkinson will look to cover for Jeremy Lin's absence, the Nets will sorely miss Lin and fans will have to hope that he is fully healthy when Brooklyn re-evaluates him.