Jeremy Lin: A Brief History of Post-Linsanity, Part II

Continued from Part I.

Jeremy Lin's first year as an NBA starter was full of ups and downs. He did answer the most pressing question of whether he actually belonged in the league: YES. But how good could he be? While he did show that he could still replicate Linsanity-like games, he also had games in which he could be very ineffective and invisible. The arc of his season was trending very positively until a terrible playoff debut (for the whole team) and an injury ended his year on a sour note.

In the offseason, the Rockets signed Dwight Howard away from the Los Angeles Lakers, and Patrick Beverley—with a reputation for being a defensive maven—was eventually named the new starting point guard.

What would Lin's second season have in store?


11) A blazing hot start and potential Sixth Man of the Year

Lin actually ended up starting the 4 of the first 5 games of the season due to Beverley injuring his ribs in the opener. The Rockets got off to a promising 3-0 start before hitting a wall against their first true test against the Los Angeles Clippers. In that game, Chris Paul scored 23 points and dished out 17 assists. Lin put up respectable numbers but was no match. This perhaps reinforced the narrative that while Lin wasn't a bad player, he just wasn't the PG to take the Rockets to the top.

However, with Beverley and Harden rotating in and out of the lineup due to injuries, Lin still got plenty of minutes and starts. Against the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 11 and the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 13, he put up 31 and 34 points, respectively. It was the first back-to-back 30-point games in his career.

A few nights later, in what was becoming a common occurrence, Lin balled against the Knicks, putting up 21 points. At about 15 games into the season, Lin was averaging somewhere around 18 points with a PER of approximately 18 as well. He was also shooting a ridiculously high percentage from 3-point range. Though most people knew that he probably couldn't keep it up, it was a very promising indication that Lin could become a deadly weapon for a contending Rockets team.

Luckily, I was there in person to see Lin drop 34 points and 11 assists against the Sixers

12) Injuries

Unfortunately, Lin ran into a series of niggling injury problems that derailed his momentum. He missed about 1.5 weeks in late November and early December, then another week in mid-December. Though Lin had been an ironman the prior season (playoffs notwithstanding), his explosive style of play had always worried observers about his longevity. Those fears were perhaps becoming more true.

He recovered with a 20-point performance against the Dallas Mavericks a few days before Christmas to show everyone that he was back.

A drive-and-dunk is usually a pretty good way to alleviate injury worries

13) Thunderous Disaster

On January 16, 2014, the Rockets set an unwanted record by following up a 73-point first half with a 19-point second half. It was the worst halftime collapse in NBA history. Even worse, it came against the Thunder, which was the type of elite team that the Rockets had to beat regularly if they wanted to be a serious contender. On Dec. 29, they had already lost to the Thunder, so this loss was doubly tough.

Even worse for Lin, he played very poorly in both games (though to be fair, almost all other Rockets players did as well). It once again fed into the belief that Lin wasn't the PG that the Rockets needed to compete in the cutthroat Western Conference.

This tweet was TCR

14) Filling in for Harden whenever needed

Harden not only dominated the ball, but he also dominated minutes. Naturally, this resulted in a lot of wear-and-tear on his body, and in the 2013-14 regular season, there would be runs of games where he would be out. In those instances, Lin reliably stepped up and even if he didn't put up gaudy stats, he usually ran the offense effectively and the team won.

The most important instance of this occurred was on Jan. 28 and 29, when the Rockets had a back-to-back against two fierce rivals, the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks. Harden was out with an injured thumb, but the Rockets coped without their superstar and won two key games in a tough situation.

Lin had 18 points and 8 assists against the Spurs on Jan. 28, 2014.

15) Triple double 

Against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lin became the first player since Brian Shaw in 1995 to collect a triple double while playing fewer than 30 minutes. Rod Strickland and Russell Westbrook are the other players in NBA history to have accomplished this feat. There's nobody else besides this quartet.

Yes, it was the pre-LeLove Cavs, but a triple double, especially off the bench and in less than 30 minutes of playing time, is still a really difficult thing to pull off. There's a reason that so few players in the history of the NBA have accomplished it.

Lin recorded 15 points, 10 assists, and 11 rebounds against the Cavaliers on Feb. 1, 2014.

16) Inconsistent minutes

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, after his triple double performance, Lin saw his minutes fluctuate wildly for the rest of the season. Some games, he would only play 15 minutes, while in others, he'd get up to 35 minutes. His field goal attempts usually remained in the single digits as well. This was in stark contrast to the prior season when he'd average 30+ minutes with double digit field goal attempts. Uncoincidentally, he played much better in March/April of 2013 than in March/April of 2014.

Lin remaining on the bench was becoming more and more of a common sight

17) Securing home court in first round

Lin had one more big game left in the regular season, though. On March 9, 2014, he had a classic Linsanity game against the Rockets' likely first round playoff opponent, the Portland Trailblazers. In the game, he went to the free throw line 12 times, a telltale indicator of his Linsanity-like attacking mindset. It had been nearly 2 months since he'd been to the charity stripe 10+ times.

More importantly, it likely secured home court advantage for the Rockets in the first round by giving them breathing room for 4th seed in the West.

Lin put up 26 points against the Trail Blazers on March 9, 2014.

18) Playoffs!

Expectations were much bigger for the Rockets in the 2014 playoffs than the 2013 version. This team could no longer be happy just to be there; they were expected to at least seriously challenge for the conference finals. Their first round matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers was viewed as a favourable one, as the Blazers were young, inexperienced, and defensively challenged. Plus, they weren't the Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, or the Los Angeles Clippers, who were all teams that gave the Rockets a lot of trouble.

Then LaMarcus Aldridge happened. And just as importantly, James Harden didn't.

LMA put up consecutive 40+ points against the Rockets in Games 1 and 2, completely destroying their home court advantage. Meanwhile, Harden became a liability on both offence (by jacking up inefficient long-range jump shots) and defense (by being himself).

Lin had a good Game 1 by exploding in the late stages of the game. He was the engine of his team's offence in overtime, and he had what would've been the game-winning basket in the last minute had it not been for the Rockets' inability to play close-out defense.

Lin also had a decent Game 3, where he crucially recovered a teammate's turnover in overtime and slung a kick-out pass to Troy Daniels for the game-winning shot.

Sadly, Lin gave much ammo for his critics in the closing minutes of Game 4. The Rockets had the lead with very little time remaining, and Lin rebounded the ball. He tried to dribble out of the backcourt, but he didn't see Mo Williams on his tail and eventually lost the ball. The Blazers missed their next shot, got the offensive rebound, and then hit a 3. They would eventually go on to win the game.

For most of Lin's critics on fan forums, this was the last straw. Never mind the fact that Harden had been arguably the worst starting player in the entire playoffs (let alone the worst star player). Or that Chandler Parsons had apparently forgotten how to shoot a 3-pointer at the worst time possible. Or that Kevin McHale let LMA torch the Rockets for 2 straight games before making adjustments by putting Omer Asik on him. No, to these people, the series had been lost on that single turnover by Lin. Never mind the fact that the Rockets had overtime to make up for his mistake, or that Patrick Beverley also turned the ball over on the last play of the game where they had a chance to tie.

No, it was all Jeremy's fault.

Fittingly, Lin would quickly recover with a stellar Game 5. With Beverley out injured and Harden still in a disastrous funk, Lin had to carry the team to victory with a 21 point, 4 assist performance. His team at least avoided elimination on home court.

The Rockets would've taken the Blazers to a Game 7 and a potential to pull off a rarely-seen comeback from a 3-1 series deficit, were it not for Damian Lillard's magnificent last minute buzzer beater. Predictably, the defensive lapse that allowed one of the league's best 3-point shooters to get so wide open was caused by Harden and Parsons, the two key Rockets players who just had not shown up for most of the series.

Lin finally had a signature playoff performance by putting up 21 points and 4 assists against

the Blazers in an elimination game on April 30, 2014.

19) On the way out of Texas

When the Rockets lost in 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2013, there was reason to be optimistic; when the Rockets lost in 6 against the Portland Trail Blazers in 2014, there was reason to panic.

Despite the addition of Dwight Howard and the further development of the rest of its players, the team had done no better than before. The fanbase clamoured for another star player, and the management seemed to agree. With Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh becoming free agents, the team legitimately dreamed of a Big Three of their own.

This almost certainly meant that Lin was going to be traded. With his $8 million salary cap taking up space, especially compared to Patrick Beverley's minuscule contract, Lin just wasn't in the future plans of his team anymore. First, Omer Asik got traded to the New Orleans Hornets. Then the Lin-Melo Jersey Fiasco happened, which was another development in the curious entanglement of the careers of Lin and Carmelo Anthony. Then the rumours started to solidify: Lin was going to the Philadelphia 76ers or the Milwaukee Bucks, or the...

The writing is on the wall when this happens

20) Landing in Los Angeles as a Laker

On July 13, 2014, Lin was officially traded to the Lakers for basically nothing. The Rockets desperately needed the cap space to sign Chris Bosh, and the Los Angeles Lakers had the cap space to sign him. Plus, they needed a point guard with only the deteriorating Steve Nash, the limited Kendall Marshall, and the rookie Jordan Clarkson on board.

Lin is probably not a spiteful person, but on some level, he must have enjoyed the absolute disaster that befell the Rockets after his trade. Bosh ended up staying with the Miami Heat, which meant that the Rockets had made a "catastrophic trade" by dealing away one of their key players for cap space that no longer had a superstar to fill it. To make things worse, Chandler Parsons was offered a max deal by hated rivals, the Dallas Mavericks. Without Bosh in tow, the Rockets weren't willing to invest in Parsons, and they allowed him to walk for nothing. Daryl Morey, the Rockets' GM who is frequently hailed as a genius among dumb jocks, was tagged for once as the biggest loser of the offseason.

As for what awaits Lin as a Laker, things seem mostly positive. The press coverage has been quite flattering as most sportswriters and commentators seem to recognize that he had two productive years in Houston. The new Laker coach Byron Scott also seems to appreciate Lin's strengths and qualities. There is also a chance for Lin to learn from one of the greatest PGs of all time in Steve Nash, as well as the likelihood of major minutes due to a lack of experience and depth at that position. And while there is always the threat of incurring the wrath of the Black Mamba, Lin is a better player than the likes of Smush Parker or Kwame Brown (not to mention the fact that Kobe Bryant has probably mellowed out a bit with age).

Lin appears to have landed in the most ideal situation possible, and chances are greater than not that he will have a career year. There is a strong chance that he won't remain a Laker after this year, but Lin has previously shown that he doesn't need to stay in a place for very long to make a lasting impact.

Jeremy Lin: A Brief History of Post-Linsanity, Part I

Confession: Since Jeremy Lin was signed by the Houston Rockets as a Restricted Free Agent, I have watched almost every game he has played in. I have also spent a lot of time perusing fan forums to get an accurate gauge on the perception of the overall narrative of his career.

People paid a lot of attention to Linsanity, but not so much to Lin's career afterwards. Maybe it's because he hasn't been shattering records as a Rocket as he did as a Knick. Maybe it's because Houston is a less exciting market than New York City. Maybe it's because people's attention spans are short, and they maxed out a lifetime's worth of Jeremy Lin interest in a blazing short-lived supernova.

Whatever the reasons are, a lack of attention means a lack of knowledge. Now that Lin has been traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, some may wonder what happened in Houston. Some may think that he turned out to be a flash-in-the-pan bust who eventually got exposed. Others may think that he's a star player who was smothered by an immature offensive system that took away his best skills.

As someone who has closely followed the post-Linsanity era, I will try to set the record straight in the following timeline.


1) Offseason Drama

There is still a lot of confusion as to how the "divorce" between Lin and the New York Knicks came about. It went something like this: (1) Lin was a Restricted Free Agent, meaning that the Knicks could match any offer that another team gave Lin, and Lin would have to stay with the Knicks; (2) Knicks could've made an offer right at the start and locked Lin up, but they told him to go see what he could find on the open market; (3) Rockets offered him what was effectively a 3-year $20 million offer, which the Knicks said they would match; (4) the Rockets desperately needed a point guard as they had allowed Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic to walk recently, so they changed the offer to a 3-year $25 million offer with a "poison pill" backloaded contract that would really screw the Knicks in the final year; (5) Knicks refused to match and thus, Lin became a Rocket.

Carmelo Anthony's now-infamous remarks about it being a "ridiculous contract" are now well-documented. Statements like that certainly didn't help the suspicions that the Melo-dominated Knicks weren't too ecstatic about the rise of Lin on what was supposed to be Melo's team.

Now that Lin's future was set, several questions were set to be resolved by next season. Was he overpaid? Was Linsanity a total fluke? Would the Knicks be vindicated in their unpopular decision to let him go? Could he really be an offensive focal point with a barebones Rockets team whose best player was Kevin Martin?

Then everything changed with the James Harden trade.

Few people actually know the truth behind the how or why of Lin's departure from the Knicks

2) A Promising Debut

Nobody knew how good the Rockets would be. Nobody knew if James Harden was worth superstar money. Nobody knew if Jeremy Lin even belonged in the NBA.

Those questions were quickly answered within the first two games of the 2012-13 regular season after the Rockets blew away the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks. James Harden went absolutely mad, exploding for 37 and 45 points, respectively. A mere Sixth Man, he was not.

As for Lin, he did very well too. In his first game against Detroit, he recorded 12 pts, 8 assists, and 4 steals. In his second game against Atlanta, he notched 21 points, 7 assists, and 12 rebounds.

Such explosive debuts had some sports publications wondering if the Harden-Lin backcourt could be the best in the NBA.

Lin nearly got a triple double against the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 11, 2012.

3) November slump, Toney Douglas Factor

Unfortunately for Lin, his November went into a bit of a tailspin, and many of his stat lines in the last 3 weeks of that month were unflattering with lots of games where he only scored in the single digits. Perhaps the lowest point came on Nov. 16 when the Rockets lost to emerging rivals, the Portland Trail Blazers, in overtime. Despite putting up a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists, Lin saw much of his closing time minutes given to Toney Douglas. Yes, the same Toney Douglas that was once on Deadspin's Shit List.

It was the first signs that perhaps Lin didn't have the trust of head coach Kevin McHale and the rest of his staff, which would ignite perpetual combustible debates on fan forums.

From the start, Lin never seemed to fully have the trust or support of head coach Kevin McHale

4) First game against New York Knicks

Lin's shaky start to his post-Linsanity career wasn't helped by the fact that the Knicks seemed to be thriving without him. The Knicks were 8-2 by the time they came to Houston to play the Rockets, including victories over the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers. Raymond Felton, the guy they brought in to replace Lin, was doing pretty well despite worries over fitness and character issues that saw him depart acrimoniously from Portland the season before. At this point, it kind of seemed as though the Knicks had clearly made the right decision to not re-sign Lin.

Lin had a lot riding on this game. If he put up another bad stat line, it would simply further fuel the blossoming narrative that he wasn't very good and that the Knicks were better off without him.

He finished the night with 13 points, 3 assists, and 7 rebounds, which weren't amazing numbers but were still respectable. More importantly, his team won. Lin didn't show much nerves either, knocking down 50% of his field goals and nailing some of the jump shots that hadn't been falling for him recently.

Lin got an important psychological victory over the New York Knicks on Nov. 23, 2012.

5) Linsanity Redux vs. San Antonio Spurs

While some of the skeptics may have been willing to concede that Lin was at least a serviceable player in the NBA, very few would've said that he could ever again be the offensive force that he was as a Knick.

Those doubts were answered after Lin went crazy for 38 points against the none-too-slouchy San Antonio Spurs. In what would become a familiar refrain in his career as a Rocket, Lin exploded because Harden was not completely dominating the ball; in this case, he was out injured.

However, the Rockets lost, which put a damper on Lin's resurgent night. Still, it was a reassuring sign that he had genuine untapped offensive potential. Also, Tony Parker said that Lin reminded him of when he was younger, and that Lin was just a reliable jump shot away from being a good PG. I always thought that Parker was a stand-up dude for saying such nice things about a young player on a rival team.

Lin equalled his career high in points against the Spurs on Dec. 10, 2012.

6) First return to Madison Square Garden

Lin's first return to MSG was bound to be full of uncertainty and emotion. How would he be received? There were lots of Knicks fans who thought that he had ditched the team for more money, when the truth was that he never had an offer from the Knicks in the first place. The Knicks were still red-hot at this point with an 18-5 record, and they were surely looking for revenge for their loss in Houston earlier.

After Lin put up 22 points and 9 assists, it was becoming more and more apparent that he had a knack for rising up in the big games.

It was also pretty sweet how in the pre-game introductions, the Knicks fans cheered the former Knick.

Lin put up 22 points and 9 assists in his first return to MSG on Dec. 17, 2012.

7) Patrick Beverley arrives in Houston

In early January, the Rockets acquired Patrick Beverley from Europe. He was a former Eurocup MVP with Spartak St. Petersburg. A little while later, Toney Douglas would be traded to the Sacramento Kings, making Beverley the main backup to Lin.

On fan forums, Lin's critics had the curious tendency of overhyping any Rockets PG who wasn't Lin. In the preseason, D-Leaguer Scott Machado was their favourite. Then it became Toney Douglas. Now, it became Beverley.

It unfortunately and unfairly set up Lin and Beverley as enemies among fans, which was a shame because the two players had a great friendship and played very well when on the court together. Bev's defensive tenacity and Lin's offensive aggressiveness made them a very good backcourt.

Patrick Beverley would eventually distinguish himself as a feisty defender, most notoriously injuring Russell Westbrook in the 2013 playoffs

8) Games against the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder

Fact is that the Western Conference is just loaded, so any wins against rival teams are doubly precious. In 2012-13, the Rockets were a fringe playoff team, but it was still clear that with a few upgrades, they could potentially join the heavyweight contenders. Wins against elite teams like the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder made those notions even more tantalizingly real.

In these two big wins, Lin had 28 points and 9 assists (against Golden State), and 29 points and 7 assists (against OKC).

Lin's best game in his first season as a Rocket was against OKC on March 20, 2012.

9) Post-All Star break success

After the All-Star Break on February 17, 2013, Lin settled into a nice groove and finished off the season in very good form. He averaged around 16 points and 6 assists, which were excellent stats for a PG in his first year as a starter. His 3pt% was also edging close to 40%, which was crucial because Houston's offense required good shooters to space the floor. Were it not for a particularly ugly week from March 22-29 in which Lin could barely score, he would've had even better stats.

Lin had a superb April, which led to high expectations for the playoffs

10) Playoff debut disaster and injury

After Lin's extended run of good play in the second half of the season and the Rockets' unexpected playoff charge, there were high hopes. Sure, the Rockets were probably not going to get past the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, but they were probably going to put up a good fight and their young players were going to make a name for themselves.

Game 1 was an unparalleled disaster for the Rockets. They lost by 29 points. Harden shot 6-19, and Lin didn't do much better at 1-7.

Lin wouldn't get much of a chance to redeem himself in Game 2 as not only was Beverley chosen to start over him, but he also suffered a chest injury and had to leave the game at halftime. He had been playing decently up to that point, however, with 7 points on 3-7 shooting.

The Rockets eventually lost in 6 games, which was a pretty decent result. But as for Lin, he couldn't contribute much with his injury and had to sit out a couple of games. He was brought in for Game 6, but he was nowhere near his usual self and played poorly. Beverley, on the other hand, played quite well as a starter, showing an offensive skill-set that few thought he had.

Lin's injury was frustrating for everybody, especially since he had played so well in the prior months

11) Preseason and loss of starting position

Though the 2013 playoffs couldn't have been called a disappointment for the Rockets, there was the sense that this was a team rapidly on the rise that had taken the Oklahoma City Thunder to 6 games, albeit without Russell Westbrook, and as such, it could've done a bit more. With James Harden firmly established as a superstar, and with Chandler Parsons now commonly viewed as a rising star, some Rockets fans looked for position upgrades.

Given the persistent doubts about Lin's "true" ability as well his no-show in the playoffs, the PG position was thought to be wide open. Patrick Beverley had acquitted himself well in the brief time he was a starter, and some Rockets fans felt that they had finally found the "3-and-D" PG needed to play with the ball-dominant Harden.

Kevin McHale remained non-committal during the preseason, saying that he had "two starting point guards." This did not bode well for Lin, who had started all games for the Rockets the previous season. Eventually, Beverley was chosen to be the starter. The popular opinion was that it was because he was a better fit due to his defense and 3-point shooting skills, as opposed to him being an overall better player.

A bright spot for Lin was during the Rockets' excursion to Taiwan. In his ancestral home country and against the then-elite Pacers, he put on quite a show.

Oh yeah, and the Dwight Howard thing happened.

Skip to 4:35 for the chase-down block on Danny Granger.

Go to Part II here!

Korea draws Belgium, Russia, and Algeria for the 2014 World Cup

This was my first time actually watching the World Cup draw, and though it was confusing as hell, I was completely spellbound when they started drawing from Pot 3. I thought it'd be cool if Korea got drawn into Group A because we'd get all the added exposure of playing the host nation, Brazil. But that's probably too much pressure against too talented a team, though this is probably one of the most uncertain (though laden with potential) Brazilian teams in quite a while.

I was anxiously hoping to avoid Group D because it already had Uruguay and Italy and looked certain to be a Group of Death. When the paper was unrolled and I saw that the name of the country consisted of more than one word, I was ready to shout out some curses. But thankfully, it turned out to be Costa Rica. Considering that the other team in that group turned out to be England, it is a huge relief that Korea managed to stay out of that group.

I have to feel bad for Australia, though I have a grudge against that team because I remember when they joined the Asian Football Confederation from the Oceania Football Conference back in 2007 and they were all cocky as shit for no real good reason, thinking they'd run roughshod over their Asian opponents. The fact that they've won absolutely zero continental tournaments since then has greatly humbled them, but I still sort of enjoy watching them struggle. Still, it's a death sentence to be grouped with Spain, the Netherlands, and Chile, so I do feel for them. This randomized process can be really unfair and ruin years of hard work.

I'm delighted that Japan is in a relatively easy group as well with Colombia, Greece, and Côte d'Ivoire. Both Korea and Japan progressed to the Round of 16 in 2010, and that helped build up the respect and credibility of Asian football. I hope the two leading Asian teams can do it once again.

And let's not forget about Iran! They actually drew into a group that greatly resembles the group Korea was in 4 years ago, with Argentina and Nigeria. Greece has been swapped for Bosnia & Herzegovina, which likely makes the group stronger considered how bad Greece was in South Africa. As in the last tournament, Argentina should be clear favourites (especially since Maradona is nowhere near the team), but 2nd place should be up for grabs.

Brazil appears to have drawn a relatively easy group that has no peer threat. But Croatia, Mexico, and Cameroon are all quality sides and there's no obvious minnow. However, that often makes groups easier, I think, because without a team that's basically a free victory for everyone, you can count on your opponents cancelling each other out. But if I were Brazil, I'd be worried about the fact that I'd very likely have to play either Spain or the Netherlands in the first knockout match.

It seems awfully convenient that both Switzerland and France drew into arguably the easiest group in the tournament with Ecuador and Honduras. Do I smell a Blatter-Platini conspiracy? This gets even more suspect once you realize how screwed the Anglophone countries of England, the U.S.A., and Australia got in the draw.

The amount of contempt and distrust that people have for Sepp Blatter makes James Dolan
look like Art Rooney

I'm really happy with Korea's draw in a group with Belgium, Russia, and Algeria. No group is ever easy, but considering that we could've easily been Australia or the U.S., we lucked out. Bad news is that if we do make it out alive, we're going to likely have to face either Germany or Portugal. But I think having the chance to slay a giant on the world stage should be relished, because if your team can't win the World Cup, the next best thing is to make a splash by playing spoiler and breaking hearts. I would love Korea to be the team that further delays/prevents the ultimate deification of Cristiano Ronaldo by keeping "World Cup champion" off his resume. Also, it's interesting how this group is almost identical to Japan's group in the 2002 World Cup, except instead of Tunisia, there's Algeria.

And needless to say, the U.S. got the worst draw of them all. Not only do they have to play Germany and Portugal, but the "easy" opponent in their group is Ghana, the team that's knocked the U.S. out in the last 2 World Cups. In fact, Ghana continues to haunt former U.S. manager Bill Bradley as they knocked out Bradley's Egypt in the African qualifiers. I often get irritated by the arrogance of some American fans, such as when they say things like, "The World Cup won't become popular in the U.S. until we win one," as if they're so entitled to a World Cup that they feel that they can grab the trophy without even really caring. Mind you, there are nations, like the Netherlands and Mexico and Portugal and Cameroon and Colombia and Ecuador, who have cared A LOT for a LONG time who have never won one. These fans seem to have cause and effect backwards. I also think that some Americans are hesitant to fully embrace a team sport in which countries like Ghana are legitimate peers, even perhaps superiors at times. Nah, they'd prefer to stick with American football and call themselves "world champions" even though nobody else plays the sport.

The undisputed best QB in the world, beating out all those talented
Russian, Egyptian, and Chinese QBs. Amirite?

But that aside, no national team deserves to be in such a difficult group with such arduous travel conditions in a comfy little place called the Amazon rainforest. But on the bright side, if the U.S. does manage to advance, it'll be a huge story.

Son Heung Min nets hat-trick against his old team

Son Heung Min scored his first ever Bundesliga hat trick against his old team, Hamburg SV. Having come to Bayer Leverkusen for €10 million, he is both the most expensive Korean player ever and the most expensive player that Leverkusen has ever bought. So far this season in 13 games, he has 4 goals and 4 assists, and his team is in 3rd place in the Bundesliga. Last year for HSV, he scored 12 goals and had 2 assists.

I remember when it used to be rare to see Asian athletes succeed at the most elite levels. Ichiro and Yao Ming were the exceptions. Now, it's getting more and more routine. Good Asian pitchers in the MLB are so blah now: Koji Uehara, Yu Darvish, Ryu Hyun Jin, Hiroki Kuroda, Hisashi Iwakuma, Wei-Yin Chen, Junichi Tazawa... And let's not forget position players too like Shin Soo Choo, who is due for a massive contract after establishing himself as one of the best leadoff hitters in the game.

In basketball, Jeremy Lin has gotten off to a great start, posting a PER of 19. Pretty much everything he was criticized for last season (shaky jump shot, ho-hum defense, inferior left hand), he has improved upon over this summer. It's really impressive how much this guy one-ups his game all the time.

Houston Rockets look dangerously good in preseason

The NBA regular season kicks off in a couple of weeks, and it looks to be a fascinating season with tonnes of juicy storylines. Will the Dwight-loaded Rockets launch into the stratosphere of the Western Conference elite? Will the Heat have enough for a three-peat and cement their status as one of the greatest teams of all time? Can the Thunder cope with the temporary loss of Russell Westbrook, or will it become more apparent that the James Harden trade has been a disaster of mythic proportions? Will the Celtics' Nets' expensive attempt to win the 2008 2014 championship work?

This preseason, the Rockets have looked very good. In the last 2 games (which were played in the Philippines and Taiwan), they were able to pretty much dominate the Pacers. That was the team that pushed the Heat to their limit in last season's playoffs. And I know that preseason doesn't mean much, but remember how the Lakers sucked in preseason last year and it basically foreshadowed their upcoming season? At least we know that the Rockets will most likely not totally flop in similar fashion.

The game in Taiwan was, to borrow a phrase from U2 (or more accurately, the Romanian poet Paul Celan), Jeremy Lin's sort of homecoming. It was a massively anticipated and pressure-filled situation for him, and he delivered with an excellent stat sheet of 17 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 rebounds and 1 BEASTLY block. He shot 6/8 from the field, including 3/4 from 3-point range, which is the kind of efficiency you want to see in a player who also has to share the ball with James Harden, Dwight Howard, and Chandler Parsons.

From what I saw in the game, Howard still hasn't been smoothly integrated into the offense yet. And there's still the question of what to do with Omer Asik, who deserves to be a starter on any team in the league (except for perhaps any team that has Dwight Howard or Roy Hibbert) but could make the Rockets ridiculously deep if he becomes cool with coming off the bench.

But still, if I were the Thunder or the Spurs, I'd be very anxious right now. The Thunder especially, since I would be directly responsible for spawning this monster.

Highlights from the Taiwan game... LeBronesque chasedown block on Danny Granger

at 1:15

Rising Korean stars in MMA

I'm not a huge MMA junkie, but as a sports fan in general, I try to keep up with the latest goings on. I sort of know who the likes of Anderson Silva and Jon Jones are, for example, but I couldn't tell you about the finer points of grappling vs. striking. I've also never been in a fight in my life, unless you count a shoving match with a fat guy in a bar as a fight.

But still, it's always exciting to see Korean athletes do well in a sport, and right now, there are 3 notable Korean rising stars in the UFC. What's all the more amazing is that these fighters are all native Koreans, which just adds to all the obstacles that your typical UFC fighter has to overcome.

Remember that Simpsons episode in which Homer becomes a boxer, and his first fights are with homeless guys who are fighting for their dinners? That doesn't seem too far off from your average UFC fighter's situation as they have to pay for their own training, coaches, housing, flight, etc. And even the pay for fighting is paltry, though fighters will still jump at the chance in the hopes of winning and securing a shot at a title and greater rewards.

"Your boy looks a little soft, Moe." - Lucius Sweet

Because of this, Asian fighters from overseas are at a big disadvantage because of all the added costs (travel, lodging, translators, etc.): www.bjpenn.com/dong-hyun-kim-discusses-ufc-policies-on-fighter-pay-sponsorships-and-why-korean-fighters-are-at-a-disadvtange-ufc-news/

So it's quite remarkable to see them succeed despite all these added burdens.


Chan Sung Jung, aka the Korean Zombie

Age: 26
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 145 lbs.
Record: 13-4
Most Recent Result: Loss to Jose Aldo (Featherweight title fight)
Most Famous For: Being able to take punches like no other (hence his nickname), seemingly reckless brawling style, submissions

Korean Zombie KO's Mark Hominick in 7 seconds, tying the UFC record for fastest

knockout ever

Korean Zombie wins via a "Twister" submission, the first in UFC history

Kim Dong Hyun, aka Stun Gun

Age: 31
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 175 lbs.
Record: 18-2-1 (1)
Most Recent Result: Win over Erick Silva
Most Famous For: Tenacious grappling style

Stun Gun knocks out Erick Silva in the 2nd round with a brutal shot

Lim Hyun Gyu

Age: 28
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Record: 12-3-1
Most Recent Result: Win over Pascal Krauss
Most Famous For: Knock-out power

Lim Gyu Hyun knocks out Pascal Krauss with an inhumane knee to the face

Park Ji Sung makes triumphant return to PSV Eindhoven

The 2012-13 season was probably the low point of Park Ji Sung's decorated career. He moved from Manchester United to Queens Park Rangers, a team that on paper looked to be on the rise with a lot of new signings and a new high profile manager in Mark Hughes. Park even got the honour of being named captain, which was the first for an Asian player in the Premier League.

Well, the season was kind of a monstrous (and expensive) disaster and QPR ended up being relegated. Having seemingly lost his motor and energy, old "Three Lung" appeared to be washed up and it looked as though his European career was over. Perhaps a cash-motivated stint in the Middle East was in order before he would quietly retire.

Then he got loaned out to his old club, PSV Eindhoven. For those of you who don't know, PSV was where Park began his European career shortly after he impressed at the 2002 World Cup. He and Lee Young Pyo were the two Korean players that Guus Hiddink took with him to PSV. Lee Young Pyo had a fine European career himself, enjoying stints at clubs such as Tottenham and Dortmund, but Park was by far the more successful player with multiple Premier League titles, a Champions League medal, and cult hero status at Old Trafford. But before all that, it was at PSV where Park made a name for himself and proved that a Korean player could make an impact in the modern European game.

Park's most famous goal at PSV, scored against AC Milan in the Champions League semi-finals in 2005

And on Saturday, Park was able to turn back time and pick up right where he left off at PSV, scoring a late game equalizer against Heracles Almelo in a Dutch league match.

So after a rough year, it looks like everything is going Park's way: he's back at his old favourite club, he's scoring goals, and he even has a new girlfriend.

Cute couple: Park Ji Sung's girlfriend, the TV announcer Kim Min Ji

As for how the other Korean players in Europe are doing, Kim Bo Kyung played a big part in propelling newly-promoted Cardiff City pull off a huge upset of Manchester City this weekend. Son Heung Min has gotten off to a fine start at his new club, Bayer Leverkusen, and has a goal already. Koo Ja Cheol is back at Wolfsburg after spending two great seasons at Augsburg, and he is doing well. Ji Dong Won is unfortunately still stuck in go-nowhere Sunderland despite a great half-season loan spell at Augsburg last season, but hopefully he can recapture his form and impress his new manager, Paolo di Canio. Park Joo Ho moved up from the Swiss League to the Bundesliga with his new club FSV Mainz. He has started all 3 matches and his team is in 4th place right now.

Not all news is great though. Ki Sung Yueng is in a bizarre situation at Swansea right now and looks to be on the verge of a loan. This is very strange because he was signed for a record fee last season and did very well since coming over. And the very talented Lee Chung Yong is still mired in the Championship with Bolton, the team with no luck (they just lost Stuart Holden again to a serious injury). This guy deserves to play at the highest level, so somebody pick him up!

Hong Myung Bo is the new Korea manager!

Edit: I may have jumped the gun here because Hong Myung Bo's appointment is neither official nor final. The forums were absolutely certain that he had been chosen, but there is still no official word. Not that anybody probably uses this little blog as a news source, but as of this moment, Hong is not the actual manager of the national team, though my money is still on him. 

First off, congrats to Iran. Welcome back to the World Cup.

Yes, that was a pretty miserable loss for us tonight and it was pathetic how we only made it to the World Cup on goal differential. If we had conceded 1 more and Uzbekistan had scored 1 more, I think we'd have been out. That's cringe-worthy.

But I'm not even that mad. It was a fitting end to the increasingly nightmarish Choi Kang Hee Era, which shall be henceforth known as the Dark Ages. The fact is that in 270 minutes of match time, Korea had exactly zero goals scored from open play. And this wasn't against exactly elite competition either. Against Lebanon, we got a last minute free kick goal that salvaged a draw. Against Uzbekistan, we won because of our opponent's own goal. And against Iran, we created some decent chances but failed to finish.

Vintage Hong Myung Bo, circa 2002

This shouldn't be happening on a team this talented. Remember that Korea has 3 young players (Koo Ja Cheol, Son Heung Min, and Ji Dong Won) who are thriving in the Bundesliga, now arguably the best league in Europe. Son Heung Min will become the most expensive Korean player ever, breaking the record set just last year by Ki Sung Yueng of Swansea, who has himself become a solid starter in the Premier League. He will be joined by Kim Bo Kyung, who played well in his first season at Cardiff City, a team that just won promotion into the Premier League. Lee Chung Yong is still a dangerous winger and hasn't lost much following his disastrous leg break. Kim Young Kwon, Hong Jeong Ho, Jang Hyun Soo, and Kim Chang Soo are all promising young defenders who may move to Europe in the near future.

In terms of individual talent, this young team is clearly on the rise.

Just last year, the Olympic team won bronze in a pretty loaded tournament that featured some major superstars like Neymar, Edinson Cavani, and Juan Mata just to name a few. They beat a Team GB that had legit players like Aaron Ramsey, Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy, Joe Allen, Scott Sinclair, Tom Cleverley, and Micah Richards. They lost to a Brazil squad that was essentially the senior team, then went on to beat a pretty talented Japan team that had the likes of Hiroshi Kiyotake, Maya Yoshida, and Hiroki Sakai.

Ah, London 2012: Good memories

So why has the national team suffered so much? Well, there's a whole variety of reasons that I don't want to go into here.

But the important thing is that Hong Myung Bo is apparently the new manager!!!!!

This is great because not only is it inspiring to have a real Korean legend managing the national team, but because he's already familiar with most of the players due to his stint at the Olympics, he won't need a lot of time to implement his vision. There aren't many older players who deserve a spot in the starting 11, so his main job now is to integrate the core of the Olympic squad with players like Son Heung Min, Lee Chung Yong, and maybe Kim Shin Wook and Lee Keun Ho.

Still, he only has a year to prepare for the 2014 World Cup. I think that we should acknowledge that he has been given a tough hand with so little time to prepare, and be willing to accept perhaps a shaky performance. The real goal now is 2018 in Russia. Our young Olympic players will be veterans by then, and the Korean kids at the Barcelona youth teams might pan out by then.

Finally, some real hope.

To commemorate the happiest sporting memory of my life thus far

London 2012 Football - Korea Wins Bronze by jesuinthesky88

Took me a while to make, but it was a labour of love. 

The most golden bronze medal ever

Has a bronze medal ever meant so much?

For a long time, I have wanted this bronze medal for Korea so badly, but I was afraid of getting my hopes up and getting heartbroken. If Korea failed to medal this year, then the only likely remaining chance for many of these players to earn military exemption would be at the Asian Games in 2014.

Now was our glorious chance, but would we be able to seize it?

There's a whole lotta historical, political, and cultural reasons why a Korea victory over Japan means so much to people, but I'll try to explain in pure footballing terms why it was of such utmost importance for Korea to win the bronze medal.

Of course there's military exemption, but that's obvious and I've written about that before. So what else was at stake?

Quite simply, what was at stake was genuine optimism for Korean football amidst turbulent changes and an intensifying rivalry with Japan.

Park Chu Young, Koo Ja Cheol, and Ki Sung Yueng
will now be able to lead the new generation of
Korean footballers for the next 10 years,
unencumbered by military duties

Korea did well in the 2010 World Cup when they advanced to the Round of 16 and lost to eventual 4th place finishers Uruguay. But afterwards, the team grew stagnant while its closest rivals, Japan, began to impressively ascend to new heights. This was bitterly highlighted in Japan's two most recent victories against Korea: a shootout victory in the 2011 Asian Cup, and a dominant 3-0 victory in the last Haniljeon (what we call a Korea-Japan derby match).

Korea's road to the World Cup had also become rocky. A shock loss last year to Lebanon led to the firing of manager Cho Kwang Rae, and the search for his successor was less than organized. Eventually, Choi Kang Hee (a safe and logical pick) was chosen as the new manager, and he led the team to a series of unconvincing wins over bad-to-mediocre Middle Eastern sides.

With the retirement of legendary veterans like Park Ji Sung and Lee Young Pyo, Korea had a serious leadership vacuum and an uncertain future. Meanwhile, the fact that Japan with its superstar players (like Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda, and Yuto Nagatomo) was being recognized as an upcoming footballing power just made everything more painful for Korean football fans.

If they could do it, why couldn't we?

That's why this Olympics meant so much to us. It was the story of a young team that saw a new leadership core emerge in the midfield partnership of Ki Sung Yueng and Koo Ja Cheol. It also saw the well-disciplined solidification of what had been the weakest part of the Korean team for a long time: its defense. And it was a testing ground for manager Hong Myung Bo, who promised to be the kind of charismatic leader that Korean football hadn't seen since the likes of the canonized Guus Hiddink.

Park Chu Young redeemed himself after an intensely difficult year that saw him bafflingly ignored
at Arsenal and vilified as unpatriotic for obtaining military service deferment through his ties to Monaco.
Park scored the crucial first goal against Japan and assisted on the backbreaking second.

Well, now that Korea has accomplished the seemingly impossible dream of medalling in football in these Olympics, I'm surprised that I'm not more ecstatic. I was floating when Korea beat Switzerland, and I was in rapturous ecstasy when we beat Great Britain. But I feel so calm now that we've beaten Japan. It's almost as if I felt that there was no possible way that the universe would let us lose after we had come this close. I dreaded to think about how I would cope with a loss to Japan, but I was never that afraid.

Well, it's now the sweet end of a long journey, and I probably won't write about Korean football much anymore. I can't emphasize how monumental of a turning point this is, as an entire generation of perhaps the most promising bunch of young Korean players has now been freed of debilitating military service. This victory over Japan will go down as one of the most famous wins in the team's history.

Hong Myung Bo: The New King of Korea

London 2012. Best Olympics ever.

Korea's football team should be exempt from military service, no matter what

How many Olympic sports can sell out a 70 000 capacity stadium?

Preface: Korean male athletes are exempt from military service if they win an Olympic medal. Otherwise, they must serve for 2 years before the age of 29 (which conveniently coincides with the prime of a footballer's career).

Not all Olympic sports are equal. Some medals are much harder to obtain than others.

For example, football. Football is different. It just is.

Olympic football is a 2-week tournament that begins before the Opening Ceremonies and ends with the gold medal match on the eve of the Closing Ceremonies. Any team that wins a medal will have played 6 hard-fought matches, each of which were at least 90 minutes long.

It's quite ludicrous how all that effort only adds up to one medal for a team, whereas a swimmer can rack up multiple golds in just a few days.

There are already certain sports that give out 2 bronze medals, such as Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Wrestling, and Boxing. The difference between third place and fourth place is completely arbitrary, and no different than, say, distinguishing between fifth and sixth place. It's just our culture's bias towards the number 3.

I'm not saying this because I fear that Korea will finish 4th. I think they'll play Brazil very hard, and if they don't beat them, they are certainly more than capable of beating Japan or Mexico for the bronze.

But if after all this, Korea ends up losing the next couple of matches to finish 4th and, thus, become ineligible for military service exemption, then I'll be absolutely gutted. And so will an entire country. It would be the absolute cruelest ending to what has been the most rousing Korean football experience since the 2002 World Cup.

People are notorious for wanting to have contradictory things. They want low taxes but lots of government services. Men want to sleep around but have chaste women for wives. And (some) Koreans want football players to be treated like everybody else, but they also want to keep up with the rest of the world in the sport, especially Japan.

Korea's the only football country in the world that handicaps itself by forcing the early retirement of its players. If its ambitions are modest, then so be it. But it's not. Korea dreams of becoming a very good footballing nation. It can't do that when every Korean footballer's career basically ends at the young age of 27.

Perhaps there are lots of bitter citizens who don't want superstar footballers to get opportunities that most Korean men don't have. But if so, then I hope they're also perfectly okay with being merely a regional power, and falling more and more behind Japan.

Korea's already made national history by progressing to the semis in Olympic football. If they beat Brazil, then everything I said won't matter, at least not for another generation. But what if they don't? Is there that big a difference between 3rd and 4th place? Is the government really going to stunt the careers of perhaps the most promising generation of Korean footballers ever just because of a totally arbitrary human predilection for the number 3?

Ah, just go and beat Brazil.

Korea beats GB in epic football QF shootout

Ji Dong Won (9) is swarmed by teammates after he opens the scoring against GB 

London 2012 has been a bipolar Olympics for Korea, as inexplicable judges' decisions against the country have soured the elation that has followed its better-than-expected medal tally so far.

First, there was the nonsensical disqualification (and reinstatement hours later) of star swimmer Park Tae Hwan in the semi-finals of his signature event, the 400m freestyle.

Then there was the inexplicable reversal of decision in a judo match between Korean judoka Cho Jun Ho and his Japanese opponent, in which Cho was given the victory by all 3 judges until some suit intervened and forced the awarding of victory to the Japanese judoka.

And perhaps most infamously, Korean fencer Shin Ah Ram should've made it to the finals of the women's epee, but was denied a victory when the judges forgot how to tell time and gave her German opponent almost 4 seconds when there was only 1 more second left in the round.

Wait, what's Korea doing up there?! Isn't that the Axis of Evil country with all the mail order brides?

Also, despite the fact that Korea has been in the top 4 of the medal tables for the first half of these Olympics, NBC has mentioned them exactly ZERO times in its coverage: http://deadspin.com/5931343/nbcmetrics-through-wednesday-south-korea-had-14-medals-and-nbc-had-never-mentioned-it-in-primetime 

All these events have stoked pervasive feelings among Koreans that our country is still not given due respect on the world stage despite our status as an OECD nation and a technological hub of the world. There are many resentful Koreans who feel that since the West fulfills its "Asian Appreciation Quota" with China and Japan (yay, chow mein and samurai!), Korea is still seen as a developing country that is mainly the source of dogmeat jokes and war brides.

Daniel Sturridge becomes the latest in a proud
lineage of Britons who've succumbed to
pressure during PKs

So it was unimaginably sweet when on 4 Aug 2012, the Korean men's football team outplayed and defeated the GB team on GB's home turf, especially since GB had been gifted 2 very soft penalty kicks in a dizzying span of four minutes in the first half (which Korea had dominated). Luckily for Korea, their goalkeeper Jung Sung Ryong saved 1 out of the 2 penalties, thus effectively saving the match for them.

If Korea had felt slighted by the Games in general thus far, then there was no better way to exact revenge than to knock out the host country in its favourite sport on its home field.

Some sour grapes people may dismiss the event altogether, saying that nobody cares about Olympics football. But Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was packed that night, and the look of devastation on the British players (especially Daniel Sturridge, who missed the crucial shot during PKs) should tell you that both Korea and GB, and their supporters, wanted to win badly tonight.

This will likely be the last GB football team ever assembled because there's no way in hell that Wales and Scotland will tolerate playing under the Union Jack and singing "God Save The Queen" as its team anthem for anything other than a Great Britain-hosted Olympics.

So the history books will indicate that the last ever incarnation of a GB football team played its final match in front of a raucous home crowd in Cardiff.

Ki Sung Yueng celebrates burying his decisive PK

And they lost to the Koreans.

Will people take more notice of Korea next time?

PS When KSY won the match for Korea with his PK, I started jumping and screaming so much that I slipped on the straw mat on the hardwood floor and landed awkwardly. But I was all right!