Jeremy Lin continues to show what the world missed last season, fitting in nicely to whatever role Charlotte head coach Steve Clifford asks of him.
While he has become a key player of the bench, he does get the chance to start. And with Nicolas Batum out on account of injury, he was asked to fill in against the Toronto Raptors. As everyone knows by now, he more than filled in after pouring in a team-high 35 points that went along with four rebounds and five assists.
His production was just three points shy of his career-high 38 points, something he did back in 2012 with the New York Knicks and ironically against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Hornets eventually won that one via overtime against the Toronto Raptors, 109–99.
Now, each time Lin does something great, that is perhaps the only time National Basketball Association (NBA) fans take notice. Quietly, he has been doing pretty well for the Hornets and has contributed to their surprising 15–10 card as of report writing.
Lin has accepted whatever role Clifford throws his way. He comes off the bench and much of his efforts are made to help out the team rather than individual success.
Comparing it to the past years (with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets), it seems that Lin has become flexible and useful which has now made him a good acquisition for the franchise.
But it doesn't signal the revival of "Linsanity." He is obviously someone else, a more mature player who has become a gem of a player off the Hornets bench.
Such has become a privilege for Clifford as he appears to be the right coach to guide Lin, who seemed lost with his past coaches. At any rate, Lin has been responding and has obviously gotten his career back on the right track and he doesn't even have to be a starter to prove it.
