Comments on: Lin Shu Hao: American or Chinese, He’s Linsanity Alright

By: eugenehomestay

eugenehomestay — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:30:40 +0000

With all due respect, Lin is not small. At 6’3, he is the size of a prototypical point guard – the same height as last season’s MVP, Derrick Rose, NBA Champion Chauncey Billups, and other great point guards like Deron Williams. He is actually taller that Chris Paul (6’1), who is considered the best point guard in all the NBA.

I understand what you mean by being an underdog, (Asian, Harvard), but I don’t think height has anything to do with it. If he were 5’11, I’d consider him small, but average point guards are 6’0 to 6’3, so that makes him on the taller side. Jason Kidd is one of the tallest at 6’4.

By: Jin Zhao

Jin Zhao — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:06:44 +0000

Good point. In fact, Lin has the image of a typical Chinese hero in the sense that he was first an underdog (being tossed around before he landed the NY Knicks gig) and quite small compared to many other basketball players, but then he surprised everybody with his “hidden” strength and intelligence. He shines against all odds. That’s Bruce Lee all over again. By comparison, Yao Ming, who stands at 7’6″, actually defies the stereotype of Asians perhaps more directly than Lin does. And I agree with you that Lin plays basketball in a certain holistic effortless “way,” which speaks to the Chinese like no other basketball player.

By: Barry

Barry — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:38:36 +0000

Sportswriters say Lin has smashed the stereotype that Asians are brilliant test-takers but not athletic. How could that be a stereotype to begin with? China won 51 Gold Medals at the Beijing Olympics, more gold than any other nation, including the United States, which took home 31 Gold Medals.. The reality is that the Chinese are physically shorter and tend to be better at sports like gymnastics, platform diving, speed skating, badminton and, of course, ping pong. Americans athletes tend to be taller, so they excel at team sports. Even at 6-feet-three inches, Lin is often the shortest guy on the court—and he can slam dunk! Moreover, in some team sports, like women’s volleyball, Chinese gals often outshine female competitors from the West. A more esoteric theory of Lin’s success is his basketball I.Q. He has a high number of “assists”–getting the ball to the open man to help him score. Some might say this is a reflection of selfless collectivist values in China, the idea that teamwork is more important that individual triumph. Others might say it’s just good basketball. Finally, Lin seems to have an Asian holistic sense of a basketball court, sensing where his teammates are in his peripheral vision, much the way that Chinese players of the board game 围棋( “Go” in Japan and the US) must stay three steps ahead of their opponents to avoid being encircled and trapped. Lin always seems to be one step ahead of his defender and that cross-over dribble is almost unstoppable. No wonder Jeremy has so many Chinese 粉丝!