Jeremy Lin has been playing his best basketball of the season since the All-Star Break, one of the many reasons the Los Angeles Lakers have looked much better as a whole recently. Lin attributes his improved play with head coach Byron Scott giving him more freedom to run the offense.
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With that freedom has come more pick-and-roll plays for Lin, which he is extremely comfortable in. According to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News however, Scott isn’t a big fan of constant pick-and-rolls:
Everybody is stationary and it’s easy to guard,” Scott said of the pick-and-roll. “You go to that in a late game situation when you got guys who are rolling pretty good. That’s a different story. But to start the game with that is something I didn’t like.”
Lin disagrees, however, saying the pick-and-roll is the reason he has experienced the success he has in this league so far:
That’s who I am,” said Lin, whose $14.9 million contract expires this offseason. “That’s what allowed me to have success in the past. That’s the reason why people are paying me money to play pick-and-roll.”
This isn’t the first time Scott and Lin have disagreed on something, but they have always maintained respect for each other. There is likely some middle ground that the two can come to as Scott will surely want Lin’s level of play to stay where it is.
With Lin’s contract running out after the season, the dynamic between he and Scott will be interesting to watch. If Lin doesn’t feel like he gets the freedom to run the offense he is comfortable with, he may choose to go elsewhere in free agency.
[divide]Lakers Jeremy Lin Explains His Personal Progression