Humble point guard says success won’t just happen for new side.
In just two short seasons the Houston Rockets have been transformed from also-rans in the NBA West to a team many tip to be pushing for a top four seed.
Point guard Jeremy Lin beleives most people are on the money with that assessment but says the team will have to work hard despite its talent laden roster.
With James Harden last year proving why he was worth the big money move from Oklahoma City, Chandler Parsons emerging as a star of the future and the addition of Dwight Howard, the aptly named Rockets are on the up.
Houston legend Hakeem Olajuwon recently called the duo of Lin and Howard as “very deadly” after working out with the pain in a training camp something Lin beleives was the case with D12 while he was a Laker and with the Orlando Magic.
“I think Dwight Howard himself is already pretty deadly of a player,” Lin said.
“For us, it’s just a matter of getting on the same page and buying into the system, and I think adding (Howard) as a piece to the puzzle, it’s incredible.
“I think we’re all extremely excited and we know what we have, and he looks healthy, he looks explosive, and he’s looking better and better in terms of recovering from his (back) surgery.”
Lin, who himself made a big money move to the Rockets are bursting onto the NBA scene with the New York Knicks where he became the phenom known as ‘Linsanity’.
However, the level-headed 25-year-old says he knows those days are behind him and that he would prefer to play consistently for the Rockets than like a superstar for a handful of games.
For me, I have high expectations for myself, and in no way was I satisfied with my year last year. But the fact that other people think it was a disappointing season to me is somewhat of a compliment that they think I might be able to do more.
“One thing I have to remind myself is I just turned 25 years old, and to be honest I really have only been playing consistent basketball in the NBA for a season and a half, if that, and so I’m very young in my career. And because the expectations of Linsanity are so big and the shadow is so large … sometimes I have to take a step back and remind myself the journey has just begun.
“I don’t have as much freedom or the usage rate that I had in New York. I have to learn how to play a little more off the ball, how to cut better, how to shoot better, how to defend better.
:There are a lot of holes in my game, and I’ll be the first one to admit that. … It’s just a matter of trying to become better and repair and improve. Teams know what my strengths and weaknesses are now, and I don’t have that element of surprise anymore.”
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