Linsanity 2: The Return of Melo

The second week that would be the sequel (weekuel?) in the Jeremy Lin saga certainly did not lack the drama that his audience saw in the first week, and it also included many of the same themes. There were big numbers, racist headlines, infinite hype and speculation. But in Linsanity 2, there were two new plot twists: the introduction of losing and the return of the Knicks' best player, Carmelo Anthony (played by Carmelo Anthony).

When the Knicks suffered their first loss (to the New Orleans Hornets of all teams), ESPN used the offensive headline, "Chink in the Armor" to get the point across that Jeremy Lin is indeed human. What that headline wasn't, was humorous, and I can't think of a more straightforward, obvious and useless inclusion of race possible in a headline. How any one (1) human, especially one who works at ESPN and has seen all of the backlash from racist comments about Lin, could think that that headline wouldn't stir controversy and get him fired, is a total mystery to me. Just shameless, offensive thought process.

But Linsanity 2 also included lots of drama on the court as well, the main point of conflict coming in the Knicks' 100-92 loss to the New Jersey Nets (what's with them losing to bad teams?). This game was Carmelo's triumphant return, and speculation had been growing in the previous days that Lin and Anthony would not be able to co-exist. The Knicks did lose that game, and Lin and Anthony had a bad communication late in the fourth resulting in a key turnover, but for most of the game they seemed to work well together. So while people may have blown off the handle about the two main characters losing in their first game together, I think the real story of that loss was our hero's defensive liabilities.

Deron Williams torched Lin most of the game resulting in 38 points for D-Will and Lin fouling out. But this wasn't the first time we saw this out of Lin. Jose Calderon had his way with Lin six days previous (11-17 FG, 29 points, nine assists, seven rebounds) and John Wall dropped 29 on him in his second start. I don't think Lin's cooperation with the Knicks' superstar is going to be anything he needs to concentrate on too much, but he is certainly going to have to work on his one-on-one defense (and his decision making and ball control; gotta limit those turnovers).

What will we see in the third installment of this Linsanity movie franchise? Who knows. Things may cool down a bit for now, (although with All-Star weekend coming up he will be getting tons of attention) but they will certinaly be "heating" up when the Knicks take their talents to South Beach tonight. What we do know, is that people will still be flocking to theaters, bars and TV sets to see the Linsanity saga continue, and if they stop, the Knicks can always bring in Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to save the franchise.