Column: Linsanity overrated

After two weeks of watching ESP-Lin, hearing all about Linsanity and his so-called Linderella… After two weeks of watching ESP-Lin, hearing all about Linsanity and his so-called Linderella story, I am tired of it. I promised myself I wouldn’t write about Jeremy Lin this week, but I felt I needed to in service of the greater good.

Jeremy Lin is overrated. There, I said it. Here’s why.

Lin landed in possibly the best situation for a player like him in the league. His success isn’t so much a byproduct of his talent as it is a result of the system he plays in under New York Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni.

D’Antoni became notorious in the mid-2000s for his Phoenix Suns teams led by Steve Nash — a much better point guard than Lin will ever be — that racked up 110 points a night, didn’t care about playing defense or any kind of half-court offense and tried to score in seven seconds or less after taking possession.

D’Antoni’s system now exists in New York, where Lin conveniently found his way into the starting role. The best part of this — Lin acknowledges he is a part of the system.

“It’s a combination of the system, being able to fit into the system, being comfortable, being able to play through some mistakes and then building confidence,” Lin said to ESPN.com’s J.A. Adande.

Steve Kerr — who spent 16 years in the NBA — also attested to the boost a player receives from playing under a certain coach. Although Kerr started just 30 games in his career, he played in 910 total and found a role in Chicago halfway through his career as a sharpshooter. He won three championships with Michael Jordan and two more with the San Antonio Spurs in the twilight of his career.

“I think about 75 percent of the players in the league are dependent on circumstance, whether it’s the coach, the system, teammates,” Kerr said during a TNT telecast. “For the majority of the league, there’s a lot of luck involved and a lot of circumstance.”

But people can talk all day — statistics separate the contenders from the pretenders.

Before I dissect him, I will acknowledge Jeremy Lin would currently rank seventh in the league in Player Efficiency Rating, with an index of 24.1. But because he has not played the minimum number of minutes to qualify for the rankings, you won’t see his name on any stat-leader boards.

In short, PER measures the overall effectiveness of a player via a formula developed by ESPN analyst John Hollinger. The league average for PER is roughly 15.

Although his PER ranks quite high, Lin is not as flawless as he seems. Most concerningly, he has turned the ball over 64 times this season. In Lin’s first six starts, his 36 turnovers set a NBA record. Last time I checked, it is relatively important for a point guard to keep track of the ball.

As a result of his inability to hold on to the ball, Lin sports a turnover rate of 20.9 percent. Turnover rate measures the amount of turnovers a player commits every 100 plays. Lin turns the ball over roughly once every five possessions.

When your team is losing late with roughly two minutes left — which translates to four or five remaining possessions for each team — do you feel comfortable having a point guard who will throw away one of your precious few chances to score? I don’t, especially not in the playoffs when each possession is worth its figurative weight in gold.

Additionally, Lin’s usage rate — 31.1 percent — would rank fifth in the league if he qualified. Usage rate describes the estimated total plays a player uses while on the floor.

The issues regarding Lin’s usage rate come into play with his own teammate, Carmelo Anthony. Anthony missed nine games due a groin injury sustained on Feb. 4 against the New Jersey Nets.

Anthony’s usage rate is 32.2 percent, the fourth-highest rate in the league. His play style revolves around isolation and post-ups to score, and the ball often stops once it reaches his hands.

Although he’s a prolific scorer, his play style is not team-oriented. With Anthony on the floor, either he or Lin will no longer possess the ball as much, and one will gradually decline in effectiveness. Fans saw this in New York’s recent loss on Monday, when Anthony made his return and scored 11 points on 4-11 shooting.

Fans shouldn’t expect Lin to continue posting high numbers, especially as the Knicks face more challenging competition than they met in early February.