It's a new year, but will we see a new Jeremy Lin in 2015?
At the Los Angeles Lakers' first practice of the New Year, Byron Scott assessed what he had seen out of the point guard since moving him to the bench 12 games earlier.
"A lot of inconsistency," Scott said without hesitation. "That's the biggest thing. Some games [Lin]'s really good, and some games he's not."
Over those 12 games, Lin is averaging 7.6 points, 4.4 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per game. In seven of those 12 games, Lin shot under 35 percent from the field.
"It's just trying to find a consistent effort from [Lin], consistent play from him, and I think he's still kind of searching at times," Scott sounded slightly confused. "But I think at times, which is kind of amazing to me, he'll have one real good game, and the next game, it'll seem like he doesn't have his confidence. I don't know where that's coming from."
Looking at Lin's last two games, one could easily see the coach's point. Against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, the backup point guard hit eight of 11 shots and scored 19 points. Two days later, Lin was invisible and missed five of six shots against the Denver Nuggets.
"[Lin] just needs to find that consistency to come off the bench and provide what I think he can provide and what I know he knows he can provide a lot more than he's been doing," the coach hoped Lin could yet transform into a reliable bench player.
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Through 32 games, Lin's time with the Lakers has lacked the zip fans had hoped for. For the first 20 games of the season, Lin started every game and earned the opportunity to shine. With the team losing 15 of those 20 games, changes forced Lin to the bench. Now, it appears that Lin's move to the bench has not yet yielded the desired results.
Whether the lack of consistency derives from confidence, comfort or confusion on the court, the reality is that "Linsanity" starts 2015 failing to fulfill the expectation of being a consistent bench player.
