Jeremy Lin trying to find his way in the NBA

After a few weeks of speculation, the Golden State Warriors sent rookie Jeremy Lin to the NBA "D-League" after their game Monday evening.  Lin will be playing for the Reno Bighorns team with the intention of getting more playing time and learning to play the point guard position.

The Bighorns actually played tonight (Tuesday) and I got a chance to watch the second half of the game.  Lin scored 10 points (8 in the first half) and here are some my impressions.

The first thing I noticed is that Lin's play tonight was similar to how he was playing with the Warriors.  Two examples of this:

1. Lin would bring the ball up, pass it to the wing and then get out of the way.  His teammates would pass it among themselves and then put up a shot. 
2. Lin would bring the ball up and try to attack the basket.  The couple of drives Lin took ended up being called offensive fouls.  Lin still has not developed a secondary move and teams know he doesn't change direction when he drives.  

The commentators for the game were pretty hard on Lin as they said he needs to look up more, pass the ball earlier and stop trying to go one-on-one. 

I'd have to agree with the commentators that Lin needs to improve his game.  My current impression of Lin is that he is a shooting guard trying to convert to a point guard.  Though Lin played point guard in high school, he was a shooting guard through most of college and I think those college instincts are showing.  

Lin wants to go and attack the basket and then dish out to his teammates.  However, the lanes he had in college aren't quite there.   Lin should be able to pull up for his jumper but he seems reluctant to shoot his jumper in the professional ranks.  Lin's perimeter shooting in college was reasonable and if he could replicate some of his college success, Lin would be able to play much better. 

Lin's best attributes right now is his defense.  Unfortunately, this isn't football where Lin can play only defense.  For Lin to enjoy a long career in the NBA, Lin needs to develop his point guard mindset AND improve his outside shooting.  He's not quite there yet but given Lin's history, I wouldn't doubt his ability.  

The End Of The Road For Yao Ming?

I got home tonight and found the unfortunate news that Yao Ming suffered yet another stress fracture in his ankle:

Sports Illustrated:  Only Yao Can Make The Next Call

From reading all the various articles online, there is speculation that with the latest injury, Yao Ming's career could be over at the age of 30 years old.   This is based on Yao's previous comments that if he continued to have injuries, he would likely choose to retire.

Of course, nothing is set in stone.  Neither Yao Ming or the Houston Rockets have publicly commented on the latest injury yet, though I presume this will come in the next few days.

If this is the end of the road for Yao Ming, it will be a loss for the NBA, China and the Asian-American community.

Yao's presence greatly enhanced the marketability of the NBA in China and the NBA profited immensely from this.  Losing Yao is a blow because there is no other Chinese player (in the NBA or China) that had the appeal Yao had.   Yi Jianlian is the only current Chinese player in the NBA.  Despite have some talent and potential, Yi hasn't played anywhere close to Yao's level.  In fact, Yi has suffered his own share of injuries recently.  Other players like Sun Yue are just marginal players who may or may not get another shot to play in the NBA in the future.

If Yao retires, China may be hurt the most.  Yao Ming was the face of Chinese basketball for marketing purposes.  However, Yao Ming was also the undisputed best player for the Chinese National team.    The Chinese National team played ok without Yao during the World Basketball Championships in September.  Yi Jianlian stepped and had a solid tournament.  Other Chinese players also did reasonably well.  Yet, none had the impact Yao has had.

There has been many discussions over Yao Ming's NBA career that China needed to improve their basketball development process.  After all, with the exception of Yao, no other Chinese player has had a huge impact (Wang Zhi-Zhi, Bateer, Sun Yue, Yi Jianlian).   However, I think China always looked at Yao and thought:  "As long as Yao is around we'll be ok".  Unfortunately for China, the future may be now!

Lastly, if Yao retires, it will be a loss to the Asian-American community here in the United States.   Though Yao was not born in the United States, he was the first Asian player to play a high level in the NBA.  He brought an Asian face to the NBA, where the majority of players are mainly African American.  Lastly, in a country where Asian-Americans are not prominent in the media, Yao was a positive presence that many Asian-Americans could look up to and say "Hey, maybe I can make the NBA like Yao did."

In addition, Yao brought an entirely different side to Asian-Americans and Chinese culture.  Yao was born in China but had a great sense of humor that everyone loved.   If you look at the other Chinese players that have played in the NBA, none had this ability to endear themselves to different people.

Jeremy Lin has been garnering a lot of attention as one of the few Asian-Americans to play in the NBA. However, even the staunchest Lin supporter will agree that Lin is nowhere the player Yao Ming is.   Unfortunately, if Yao retires, the torch may be laid at Yi Jianlian and Jeremy Lin's hands.  Alas, I don't think either one is ready to pick the torch up.

Whatever ultimately happens, Yao Ming was a welcome bright spot in the NBA.  Hopefully he can heal up and play in the NBA for years to come.  If not, I wish him well in his future endeavors.

Pinball Machines: Reflections Of A Different Time & Era

About a month ago, I was searching for some activities to do in the East Bay.  While researching via Yelp, I stumbled upon the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda, CA. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to visit at the time. However, I was in the area today and stopped by for a visit.  I didn't regret it one bit as I spent a solid two hours at the museum.  

While the initial entry cost of $15 may seem steep for a museum, it is actually quite a bargain.  The $15 entitles you to unlimited play of all the various pinball machines that in the museum.   There's quite a selection of older and more modern pinball machines that you can play.   In addition, you get "in and out" privileges.  So if you need to step out to get a bite to eat and come back later, it is perfectly ok.   As I noted, I spent a lot of time at the museum today and had a blast.  Strangely enough, I gravitated to playing some of the older pinball machines than some of the newer ones (though I enjoyed a couple of them).

After leaving the museum, I started to think about why I enjoyed my time there today.  After all, I was child of the 1980's.  I grew up in the era of Pac-Man, Donkey King and other well known arcade games as well as the era of the Atari, Coleco, and Commodore (among others) video game and computer systems.

The answer I came up with is that the pinball machines harken back to a simpler era.  The purpose of playing pinball is to stay alive as long as possible and get as many points along the way.   It didn't matter if you were playing a pinball machine from the 1950's or the 1980's, the purpose remained the same.   The same purpose of getting as many points as possible is basically the same purpose as the majority of 1980's arcade games.

It didn't matter if you played Pac Man (eating dots and ghosts), Donkey Kong (jumping over barrels), Pole Position (driving), or Galaga (shooting aliens), the major purpose was to stay alive as long as possible, advance to higher levels and accumulate points.   Obviously there were exceptions like Dragon's Lair.

Given this, it was no surprise that I found a love of pinball machines.  With the ability to have unlimited play at the museum, I kept trying multiple times at several machines and did pretty well toward the end of my stay.

Unfortunately, pinball machines are reflections of a different time before video games and computers existed.  From doing some research online, there does not appear to any companies who are mass producing pinball machines today due to a lack of demand from the mainstream public.  With all fancy graphics and sound available on home systems today, pinball machines are looked at as relics.    All the young people today go for Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft and other games.

However, as the Pacific Pinball Museum shows, pinball is still alive in the underground.  There were a good number of people of all ages at the museum today.  There was a party there were kids and their parents present.  There were quite a few other families who showed up after I arrived.  The folks that run the museum also host an annual expo as well.

Pinball might not be as fancy as today's video games, but I think it's definitely worth a visit from gamers of all ages.  You don't always need to play the latest and greatest to have a good time.