Stephon Marbury and Jeremy Lin.
Marbles: came into the league with much ado, number 4 pick in the draft. Explosive athlete, could drive to the hole at will, and dish to teammates. Better than average shooter, but not great 3 point shooter. Decent natural basketball vision, but not good BBall IQ. Bad personality/attitude, selfish/self-centered/immodest, bad teammate, never made his teammates better, and arguably made them worse. Failed as the anointed leader of the Nets, Suns and Knicks, but still was traded for the likes of Jason Kidd(!), and many other valuable trade assets. Cost: $16MM/year.
JLin: came into the league with little (no) ado, went undrafted. Good athlete. Wily, change-of-pace drives allows him to get to the hole, and dish to teammates. Better than average shooter, but not great 3 point shooter. Terrific basketball vision (not elite (JKidd/Nash) level (yet!), but at the next tier below), and excellent BBall IQ. Terrific personality/attitude, modest/supportive, great teammate, makes all his scrub teammates better! Already a leader on a Knicks team with no shortage of star power at the top. Acquired of the waiver wire for nothing. Previously cut by two other teams. Cost: priceless.
Stop and think for a minute the franchise fortune reversing events behind these two players acquisitions. One buried the team for a decade, and the other gives us hope as the final piece to great things!
You might want to add a paragraph about the management differences at the time of their arrivals.
There are some similarities. Both players have games built around getting to the basket quickly. Both are good pick and roll players. Both seem to have mid range shots, but Marbury was a better 3 point shooter. Marbury was a better overall athlete, but Lin is pretty damn explosive in his own right. Marbury gets the edge though b/c he was a superb leaper. Marbury made better flashy passes but Lin is a better fundamental passer and can work it around the perimeter and also throw some good backdoor passes. We will see how his post entry passes are. Marbury was awful at that.
Lin is the better defender.
Obviously this is based on 5 games and Marburys whole career. As of now, Marbury HAS to get the edge but that will change if Lin keeps it up.
I think their playstyles are similar. The differences are in charisma, work ethic, and doign what's best for one's self/team
They're both really big China...
