The Nets taste for success and their thirst for the catalyst effect of Jeremy Lin are both on hold. It was always going to be a rebuilding year, but with Lin hamstrung by a hamstring after just five games, the 5-15 Nets haven’t even been able to see glimpses of their future. Not their ballyhooed Brook-Lin future anyway. (They have managed at times to compete with fire if not flash, especially in a double OT win against the Clippers.)
Not surprisingly, Lin’s return date isn’t set. The hamstring is one of sports’ worst injuries, and rushing back can ravage a career. Those looking for positives can recognize that before Lin went down his scoring average was already the highest of any time in his career. Though Lin was averaging under 27 minutes a game through the first five in Brooklyn, he was scoring at a 15.0 ppg clip, better even than his 14.6 average during Linsanity with the Knicks and better than the 13.4 he averaged as an 82-game starter (32.2 mpg) his first year in Houston.
