The Sports Cult

Fed Ex delivery driver Ed Weiland, carries packages in downtown Bend, Ore. Weiland also writes for a blog and predicted that Jeremy Lin would be a good NBA player

Although a couple of us weren’t that surprised that Linsanity is running wild, NBA scouts and GMs are likely kicking themselves for overlooking him.

However, before the 2010 draft, there was one fellow that had him pegged as a potential NBA starter. 

Hoops Analyst blogger /amateur scout/ Fed Ex driver Ed Weiland nailed what so many others missed.

Check out these pearls from Weiland:

“…he’s the one player I probably differ on with the rest of the draft pundits.”

“After John Wall there are no sure things. Jeremy Lin might be the #2 PG available in this draft.  He looks to me like a sleeper in the mold of George Hill. He appears to have the  skills to become at least a usable combo guard. If he can get the passing thing down and handle the point, Jeremy Lin is a good enough player to start in the  NBA and possibly star.”

“A year after the legendary PG draft of 2009, the pickings for playmakers are going to be thin. That doesn’t mean there won’t be a player or two who surprise the experts though.The best candidate to pull off such a surprise might be Harvard’s Jeremy Lin.”

“Lin made his mark in the preseason when  he averaged 23.3 PPG while shooting 63% in a 3-game stretch against UConn, BC  and Georgetown. Typically players from small colleges see their numbers dip,  sometimes drastically, when stepping up in competition. That Lin was able to not only be competitive, but excel in these situations is impressive.”

Weiland goes on to make his case with a comprehensive list of former college PGs that scored high in his Moneyball-esque numbers system.

Props to Weiland, who had him ranked high without seeing him in person – it was just based on numbers.

That’s pretty ironic, given that Lin’s physical appearance likely had plenty to do with the fact that he was not highly recruited and went undrafted.

Photo courtesy of Joe Kline of The Wall Street Journal

Tags: Ed Weiland, FedEx, George Hill, Jeremy Lin, Lin, Linsanity, National Basketball Association, NBA, NY Knicks, Wall Street Journal

This entry was posted on February 17, 2012 at 1:31 AM and is filed under NBA, NCAA Hoops. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.