The NBA: These Guys are Good

Amidst all this linsanity I have come to realize something that has always been brewing in my mind. The NBA is full of guys who can play and by full I mean every single person in the league. I think linsanity is less about Jeremy Lin, than it is about how good guys in the league actually are.
To me, it's not so crazy that a free agent/d-leaguer like lin is able to emerge like he did. Don't get me wrong though, Lin deserves all the credit he has been getting because he has been killing it, but I think other people could emulate (to a certain level) what Lin has been doing. Every guy who is either the 12th man on the bench, in the d-league, and even some European players can play basketball. If you watch any of these guys workout, you will be mesmerized. Ill never forget watching Drew Nicholas work out once at a basketball camp. He went through a shooting workout run by a university of maryland coach. He took a wide range of jumpers from all around the court. Shot after shot after shot, was swish after swish after swish. The guy barely missed throughout the entire one hour workout. It was unbelievable. Yet, in the big picture, Drew Nicholas was never even considered a draft prospect. He wasn't good enough. So tell me how, someone who had a prolific ACC career, can't even get an NBA tryout? The answer: these guys are good.

I'm convinced that if an NBA team decides to give someone a shot and start him, he is bound to perform. Maybe he wont go off for 25 a game, but I'm confident that he could hold his own. If a GM decides he wants to run an offense through a player, where that player is taking majority of the shots, I'll bet you that player scores at least 15 points. Look what the wizards did with Andray Blatche last year. As we all know Andray Blatche is bad. Yet, he managed to lead the wizards in scoring throughout the season. Ill bet that Andrew Goudelock could score 20 a game in the Knicks offense (without Amare and Carmelo). Still dont believe me? Look at a guy like Matt Carroll. You have probably never heard of him. Hes deep on the Charlotte Bobcats bench and averages about 8 minutes and 3 points a game. But earlier this year, when he was given significant playing time (35 minutes), he casually scored 17 points against the wizards. 7-10 from the field. Not a bad day if you ask me. The bottom line is that you should never underestimate anyone's talent at the professional level.