The struggle and disappointment continues for Los Angeles Lakers point guard Jeremy Lin, who has reached another low point on Monday after scoring just two points on 0-for-6 shooting. Worse, it seems Byron Scott still couldn't figure it out how to tap his playmaker's full potential.
Lin, who is averaging 6.0 points on 28 percent shooting from the field over the past five games, has repeatedly voiced out his frustration for his lack of production along with his diminishing role under Scott.
After starting for the first 20 games, Lin's was taken out of the Lakers' first five to give veteran guard Ronnie Price a chance to prove his worth. While Price hasn't been producing that much, the Lakers managed to win three of the last five games and Scott credited their improved defense to their recent success.
On the other hand, the up-and-down trend continued for Lin, despite already coming off the bench. In his first two games as a backup point guard, Lin tallied a total of just six points 2-for-12 shooting. Then, he came to life in back-to-back games against the San Antonio Spurs (14 points and 8 assists) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (8 points and 6 assists) before he ran smacked into the Pacers' wall last Monday.
"This is one of those games where you kind of wish you had it back," Lin told the press following another lackluster game. "My regret isn't with my effort. My regret is with the performance, whether it's hitting shots, making plays, all those things."
When asked what's behind Lin's inconsistency problem, Scott was left clueless on how to answer the question.
"I don't know. He's just been up and down. Sometimes he has nights like this," Scott said in an interview with Los Angeles Times.
Scott, who coached some of the best point guards in the league like Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving and Jason Kidd, was asked again about his comments on Lin's sentiments during Wednesday's practice. And this time, Scott gave a clear answer on what he wants from the former Harvard hot shot.
"If you got a lot more to give, give it to us then," Scott smiled. On what Lin can improve, Scott specified "be more aggressive, just be smart when he's out there playing. Our last conversation was basically you've got to understand who you're playing with, gotta get those guys involved because he's a guy that's always been ball-dominant."
By simply reading between the lines, Scott's comment only suggests that he still has no solution to fix Lin's game.
