On October 30th, the Knicks flew down to Charlotte with zero pressure on their shoulders. They were feeling good after their win over the Heat and now had to face the Bobcats—they haven't been called the Hornets yet.
Flying cross-country for back-to-back games is always a test of stamina, but luckily, that early win gave the Knicks some breathing room. With the game basically in the bag, Coach D'Antoni didn't push anyone too hard.
Now, 2010 was when the Bobcats officially entered the Jordan era.
In Lin Yi's memory, that's when the NBA Board gave the green light for Michael Jordan to take over the team, buying it for $275 million. From that point on, the Bobcats had MJ at the helm.
This version of the Bobcats was scrappy—on the fringe of playoff contention—and led by none other than Gerald Wallace.
Wallace was a beast on the wing: athletic, strong, and a nightmare defensively. His one weak spot? Three-point shooting. But this season? Yeah, he was knocking them down. Lin remembered this clearly—Wallace was shooting 37.1% from deep that year, his best, with 0.8 threes per game.
The team also snagged Stephen Jackson over the summer. Say what you want about Captain Jack's mood swings, but the guy played like an All-Star when he wasn't chucking up wild shots. A step up from dunk contest champ Jason Richardson.
Plus, they had Raja Bell and Tyson Chandler. Solid defense all around.
As soon as Lin saw the Bobcats' lineup, he knew this wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Especially with the Knicks' upcoming schedule—it was brutal. After this road game, they had to fly back and play their home opener the very next night. Thanks a lot, league office...
Honestly? Lin thought this Bobcats squad was tougher than the Heat. They'd made the playoffs in his memory, and they had one of the few centers who could keep up with him:
Tyson Chandler.
Chandler had elite lateral movement. Lin vividly remembered how he helped shut down the Heat's Big Three in the Finals when he was with the Mavericks.
At his peak, Chandler was a monster on defense—he could switch, protect the paint, play help D, and even defend one-on-one in the post. He made life miserable for opposing stars.
And later, when he joined the Knicks? He somehow managed to turn a team full of defensive sieves into a top-tier defensive squad. Lin made a mental note: when Chandler's contract is up, he's gotta convince management to bring him to New York.
Until then, though, Chandler was a serious problem.
He wasn't just athletic—he was smart. He knew how to bend the rules to shut guys down.
Even elite guards struggled against Chandler.
Throw in Wallace and Raja Bell—two good perimeter defenders—and the Knicks weren't going to get many easy looks from the outside.
Then there was Stephen Jackson. If he got hot? It was over.
The kind of guy who could rain jumpers with a hand in his face and not care.
Face-guarding? Close-outs? Didn't matter.
If those worked, Jaylen Rose wouldn't have had to throw a knee at Kobe.
Of course, streaky guys like Jackson also had a downside. When they went cold, they were playing for the other team.
Before the game, Lin had dinner with Coach D'Antoni. The two seemed to be having a great conversation... though no one knew what they talked about.
But one thing was certain: the Bobcats were not going to be an easy out.
Lin had a feeling—and it turned out to be right.
In the game, his duel with Chandler confirmed it: this guy was a handful. So Lin adjusted his play, cutting more off-ball, trying to create space through movement.
Bobcats coach Larry Brown might be old-school, but he knew how to build a defensive scheme.
To shut down the Knicks' pick-and-roll game, he even slid Gerald Wallace to the four. That forced Lin to run PnRs with guards instead, which wasn't ideal.
The problem? The Knicks' backcourt was full of shot-hunters.
All they wanted to do was chuck. No timing, no rhythm—just vibes.
And guess what? Chandler cleaned up everything on the glass.
The one bright spot? David Lee.
The floor-bound big man turned back the clock and dropped 28 points and 14 rebounds. Without him, the Knicks would've been cooked.
David Lee, the Da White Howard, kept the game alive until the final minutes with his hyper-efficient play.
Still, it wasn't enough. The Knicks dropped their second game of the season, losing to the Bobcats 89-97 on the road.
Gallinari? Ice cold. 4-of-15 from the field, 1-of-4 from deep. He needed free throws just to scrape out 12 points.
Al Harrington? Even worse. 2-of-11, 0-of-5 from three. Just 4 points and 7 rebounds.
Lin, though, stayed solid. He played smart, moving off-ball, hitting jumpers in mismatches. He finished with 20 points, 9 boards, 5 assists, and 2 blocks on 7-of-13 shooting.
Still, this game left Lin thinking hard: he had to get Tyson Chandler on this team next year.
With Chandler locking down the paint next to him, Lin wouldn't have to worry about slash-heavy teams once he leveled up.
More importantly, Lin started planning. He was going to break down the top teams in the league, one by one, and find a way to sneak into championship contention—even without a superteam.
After this loss, reality hit Knicks fans. The hype from beating the Heat? Gone.
Yeah... not so fast.
The media was more measured.
"Sure, the Knicks are better," analysts said. "But they're not there yet."
Biggest weakness? They had no one at the one spot who could run a pick-and-roll with Lin.
ESPN even ran a segment arguing that Lin Yi would thrive next to a slashing, playmaking point guard—like the one he had in college: Stephen Curry.
Funny enough, the Knicks had tried to make a move for Curry.
But Don Nelson? That guy wouldn't budge.
"Over my dead body," he told the Warriors front office. "No one's trading Steph."
And that was that. New York didn't have the assets to pry him away.
And soon, Jerry West—the Logo himself—would join the Warriors. Once that happened? Curry was going nowhere.
So no Steph. No trade chips.
Dolan, the Knicks' owner, had made it clear: "Get Lin the help he needs."
And Lin? He wasn't going to waste that promise.
Back in New York, he handed Javier Stanford a small list—players he thought could help—and set up a meeting with the GM.
Because if the Knicks weren't going to give him a star point guard…
Then Lin Yi was going to build this thing his way.
...
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