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January 7, 2010
Madison Square Garden, New York
Knicks vs. Bobcats
For the first ti in a while, Lin Yi played a full four quarters.
Larry Brown's Bobcats were relentless. They tore apart the Knicks' offense with suffocating zone defense. On top of that, Gerald Wallace and Captain Stephen Jackson double-tead Lin like it was a hit job—relentless on both ends of the court.
Larry Brown hated Lin's style. The old-school coach still hadn't forgiven the world for mocking his failed bet on Darko Milicic.
To him, big n belonged in the paint. Period. None of that fancy periter stuff. No jumpers. No threes. Just bulk up, bang inside, post up, rinse, repeat.
And now here cos this 7'2" kid pulling up from mid-range, throwing no-look passes, running the floor like a damn guard?
Blasphemy.
In Brown's mind, Lin Yi wasn't playing the right way. If Lin played for him, he'd be 30 pounds heavier and living on the block, back to the basket. That's the only way to play center, as far as he was concerned.
The Bobcats had already taken two wins of three from the Knicks this season, which only reinforced Larry's belief: D'Antoni was wasting this kid's talent.
"Ruining him," he'd mutter under his breath.
...
But when the clock hit zero in the fourth, nearly 20,000 fans at the Garden were on their feet like one giant tidal wave.
In the dia area, Wu Xiaolei and Qi Jun rushed in with a swarm of Arican reporters. The roar in the arena was deafening. It felt like their eardrums were being jackhamred.
"MVP ———— !!!"
"MVP ———— !!!"
"MVP ———— !!!"
It wasn't noise anymore—it was a shockwave.
...
"Move! Move! You can't just dump your cara bag there!"
"I'm worried I'll run out of lenses, damn it!"
"Hell, there are too many people! Did they already open the locker room?"
"Don't push! I'm about to get pancaked here!"
"Co on! The world is waiting for this shot!"
"I'm with Voice of JRS, let through!"
"Yeah, right. ESPN, CBS, TNT are all behind us—get in line!"
The Knicks' locker room? Total chaos.
If you looked at the box score, this seed like just another ga.
Knicks 98, Bobcats 87.
A solid ho win. Nothing crazy.
Lin played 41 minutes—pretty normal in an NBA stacked with Iron n.
He scored 14 points—not eye-popping, especially for a guy averaging over 20.
Grabbed 11 rebounds—solid, sure, but he's 7'2".
Dished 12 assists—impressive, but not unheard of.
But then…
10 blocks.
...
Back on the court, the fans just wouldn't leave. They stood there, stunned, cheering, soaking it in.
Why?
It had been 16 years since anyone put up these numbers.
Not since David Robinson—the Admiral himself. One of the most dominant bigs of the '90s.
A quadruple-double.
It hadn't happened in over a decade and a half. And tonight, in Madison Square Garden, a rookie from China did it.
14 points.
11 rebounds.
12 assists.
10 blocks.
If Lin's 61-point ga had given Knicks fans hope…
If his dagger over the Lakers had made them believe the franchise could rise again…
Then tonight, this mont, made them believe Lin Yi might be the one to lead them there.
...
Back in the locker room, Lin sat down, wiped sweat from his face, and let out a long breath.
He had no idea he hit double digits in blocks.
Honestly? He didn't feel like he had a huge ga. He'd had crazier scoring nights. Flashier plays. But this?
This felt different.
This felt real.
And yeah, he'd had a few triple-doubles in the NBA, but nothing ever felt like this. Not this pure, not this loud, not this electric.
He grinned to himself.
"Damn... this is what it feels like, huh?"
...
Gerald Wallace, Stephen Jackson, and the rest of the Bobcats crashed the paint like lunatics. It was like Larry Brown got a sudden dose of inspiration from so old-school Vic playbook, yelling from the sideline like it was 1995 all over again.
In his eyes, Lin Yi? Just another flashy, finesse big who didn't want to do the dirty work.
Soft.
A soft egg, as he liked to call it behind closed doors.
Of course, a big part of that impression ca from how Lin plays—drifting around the periter, not known for locking in on defense. But just because you don't love defense doesn't an you can't defend.
And tonight, the Bobcats were so focused on shutting Lin down offensively that they left him plenty of energy to burn on D—and as a playmaker.
But the real story?
The blocks. So. Many. Blocks.
It started with one. Then another. Then three. Four. Five. Six.
It felt like every other possession, Lin was either blocking a shot or making the Bobcats think twice about even going up.
And here's the wild part—Lin wasn't even tracking the numbers. He was just playing his ga, doing exactly what forr NBA blocks leader Tree Rollins taught him back in his NCAA days:
Use your instincts. Ti it right. And always, always take advantage of your ridiculous wingspan.
Honestly, Lin couldn't help but wonder—if he had Shaq's body weight? With the way the Bobcats were attacking tonight, he might've blocked 20 shots.
What the hell are the Bobcats doing? Lin thought mid-ga. They lost their minds?
But then again, that was just how Larry Brown ran things. If he gave an order, you executed. No debate. No plan B.
Even if the players knew it was a dumb idea.
So of them were definitely thinking it, too—"Why are we charging into this guy's wingspan like it's a good idea?"
Because even if Lin wasn't known for being physically tough, it didn't matter. That wingspan alone was a nightmare. Dude didn't even need to jump high—just raise his arms and you were done.
Sure, his upper-body strength wasn't fully developed yet. Lin had focused his rookie sumr training mostly on core strength and building a strong base. He didn't want to ss up his shooting form by bulking up too fast.
But that didn't an he couldn't protect the rim.
So with the Bobcats going full kamikaze mode in the paint, Lin started thinking—Is Larry Brown secretly my fan or sothing? This is like free stat-padding.
And to make it worse for Charlotte, Lin and David Lee were in sync on offense too. So even if Lin wasn't lighting up the scoreboard, he kept breaking down the defense with smart passes and solid spacing.
It was the kind of all-around performance that made basketball nerds drool. It wasn't that different from how Draymond Green would play years later—except Lin's scoring threat was way more legit.
And Larry Brown? He was just too slow to adjust.
So, naturally, the result was historic:
14 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, 10 blocks.
A quadruple-double.
Only four players in NBA history had ever done that: Nate Thurmond, Alvin Robertson (who did it with steals), Hakeem Olajuwon, and David Robinson.
Now Lin Yi had joined that club.
...
Back in the TNT studio, Charles Barkley was practically bouncing in his seat.
"Look, I know people say the NBA's not just about numbers," he said, grinning at Kenny Smith. "But c'mon, man—do we really need to go through all the formalities? Or can we just skip to the part where we start the hype train for this kid already?"
Kenny laughed, shaking his head. "Go ahead, Chuck. I know you want to."
"Oh, I will. Believe that."
...
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