Jeremy Lin Vs. Tim Tebow: The Tale of the Tape

After the first couple times Jeremy Lin led the previously woeful New York Knicks to victory, some people couldn't resist drawing comparisons between him and the NFL's 2011 cinderella, Tim Tebow.  But when Lin kept on winning, it became clear that these two actually have very little in common when it comes to they play on the field/court.  Nonetheless, I figured it would be a fun exercise to see how these two athletes stack up against each other.  Here's the breakdown.

Religion: This is one of the main factors that initially motivated the comparisons.  Tim Tebow is obviously very religious, and by now everybody knows that Jeremy Lin is a Christian as well.  But I don't think most people quite understand just how Christian Jeremy Lin is.  Unlike Lin, Tim Tebow is what I like to think of as a George Bush Christian.  In person, he's a very amiable guy, but if you're unfortunate enough to get him talking about social issues, he'll voice opinions might come across as offensive, not out of malice, but rather because of the glaring obtuseness that's found in stereotypical jocks.  By contrast, Jeremy Lin is a Ned Flanders Christian.  He comes across as such a nice guy, you get the impression that there might be a little naïveté underlying it.  But make no mistake.  J-Lin loves him some J-Christ.  The strongest evidence for this (that I've come across) is this clip of Lin discussing his taste in music. 

His only criteria on choosing his favourite artists seems to be that they have to sing exclusively about god. He mentions a Christian rapper from Atlanta named LeCrae, and a Christian rock group named Hillsong.  He claims he likes to listen to Hillsong before games because it reminds him what he's playing for, which is "to glorify god".  I'm starting to think that playing for god might actually be a really good strategy.  Tebow and Lin both prove that when it comes down to crunch time, God really looks after his soldiers.

The Race Factor:  Apart from the fact that both players wear blue and orange uniforms, the color dynamic couldn't be more different between them. In a league where 80% of the quarterbacks are white, Tebow's race doesn't make him an anomaly.  But as one of only a handful of Asian American players in the history of the NBA (and the best one by far), Lin is seen as something of an oddity.  The case could be made that, as a white QB, Tebow's passing deficiencies probably received less scrutiny that they should have.  I'm skeptical that a black player with his completion percentage would ever become a starter.  By contrast, Lin was overlooked multiple times because of his race.  The fact that he's not the most athletic player was probably magnified by coaches' and scouts' preconceived notions of  Asian athletes.

Weaknesses: Like every athlete, Tebow and Lin both have holes in their games.  Tebow's problem is that he passes with the accuracy of Nerf gun.  This is especially problematic given the fact that a quarterback's primary function is to accurately deliver the football. 

At this point it's tough to know what Lin's biggest weakness is.  But I've noticed that he doesn't seem to be able to use his left hand.  By itself, this isn't a fatal flaw.  After all, Muhammad Ali won entire fights while scarcely using his left.  Lin does go left when he's forced to, and he usually ends up compensating by turning in the air and putting up a reverse layup with his right.  It makes for nice highlights, but it might hurt his finishing percentage in the long run.

Prognosis: At the end of the day, there's really no comparison between Jeremy Lin and Tim Tebow.  Although I like them both and I find them fun to watch, only Jeremy Lin is putting up MVP numbers.  Tebow benefitted from the fact that football is an incredibly random game.  It's much more prone to serendipity, hence the saying, "any given sunday".  With the right play-calls and a solid offensive line, mediocre QB's can string together some spectacular wins.  (What's interesting though, is that even when Tebow was winning, he was only throwing for 150 yards per game, and completing only 50% of his passes.)  Basketball is way more predictable.  And it's almost impossible for someone to put up Lin-like numbers over multiple consecutive games if they don't really have the goods.  So the bottom line is that Mike D'Antoni was right.  Jeremy Lin appears to be the truth.  Tim Tebow is still a sideshow, albeit an entertaining one.