Houston Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin is entering a very crucial season after signing a three-year deal last year and now that the team has Dwight Howard, many will see the upcoming season as championship or bust and a lot of that will rest on the shoulders of the young star.
Lin may have some pressure from other directions coming this season as well, as articles from the Taiwanese Media report that the Rockets point guard will be asked to play for the national team if it qualifies for the Basketball World Cup that will be held in Spain next year. According to Yahoo Sports, Chinese Taipei Basketball Association President Ting Shou-chung said on Sunday that Lin would officially be asked to play if the team was able to qualify for the tournament and they had a chance to clinch a spot on Sunday with a win in the FIBA Asia Championship, but they to South Korea 75-57. The team could make it in later as a wild card and if that happened the leaders would likely ask Lin.
The Rockets are heading into the season with very high expectations after signing Howard to a contract and along with James Harden, Chandler Parsons, Omer Asik and Marcus Camby, GM Daryl Morey feels the team has a championship roster right now. The team traded away a talented player in Thomas Robinson to set up the space for the deal and now the roster has two of the top players in all of the league with Howard and Harden. Lin will have a lot riding on him as the point guard and his backup Patrick Beverley also showed some flashes last season in the playoffs when Lin was hurt.
The point guard was previously asked to play for Taiwan in 2011 at the Asian championships in China, but he declined due to an injury, but also likely because of his popularity. Lin could play for the United States and could be asked to play for China and the organization thinks that Lin will want to play international basketball at some point. The report says that Lin will play in Taipei for a game in October between his Rockets and the Indiana Pacers and Ting added that he would ask Lin if the team could make it into the World Cup.
