Jackson: Don't blame Jeremy Lin move on me

--Mark Jackson had a great career with the Knicks, but he wants everyone to know he's not going to do them any favors as coach of the Warriors.

Knicks superfan Spike Lee sparked a bit of a controversy over the weekend when he texted Jackson a "thank you" for waiving Jeremy Lin in December so he could join the Knicks.

It was a joke, but Jackson still felt compelled to respond: Not true.

"I had nothing to do with Jeremy Lin," Jackson said. "I never saw him do a layup. So stop asking me. He never practiced for us, so leave me out of it."

Lin, a San Francisco Bay Area native who attended Harvard, signed a two-year deal with Golden State after being a surprise in training camp leading into the 2010-11 season. But the second year was not guaranteed, so the Warriors decided to cut ties on the first day of camp this season, choosing to maximize their salary-cap space as they pursued free-agent big man DeAndre Jordan.

--Asked by the New York Times to explain why the Warriors had cut loose Jeremy Lin in training camp, Larry Riley pointed the blame at himself.

"I have egg on my face in telling you that I didn't think he was going to become a starting point guard with a good team," the Warriors general manager admitted.

Bouncing back and forth between the Warriors and the NBA Developmental League last season after having made the NBA in training camp as an undrafted rookie, Lin totaled only 76 points and 42 assists in the 29 games in which Golden State coach Keith Smart summoned him from the bench.

Interestingly, Lin played just one scoreless minute when he made his Knicks debut at Golden State in December.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"What they're doing right now is playing off one another. They're realizing who has the hot hand." -- Warriors coach Mark Jackson, on guards Stephen Curry, who had 36 points in Thursday's win over Denver, and Monta Ellis, who led the way in Sunday's win over Houston with 33 points.

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