It is a wonderful time to be a New York basketball fan. In a broad sense, Syracuse is ranked No. 2 in the country, Iona has the potential to make some noise in the NCAA tournament and the Knicks are surging at a remarkable pace.

The point guard wonder Jeremy Lin has captivated a city and has made the Garden rock several times already. Jeremy Lin started his career making clutch shot after another.

Many of his highlights are so good, the previous amazing ones are forgotten. I am sure many have already forgotten about his game winning shot on Toronto. Now everyone is fixated in how he picked apart the defending champs top rated defense on Sunday afternoon.

In his first eight NBA starts, he scored 200 points and notched 76 assists. To put things in perspective Magic Johnson scored 184 points and tallied only 51 assists in his first eight starts.

With Lin on the court the Knicks field goal percentage sits at 48.0 points and with him off it sits at 41.4 points. In points per 48 minutes, the Knicks are at 102.0, while with him off they are at 91.7.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only four players since the NBA-ABA merger to score more points in their first eight starts are Bernard King, Shaquille O’Neil, Brandon Jennings and Michael Jordan.

This stat is astounding considering Lin is a point guard, whose main duty is to distribute the ball and run the offense. In particular, point guard is probably the toughest position to try and master as a rookie especially coming into New York.

As a Knicks fan who has been waiting for something like this to happen for a while, I am really pumped. As a Gael, I am also pumped for Iona College basketball.

While watching the Knicks for some reason, I also think of our Gaels.

I envision us pulling off an incredible run like the Knicks. Scott Machado can be Jeremy Lin. Dashing through the lanes, distributing the ball to playmakers, while still putting up high point and assist totals. Mike Glover reminds me of Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler. The bruising big man down low who is aggressive to the hoop with quick feet to get the dunk.

Kyle Smyth reminds me of Steve Novak. An explosive player off the bench who, if he is hot, can make almost any shot.

Landry Fields and Iman Shumpert remind me of Momo Jones and Sean Armand. Both have high amounts of athleticism and one or the other can really turn around a game when it is needed.

Like the Knicks, Iona has the tools to make a run. It is only a matter of time before the Gaels really heat up and pull off something special of their own.

It really is a special time to be paying attention to basketball in New York.There are not many times someone like Jeremy Lin comes along and brings an unprecedented amount of new energy to a team that looked like it was done. At Iona, there is also not many times a school of our size gets a team with NBA prospects.

Students should not take this team for granted because you never know what team will be here in the future.

Iona students go out and support your Gaels. They deserve it!