Houston Rockets preseason 2012: Jeremy Lin continues to struggle

The Rockets picked up a win Wednesday against the Hornets, but their star player Jeremy Lin was mostly ineffective. Lin's stat line for the night: 2 points, 5 assists, 6 turnovers in 31 minutes.

Carlos Delfino came off the bench to lead the Rockets with 20 points and Chandler Parsons threw in 18. Lin made just one of eight shot attempts against the Hornets and his preseason averages are even worse than reasonable expectations.

In five preseason games, Lin is averaging five points on 22 percent shooting, six assists, and three turnovers in just under 26 minutes a game. Lin is still recovering from a knee injury, but also said the knee feels about as good as he's expected, with no significant setbacks.

So what's the deal? To expect Lin to put up All-Star numbers, whether it's now or in the regular season, might be asking a bit much. He still has some adjusting to do, being in his first full season as an active member of an NBA lineup.

It's just that if he's supposed to play as much as we all anticipate, how long before our minds are made up on this? A test of patience here.

And speaking of patience...

Not much Royce White in the Hornets game. He played just eight minutes and missed the two shots he put up. The concern with White is obviously a lot different than the Lin situation, but here's another waiting game. As wonderful as it sounds that the Rockets are being supportive of White and his anxiety disorder, it all boils down to whether or not the rookie is worth the risk.

That's the awkward truth in all of this. And I think he is, from a basketball perspective and as a guy who really seems to handle himself responsibly (just from listening to him talk without really knowing him).

The Rockets have a lot of obscure players on this team, but the two with the slightest bit of star potential aside from Kevin Martin are Lin and White. They both just have us all watching and waiting.