BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Jeremy Lin spoke to reporters before the game about the fans and the season, as well as progress moving forward into next season.

Lin started off by essentially thanking all the Nets fans who have stayed true, especially during one of the toughest seasons in franchise history.

“I’m just thankful to all the fans that are loyal and stayed true and kept coming to the games and kept rooting for us,” Lin said. “It’s a work in progress, but I feel like if the fans stick with us then we’ll be all right. I believe next year will be a much better year – not that I’m closing the book on this year yet. We still have three games left. I’m thinking about the home environment this year and next year and continue to build. We want to give them a product they can be proud and excited about.”

Of course, there’s been an emphasis on finishing out the season strong to gain momentum into the offseason and for next season. Lin, however, wouldn’t get into next year. It’s still about now and improving everyday.

“I mean we’re finishing strong, but complacency and comfort is the enemy of progress to me, so the minute I start thinking I’m doing well is the second I start not doing well. We just gotta be pedal to the ground our last three games and honestly I’m not even finishing strong for next season, I’m just finishing strong for this year. That’s the mindset with a lot of these guys. We don’t know what’s going to happen next year but we want to finish strong and we’re competitors so we want to do great everyday.”

“Yeah, I mean we knew we didn’t have the initial respect from everybody coming in. But unfortunately as the record shows, we haven’t done much to disprove that. Like I said, the progress and the improvement is what we see in the locker room,” Lin said when asked whether being the underdog served as a driving force.

The Nets still have two games left on the road following Saturday’s game against the Bulls. Lin has been sidelined for a good portion of the season, but in games he’s played, the Nets are clearly much more respectable than they were mid-season.

It’ll be a fun off-season knowing that he should be healthy and leading the Nets next year.