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ESPN's Chris Sheridain's Webblog on Why IT does not start David Lee
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Michael6835
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1/27/2007  10:36 AM
Is anyone else tired of the IT media coverage or the constant asking of if he is gonna get fired. At what point does it become a distraction ?
It's amazing he is still able to command the respect of his players, especially with everyone knowing he is on the hot seat and could be gone. Personally it gets annoying, I'd much rather deal with those talks during the offseason.
M
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BlueSeats
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1/27/2007  11:19 AM
Posted by oohah:
Posted by BlueSeats:
Posted by oohah:

All I know is this: I have been Lobbying for David Lee to start since December...2005!

oohah

At SF?

In the frontcourt. I am not getting to caught up in whether we should call him PF or SF, he will play like David Lee no matter where he plays. If we slot him at SF he will have some trouble guarding the other team's SF but he will get better at it, and the other team's SF will have a hell of a time guarding him.

oohah



I agree, but I know you expected Frye to be "threatening" and there was also a contingent of Brown haters, of which you were one of the more vocal, who felt Brown was misusing Lee at SF and killing his game. I don't know if you shared their view, but that's what I'm trying to reconcile. Some of these same people also thought, at the time of his signing, that Jeffries would be just what this team needed at SF to shore our perimeter D.

At the time, none of these hopes/expectations (Lee starting, Jeffries starting, Frye "threatening") were unreasonable in and of themselves, but it's also hard to do all of them concurrently. But a lot of people positioned themselves to be right if any and all of those things happened. So I was just wondering what your expectations were with Frye, Lee and Jeffries all vying for two frontcourt positions. Their was also the possibility of Q in the mix for SF starters with Francis at SG.
technomaster
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1/27/2007  11:39 AM
I think IT is trying to accomplish 3 things:
1) get Lee the 6th man award
2) continue keep up Frye's confidence and spread the floor for Curry to start a game
3) keep Lee's production up/save him from early foul trouble

I think he's as fine a candidate for 6th man of the year and most improved player as anyone in the league (Gordon as prime competition for 6th man, and Kevin Martin at MIP).

I don't think he should be worried about starting - he's been getting starter minutes, and that's all that really matters. The issue is that he's gone through stretches where he hasn't reached 30mpg, and that has frustrated the fans.

I like the comparison to Dwight Howard... Dwight's got no polish to his offensive game either.
“That was two, two from the heart.” - John Starks
martin
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1/27/2007  11:41 AM
Posted by Rich:

The article is a joke.

for me, the joke about the article is the unasked question or thought: Is Frye that much worse off the bench and so Isiah sticks with him in the lineup.
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nyk4ever
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1/27/2007  11:42 AM
Posted by technomaster:

I think IT is trying to accomplish 3 things:
1) get Lee the 6th man award
2) continue keep up Frye's confidence and spread the floor for Curry to start a game
3) keep Lee's production up/save him from early foul trouble

I think he's as fine a candidate for 6th man of the year and most improved player as anyone in the league (Gordon as prime competition for 6th man, and Kevin Martin at MIP).

I don't think he should be worried about starting - he's been getting starter minutes, and that's all that really matters. The issue is that he's gone through stretches where he hasn't reached 30mpg, and that has frustrated the fans.

I like the comparison to Dwight Howard... Dwight's got no polish to his offensive game either.

Getting Lee an award means nothing in the longrun, the most important thing for this team is winning basketball games. The slow starts could be cut out all-together if you put Lee's hustle and energy on the court.
"OMG - did we just go on a two-trade-wining-streak?" -SupremeCommander
Nalod
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1/27/2007  11:49 AM
When you got the 7th leading rebounder in the league coming off the bench you got some serious "evident" progress!

And that is Isiah's "evident" goal!

To "evident" keep his job!

Its evident Isiah needs a strong coach to stand up to him!

Isiah the draft consultant is a "evident" good move.
bigbeast
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1/27/2007  12:18 PM
How could Isiah make himself look bad by starting the 30th pick in the draft that he and his staff discovered? Its not like he would benching his prized draft-pick Frye in favor of a Layden leftover. Essentially, he would be benching one of his players for....well....one of his players.

The same with Balkman. Everyone killed the Balkman pick. So if Isiah had an agenda, shouldn't he go out of his way to showcase Balk and stick in the the critics faces?

I wouldn't put it pass Isiah for having an agneda, but by making himself look bad by not playing gems that he discovered late in the draft isn't one of them.
"Man, who knows with this team." Aguirre.
TheGame
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1/27/2007  12:59 PM
Posted by bigbeast:

How could Isiah make himself look bad by starting the 30th pick in the draft that he and his staff discovered? Its not like he would benching his prized draft-pick Frye in favor of a Layden leftover. Essentially, he would be benching one of his players for....well....one of his players.

The same with Balkman. Everyone killed the Balkman pick. So if Isiah had an agenda, shouldn't he go out of his way to showcase Balk and stick in the the critics faces?

I wouldn't put it pass Isiah for having an agneda, but by making himself look bad by not playing gems that he discovered late in the draft isn't one of them.


I agree. I think IT honestly does not want to risk losing Frye by sitting him on the bench and he still believes Frye can be a starting caliber PF. Really, having Lee behind Frye helps push both. Lee keeps pushing to get into the starting lineup and Frye pushing to keep his starter position. I think Frye is playing better as of late and that might not have happened if IT sat him on the bench. It is the same strategy he tried with JJ2, but I think he now realizes JJ2 just is not going to bring it this year, so he has benched him.

Lee is one of the few players on this team that is just as effective off the bench as he is as a starter. Lee works well with the second unit and IT has been using Lee to finish games. I am not convinced that if you start Lee that means the team does not get off to slow starts. Moreover, if the team does still get off to a slow start, who are you now going to bring in for energy and hustle? I personally would start Lee, but I don't think we are losing games because he is not starting. So to me, it is a minor issue that is being blow out of propotion by a media hungry to create controversy on the team and for IT. What other team in the NBA do hear anyone talking about why some player is not starting.


[Edited by - TheGame on 01-27-2007 1:06 PM]
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oohah
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1/27/2007  1:02 PM
I agree, but I know you expected Frye to be "threatening" and there was also a contingent of Brown haters, of which you were one of the more vocal, who felt Brown was misusing Lee at SF and killing his game. I don't know if you shared their view, but that's what I'm trying to reconcile. Some of these same people also thought, at the time of his signing, that Jeffries would be just what this team needed at SF to shore our perimeter D.

At the time, none of these hopes/expectations (Lee starting, Jeffries starting, Frye "threatening") were unreasonable in and of themselves, but it's also hard to do all of them concurrently. But a lot of people positioned themselves to be right if any and all of those things happened. So I was just wondering what your expectations were with Frye, Lee and Jeffries all vying for two 2)frontcourt positions. Their was also the possibility of Q in the mix for SF starters with Francis at SG.

Gotta Run Blue so quickly:

1)I never hated Brown I really disliked his unwillingness to make any adjustments to his personnel.

2 Did anyone think that brown was killing Lee's game by playing him at SF? I don't remember that, but that certainly was not me. I just wanted the kid playing period. DNP's were killing him and us. Lee deserved 30+ minutes a game last year!

3) Frye and Lee co-exist nicely, Lee's playing time does nothing to hurt Frye's production. What seems to be hurting Frye is that he is the number 4 option and specifically the front-court is geared to getting Curry off and Frye is played to be a outside-shooting complement. That is okay, Frye is playing the role he has been given better all the time.

4) I don't give a rat's ass about Jeffries, he has never entered any of my equations really.

oohah

Good luck Mike D'Antoni, 'cause you ain't never seen nothing like this before!
fishmike
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1/27/2007  1:07 PM
how about just playing your best guys and the guys that have deserved the most minutes?

Lee has so outplayed any forward we have on this roster its not even funny. The fact that he's still getting 28 minutes a night while we see JJ and Frye bumbling around out there tells you everything you need to know about Isiah's coaching and 'agendas'
"winning is more fun... then fun is fun" -Thibs
oohah
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1/27/2007  1:36 PM
Posted by fishmike:

how about just playing your best guys and the guys that have deserved the most minutes?

Lee has so outplayed any forward we have on this roster its not even funny. The fact that he's still getting 28 minutes a night while we see JJ and Frye bumbling around out there tells you everything you need to know about Isiah's coaching and 'agendas'

I agree, and if you startyour best players then it is Curry, Lee, Frye, Q, and Marbury. Crawford is Vinnie Johnson.

I wonder how you can say that Frye is just "Bumbling Around"? Since after game 8, and especially since he came back from injury he has played much better and has filled the outside threat role he is played as quite well. He's had bad games, but even David Lee has had games where he has had trouble. Even David Lee.

Jared Jeffries has been bumbling around unquestioningly, and he deserves to take a seat. more importantly it just makes sense.

oohah

Good luck Mike D'Antoni, 'cause you ain't never seen nothing like this before!
ESPN's Chris Sheridain's Webblog on Why IT does not start David Lee

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