David Lee should be startingposted: Friday, January 26, 2007 | Print Entry
filed under: NBA

David Lee is such a ferocious rebounder, they'd be calling him DaWhite Howard in New York if only Isiah Thomas would let him start.

I drove up to the Knicks' practice fortress this morning in an effort to better understand Thomas' reasoning on this issue, because frankly I think he's digging his own grave by continuing to bring Lee off the bench. New York dropped to a season-low eight games below .500 entering Friday night's game against Miami, and the only player on the roster playing well enough to save both of Isiah's jobs is being unnecessarily held down for no good reason, as far as I can tell.

So what is the reason, Isiah? Why isn't David Lee starting?

"He's doing well right now, right?" Thomas replied. "When a guy's doing well in the place that he's at, that means he's probably in the right place. And you run the risk once you move him someplace else that he may not do as well. Right now, he seems to be doing OK, so I think I got him in the right spot."

Whether or not Thomas' point is valid, it would seem the risk-reward factor would prompt Thomas to shake up his lineup and give Lee a shot with the starters ... especially given the disparity between what Lee is producing compared to Thomas' preferred starting power forward, Channing Frye.

Frye has reached double figures in points 17 times and double figures in rebounds just twice all season, the last time more than a month ago. His minutes were cut to 20, 14 and 10 in the Knicks' most recent three games, and he has as many offensive rebounds this month ... 15 ... as Lee produced in the past five games. Lee, who has produced double-doubles in eight of 15 games this month and 22 times altogether this season, is getting the bulk of the minutes at power forward. But what's stopping Isiah from benching Frye and giving Lee those minutes, too?

At this point, what does Isiah have to lose?

I'll tell you what he has to lose: His pride. Thomas and his ego have a vested interest in trying to make both Frye and fellow unfathomable starter Jared Jeffries look good because Thomas, after all, was the one who invested so much in them, giving Jeffries the Knicks' full mid-level exception last summer, and using the ninth pick of the 2005 draft on Frye (Lee went 30th). If he benches either or both, he makes himself look bad. So he's stuck. Before he took over as coach, Thomas always said how difficult he thought it would be to wear two hats as both team president and coach ... and this is one of the reasons why.

I asked Isiah if wearing both hats was as tough as he had expected.

"I could probably better answer that question at the end of the year. Right now, when you're in it, you're just working and you've got your head down. Definitely bringing Glen (Grunwald) in has lightened the burden. He does everything in the office. He's basically the GM."

Thomas also told me he has not brought any proposed trades to owner Jim Dolan this season, so I asked him why ... especially since he was so eager to make moves earlier in his Knicks tenure.

"Well when I got here, we were in total full-blown rebuild. And since that time we've added five first-round picks, and our roster is a lot different than what it was two years ago. So now we've got to a place where we don't have to be as active, and we like what we have."

He'd like it a whole lot better if he'd let David Lee into the starting five. That's not just my opinion, it's pretty much the opinion of everyone who's taken a close look at the Knicks this season. Aside from Eddy Curry, Lee is the only guy showing "significant progress," and Isiah needs no reminder of how important "significant progress" is going to be when judgment day arrives at the Gates of Dolan.

__________________________

You have got to love the "DaWhite" Howard line. To me the whole thing is media hype. Chris even says in the article that Lee is getting more minutes. Why is starting such a big issue. He is getting more minutes and finishes the games. If this were any team other than the Knicks and if anyone other than IT was making the decision, this really would be a non-issue IMHO.

Does anyone think 6th man of the YEAR is in Isiah's thinking at all.

It is such a big issue, because of the point he brought up that isiah the coach doesn't want isiah the gm to look bad....

The team benefited when lee was a starter their winning percentage was higher and as usual isiah comes up with a bull**** excuse....

Balkman has been better than Jefferies all season yet loses the minutes to justify the signing. Lee needs to be out on the court till he can't play anymore, because his rebounding is critical to our success, our front court defense is horrendous so playing lee doesn't hurt the team it only enhances second chance points.

Getting back to the point if everyone thinks Steve Francis is going to be a disaster, Jerome James was the worst signing in the past few years, and Jared Jefferies isn't going to make a difference, than perhaps when someone believes David Lee starting would be beneficial to the team its probably the case.....

But as the master of disaster has pointed out the fans don't see what he does, which is clearly evident since his lineups have only showed promise when he doesn't have to make decision.

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by kam77:

Does anyone think 6th man of the YEAR is in Isiah's thinking at all.

If it's ever found that Isiah's coaching to get David Lee an award instead of winning ball games he should be fired right that second.

I agree totally NYK. Any coach with an agenda beyond winning games should very probably be fired.

oohah

This article assures me that IT mettled in LB's coaching affairs last yr. This dude is a FRAUD and can't be trusted.

It may be the case it may not. My question is, wouldn't he look better for having his #30 pick in the draft as the starter and doing great make him look better? And if the team does have more success Frye comming of the bench even though he was a lottery pick isn't thought of that much? And wasn't Thomas getting RIPPED for the Balkman pick. Wouldn't playing him more and him doing well and the team doing well because of it make Thomas look good? Patrick O'Bryant was a lottery pick, Hilton Armstrong was a lottery pick and one is going to the D-league and the other doesn't play at all. So why be scared of Frye comming of the bench?

If him trying to justify himself is the case and not because of fit or chemistry or something roster or team related then thats just stupid.

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

oohah

The article is a joke.

Posted by Rich:

The article is a joke.

??? Starting Frye over Lee is the real joke