Much has been written about David Lee, and why he should be starting... often it is tied to the criticism of Isiah Thomas, i.e. "he's an idiot, he should be starting David Lee, not (fill in the blank - Jeffries, Frye, Richardson)". This criticism, while common, must come from people who don't actually watch the freaking games...
Here's the deal - I love David Lee as much as anyone. He plays hard, hustles, and simply provides energy whenever he is on the court. But he doesn't start for the same reason Balkman (a.k.a. Black Lee) shouldn't start - he can't hit an open jumper. Period. The Bucks yesterday played a zone against the Knicks when Lee was in the game, doubling off Lee onto Curry. The Suns did a similar defense, as does any opponent with a semi-coherent coach. Lee hangs around in the paint, scouring for rebounds; this frees his man to double Curry, who most likely is also in the paint area. If Lee could hit an open jumper (like Frye), Curry could kick it out to him reliable for the open shots, forcing the defense to stay honest. Until Lee can hit that J, the Knicks have to keep him on the bench at the beginning of games while establishing Curry.
BTW, if you caught any of yesterday's game against the Bucks, you would have noticed that the fourth quarter was dominated by Balkman. He was the best player on the court for either team in the fourth, grabbing boards, hustling, blocking shots and generally doing Balkman-like things. He won't ever get the love that Lee gets, for two reasons: ONE, Lee is white and will always be more appreciated by the (white) media and (white) fans, but more significantly, TWO: Balkman was potrayed by the Zeke-hunting media as the joke of the draft, more proof of Thomas' incompetence. To admit that, yes, Balkman is actually another diamond found by Thomas in the rough (the real rough - the 2005 draft will go down as one of the worst of all time) is to admit that Thomas has some good GM skills. The Zeke-hunters in the media will never admit that, and those "fans" that don't watch the games will never know....
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