David Lee is a Warrior and Why I Hate “Lee” (as a name) [Childhood Scars]

Saturday, July 10th, 2010
David Lee of the New York Knicks

Image via Wikipedia

David Lee is going to be a Warrior (see: Golden State Warriors set to announce trade for David Lee on Friday), with the deal reported at 6 years, 80 million.

I like David Lee a lot, but I do hate the name Lee. Both as a First and Last name. And people with the name Le (Vietnamese last name), but pronounce it Lee, like Cung Le (or at least the announcer did during his last Strikeforce match). It is actually pronounced more like “lay” as in Lay’s Potato Chips.

When I was in summer school one year (sometime either 4th or 5th grade), there was a white kid named Lee (obviously) who would bully me. Not even sure it was bullying for money, he would just always flick my ears, and that would be super annoying (and painful) to me.

So I really hated that guy.  And this is probably why the name when associated with white people annoys me.

For me, Lee is an Asian name (In Vietnamese, it’s actually Ly), and that surely, is just silly and wrong. Nonetheless, that’s a knee-jerk feel that I can’t get rid of rather than something based on intelligence. So I hate all non-Asian Lee. Robert E. Lee. Lee Majors, Lee Smith.

Anyway. And know there’s David Lee.

Here’s the projected lineup after the trade:

  • PG: Stephen Curry – will be better than Steve Nash
  • SG: Monta Ellis – if he can get back to playing off the ball, with less turnovers, this guard tandem will be amazing
  • SF: Reggie Williams? They need a superior perimeter defender here, even if just in the Thabo or Bowen mode. I wonder if a Battier trade is possible. Reggie is a good talent, but not sure if a 6’3 guy without insane length or athleticism should be your SF. (edit: July 11. I was wrong, Reggie does have really good length, he has a 6’9 wingspan. But he’s also a true 6’3)
  • PF: David Lee
  • C: Andris Biedrins – can he be the 15 point 11 rebound pick and roll cleanup monster of two years ago, or will he let his free throw struggles affect his aggressiveness and confidence as he did last year.

I’ve linked some of the pro and cons of the trade by Marcus Thompson and Tim Kawakami.

The ultimate conclusion is this, David Lee is a good player. In fact, I didn’t even know he was an All Star last year. Anthony Randolph has the talent to be an amazing player. The fact that I’m torn on whether this is a good trade or not, probably means that it’s a fair trade on both sides.

I mentioned before I like David Lee a lot. He hustles, he’s athletic, he can finish- he is just an extremely efficient and skilled offensive player, including passing the ball (3.5 assists per game last year as a Center, including 1.5 Assist – 1 TO ratio). On defense, the experts agree that he isn’t so great, but he does rebound, and he does work hard, hustling and diving everywhere.

I actually don’t think this trade comes down to David Lee. I think it comes down to everyone else.

Particularly Brandan Wright. Wright’s just one of the forgotten worries because when the season starts he won’t have played in regular season NBA game for 2 and a half years. But he’s super-talented, super long, but if he can show he’s the real deal, we can all not worry about the trade. (I do wonder though, why couldn’t they trade Randolph for Kevin Love straight up? What also pains me is seeing Michael Beasley go to the Wolves for a second rounder. Why can’t he be a Warrior?)

What’s actually more unfortunate is that they also had to give away Turiaf, a great backup center, and Azubuike, a great swingman off the bench whom I expect to continue to improve. Hopefully, Udoh can a great defensive player with a solid mid-range jumper (I doubt his overall post play), and not just another Shelden Williams / college dominator.

So here we are again: I’m optimistic about the Warriors, because I can’t help it. I wanted the Warriors to make something happen, and they have.

Now if they can find a way to get Battier….and Udoh and Wright can pan out, and we’d have a pretty damn good team. Or at least a fun one.

Here’s a mix of David Lee highlights that shows his overall talent level:

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10.07.2010 Basketball View Comments

My Fantasy Basketball Team

Sunday, October 26th, 2008

2008-10-26_12-04-28-762

Just completed my first fantasy basketball draft, put up $40 to play/lose with some friends.

Overall, I really like this team. One of my keys is that I focus a little more on rank than Yahoo’s O-Rank. O-Rank is the 3 year history from the past, so it’s more stable in terms of assessing a player. But I say look at last year’s rank heavily as well. For example, Mike Dunleavy was ranked 20th last year and most people take him in the 40’s. Assuming you don’t think he’s a fluke (I don’t), you can get a lot of value by getting him.

I got rode for picking David Lee 61st, but last year that’s exactly what he was ranked- plus he’s going to be a starter this year (switching between both positions) and playing heavy minutes. So, if he were to just perform like he did last year, I got exact value, but I expect him to do better, so I think I did fine.

Overall, I focused on value. I think I may end up weak in steals and blocks but feel good about everything else (we’ll have to see once the season starts). This team is going to be pretty efficient, no volume shooters or turnover machines on the team.

I had the 2nd pick overall, which is exactly what I wanted, it was that pattern I wanted because I felt I could get some good picks in the 18-22 range that others didn’t see. I picked a fairly young team, other than Manu, a team I felt has improvement, and as you’ll see if some of them at least meet last year’s numbers, I’m going to be doing well.

Here’s how I picked, with commentary:

10 teams, 10 rounds, 100 players:

  • #2 pick (ranked #2 last year), Amare Stoudemire: best center around, plays two positions, no real weaknesses. I expect his stats to continue to improve from last year
  • #19 pick (ranked #12 last year), Danny Granger: I thought this was a great value here. A lot of people think he will go up as well, but I’d be happy with last year’s results. I actually wanted a PF here, like Dwight Howard or Al Jefferson, but they went #8 and #13, really surprising me. Someone also took Nash at #7, which amazes me.
  • #22 pick (#29 last year), Jose Calderon: now that he’ll be playing 35 minutes per game, I think he’ll have no trouble earning his value, and at worst make up those 7 spots.
  • #39 (#24 last year), Rudy Gay: I considered my 4th/5th round picks steals, honestly.
  • #42 (#20 last year) Mike Dunleavy: I’ve always been a Dunleavy fan, not that I think he’s so good, just want him to succeed
  • #59 (#47 last year) Andris Biedrins: Andris is pretty consistent, I don’t expect him to go that much lower or higher, but I do foresee 11 pts, 11 rebounds, 1-1.5 blocks at 60% shooting and 60% from the line if he can finally get 30-32 minutes per game.
  • #61 (#61 last year), David Lee
  • #79 (#224 last year, projected as #71 this year by Yahoo!), Randy Foye: this was honestly my toughest pick. There were other good players in this range. Jason Terry was picked 95th, and I was considering him with this pick. Foye is a bit of a risk, but he’s definitely the starter this year, so he will have his chances. He certainly has the talent, and the ability to fill up a lot of stats.
  • #82 (#17 last year), Manu Ginobili: this is of course a risk, but from what I’ve read Manu will be back before Christmas, and he’s just worth it, to me. Another thing in getting Manu, was that I didn’t want to have to stress over who was going to pick him on the Free Agent list first. The rest of my team is actually fairly (I have no injury prone Yaos) durable (everyone, please don’t get injured!) so I’m taking the chance I can assume the risk of him on the bench.
  • #99 (#76 last year), Francisco Garcia: I didn’t know Garcia was injured until after the draft, but he could be back by mid-Nov, so not too big of a loss. He’s another guy I expect to improve and play starter minutes. He has a lot of skills, and can fill up the stat sheet. Obviously, there a lot of good players still out there, and I was thinking about releasing him, but just not sure who to get.

I think it was awesome that I came down (and got right value) with Rudy Gay, David Lee, and Calderon, as though were the guys I really favored. I got 6 of the top 29 players last year. If everyone plays exactly (not even improve) as they did last year (no crazy injuries of course, Manu comes back before Jan), I have no reason to think I will fin outside of the money (3rd place to get your money back), and I would be happy with that considering I’ve never played.

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26.10.2008 Basketball View Comments

Fantasy, Shmantasy Basketball

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Preparing for my first fantasy (on Yahoo! where else) basketball season. Hai invited me to join him and a bunch of people I probably don’t know but whom have created fancy team names like joseph sPalin and Kimbo Rice. (I’m guessing we have other Vietnamese people in this league) $20-40 per team (maybe I should ask Hai to finalize this, I wouldn’t want the stakes to suddenly go higher at the end of the year when I’ve lost to him), 10 teams in all, I think.

It’s complicated. Sure, I generally know who’s good in basketball and who isn’t, I can read all the advice columns I want on the Internet, read mock drafts, etc, but it’s all a ton of work. And nothing, really, is going to beat experience (in terms of multiple years of playing fantasy) and/or luck.

All the numbers are so complicated, it’s hard to see how it all fits, but I’m sure once the season starts I’ll easily see, oh, not good.

Maybe Yahoo should have a team advisor to let you know where your standing would be in each category based on last years stats as you draft, which is probably a fairly critical part of the season.

My feeling is that I will think I did ok and then realize I’m glaringly weak in 1 or 2 categories I’ve forgotten.

Anyway, with my draft 10 days away, here’s some “advice” on whom I like:

  • Jose Calderon, PG, Raptors: if you follow this site, you know I’m a big fan. I think he can put up Steve Nash numbers (same %’s, slightly less points, much better A:TO ratio)- after all who thought Steve Nash would put up Steve Nash numbers before he joined the Suns. Calderon can now hog all the minutes with TJ Ford gone, and he’s got another target in Jermaine O’Neal. I hope to pick him up 3rd round (4th round would be awesome)
  • Rudy Gay, SF, Grizzles: Maybe this year’s Danny Granger (would be happy with 3rd round for him)

I always remember this video of Rick Majerus talking about Rudy Gay:

 

  • David Lee, PF/C, Knicks: He already has great stats, but now that he’s going to start, expect him to go insane, I seriously don’t doubt he could do 15 pts and 12 rebounds/game, with 50%/80% from the floor and line, with added passing, and low turnovers. Incidentally, Lee is a fantastic basketball player, not just a fantasy guy- every article I read about his overall contribution, like his +- says he is just bad ass (I would go for him 6th round, mainly because he gets credit as a Center)
  • Kevin Durant, SF, Thunder: I have him slated for the end of the 4th round. He’s a bit of a risk because the swingmen position are always loaded. Here’s why I like him. He’s a beast. He’s young. He’s going to be a lot better this year than last. Look at the last half of his rookie year, and if he improves on those a little, you can be excited: 22 points per game, 48% from the floor, 6 FTA @ 88% from the line, 5 rebounds, 3 assists,1 steal, .75 blocks. The weaknesses are the 3 ball (he can shoot it, just needs to show restraint like he did in the second half) and turnovers (3 per game). But I think with Jeff Green improving, and Russell Westbrook coming in, he can make the jump.
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15.10.2008 Basketball View Comments

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