When I hear analysts and coaches around the league speak of David Lee, I'm always curious as to why they use adjectives such as; gritty or hard-nosed even blue-collar. The only sensible reasoning I can come up with is that it's a silent form of under-toned racism.
David Lee is a very talented and athletic basketball player for the New York Knicks. Drafted in June of 2005, Lee is finishing up his best season thus far of his career. In February, Lee was selected as an injury replacement to the Eastern Conference all star team as a reserve; many thought he should have been on the team to begin with. Before being drafted he spent four years at the University of Florida under Billy Donavan. Despite averaging over 20 points per game and over 11 rebounds, I am hesitant to label him what others have.
Yes, Lee is playing out of position; he is sure to let you know it in any interview after a loss. He's been doing it for several years now in the NBA. Until this season, he lacked many of the skills required to be a power forward in the league. His vast improvement to his outside touch has become a serious asset in his ability and will surely increase the interest of other teams during this free agency period. Let's discuss some of those stats for a second. I mentioned the additions he has made to his scoring repertoire; the jumper, the drives to the basket, and the ability to finish with either hand. Lee has extremely good rebounding numbers but I am going to call them inflated.
Nobody on the Knicks rebounds whatsoever; he is the only one. Therefore anything that comes off the rim is virtually his. Rebounds off free throw misses etc....If you watch any given game you will notice, David Lee does not box out. I'm not expecting him to box out an entire opposing team but he is often caught standing and watching shots go up without putting a body on a man. Given the fact that his shot blocking ability is non existent, that also gives him an advantage on the defensive glass that many other center's or power forwards do not have. On the offensive glass, I would say he is pretty strong, he certainly has a nose for the loose ball. However my friends, so does Zach Randolph. Randolph actually leads the NBA in total offensive rebounds this season as well as offensive rebounds per game. Is he labeled as blue collar? Is he known as hard nosed or gritty? Absolutely not.
Clearly the league looks a little different than it did many years ago. In 1995 a study was done and that statistics showed that out of the 357 total players in the league, 290 of them were black. (NBA Study) given that fact, I feel that analyst are a little too quick to classify certain guys in order to make up for skills they may or may not have.
Since David Lee is white, and most of the other white guys in the league are not high flying dunkers or prolific scorers or even rebounders, it is my opinion that this is why he gets placed in the category of gritty or blue collar. Gritty means to me that a guy who is lacking a surplus of talent, puts himself on an even playing field with those who possess more talent than he does with hard work and dedication. I don't see how you can say these things about David Lee. Why is it that when you are white and good, you must be gritty or hard nosed? Even in baseball, Yankees' center fielder Brett Gardner, is constantly called gritty while fellow ball player Joey Gathwright is constantly referred to as athletic. To me, it makes no sense.
On many occasions I have seen Lee shy away from contact and make very little effort on defense. I have seen gritty, I watched Oakley and Mason wear the orange and blue for years. They were gritty! In fact, that entire Knick team from 1992-1995 defined the phrase 'blue collar.'
If I had the chance to break down his game in front of him, it might go like this, "I love your game man, offensively you're one of the most talented big men in the league. Conversely, you are one of the worst defensive players in the league."
The french phrase "laissez faire" comes to mind when thinking of David Lee. He doesn't close out the ball handler well at all, he rarely puts a hand up on shooters and as i said before, he doesn't box out. Yes, one could say that is a common theme around the league, because it is. After watching Knick teams that might have had a fraction of the talent that the teams from the last four or five years has had, it is hard for me to award David Lee with praise in this way. I like his attitude toward the game and I've already said he is very skilled. People need to realize that there was a reason teams made zero effort to sign him in the summer of 2009. aside from being the only bright spot on a disastrous Knicks roster, I don't think Lee's stats are anything more than an inflated product of a system and a depleted team.
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I think you are reading too much into this. I don't hear what you say being said about Nash, Notwitski, or the several other white Euro guys playing in the league these days. Larry Bird, one of the greatest ever was a gritty hard nosed player and proud of it. There are plenty of black ones too. Could it be that DLee actually IS a gritty hard-nosed player? The rest, i.e his mid-range jumper, ball handling skills have come from nothing but hard work. Just the thing you'd expect from a gritty hard-nosed player. He should be commended for that, not used as a racial bludgeon. There are several big guys from Florida now playing in the league, both black and white who play the exact same gritty hard-nosed game, which tells me that coaching in college may have had a big hand in DLee's game.
ReplyDeleteIt would be shameful to limit analysis of Dirk's and Nash's to gritty. They are superstars, david Lee is not. David Lee is a talented player who is falsly labeled as a gritty player because there is a lack of a middle ground for players like him. people like it to be day or night when they speak of players. Lee is not gritty on the court. I wouldn't call him Lazy but if you read the article I named some players I thought were gritty.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the other Florida bigs in the league, i assume you are referring to Horford and Noah, if you think about it, both of them are superior defensively to Lee. By a lot. they also both play with the type of attitude that Lee does not play with.