David Lee 10/19 shot chart
Yeesh, a lot of missed outside shots above this sentence fragment.
David Lee went 1 for 11 against the Suns. Though I try to wring preseason for all the predictive truth it might hold, I feel like a cop interrogating an innocent:
Detective Strauss: Tell me if the Golden State Warriors will suck! (Pounding the desk) Dammit, I know you’re hiding something!
Preseason: I don’t know anything (Quivering). I swear, I’m ju-juh-just a humble preamble that allows Radmanovic to pretend like he’s a real life NBA impact player.
So, the usual qualifiers apply: Yes, it’s preseason, it’s one game, even an elephant would eventually forget it.
But it’s a game where David Lee couldn’t buy buckets by skill or by luck. And the abysmal outing spoke to a downward trend–a crater on the sinking slope. Lee is contributing early, but not shooting efficiently. And I fear he’s firing from too far away–outside Hubie’s painted area. Back at Open Practice–when I asked David about his role in the GSW Pick n’ Roll–he described a world with fewer layups and more midrange jumpers:
“It’s a little bit of a difference because in New York I was a five, so the rest of the floor was spaced. Now we have Andris down on the block, so his man will be kind of waiting there, so slipping isn’t going to be as effective. Picking and popping or roll and replace is going to be more what we’re running this year, and I can do that too.”
Perhaps Lee is practicing for future chances off the pick and pop (Biedrins only played 16 minutes), and these are warmup bloopers. Perhaps he’s struggling en route to an efficiency drop. His worst shooting night last year was an inglorious 4-14, 28.6% Atlanta outing. This 1-11 effort was almost two-thirds worse, but in a game that had almost zero meaning.
If you are trying to be a better writer then i would adapt a different tone to what you write. We have enough negative Nancy’s on the Dubs boards. I know you don’t want to sound like a homer and be all positive, so find a happy medium. I personally don’t go back to a write if he is just a hater.
Don’t sweat it too much, like you said, it’s preseason, at least give him until November before panicing.