I Warned You A David Lee Blog Was Coming

I stand by my teams (and my boyfriends) no matter what. The Knicks aren't the Eastern Conference powerhouse they used to be, but that doesn't mean I love them any less. Since a return to glory is probably a season or two away (after we get this Stephan Marbury situation figured out, deal him out of here, and free up some salary cap space), I have to get excited about the little things. It's the small victories that are making me happy this season, like the way we took down Golden State a few weeks ago, and how we embarrassed the Grizzlies in Memphis. One game at a time.

I am also taking great joy in the fact that the Knicks are SHOCKING the fantasy basketball world right now! Allow me to quote Fantasy Writer Jeff Lippman, in an article entitled Unbe-Lee-vable.

With Christmas time and the holidays fast approaching, Mr. Fantasy implores owners not to look gift horses in the mouth. Don't take what you've been given by the grace of God and Isaiah Thomas and flush it down the toilet.

Don't follow? I'm talking, of course, about the curious case of the New York Knicks and their magical Fantasy point-producing offense under coach Mike D'Antoni. The Knicks have been the source of a number of Fantasy breakouts this season. Nobody could have predicted Chris Duhon's emergence as a top Fantasy point guard. Who ever thought Al Harrington would average 27 points per game? It would have taken a Fantasy clairvoyant to forecast the incredible leap in value made by Wilson Chandler, Tim Thomas, Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson this year.

But with all those guys above, right now there is one Knick who is standing out from all the rest and taking the league by storm. With 16 double-doubles in his first 25 games, David Lee is third in the NBA behind only Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, which is some pretty sweet Fantasy company.

David Lee has been great lately but I keep hearing pundits express concern that playing, more specifically defending, bigger centers every night will wear on him as the season goes along -- it was unnerving to see Shaq knock him around Monday night. Is now the time to move him? Is his value is as high as it will ever get? -- Chilibon Karakachanov, New York

JL: The "pundits" you are talking about are worried because the ambidextrous Lee has been suffering from a bad back in recent days. That back problem forced Lee to finish with just 10 points and one rebound in 24 minutes on Dec. 10 at the Nets, snapping his 10-game double-double streak in the process. All Lee has done since is average almost 17 points and 15 rebounds in his last three games. Plus, in 31 minutes banging against Shaq, you say he got tossed around, we say he still recorded 15 points and 12 boards and shot 7-of-9 from the floor.

Lee is a pretty tough character and we think, for better or worse, he'll be able to stay healthy throughout this season. That said, his value is not going anywhere. He's only getting better and better in his fourth year in the league out of the University of Florida. You could certainly trade him and expect to get very good value in return, but if his unexpected value has helped you thus far there is no need to worry about it dropping off anytime soon.

JEFF LIPPMAN IS MY NEW BFF. In case you haven't heard, singing David Lee's praises is the perfect way to get on my good side. If only fantasy points were directly equivalent to NBA wins. My Knicks would be well on their way to a division title.

Whatever. I'm still going to enjoy the hell out of this.

-boogie