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[action781]

While we heard a lot about it at the time of his acquisition and in the preseason, there has been very little chatter about Courtney Lee's defense so far this season.

I thought last night, he was one of the silent keys to our victory.  Jameer Nelson was on fire and then Courtney Lee came in to the game and absolutely shut him down.  Lee's height advantage clearly bothered Nelson and made things difficult for him, while he was able to pick up Nelson 30 feet from the hoop, fight through picks, and is quick enough to not get beat on the drive.  Lee was switched onto Afflalo and Redick for a few possessions too where I noticed they did nothing against him.

Despite Wade's final line of 10/22 for 29 points, I thought Lee did a very good job of defending Wade 1-1 on opening night.  Wade torched a few players on our team that night, most noticeably to me was Jeff Green, but Lee was not one of them (except on that back door cut when Lee gambled for a blind side steal which I think will serve as a learning experience for a defensively intelligent player like Lee).

Lee has been getting thrown into a lot of trade ideas lately, and I understand we need to give up players and salary to get a player of need (like Gortat), but I think Lee could be a very valuable defensive player for us going forward if the celtics make a decision as a team to return to a defensive-oriented basketball team which we no longer are (gave up 100+ points in 4 straight games).

I very much appreciate what he brings to this team and thought I'd open this thread for discussion on him.

[pearljammer10]

I believe that Lee is Bradley three years from now only a little better on offense and a little worse on defense. If Bradley can net us a good center in a trade we have to make it because Lee can totally fill that role. He is just more established and experience without as much injury risk.

[papa shuttlesworth]

As Lee has become a little more comfortable and has been able to show us his defense more, I've been impressed. I think that, unlike Rondo and Bradley (who seem very quick and use their hands to go for steals), Lee seems to use his body more to just get in the way of where the other guy wants to go and makes him a non-factor.

(This isn't to say that Bradley doesn't have good positioning or Lee doesn't have good hands, just that they do the same thing differently.)

[BleedGreen1989]

I've always been a Courtney lee fan and was very excited to get him. I agree he makes Bradley somewhat expendable and I think doc and Danny know this

[Lightskinsmurf]

Yeah um...........LEE has been a complete disappointment as far as im concerned. I think he will be benched once ab returns.

[manl_lui]

as much as I like Lee, and agree with you that he is good on defense...but I do not agree that we should trade Bradley. What Bradley has shown us is that he is consistent on offense, lock-down defender. I think he will be a more superior defender in 3 years compare to Lee. He brings energy and locks down his opponents from half court. Tbh, I think Wade is more afraid of Bradley than Lee.

So no, I will not give up Bradley just to keep Lee. What I think we should do is wait for Bradley to come back and see how the rotation works out between Lee/Bradley/Jet/Barbosa

[BudweiserCeltic]

Lee should be starting instead of Terry. The Terry/Rondo combo doesn't work well defensively and it's not letting us get off to the good starts we're used to, also Rondo and Pierce rarely uses Terry when he's on the floor to begin with, so whatever he brings to the table, it's not adding anything to us early in the ballgame.

[moiso]

Lee played good defense last night, but he is not really in Bradley's class defensively.  Bradley is the rare guard who makes a completely noticable impact defensively in every single game he plays in.

[Who]

Lee should be starting instead of Terry. The Terry/Rondo combo doesn't work well defensively and it's not letting us get off to the good starts we're used to

Agreed -- Terry is not a starting two guard in this league. He is just too large of a liability as a defender/rebounder. Courtney Lee is a much better option as the starting two.

[Fafnir]

Lee should be starting instead of Terry. The Terry/Rondo combo doesn't work well defensively and it's not letting us get off to the good starts we're used to

Agreed -- Terry is not a starting two guard in this league. He is just too large of a liability as a defender/rebounder. Courtney Lee is a much better option as the starting two.

That's what I was thinking as well, but I think we're stuck with Terry starting until Bradley is back due to Doc's tinkering during the initial struggles this season.

[action781]

Lee should be starting instead of Terry. The Terry/Rondo combo doesn't work well defensively and it's not letting us get off to the good starts we're used to

Agreed -- Terry is not a starting two guard in this league. He is just too large of a liability as a defender/rebounder. Courtney Lee is a much better option as the starting two.

Eh, I thought this as well.  But the celts are 6-3 with Terry starting and 2-3 (those 2 wins both coming over the winless washington wizards) with Lee starting.

These records over small samples are of course much deeper than simply whether Lee/Terry starts, but at the same time, you are what your record is.  If we continue to play at a 66% win clip, I am happy with Terry continuing to start, regardless of how effective they are individually.  66% win pct over the course of a season is a 2 or 3 seed in the East and I think that's the goal here.

[2short]

Lee played good defense last night, but he is not really in Bradley's class defensively.  Bradley is the rare guard who makes a completely noticable impact defensively in every single game he plays in.

agree
I really think Lee starting this season with bradley out could have really found a niche with the celtics.  His game was off.  I am still pretty happy for this year once the bench guys get it together.  Funny I'd have to say the rookie Sully has found his bench game and is more dependable right now than terry, lee, green or wilcox.  Once those 4 guys are firing on all cylinders we are going to be fun to watch.

modifying!  I appreciate Lee's defense by the way.  He does a nice job.  Loved last night's fast break where he filled the lane and didn't even need to dribble.  Of course rondo was padding his assist totals in passing to Lee 

[Lightskinsmurf]

Lee should be starting instead of Terry. The Terry/Rondo combo doesn't work well defensively and it's not letting us get off to the good starts we're used to

Agreed -- Terry is not a starting two guard in this league. He is just too large of a liability as a defender/rebounder. Courtney Lee is a much better option as the starting two.

That's what I was thinking as well, but I think we're stuck with Terry starting until Bradley is back due to Doc's tinkering during the initial struggles this season.

Yeah, I've pretty much accepted the fact terry is the starter until AB returns. I hope that's sooner rather than later.

[bfrombleacher]

This is why I'm more open to trading AB now. Because CLee can shut Wade down.

I have, however, become a proponent of waiting it out and seeing where this current roster takes us. The fact that we are less than 20 games into the season is completely overlooked by everyone here for some reason. Ugh.

However, if need be, AB for a decent big is very possible from the looks of it.

[cman88]

This is why I'm more open to trading AB now. Because CLee can shut Wade down.

I have, however, become a proponent of waiting it out and seeing where this current roster takes us. The fact that we are less than 20 games into the season is completely overlooked by everyone here for some reason. Ugh.

However, if need be, AB for a decent big is very possible from the looks of it.

in what way has Courtney Lee shut wade down?