Courtney Lee hitting his refined stroke with the second unit

Courtesy of: David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

Courtney Lee’s first season in Boston was a bit up and down, except for his jump shot. Lee shot a solid 46% from the field and 37% from downtown, but yet he came into this season looking to refine his jump shot. But why? He apparently developed a delay in his jump shot at some point during last season:

(Via Chris Forsberg ESPN Boston):

"I don't know where it came from, I was swinging the ball from my left side to my right when I shot," said Lee. "In the years before, I never did that. I had to get back to working on not doing it."

It must’ve been something he felt, because the numbers don’t show it. Kwame Graves-Fulgham the Video Coordinator/Assistant of Basketball Development spliced together clips of Lee's jump shot from throughout his career to assess the hitch, and then they began the polishing. So far so good on this short season as he’s shooting a staggering 57% from the field and 36% from 3-point land. More importantly though, he’s comfortable:

"I'm back to playing with confidence," he said. "Taking my shots, playing within the flow, pretty much back to playing the way I was playing before I came to Boston last year."

Lee has added some much needed offense into the team’s second unit, now that everyone’s roles have fallen into place. He’s playing fewer minutes than last year but at a much more efficient clip and the advanced stats back it up. According to Synergy data Lee is averaging 1.119 points per play ranking, him in the 92nd percentile. He is also the owner of the best individual offensive numbers on the roster, and the fourth highest player efficiency rating. Click here to check current basketball lines.

Stats can be deceiving but he’s definitely passing the eye test though. He’s making plays and impacting games with his hard play. I would like to see him get more minutes to see if he can keep up this pace. He needs to make an impact now before Rondo gets back, adding more depth to an already tight back-court rotation. This Celtics team has been playing way above expectations, much like another Boston team. Lee's even jumped onboard with the beards that those guys over at Fenway had:

"When I told [Green] I wasn’t shaving this month, he was like, ‘You know it’s November,'" said Lee. "I was like, ‘Cool, let’s do the No-Shave November.’ So I’m already three weeks ahead of Jeff. We’re going to do it for this whole month."

So far this season though, this is the guy I anticipated seeing in a Boston uniform.


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