Lee vs.Crawford..Who Should Get the Minutes?

[sed522002]

In an interview Doc has pretty much said they need Crawford's O over Lee's D and that's why he's getting Lee's minutes.


Scott Souza ‏@scott_souza

#Celtics coach Doc Rivers on Courtney Lee vs. Jordan Crawford: Crawford is better on O, Lee better on D. Right now we need Crawford's O.

Scott Souza ‏@scott_souza

#Celtics coach Doc Rivers: Going forward Crawford vs. Lee minutes based on matchups. But in playoffs have to be ready when called.

gary washburn ‏@GwashNBAGlobe

Doc just made it clear Jordan Crawford was playing better than Courtney Lee and that's why he played more minutes in Game 2 #celtics #knicks

What do you think? Should Crawford be getting more playing time over Lee?

[ManUp]

I think Terry is the guy who's minutes should be called into question. He hit three shots yesterday and now those are his only 3 buckets of the series yet he's out there to score. Consider me unimpressed.

[The Rondo Show]

Why not play them both and cut back Terry's minutes.

I honestly don't get why guys like Lee, Williams, and Shav aren't playing. They CANT do any worse than what we have right now.

[Kane3387]

Whoever can score!

Were averaging less then 30 ppg in the second half of games this post season.

[Lucky17]

Not sure.

Conversely, one could argue that the need for offense wouldn't be as great if the Celtics were doing a better job of shutting down JR Smith and (God help me, I can't believe I'm typing this) Felton.

I was cheered to see JET finally hit some shots last night. Hopefully, it's the sign of more to come. If not, I agree: distribute some of his minutes. Ride the hot hand between the bench guards when it comes to offense.

[quidinqui33]

The problem with Doc's statement is that Lee can give us both offense and defense.  It's just that Doc has misused Lee on offense(and terry for that matter) all season.  He is trying to force them into being ray allen.  They are not ray allen!!!

Give Lee the same green light on offense that crawford for some reason "has earned" and I guarantee he would make things happen.

Lee was great against us in the playoffs a few years ago when in orlando and was great for houston. Heck, lee was a starter when we were playing our best ball this season and the doc just benches him after he tweaks his ankle.  What!?!

Doc's offense is so fricken restrictive and he does not let anyone create with the ball in their hands other than Pierce and now finally green after he was forced into it when players went out.  So all our shots are catch and shoot.  Our players are not catch and shoot players. 

I honestly think Doc should go back to the lee at SG in the starting line up and bring green off the bench to give the second unit some punch.  That really was our best lineup this season and with a more aggressive back in form green, can be even better.

I have always liked doc, but this year, he has really frustrated me.

[BballTim]

The problem with Doc's statement is that Lee can give us both offense and defense.  It's just that Doc has misused Lee on offense(and terry for that matter) all season.  He is trying to force them into being ray allen.  They are not ray allen!!!

Give Lee the same green light on offense that crawford for some reason "has earned" and I guarantee he would make things happen.

Lee was great against us in the playoffs a few years ago when in orlando and was great for houston. Heck, lee was a starter when we were playing our best ball this season and the doc just benches him after he tweaks his ankle.  What!?!

Doc's offense is so fricken restrictive and he does not let anyone create with the ball in their hands other than Pierce and now finally green after he was forced into it when players went out.  So all our shots are catch and shoot.  Our players are not catch and shoot players. 

  Lee's pretty much the same player this year that he's been for his entire career. The percentage of his baskets that are assisted is pretty much identical to the rest of his career. His per36 scoring is slightly better than Rondo's. Regular season Rondo, not playoff Rondo. He's not some offensive juggernaut that's trapped in an offense that doesn't take advantage of his skills, he's just a mediocre offensive player.

[quidinqui33]

  Lee's pretty much the same player this year that he's been for his entire career. The percentage of his baskets that are assisted is pretty much identical to the rest of his career. His per36 scoring is slightly better than Rondo's. Regular season Rondo, not playoff Rondo. He's not some offensive juggernaut that's trapped in an offense that doesn't take advantage of his skills, he's just a mediocre offensive player.

Yes, but the question is would you play him over crawford, who also is not an offensive juggernaut (though he may think he is and has convinced doc that he is).  For me, the answer is yes, because Lee was starting while we were playing our best ball this season (the 14 games after rondo went down), and for whatever reason Doc has chained him to the bench after the ankle injury in favor of crawford.  Given the same freedom on offense as crawford (the ability to shoot off the dribble and drive), I think lee would give us more and would help us on the other end as well, thus making Doc's argument of this being a choice between offense and defense irrelevent in my opinon.  Lee gives you both.

Ultimately, my stance is to replace crawford with Green, and replace green in the starting lineup with lee.  With most of the minutes going to green.

[sed522002]

Not sure.

Conversely, one could argue that the need for offense wouldn't be as great if the Celtics were doing a better job of shutting down JR Smith and (God help me, I can't believe I'm typing this) Felton.

I was cheered to see JET finally hit some shots last night. Hopefully, it's the sign of more to come. If not, I agree: distribute some of his minutes. Ride the hot hand between the bench guards when it comes to offense.

That's where I'm stuck at moment too. They have to make life tough for NY guards and JT and JC aren't going to do it. At the same time they need points in a bad way.

 I honestly don't think the competition needs to be between Lee and Crawford. It should be between Jet and Crawford, but Doc would never do that. He calls Lee out for not playing well, but makes excuses for Jet by saying it's his fault for not having Jet in the right positions.

[scaryjerry]

Is Crawford dating docs daughter? Don't even know why he's getting any minutes...offense? Woo his offense is offensive.

Lee and his defense alone can create more offense

[Fafnir]

Is Crawford dating docs daughter? Don't even know why he's getting any minutes...offense? Woo his offense is offensive.

Lee and his defense alone can create more offense

Since Lee's injury his defense hasn't been up to his usual standards.

[scaryjerry]

Is Crawford dating docs daughter? Don't even know why he's getting any minutes...offense? Woo his offense is offensive.

Lee and his defense alone can create more offense

Since Lee's injury his defense hasn't been up to his usual standards.

True..and I have nothing personally wrong with Jordan and wish he'd do something, I just see him as a player doc would typically have benched...I sense a mancrush of sorts...don't get it

[ben]

crawford, to answer the OP question. 

How about Williams though.  Of the 5 SG on this team (Ridiculous, and thats not even counting Pierce and Green who can each play the SG position better than the 5 other SG on the team, what team has 5-7 SG on one team?  what is going on??? )

Anyway, of the 5 SG on the team, Williams is the best passer and playmaker, and he is a bit taller.  So I would think he would be a perfect fit for taking some PG/SG minutes when we desperately need passing playmaking on the offensive side of floor. 

Bradley/Williams
Pierce/Bradley
Green/Pierce
Wilcox/Bass
KG/Randolf


Now there is a great 8 man rotation.  Thats what I want to see. 

[CelticConcourse]

Mix n' match.

Play well in your first three minutes on the court, or you're done for the game, and most likely the series. Get some competitiveness in there Doc, just like Sean Williams vs. Ryan Hollins.

That obviously worked really well last year.

[The Rondo Show]

Mix n' match.

Play well in your first three minutes on the court, or you're done for the game, and most likely the series. Get some competitiveness in there Doc, just like Sean Williams vs. Ryan Hollins.

That obviously worked really well last year.

It would be cool if Courtney got 3 minutes to play. Or Shav. Or TWill. Or Wilcox.