Courtney Lee: The Unbelievable Rookie

Hard to believe Courtney Lee is a rookie.

Derrick Rose was amazing during his first trip to the playoffs.

Micheal Beasley did some big damage to the Atlanta Hawks.

Big name rookies made noise this year,  but none more so than Courtney Lee.

I am almost convinced there is a conspiracy going on here. Courtney Lee can't be a rookie. Rookies don't play with such poise and confidence. They aren't such a big impact player on contending teams. They aren't always so fearless and go all out to get the win, especially ones that get chosen 22nd overall.

Apart from Lee of course. 

The Magic lost out to the Los Angeles Lakers last night but it was still an incredible season for the team. They reached contender status and silenced their critics and Lee was a big part of that.

Nearly a year ago, the Magic choose to select Lee at the 22nd spot in the first round. He had previously spent all four years at Western Kentucky University, he was named the Sun Belt Conference player of the year and left the school tied as the all-time leading scorer.

Despite this success, he was relatively unknown, perhaps due to the strength of that years draft and the sheer number of well-known names.

No one really batted an eyelid at the pick, and no one really expected Lee to make much of an impact on a team that probably wouldn't even make the Conference Finals.

It took three games for Lee to even get to step onto the court and it took until November for him to score double figures.

But the first time he was given 30 minutes in a game, against Minnesota on December third, he scored 19, shooting eight of ten from the field and making three three-pointers.

He learned quickly, and his minutes increased as the year went on. The Magic made more and more noise and Lee was a part of it. The team had three All-Stars in Howard, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson, so Lee was never considered a star of the team. He did become a starter though, and played his role as well as you could ask from a rookie.

When the postseason started, the Magic were facing issues. They had dropped down to the third seed and critics were concerned more than ever at the absence of Nelson, and whether a mainly- jump shooting team could go far into the playoffs.

They lost their first game, at home, against the Sixers, and the pressure was suddenly on. Game 2 was a must-win, lose that and this postseason could have been very different.

Lee came through big. He was the team's leading scorer in the win with 24, in just his second ever playoff game.

Later in the series, a Dwight Howard's elbow decided to slam into Lee's head, causing him to miss three games, the last of the Sixers series and the first two of the Boston series. The team missed him while he was gone, though they managed to win two of the three.

Though Lee's minutes seemed to dwindle somewhat during the Cavs series, and especially in the finals, Lee made the most of what he was given, and though the Magic fell short; it would have been a lot harder to get even that far without the rookie.

His numbers aren't astounding. He didn't light up for 30 during these playoffs or anything of that sort.

But numbers can't really show you the point I'm trying to make here; its just the way that he plays.

During the Cleveland series, Lee got a run out to the basket and Lebron James was running fast behind him, the Cleveland fans had seen this scenario several times already this season, always resulting in James swatting the ball into the stands.

Surely, against a rookie, it would be the same deal?

It would not, Lee slammed it down hard on the fastbreak and he sent a message.

Its hard enough just playing on an NBA court, never mind the playoffs. Never mind the Finals. There's no bigger stage he could have been on, and yet he was never shaken. He continued to drive it hard and slammed it down in traffic more than once on the Lakers big men.

I know what you're thinking about, Game 2.

At the end of Game 2, with the score tied, the Magic drew up a great out of bounds play; Turkoglu threw a perfect lob pass to a cutting Lee, who caught and put just a bit too much on it.

If he had hit that shot this could have been a very different series.

“I caught it and just tried to make a play,” Lee said. “We didn’t lose the game just because I missed the layup. We could have won the game.”

And he's right, you can't blame the loss completely on that one shot. There's a whole game before that, and in this case an overtime afterwards as well.

Besides, that was an incredibly hard shot, his momentum was carrying him out of bounds; a 7-footer, who showed his shot-blocking skill in this series, was looming towards him and how much pressure was there to make that shot?

The name, Nick Anderson, was thrown around afterwards, but seriously that is in no way the same situation. Lee did not choke, and cannot be labelled a choker on one missed shot, it would have been hard for any of the players in that series to make that shot, let alone a rookie.

Back to my point, this guy cannot be a rookie right?

A 22nd overall pick?

Sure didn't look like one this year.

Lee may not be named Rose or OJ Mayo, or one of those guys that makes you think "Instant All-Star," but he went further than any other rookie in these playoffs, and overall got to make more of an impact than most could dream of.

Not a bad start.