I was curious before this season as to what kind of player Ray Allen was going to be.  Was he going to be the same Ray from last season who had some big games but many off nights as well?  Or now that he was fully healthy was he going to show more of the "old" Ray Allen?  No pun intended. 

We heard his name come up every so often in the off-season about being involved a possible trade.  This coming even after he had a great second half to the playoffs and was arguably much closer to being a Finals MVP than people think.  Not saying that Pierce didn't deserve it over Ray, but I can say if it came down between Ray and anyone else other than Pierce, then Ray would have won it.  I am not into individual awards so enough of that. 

The bottom line was that the jury was out on Ray before this season and I was one of them.  I did know however, that the word on the street was that Ray was 100% healthy and he was telling people he was feeling the best he has in a long time.  

I hate to admit this but when I did hear his name come up in trade rumors I really didn't care one way or the other if they dealt him.  Now if you ask me about it I'll tell you that right now not only is Ray Allen playing great basketball, but he is once again turned into that sharp-shooting assassin he used to be.  I think people forget that Ray is not just a three point shooter.  He has no boundaries when it comes to shooting from anywhere on the court.  His mid-range jump shot is falling from all over the place as well as the three point bombs that he's dropping on teams from every possible spot behind the arc.  He has been taking the ball hard to the basket and has even thrown down a couple of big dunks in traffic this year.  You wouldn't have seen the dunks in traffic last year because he just wasn't healthy enough.  Now he is healthy but I also believe that health alone was not the only issue for Ray last year.  I think it took him awhile to become comfortable here.  Ray was the "the man" on his previous teams and I think he really had to figure out what his role and identity was going to be on this team.  When you are used to being 60-65% of your teams offense every night and then get injected into the situation he did with Boston, it goes without saying that there will be a transition period to go through. 

If Ray keeps playing like this then it's going to tough on whoever is playing them on any given night.  Sure, he will have off nights as every great shooter does but as far as slowing down I don't see it happening because his conditioning is second to none in the league.

Ray has definitely found the happy medium this year in regard to his role.  But it wasn't just Ray who needed to understand his role.  Everyone did for the simple fact that Danny AInge had basically produced an expansion team with three superstars as the foundation.  This team is now deadlier than last year in my opinion especially with the recent dominance of Rajon Rondo and Perk.  I love watching Rondo in his controlled chaos but the most fun I am having is watching Ray and his silky smooth stroke producing opponents to shake their heads.  Opponents know if he is on then it could very well be lights out.  I have to say this before I go because I don't think Ray gets enough credit for his efforts on the defensive end.  I know he's not the best defender in the world but there have been some games where he played really good "D".  He never dogs it on "D" no matter who he is covering.  Hopefully Ray stays healthy and continues his rise towards another banner.  And who knows?  Ray Allen- NBA FINALS MVP?