Its A Shame About Ray

It’s all in his head… he has to get over it .. as a shooter he is probably thinking to much instead of letting the game flow… It’s not coming easy to him.. and inside he is pressing because he wants to snap out of it……

He hasn’t lost his shot….

He has lost his confidence….

It’s been Rondo, not Ray who’s been part of the ‘Real 3’ all season, and I’d argue that Perk has been more important to this team than Ray all along as well. That said, if nothing gets better with Ray here—and it’s not looking good—Doc will just have to quietly reduce his minutes, take him out of more of the 4th quarter, and maybe even go with Tony for more than 25 seconds a game. The good news is the other guys are healthy enough and playing pretty well, so I don’t think a dysfunctional Ray will stop them from winning—if they don’t let it.

This team can still win even if Ray can’t shake this funk. Frankly, Posey can step into his place with the game on the line because he is a money 3 point shooter and a superior defender. Couple that with the fact that Ray’s slump has made Pierce realize that it’s time he asserted himself as the team’s go-to-guy, and I think the Celtics will be okay.

If Ray’s minutes need to be cut back, so be it. He’s still valuable on the floor in a more limited fashion as a ballhandler and a decent slasher to the basket. If Posey wasn’t such a great playoff performer I would be more worried.

ray is having his problems but he is smooth, plays d, passes and keeps the floor open- maybe the pistons will forget about him.

If what Ainge said was true that he would have traded any one of the “original” big three when they were past there primes and would do the same with the new three, there are definatly some options this summer. Some players Ainge inquired about before the Allen deal, Richarch Jefferson and Shawn Marion seem to be available. Redds name is out there, Brand, Magette, maybe a sign and trade for Deng. Hate to think like this during a great playoff run but you can always improve your team. If Ainge means what he said he might want to explore the Redd option, espically because we wouldnt loose anything and he is still young enough to keep moving forward with Rondo after KG is gone. Ray, 1rst, and maybe Baby?

He had time to plant his feet, take aim, and follow through with the same motion that he’s taken 1 billion times in his life.[/i]

Yeah, but he didn’t. He rushed it and hence the miss.

Ray is playing well, he’s just not shooting well, and there is a difference. Because he isn’t shooting well he’s doing other things like going to the basket and dishing out assists(which is just as effective considering he’s 95% from the line, it piles up fouls on the pistons, and sets a tone in the offense for more people to take the ball to the rim). In practice he’s still shooting like Ray Allen, so expect things to go well. It may be a change in routine is triggering his OCD and it’s mentally pressuring him, then again, it could be a lot of things.

Some nights you cannot control how your shot goes, what you
[i]can control is your defense. The Celtics can make up for his missing shooting (the C’s Offensive sets are designed to take advantage of 5 people who are willing to move without the ball and pass, not three stars), so as long as he continues to play good team basketball (what a freaking concept) the team can continue to win whether he shoots well or not. Would it be easier of he were more like the Ray Allen of fan expectation? Sure. But the team isn’t going to collapse because he isnt.

Ray has an abdominal or back issue, my money is on abs. He has to. Pull out the archive of him shooting from the All-Star game to now. He’s no longer elevating ( however so slightly he “elevates” ) vertically, on any of his shots. On his air ball and his other horrible three point miss, he allowed his upper body to “float” laterally. When Ray’s “on” he uses his core to extend upward on the shot. Even when he’s not trying to shoot on a catch-and-shoot, it looks like he’s trying to overrely on his wrist to avoid extending his abs. Watch some video from December to now, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

…but then again, what do I know?

Well it only took 96 games but Game 7 v Cleveland finally gave us a set rotation, and I think it bodes ill for the rest of the league. Starting 5 plus PJ, Posey and House off the bench, with Powe or Davis getting 5-8 minutes as situation dictates, and that is it. Everybody else just enjoy the show.

Pierce from here on in will control the rock in tight spots and that is fine.

Ray being on the floor is very important even when he doesn’t shoot (or isn’t hitting). He opens the defense because they have to stay close to him.

Every team has to respect Ray’s shot, and they know he’ll start hitting them eventually. That in itself is valuable. Teams can’t cheat off him like they do to Rondo, Perk, Brown, etc…

I do think he’s hiding some kind of injury. There is no way he misses that many open jumpers. For a game or 2 maybe, but not for this long.

He’s a smart vet so he can contribute in other ways. Here’s hoping he’s just slumping and will break out soon.

I also noticed a difference on his elevation on his shot when he was with Seattle. When he rested during the year he always came back stronger and looked better with movement and jumping. Since he has had 2 ankle surgeries and add on all the minutes he has played it has affected him but I believe he will do better as time goes on. He has a calmness about him that helps balance the 1st unit so if he continues to miss shots from 3 point land just take it to the hoop or take 15 foot shots off of a pick like Hamilton does. They will never leave him open if he plays closer to the basket.

Most likely physical IMO. How many times in baseball did pitchers have “mental problems” that ended up being undetectable ligament problems leading to TJ surgery. Mental is fun to talk about for the press and diagnose, but probably quite rare. If its physical, then all his practice shooting won’t help, in fact it might hurt. Who knows. I like the idea of letting him carry the offense when Rondo and Pierce rest. With House and Posey in, there will be more opportunity for him to control the rock and drive, and create. That will be a good thing.

almost definitely harboring an injury. A guy like this doesn’t just become incapable of rounding corners and hitting shots.

Ironic- “Now, I think I’d rather have Rondo taking a big shot at the end of a game than Ray Allen”. Turns out it happened last night- Ray drove around a player and headed to the basket only to pas off to Rondo- who nailed the jumper and really ended any comeback chance Detroit had. It is telling of Ray’s struggles, confidence (and one may say smarts) that he passed to Rondo on that play. And ironic that most of us were happy he did! Good article Jeff. If this were the regular season, my vote would be to give Ray a night off- but i don’t think you can do that to him in the playoffs. The rest of the team will have to keep covering until he comes out of his slump. I only hope its early in the game so he doesn’t kill the team.

The Ray Allen situation is a win/win deal for us. If Doc figures out a way to maximize him and gets hot. The C’s are unstoppable. If not, we can still win it all. In the long run, since we are good without Ray, that makes him expendable and then we now have financial leverage. We don’t have to renew him and use any money in the future for cap room. My opinion is, Ray is very valuable even without the scoring. He does a lot of great things out there including defense and setting up the offense. Here is what I would do, I would have him come off the bench and be our microwave. Let him heat up off the bench. He would be the best sixth man.

I’m much less concerned about Ray than I am with the ESPN announcers(?). I live near Boston, but unfortunately can’t pick up the radio broadcast. I had to cut my sound down to almost zero to keep from hearing them. Just wanted it up a bit to see if they said anything important (which I know would be a slim chance). We need to petition to get Mike and Tommy back.

Ray will be fine. He is doing plenty of other things out there that are valuable. He will come out of this shooting slump. I’d rather he slumped now and got hot for the important games anyway.

What PLAYA said.

If the rest of his game wasn’t better than usual, I’d be concerned. But his head is clearly in the game. His shot isn’t falling. Ray does so many good things on the court and his defense has been a great surprise. If we get double digit points with the defense and basketball IQ Ray has we’re still fine.

This is a product of way too many 40 minute games in blowouts where Allen should have been playing in the 20s or less. Some of us on other forums saw this coming. I’m sure you all did too.

Whatever it is with Ray it is brutal. And his D and passing are eclipsed by Posey in both regards. I think Doc handles these things well and as result fi anyone can come out of it it will be a Doc guy. Perk played well last night after several poor games. Eddie is getting the mins he deserves and Sam isn’t stirring anything up. Pierce is not an easy guy to coach and I think Doc has done it well.

Except fot that missed three, i really liked rays game last night. I especially liked the fake of a three and a nice pass underneath to fire up the team. His slam wasnt to shabby either.

@Eeyore III

Don’t forget that it was the Ray trade that ultimately swooned Garnett, so no matter what Ray produces this year, it can’t be a horrible trade. As a lifelong Celtics fan, this run has made that worth it to me. I was dying for ANYTHING that made the C’s relevant again.