Ray Allen says he's willing to come off the bench

[rondohondo]

* On the possibility of coming off the bench next season: “To me, however I can help the team, it’ll figure itself out. One thing in regards to Jeff is, whatever I can do to make him better and to push him and play the best that he can. It’s weird that guys have always looked at it like coming off the bench is such a bad thing. I know we went through the situation with [Allen] Iverson, he didn’t want to come off the bench. But, you’ve always worried more about who finished games, but more importantly, when you’re on a winning team, winning the game is the ultimate objective, so that’s my primary concern. I want to win. I looked at our record this year. It was sad that we didn’t get to 60 wins, and we should have had 60 wins, based on the games we lost, and that would have gave us home-court advantage throughout the whole playoffs, East and West.”

http://celticshub.com/



No surprise since Ray is such a great team player , but I wonder how a Green, PP at the sg/sf would work out ?  On one hand it would definitely give the c's more post up options, something they severely lacked once shaq went down. PP would be able to post up pretty much any SG in the league and we all saw how effective Green can be at posting up other SF'S .

Not sure PP could stay with the quicker 2 guards in the league like Monta Ellis, but Green is so long and athletic I think he might be able to stay in front of most sg's while Pierce takes the opposing sf on defense.

I still think it makes more sense to have PP come off the bench because he can create much better for the second unit and himself than Ray can. Ray is much better suited to be on the floor to space with his 3 point shooting and he gets his best looks when the defense is focusing on trying to stop KG,PP and Rondo.

[Bingbangbarros]

Well its good to know that Ray will do whatever is best for the team although I'm not sure that was always the case.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20030223pv.html

I don't know that Ray coming off the bench is best for the team. It might move Pierce to SG and Green to SF, or Pierce stays at SF and Green at PF? Doc will find a way to get Green more minutes but I hope he plays most of his minutes at SF.

[mgent]

No we need Ray.  Enough changes to the starting lineup.

[manl_lui]

i think if Jeff Green moves to the starting lineup and move PP to sg and Ray Ray to the bench might not be a bad thing

moving Jeff to the starting lineup will boost his confidence and potentially make him a better scorer (but i think he'll have to earn it during training camp to show that he's capable of scoring and improving his defense so itll make Ray to the bench worth it)

and also Ray can provide the offense that the bench needs. Yes hes a player that needs rhythm to be able to score well, but if he has starter minutes like 30-35 minutes a night, his offense will come eventually. Idk what the whole "he has to start to get rhythm" means but in my opinion bench or starting, as long as hes getting his minutes, he should be fine...

just my opinion

[Celtic#9]

Just because he says that doesn't mean it will happen. I think he is basically publicly saying that "I'm not gonna be upset if Doc wants to move me to the bench. So if you want to go ahead Doc." If you think that Doc is a little intimidated by moving a HOFer to the bench after a solid year you are a little crazy. It is just once again Ray Allen staying classy. One more reason to love him.

However, if it does happen it will depend on the match ups. Bigger, slower SG's or SG's who don't need such speed to function. Kobe, for example, can be guarded by PP.

[housecall]

Way to go Ray..."its not how you start,its how you finish"

[Inside-Out]

I think what happens by Ray making this statement publicly is that any other wing or combo guard FA that might be hesitant to sign with the C's due to playing time or being in the shadow of the current starters (like TA's problem) might give it serious consideration, and we might have a shot at players we wouldn't otherwise.

Thanks, Ray!

Oh, and by the way, if we're going to be younger and more athletic, it probably makes sense for the oldest guy in the lineup to be the one to sit, right?  Especially if the oldest guy is a wing?  Makes sense.

[Prof. Clutch]

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=48668.msg1024860#msg1024860

[ScoobyDoo]

I don't think it would be a good idea to depend on Ray for 35+ minutes a night this year. Could he do it, probably, yeah. Should he? No.

Bring in someone who can either start and let Ray kill it from the bench. Or bring in that someone who can give Ray a legit 20 minutes rest a night and then take over next year.

I didn't think of it as Ray's statement being a message to guys like maybe Crawford or JR Smith. Good point.

[thirstyboots18]

Ray Allen is a great player, and a great role model, but does give the bench that energy boost that is needed? Paul Pierce might be the better choice to come off the bench.  He is capable of giving that energy boost, while being the scorer the second unit needs.  He is a good ball handler/passer.  Pierce would benefit from splitting the minutes with Green and would be fresh to finish games when necessary. 

[pearljammer10]

If we keep the team as is I keep Green off the bench. I would rather trade Green for more value at another position since he plays Pierce's position and it'll be that way for the next three years. I only bring Ray off the bench if we get an all star SG, and since Ray is an all star SG, i say we keep him in the starting line up.

[thirstyboots18]

I am still hopeful that Green, with a preseason under his belt, will prove to be good backup for pierce and kg, and will be able to fill a starting role, if not this year, then eventually.  It is too soon to write Jeff Green off.

[cman88]

I am still hopeful that Green, with a preseason under his belt, will prove to be good backup for pierce and kg, and will be able to fill a starting role, if not this year, then eventually.  It is too soon to write Jeff Green off.

Same here...he was still able to average 9.8PPG playing as passive as he did..if he can be more aggressive and me the main offensive spark off the bench I think he can be very valuable to us as a 6th man of sorts....

his per 36minute stats for this year was 15ppg...if he can give us that PPG off the bench consistently I would say thats pretty good

[banty19]

Pierce should be the one coming off the bench if they can't acquire a bench scorer.

Ray Allen isn't a guy you can give the ball to and ask to create off the dribble. He gets most of his points off of screens. Pierce definitely used to be able to be instant offense, though it's questionable how much longer he'll be able to get his own shot.

Ideally, the Celtics would get somebody who can create offense by themselves without screens, picks, etc. I don't have the data to know who's best at this but thinking about JR Smith may be a start.

[jc3celticsphan]

Pierce should be the one coming off the bench if they can't acquire a bench scorer.

Ray Allen isn't a guy you can give the ball to and ask to create off the dribble. He gets most of his points off of screens. Pierce definitely used to be able to be instant offense, though it's questionable how much longer he'll be able to get his own shot.

Ideally, the Celtics would get somebody who can create offense by themselves without screens, picks, etc. I don't have the data to know who's best at this but thinking about JR Smith may be a start.

agreed ray and rondo must be our starting backcourt, would love jr smith over here off the bench but i doubt he still want to come off the bench and he probobly wants more money, its a toss up between jr smith and crawford. crawford being more realistic because he embraces the 6th man role and will sign alot cheaper