Ray defensive stopper

[Change]

Who knew he had that in him? Maybe I just didn't see the last 3 season. It had me scratching my head couple of times in the Miami series. Wade did score what seemed like a billion points, but Ray was right there challenging every shot. He kept Wade away from the paint, and away from the Free-throw line which was crucial. And now, he is doing it on King James or shall i say Queen James. King has zero room to operate, and his jump-shot is suspiciously ugly unlike Wade who can actually shoot. Who knew? It also helps having great bigman defenders helping you out in case of a glitch, and we have seen zero glitches from Ray so far.

Kudos to Ray for expanding his game.

[Jon]

Well, while Ray doesn't have the strength of Pierce and Tony Allen, he's definitely quicker than PP and probably Tony too.  That quickness does wonders for him in terms of keeping himself in front of LeBron and being able to get himself in James's face without getting burnt off the dribble. 

[rav123]

Well, while Ray doesn't have the strength of Pierce and Tony Allen, he's definitely quicker than PP and probably Tony too.  That quickness does wonders for him in terms of keeping himself in front of LeBron and being able to get himself in James's face without getting burnt off the dribble. 

Tony's quicker. Tony's almost a lockdown defender now, one of the best defending the 2-spot in the league.

I feel Ray might be underrated defensively compared to Pierce. PP has a good reputation for showing up on defense in big games. But Ray stepped up not only here, but defended Kobe amazingly in the '08 Finals as well.

[Who]

I am confused by Ray's defensive play this season. He has been very good in the postseason, reminiscent of all of last season prior to KG going down (when I thought he was the Celtics best perimeter defender in large part due to his consistency) ... but he was poor for the majority of the regular season ... how in the world did he suddenly step it up? And is he capable of keeping it up next season and the years beyond?

[celticinorlando]

ray is smaller but can get up into james a little more than PP who has a bigger frame. i would keep PP off lebron in game 5 and let him get a rhythm on offense. rotate ray and tony on james

[bopna]

ray is smaller but can get up into james a little more than PP who has a bigger frame. i would keep PP off lebron in game 5 and let him get a rhythm on offense. rotate ray and tony on james

Thought about that myself, Lebron had a bit of trouble against Ray and yes, I think we shouldn't allow PP to guard the king the whole time, let TA and Ray rotate to him in the early stages til PP has enough in him to guard Lebron.

And If Lebron does start to guard Rondo, all the better for PP as he can then start to use his experience over Parker.

[Cman]

ray is smaller but can get up into james a little more than PP who has a bigger frame. i would keep PP off lebron in game 5 and let him get a rhythm on offense. rotate ray and tony on james

Yes.  Please forward this to Doc.

[Michael Anthony]

Defending a player like Lebron or Wade is actually pretty similar to defending a player like Rondo.

Give them space, go under picks, and make them beat you with jumpers.

Ray is one of the smartest players in the league, that is why he is a capable defender.

[nickagneta]

When Ray does nothing but concentrate on defense, he can be awesome. Note his game versus Kobe in Boston this year. He was excellent.

That said, I love the way that Doc has thrown the kitchen sink at LeBron defensively in this series. Paul playing off LeBron forcing him to shoot. Ray playing tight but going under the pick and roll. Tony playing tight but fighting through the picks. Constantly forcing him to go his left one game and then to his right the next. Never giving him anything but the baseline to try to get help defense cutting him off and minimizing his passing lanes. Blitzing the defender on the high post pick and roll when it's one defender and falling back and letting different defenders take him on the switch. LeBron just hasn't been able to see a definitive pattern and hasn't figured out how best to make his team and his game work best.

Say what you want regarding the individual defensive performances but the team defensive scheme on him individually has been brilliant. Kudos to Doc Rivers and his coaching staff.

[Greenbean]

Defending a player like Lebron or Wade is actually pretty similar to defending a player like Rondo.

Give them space, go under picks, and make them beat you with jumpers.

Ray is one of the smartest players in the league, that is why he is a capable defender.

You nailed this one.

While Tony is quicker than Ray, he gets hung up on the screens and gets beaten. Ray has great, quick feet and has been dealing with screens wonderfully.

Pierce is the better option on paper because of his size but Lebron is learning to attack relelntlessly with Pierce on him and he is not quick enough.

If Lebron is hot from the outside then Ray could get in trouble but I would still rather Lebron score 40 from outside than see him shooting 20 free throws and getting into the lane at will.

[Greenbean]

When Ray does nothing but concentrate on defense, he can be awesome. Note his game versus Kobe in Boston this year. He was excellent.

That said, I love the way that Doc has thrown the kitchen sink at LeBron defensively in this series. Paul playing off LeBron forcing him to shoot. Ray playing tight but going under the pick and roll. Tony playing tight but fighting through the picks. Constantly forcing him to go his left one game and then to his right the next. Never giving him anything but the baseline to try to get help defense cutting him off and minimizing his passing lanes. Blitzing the defender on the high post pick and roll when it's one defender and falling back and letting different defenders take him on the switch. LeBron just hasn't been able to see a definitive pattern and hasn't figured out how best to make his team and his game work best.

Say what you want regarding the individual defensive performances but the team defensive scheme on him individually has been brilliant. Kudos to Doc Rivers and his coaching staff.

Gotta give it to Thibbs. The Bill Bellichick of NBA defense.

[nickagneta]

When Ray does nothing but concentrate on defense, he can be awesome. Note his game versus Kobe in Boston this year. He was excellent.

That said, I love the way that Doc has thrown the kitchen sink at LeBron defensively in this series. Paul playing off LeBron forcing him to shoot. Ray playing tight but going under the pick and roll. Tony playing tight but fighting through the picks. Constantly forcing him to go his left one game and then to his right the next. Never giving him anything but the baseline to try to get help defense cutting him off and minimizing his passing lanes. Blitzing the defender on the high post pick and roll when it's one defender and falling back and letting different defenders take him on the switch. LeBron just hasn't been able to see a definitive pattern and hasn't figured out how best to make his team and his game work best.

Say what you want regarding the individual defensive performances but the team defensive scheme on him individually has been brilliant. Kudos to Doc Rivers and his coaching staff.

Gotta give it to Thibbs. The Bill Bellichick of NBA defense.

I really think you are underselling the coaching of Doc Rivers here. There's no proof this was concocted solely by any one individual.

[twinbree]

I don't know if it's something he consciously decided to work on during the allstar break but he looked much more active on defense to me since he got back. I think that improvement was kinda overshadowed by his improvement offensively. I thought his energy on defense was great the second half of the season and I'm happy to see it's carried over into the postseason. Good job Ray!

[Greenbean]

When Ray does nothing but concentrate on defense, he can be awesome. Note his game versus Kobe in Boston this year. He was excellent.

That said, I love the way that Doc has thrown the kitchen sink at LeBron defensively in this series. Paul playing off LeBron forcing him to shoot. Ray playing tight but going under the pick and roll. Tony playing tight but fighting through the picks. Constantly forcing him to go his left one game and then to his right the next. Never giving him anything but the baseline to try to get help defense cutting him off and minimizing his passing lanes. Blitzing the defender on the high post pick and roll when it's one defender and falling back and letting different defenders take him on the switch. LeBron just hasn't been able to see a definitive pattern and hasn't figured out how best to make his team and his game work best.

Say what you want regarding the individual defensive performances but the team defensive scheme on him individually has been brilliant. Kudos to Doc Rivers and his coaching staff.

Gotta give it to Thibbs. The Bill Bellichick of NBA defense.

I really think you are underselling the coaching of Doc Rivers here. There's no proof this was concocted solely by any one individual.

No I didnt mean give all the credit to Thibbs. But I wanted to be more specific and shout him out.

I love Doc. Doc is like the Mike Martz or Tom Moore of offense in the NBA.