If Ray thinks he'll get more touches

[BballTim]

I think he could actually get a lot more touches.  Miami is a much better passing team then us.  If he plays enough minutes to get those touches will be the question.

  Miami's offense is generally LeBron or Wade isolation plays where they draw a crowd and either shoot or kick the ball out for a spot up shot. 54% of their baskets are assisted, 67% of ours. They also have more passing turnovers despite having fewer assists. Clearly we're a better passing team than the Heat. Ray may or may not get more shots (I doubt it) but he obviously won't touch the ball as much.

[CelticG1]

He will become a 3 point specialist not involved in the offense (because Miami doesn't have much of an offense).

He will prob get the same amount of shots as mike miller or battier. What did they average 4 or 5 tops? Obviously some games he'll have more but I think in general that'll be it. Also defenses will pay a bit more attention to Ray than a battier or even miller.

Yeah ray will have a few open looks a game off of kickouts but do people actually think he will even come close to averaging 10 shots a game or something like that? Not to mention he will still need to gel with the team and learn the system that Chalmers, Battier and Miller already know. I wouldn't be surprised if his minutes are very decreased. And if he is not shooting those corner 3's lights out than he is pretty much useless to them as I don't see them trying to utilize him in different ways

[dark_lord]

he might not get more touches, but he will get better touches.  he wont have to work so hard running off screens and moving without the ball in order to get his shot off. 

[BballTim]

he might not get more touches, but he will get better touches.  he wont have to work so hard running off screens and moving without the ball in order to get his shot off. 

  Yeah, he'll spend more time standing around on the perimeter and less time handling the ball and probably get fewer touches, but when he does get the ball he should be more open than in Boston. Whether that's a bigger role or not is up to Ray.

[MBunge]

One thing that Ray and others are overlooking is that Miami loooooooves to play small.  They just won a title doing it, so there's no reason they're going to change.  Well, one of the things playing small does is create mismatches defensively, so Miami needs players who can effectively guard multiple positions.  I think Ray can still D up some two guards in the league, though his ability to do that is clearly in decline.  There is NO WAY that Ray at this point can defend point guards or small fowards.  He can't defend them and he can't keep them off the offensive glass.

Imagine Miami trying to play Ray and Wade in the backcourt against Boston and the Celtics run a simple pick to get Rondo isolated on Ray.  Lay up City.

Mike

[Jon]

This is the only thing that annoys me.  I do understand that there were probably better situations in the NBA for Ray than Boston.  I don't resent the fact that he left in a general way. 

But it does p--- me off that he left the C's essentially because he didn't feel important enough to go to a team where he's going to be even less important. 

I could've completely understood the Clippers or if the Bulls were healthy.  He would've stepped into the starting SG spot and could've been the missing piece that put them over the top.  That truly would've been another feather in his cap in an illustrious NBA career. 

But now he's going to Miami to be Eddie House.  He could excel in that role, don't get me wrong.  But he's signed himself up to be a role player.  And for a guy that was so concerned about still being considered a star, that seems like about the stupidest thing he could've done. 

And that's not even getting into the point that the C's offered him twice as much money and that he likely would've (at least) started the season as a starter here.  But we've covered that many, many times. 

[SHAQATTACK]

One thing that Ray and others are overlooking is that Miami loooooooves to play small.  They just won a title doing it, so there's no reason they're going to change.  Well, one of the things playing small does is create mismatches defensively, so Miami needs players who can effectively guard multiple positions.  I think Ray can still D up some two guards in the league, though his ability to do that is clearly in decline.  There is NO WAY that Ray at this point can defend point guards or small fowards.  He can't defend them and he can't keep them off the offensive glass.

Imagine Miami trying to play Ray and Wade in the backcourt against Boston and the Celtics run a simple pick to get Rondo isolated on Ray.  Lay up City.

Mike

They play small, becasue they HAVE TO. they can't AFFORD quality bigs , LIKE HOWARD, KG , BYNUM and that sissy  geeky PF ....they SPENT all their money on LADIVA and LA THUD WADE and their tall sissy geek. forward.

The HEAT just squeeked by IMO.

If Bron tears an ACL .its all she wrote , the rest of the team couldn't beat the BOB CATS. 

He'll eventually break .... they all do when he has to play 40 mintues every night for them to win.. 

[twinbree]

This is the only thing that annoys me.  I do understand that there were probably better situations in the NBA for Ray than Boston.  I don't resent the fact that he left in a general way. 

But it does p--- me off that he left the C's essentially because he didn't feel important enough to go to a team where he's going to be even less important. 

I could've completely understood the Clippers or if the Bulls were healthy.  He would've stepped into the starting SG spot and could've been the missing piece that put them over the top.  That truly would've been another feather in his cap in an illustrious NBA career. 

But now he's going to Miami to be Eddie House.  He could excel in that role, don't get me wrong.  But he's signed himself up to be a role player.  And for a guy that was so concerned about still being considered a star, that seems like about the stupidest thing he could've done. 

And that's not even getting into the point that the C's offered him twice as much money and that he likely would've (at least) started the season as a starter here.  But we've covered that many, many times. 

Maybe he'd made up his mind during the season to leave Boston but anticipated he'd have more options. There were quite a few teams interested in him according to the rumors. But in the end the Bulls decided to tank, Clippers went with Crawford, no other made an offer and he was left with us vs. Miami so he had to go there. And preferred being a role player over there than here. Their stars are all in their prime.

[Jon]

This is the only thing that annoys me.  I do understand that there were probably better situations in the NBA for Ray than Boston.  I don't resent the fact that he left in a general way. 

But it does p--- me off that he left the C's essentially because he didn't feel important enough to go to a team where he's going to be even less important. 

I could've completely understood the Clippers or if the Bulls were healthy.  He would've stepped into the starting SG spot and could've been the missing piece that put them over the top.  That truly would've been another feather in his cap in an illustrious NBA career. 

But now he's going to Miami to be Eddie House.  He could excel in that role, don't get me wrong.  But he's signed himself up to be a role player.  And for a guy that was so concerned about still being considered a star, that seems like about the stupidest thing he could've done. 

And that's not even getting into the point that the C's offered him twice as much money and that he likely would've (at least) started the season as a starter here.  But we've covered that many, many times. 

Maybe he'd made up his mind during the season to leave Boston but anticipated he'd have more options. There were quite a few teams interested in him according to the rumors. But in the end the Bulls decided to tank, Clippers went with Crawford, no other made an offer and he was left with us vs. Miami so he had to go there. And preferred being a role player over there than here. Their stars are all in their prime.

This is all quite possible. 

However, here he'd always be viewed as Ray Allen the superstar who was a major part of the 2008 title even as he slipped little, by little each year.  Furthermore, given the fact that our stars don't dominate the ball like Miami's do, he would've had more opportunities to do things here besides shoot spot up threes. 

In Miami, I said, he's going to be Eddie House. 

Again, I get why he wanted to leave in a general way, I just don't get the choice of Miami. 

[Lord of Mikawa]

One thing that Ray and others are overlooking is that Miami loooooooves to play small.  They just won a title doing it, so there's no reason they're going to change.  Well, one of the things playing small does is create mismatches defensively, so Miami needs players who can effectively guard multiple positions.  I think Ray can still D up some two guards in the league, though his ability to do that is clearly in decline.  There is NO WAY that Ray at this point can defend point guards or small fowards.  He can't defend them and he can't keep them off the offensive glass.

Imagine Miami trying to play Ray and Wade in the backcourt against Boston and the Celtics run a simple pick to get Rondo isolated on Ray.  Lay up City.

Mike

They play small, becasue they HAVE TO. they can't AFFORD quality bigs , LIKE HOWARD, KG , BYNUM and that sissy  geeky PF ....they SPENT all their money on LADIVA and LA THUD WADE and their tall sissy geek. forward.

The HEAT just squeeked by IMO.

If Bron tears an ACL .its all she wrote , the rest of the team couldn't beat the BOB CATS. 

He'll eventually break .... they all do when he has to play 40 mintues every night for them to win.. 

That team is in serious trouble if Lebron goes down. But I still think they are a contender.

[rav123]

...he won't ever have the same impact as winning one as he had when he won it in 2008.

But in Miami in 2012-13, he'll probably have more impact than he would have in Boston this coming season.

You could be right, but I don't see it.  Can you elaborate?

To me, first of all, going to a team which just won a championship, and isn't losing any significant players, is by definition the most low-impact situation there can be, for any player.

It's particularly so in this case.  The Heat are very strong at the 2, 3, and 4.  But Bosh plays the 5 a lot, and LeBron plays 4 and 1.  The only position Dwyane Wade can really play is the 2.  And the same is true for Ray Allen.

Yeah, they've both been used in three-guard sets, and obviously they can be used in three-guard sets together.  You could also use Ray at the 2, with LeBron as pg on offense and sf on defense, and Wade playing the opposite roles.  But that's getting awfully creative, and I'm not sure Eric Spoelstra is going to find Ray awesome enough that he juggles his lineup like that.

I think Ray would have had a much bigger impact on the Celtics this season.

Wade can play (and has played) the PG spot very well (many refer to him as a combo guard), so he and Ray can share the floor plenty.

More than that though, I think Ray would be their 4th-best/most-important player (unless one considers Chalmers or Battier better). In Boston, he would be 5th at most, behind Rondo, KG, Pierce and Terry (that's not counting Jeff Green or Bass).

In Boston, he's competing with Rondo (38 mins), Bradley (~22 after being a starter) and Terry (32) for time at the guard spots, while in Miami it's really just Chalmers (28), Wade (34) and Cole (15ish I think).

[HowardAvellino]

One thing that Ray and others are overlooking is that Miami loooooooves to play small.

Actually, Miami didn't play small much all season.  Here are there 20 most frequently used lineups during the regular season:

http://www.82games.com/1112/1112MIA2.HTM

There's not a single lineup in there with Wade playing the 3; in fact, it's the opposite.  They went big with Battier playing the 2 a lot, and even had Wade playing the point in one lineup.  But no instances of him playing the 3.  It was always LeBron, Miller, or Battier, all of whom are 6'8".

They just won a title doing it, so there's no reason they're going to change.

Actually, there's lots of reason they're going to change.  LeBron doesn't like playing power forward, for one.  And I'm sure Wade doesn't like playing small forward.

Also, it doesn't work as well against every team.  It worked well against OKC because neither Ibaka nor Perkins were a major threat offensively.

Well, one of the things playing small does is create mismatches defensively, so Miami needs players who can effectively guard multiple positions.  I think Ray can still D up some two guards in the league, though his ability to do that is clearly in decline.  There is NO WAY that Ray at this point can defend point guards or small fowards.  He can't defend them and he can't keep them off the offensive glass.

Imagine Miami trying to play Ray and Wade in the backcourt against Boston and the Celtics run a simple pick to get Rondo isolated on Ray.  Lay up City.

Yeah, you're right, that's what would happen if Spoelstra went with three guards against Boston.  But I don't think he will.  I think Allen will be glued to the bench most of the game.