lets cut Ray allen some slack

[cman88]

I see alot of blaming Ray Allen...now he did have a poor game tonight (only 2-6). but the guy has just come back from an ankle injury after missing the most games of his career in boston.

I expect Ray to have a solid game tomorrow night...he rarely has 2 poor games in a row.

[GreenNote]

I fully agree with you. It would have been nice if Ray had come back against a weaker team but it would have required a longer wait.

He gave them a chance to win the game so credit to him. It's never easy to bring a guy back in the line-up

[Roy H.]

Ray's three at the end was our biggest basket of the game.  He's a valuable piece of this team.

I'm glad to see that he and Bradley played roughly equal minutes.  At one point, Ray had 25 minutes to Bradley's 15.  I don't think Doc can let that happen going forward, as we need Bradley's energy and ball-hawking.

[mr. dee]

Agree. Just like Rondo and Pierce came back after injury and looked rusty, Ray is the same. He just need to shake the rust off.

Now I'm not sure if he should start over Bradley though.

[Chief]

Ray's three at the end was our biggest basket of the game.  He's a valuable piece of this team.

I'm glad to see that he and Bradley played roughly equal minutes.  At one point, Ray had 25 minutes to Bradley's 15.  I don't think Doc can let that happen going forward, as we need Bradley's energy and ball-hawking.

Ray always needs to be on the floor, for offense, if the Celtics are down. He is super clutch. But starting or playing big minutes when he's struggling, I do not agree with.

[Fafnir]

Id rather work ray back some protected with the starting five.

See how it shakes out while still giving Bradley a lot of burn.

[j804]

Ray's three at the end was our biggest basket of the game.  He's a valuable piece of this team.

I'm glad to see that he and Bradley played roughly equal minutes.  At one point, Ray had 25 minutes to Bradley's 15.  I don't think Doc can let that happen going forward, as we need Bradley's energy and ball-hawking.

Ray always needs to be on the floor, for offense, if the Celtics are down. He is super clutch. But starting or playing big minutes when he's struggling, I do not agree with.

That's when Ray hits daggers though struggling and bam in your face.

[azzenfrost]

Not Ray's fault. All the players worked hard. I think this time Doc was outcoached by Pop. No shame in that. Popovich is a one of the best.

[thestackshow]

Im sick of this team being old and slow, we got a taste of "youthful and fast" but now were back to being old and slow, and getting off to slow starts.

Ray Allen needs to be an afterthought on offense for us, he should be used strickly as a specialist player where when Doc puts him in, all the plays are being run strickly for him and then take him out.

Im so, so, so sick and tired of spending the ENTIRE shot clock watching Rondo at the top of the key waiting for ray to run off of 5-6 screens to get open for a shot, bricking, or turning down the shot and then we get a shotclock violation, it happens every game.

Ray Allen isnt a young man anymore, hes 67 years old, its time for him to have a reduced role on this team and accept the fact that he needs to be a specialist sniper, and only come in for 15-20 minutes a game when we can afford to run plays for him.

We hear so much smack talk about how the Celtics are old and slow, yet when we get younger and faster, Doc reverts right back to old and slow.

Time to change it up.

[Senninsage]

Ray is not at fault for this loss. He could have done more. We all agree with that, but he still gave us a chance to win this game. Ray, even in spite of struggles, will usually always come up big for us when we need it the most. He did it again tonight. And Ray was very solid defensively tonight, or do people forget that Ray was on the court during what has to be one of our best defensive stretches of this entire game?

Bradley proved tonight that he can still very much play and have fantastic nights, even on nights when Ray starts over him. Either way, the Celtics are looking fantastic. This game was lost by one point. People need to keep that in mind. One [dang] point. We are looking very solid.

[Tai]

Im sick of this team being old and slow, we got a taste of "youthful and fast" but now were back to being old and slow, and getting off to slow starts.

Ray Allen needs to be an afterthought on offense for us, he should be used strickly as a specialist player where when Doc puts him in, all the plays are being run strickly for him and then take him out.

Im so, so, so sick and tired of spending the ENTIRE shot clock watching Rondo at the top of the key waiting for ray to run off of 5-6 screens to get open for a shot, bricking, or turning down the shot and then we get a shotclock violation, it happens every game.

Ray Allen isnt a young man anymore, hes 67 years old, its time for him to have a reduced role on this team and accept the fact that he needs to be a specialist sniper, and only come in for 15-20 minutes a game when we can afford to run plays for him.

We hear so much smack talk about how the Celtics are old and slow, yet when we get younger and faster, Doc reverts right back to old and slow.

Time to change it up.

I really glaze over posts that have "old" in them.

[celtic -_- pride]

Ray is not at fault for this loss. He could have done more. We all agree with that, but he still gave us a chance to win this game. Ray, even in spite of struggles, will usually always come up big for us when we need it the most. He did it again tonight. And Ray was very solid defensively tonight, or do people forget that Ray was on the court during what has to be one of our best defensive stretches of this entire game?

Bradley proved tonight that he can still very much play and have fantastic nights, even on nights when Ray starts over him. Either way, the Celtics are looking fantastic. This game was lost by one point. People need to keep that in mind. One [dang] point. We are looking very solid.

no moral victories in a playoff team. we need wins plain and simple, i don't buy into this whole moral victory b/s. if this is our last run we need to get the job done. i don't put any blame on the players other than a little on KG for some bonehead plays down the stretch ( bad pass, the gut wrenching rolling ball turnover, and not boxing duncan out!!!) but i put the blame on doc. terrible final possession and i can't say this enough but he should of left bass in. he was a very big reason why we got back in NO SCRATCH THAT a big reason we took the LEAD !  and a bad rotation call. AB starting the game would of changed the whole intensity on defense. the talk of AB starting does not mean ray sucks or shouldnt end the game because he showed why he ends games. difficult game to watch, this was one of those losses you take personally haha

[RockinRyA]

Pass for this game, as he was just off the injured list. Couldve played better but meh thats expected.

What I didnt like though was rayplaying more minutes than bradley given he was just coming off an injury.

[RajonRondo9Dime]

The Ray hate is lazy IMO.

It's easy to blame him.  Reality is, Ray Allen is a very valuable piece of this team.

Once that three point shot went up late, well we all knew it was going it.

I like Bradley and I love what he's been doing lately, but it's only a matter of time before defenses start paying more attention to him. People have been sticking to Ray like white on RIce for over a decade, and well, look at his numbers.

[RockinRyA]

The Ray hate is lazy IMO.

It's easy to blame him.  Reality is, Ray Allen is a very valuable piece of this team.

Once that three point shot went up late, well we all knew it was going it.

I like Bradley and I love what he's been doing lately, but it's only a matter of time before defenses start paying more attention to him. People have been sticking to Ray like white on RIce for over a decade, and well, look at his numbers.

The thing is, if you play bad early game, a huge shot or two late game Isn't often enough to make up for it. Sometimes your buzzer beater mightve tied the game but if you played better at the start you wouldntve needed it anyway.