Not excusing the way the guys are playing tonight, but this game here is clear proof as to how important Ray is to this team. People would do well not to forget what we are seeing here. Ray Allen's experience and what he brings to this team is not so easily replaced.
Ray defends heinrich far better than what we saw at the start of this game, which would have likely cut down on the three pointers hit so far. Bradley is great defensively, but also undersized, hence teams get away with more against him out on the perimeter. Not only that, I think with Ray on the court, and with the threat of his three point shot, the Celtics would possibly be leading this thing right now, or not be down by as much.
Ray in his prime was the primary reason it took seven games for the C's to get by the Hawks the year they won it all. The other two of the Big Three are stinking it up tonight. You can't just assume that Ray would be playing great--even if he hadn't been out for weeks and would likely be rusty were he playing.
I assume nothing. Ray is super consistent at hitting big, much needed shots for this team. He doesn't need a ton of points, or a ton of athleticism. Ray hitting some threes for us, especially wide open threes, is a pretty [dang] safe bet.
Ray is this team's best three point shooter. And people better believe the Celtics could really use some of that right about now. People talk about brickfests, but Ray's brickfest nights are [dang] rare. People really do seem to be forgetting what Ray brings to this team. Even a much older Ray consistently knocks down big threes for us, and helps us along. He is not expected to be our leading scorer, but I think Ray being on the court commanding the respect that he does, would benefit us greatly right now. And I think Ray is a high percentage chance, higher than most, at knocking down a wide open three. Ray was this team's best, most consistent player at the start of the season. Ray, in the game's he has played, early in the season and late in the season, hit big shots for us when we needed them. These shots came against the Hawks, they came against the Heat, they came against the Clippers. Ray Allen, if he was in this game, I don't think we would be down by 14 right now. I think we would possibly be down like 5 or less.
Hell, we might even be leading with Ray. What do I mean by that? Would Ray have scored everything? No. This is what Ray does. He's a player that calms things down when he knocks down a three. Perhaps instead of the missed attempts from players like KG and Pierce so far, we might instead had just 2 makes from Ray. Which would have helped moral, help the Celts get in the Hawks' head a bit, and maybe under different circumstances, KG hits some of his shots. The Hawks would be more weary of leaving Ray open, this is what people are missing.
Hawks are doing a lot of cheating on defense that they simply couldn't risk with Ray in there. I'm not concerned though. Not at all. Even if we lose this game, I'm not concerned. This is a 7 game series for a reason. I never expected a Celtics sweep. The Celtics don't sweep teams. We win in 5 or 6 games usually. 7 games for us are few and far between. Maybe this will be one of those 7 game series.
Topic: Celtics (0-0) at Hawks (0-0) Game 1 4/29 (Read 172623 times)