Look at the Celtics' 3 point shooting this series. This is why Ray is important.

[Senninsage]

The Celtics as a team missed their first 19 3 point attempts as a team. We are the fifth best 3 point shooting team in the league.

This is why Ray Allen is such a vitally important aspect of this team. He's not the only one that can hit threes, but he's our best, most consistent 3 point shooter by far. I hope we can get him back in game 3, because we really do need the guy.

Ray will have his off nights, but more times than not, he will give this team much needed big shots in crucial moments. I think we as a team have to work that much harder when Ray isn't involved somehow. We need you, Ray!!!!!

[Fafnir]

He also creates a ton of space for others to get shots via ball movement. Other teams just don't help off Ray, and also give help when he runs off good screens.

[Senninsage]

The Hawks thus far this series have not been respecting the fact that our guys can knock down threes. You can tell by the amount of cheating going on on defense.

[slamtheking]

The Hawks thus far this series have not been respecting the fact that our guys can knock down threes. You can tell by the amount of cheating going on on defense.

I don't think it's so much 'respect' as the other C's needing to show they can hit them consistently or at least when they're wide open.  PP and Pietrus have been miserable from 3 this series

[alajet]

He also creates a ton of space for others to get shots via ball movement. Other teams just don't help off Ray, and also give help when he runs off good screens.

This is primarily the reason a healthy Ray Allen could prove to be the vital catalyst of the offense.
But I guess this isn't happening.

[j804]

This is why we cant win a championship without him as much as I'm in denial

[CelticG1]

Ray is huge for us but we haven't shot that bad from 3 without him during the season have we?

Ill be extremely dissapointed if we don't get a good Ray Allen at some point during this playoffs and I know that is pretty unlikely

[LooseCannon]

Ray is huge for us but we haven't shot that bad from 3 without him during the season have we?

Ray Allen shot 45.3% on threes.  Without him, the rest of the team shot 34.1%.  The league average was 34.9%.  Pietrus and Pierce had below their career averages in 3P% for the first time in years.  The Celtics do have a bit of a weakness in a lack of non-wing three-point threats.

[Senninsage]

It's been Ray's 3 point shooting that's been propping the team up in that department all season long. It's one of those you don't know what you've got till it's gone situations.

Ray did what he did for this team so often, that some have forgotten to stop and take appreciation of the fact that very few, if any, do it better than he does in this league. Even if Bradley did start having his moments during the regular season, and I'm extremely happy for Bradley, what Ray did for this team for so long against the most elite of competition isn't so easily replaced.

[colincb]

The lack of spacing is pretty obvious and the one player you know the opposition is not going to let loose is Pierce. Except for Ray and Paul, our other three point shooters (AB, KD, MP, SP) are spot-up shooters who need to be wide open when the ball comes to them. Also helps to have Rondo on the floor to deliver the ball. Let's see what happens when we get home since that's when role players and rookies play best.

We're likely to get past ATL, but CHI and MIA will probably shut us down.  Scoring has been our primary problem all season, it won't get easier with our best shooter out, and I'm pessimistic about Ray playing much if at all.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Ray is certainly a great 3pt-shooter, but the Cs have missed several wide-open looks (especially Pierce in Game 1), and I don't know that Ray's presence would suddenly make other guys' threes start going down. But yeah, Ray's presence would be nice.

[jdz101]

He's not coming back. Get used to it and follow who we have out there.

[Carhole]

We are really still discussing Ray's importance? Yes, he is hugely important for us to make a real run. He would be a necessity in my eyes for us to beat the heat bc they will most likely have the advantage scoring at the ft line so we need to be better from deep and be able to space out there ultra quick defense.

But Ray is the 4th maybe 5th most important piece to the puzzle, we would be in far more trouble if PP, KG, Rondo and even Avery were out for any extended period of time.

Also as much as the team benefits from Ray, Ray benefits from the team, is it a coincidence that his shooting has been better as a celtic then anywhere else? That even as he ages, his percentages are going up? Nope.

He only has to take his shots, he is not forced to do much outside of his comfort zone and he is not the focus of other teams defensive schemes.

Celtics need Ray, Ray needs his teammates can we just lock all of these Ray is important threads.

[azzenfrost]

True, enough of this. You can't expect a guy to play the way he used to when he's already thinking ankle surgery.

[colincb]

We are really still discussing Ray's importance? Yes, he is hugely important for us to make a real run. He would be a necessity in my eyes for us to beat the heat bc they will most likely have the advantage scoring at the ft line so we need to be better from deep and be able to space out there ultra quick defense.

But Ray is the 4th maybe 5th most important piece to the puzzle, we would be in far more trouble if PP, KG, Rondo and even Avery were out for any extended period of time.

Also as much as the team benefits from Ray, Ray benefits from the team, is it a coincidence that his shooting has been better as a celtic then anywhere else? That even as he ages, his percentages are going up? Nope.

He only has to take his shots, he is not forced to do much outside of his comfort zone and he is not the focus of other teams defensive schemes.

Celtics need Ray, Ray needs his teammates can we just lock all of these Ray is important threads.

Is it a coincidence that PP's, KG's, and RA's shooting percentages are all better the last 5 years? Here are their effective FG% (that is FG% adjusted to reflect 3 pointers)

48.7% PP Pre-Big 3 eFG%
52.4% PP Last 5 years eFG%

49.7% KG Pre-Big 3 eFG%
52.6% KG Last 5 years eFG%

51.8% RA Pre-Big 3 eFG%
56.1% RA Last 5 years eFG%

Once the Big 3 was formed, all three had their scoring averages go down but their shooting percentages go up.  Translation?   Spacing, inability of the opposition to focus on just one player, opportunity to be more selective in their shots and maybe a better setup guy in Rondo for all of them (although PP didn’t have a good shooting percentage the year before when Rondo was a rookie).  All three had been the primary scorer on their teams before and the primary target of opposing defenses. [BTW, Ray also had some very elite shooting years prior to coming to Boston].

=========

I would strongly disagree with Ray not being a focus of opposing defenses.  It’s a claim contrary to anything I’ve read and he’s the one guy that everyone knows you have to cover.  He’s the best shooter on the team and it’s not close.  People are chasing him around or switching off screens with a vengeance trying to cover him.  It’s almost comical reading game threads in other teams forums when Ray manages to be left completely uncovered and it never goes unnoticed by broadcasters either.  Ray’s considered the best 3 point shooter of all time by most people with good reason and no coach is not going to focus on making sure he doesn’t get easy shots.