Personally, I think Doc's reaction here is pretty narcistic. Although that is also human nature. Whenever someone close to us leaves on bad terms, our thoughts naturally go to "what did I do?".
Disagree. I think Doc is getting this out there to:
1. Take the focus off the other players (Rondo) and put the focus on himself, to avoid drama.
2. Get out in front of the story as much as possible before the start of the season, to minimize the media circus and gossip before game 1.
3. Let everyone know that the team he ran out there for the last 30 games of the 2012 season is the one he believes in this season.
Doc knows that things other than Doc Rivers were important in Ray's decision.
But he also knows that three more months of teeth-gnashing and speculation about Ray Allen, and Ray vs. Rondo, etc., will be bad for his team.
He's just being smart about the politics of it all, IMO.
Pretty much my thinking. Rondo's got a pretty bad rep around the NBA as a Richard, especially compared to Ray, that I think Doc wanted to take some heat off of him. Doc's very popular, so he can afford to place himself in opposition to Ray.
People here have no real idea about what Rondo or Ray's reputations are around the league, just like they had no idea that much of what we've heard about Ray over the last month or two were at all likely to be true.
I actually think Ray's biggest beef was with Danny FWIW. DA's constant talk about breaking up the Big 3 wasn't too bright, the frequent trade rumors about Ray, Rondo, Pierce et al weren't smart, and the botched panic trade with Memphis wasn't DA's finest hour either. Why it never crossed anyone's mind that Mayo (AND Ray) would have to in effect approve the deal beforehand is puzzling.
Why was Ray to Memphis for Mayo and a pick a panic move?
I've yet to hear anything negative about Ray as a team mate (and I've heard ex-players speak very favorably about him) and yet to hear anything positive about Rondo. Not once. Doc himself has been pretty clear about Rondo's difficulties in the past and we've seen him act like a jerk more than once.
You must not have been paying much attention since Ray hit free agency. There was talk that he was upset that he made less money than PP or KG, that he had to take a smaller role on offense, that he didn't get enough touches, that he wasn't starting and that the team worried more about bringing back KG than him. I probably missed a few items, that's off of the top of my head. Do those all seem like the traits of a good team mate? Or are you saying you've heard none of this before?
I follow the Cs very closely. Since you're so plugged in, outside of the Washburn story about Allen being unhappy with the botched Grizzlies trade, how much were you aware of before Ray went into free agency and how much has he said publicly confirming your claims?
First of all, you just claimed that you've yet to hear anything negative about Ray as a teammate, I'm just wondering about whether you've never heard any of the points that I brought up, whether you don't think that any of them would mean Ray was a bad teammate, or whether you don't believe any of it to be true.
And while I'd see the occasional clash between Ray and Rondo on the court, it's true that I wasn't aware of all of this before he went into free agency. Which, of course, was my point. People here don't have a lot of insight into the team, much of what they say is guesswork bolstered to something assumed to be true by people here who agree with them.
I still have yet to hear anyone in basketball say anything bad about Ray as a team mate. He didn't sabotage the team in the press. He wasn't a problem in the clubhouse. He didn't sulk and give less than best effort.
He played hurt even after apparently deciding he wanted out. He still went out and did his ridiculous OCD pre-game routine and as the playoffs went on he was able to overcome some, though not all, of the effects of his injury on his long established muscle memory. I saw nothing and have yet to hear anything that Ray has done with the Celtics or any other team that hurt his team. Several Celtics stated that they weren't even aware that he was dissatisfied after he had announced his decision.
We might not like why he left or to where he went, but there' not a shred of evidence that he was a bad teammate as you imply.
If none of Ray being upset about not starting, having a smaller role on offense, not being valued as highly as KG or PP, or constantly clashing with a teammate makes Ray a bad teammate at all, I'd wonder what, in your opinion, does make someone a bad teammate.
You were comparing Ray's stellar reputation around the league to Rondo's poor reputation. Where's all the evidence stronger than this about Rondo? What's he done over the last few years that's wildly worse than what we've heard about Ray?
Thats natural, thats not being a bad teammate. If you have played any type of team sport, you would know this is a natural and meaningless reaction to getting benched/other.
But on the other hand If Pierce got the same situation, how do you think he would react/say.
Ive seen Pierce sulk on the bench after being benched and with the team playing better without him...is that a good teammate?
Nobody sulks and shows it more than Pierce on those bench video shots.
Topic: Doc takes Blame for Ray leavin (Read 41817 times)