Ray-Ray

I’m just gonna jump right into it… The Celtics go as Ray Allen goes.

And when Doc doesn’t listen to this saying the offense gets stagnant and they lose. CIP (Case in Point): Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Ray goes 7-12 from the field, a stellar night for most players but a decent, ‘This is what I do’ kind of nights for Ray-Ray. And when the TD Garden max capacity crowd should have seen triple/quadruple/picket fence/rub/ball screens for him they saw the overused NBA Superstar post up at 18 feet with Paul Pierce. He may have kept them in the game to the naked eye, but he really didn’t. He made them lose.

When you give the ball to Ray-Ray, the only logical way to give the ball to Ray-Ray is to send him around a plethora of screens and let do his thing. And when this happens he scores the ball with the best of them, shooting above 45% for the 2^nd half of the season and carrying that stroke into the playoffs with him. And not only has this but he also got his teammates involved. I’ve seen Kendrick Perkins too many times rolling to the basket untouched and KG with his ‘short corner’ shot unguarded. He may have some turnovers but the benefits outweigh the costs.

And all this talk about Rajon Rondo as making the Celtics run, I’m not buying it. Reading screens and giving the ball to Ray-Ray is cutting down on his tough decision making and thus turnovers. And with everyone worried about the screens and Ray-Ray, Rondo is able to sneak through the teeth of the defense and score.

When Pierce gets it in the post* nobody is involved and the offense gets sloppy and no movement happens. Nobody offensive boards and everybody contributes to lack luster performance on the other end of the floor.

Okay, I’m not saying that Ray-Ray has to have 30 points and 9 assists for them to win. And there is no way in the world that he can run off screens all game, but it has to happen the majority of time. Just give Ray-Ray touches; he is experienced enough to know when to give it up and when to unleash the silky stroke.

Prediction: If Ray-Ray shoots 15+ times in game 5 then the Celtics with win by double figures.

Bold Prediction: If the Lakers series goes 7, and Ray-Ray gets 10+ shots a game in the finals (he’s averaging a little over 12 Shots per game) then the Celtics will roll in 5 games. There is no way that Kobe can carry his team miraculously to the Finals, AND then guard a guy who runs off 50 screens a game. I don’t think so. And if you think that Ron Artest will guard him you might as well hand the Celtics the trophy. And if the Lakers win in 6 games in the Western Conference Finals then and Ray-Ray gets 10+ shots a game then the Lakers might make it a series but it will only go 6 games max.