Ray Allen Is Our Most Aggressive Player Right Now

s1ickd · Post #1 » by **s1ickd** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:23 am

Sometimes he doesn't hit his shots, but as far as i can see, he consistently tries to make things happen off the dribble and with his jumper more than anyone on the team.

He's 2nd only to Rondo at trying to take it to the hoop. Sometimes he cant finish in heavy traffic, but he's being aggressiv.e When he has the ball, you can tell he's really trying to seek out his shots and see how a given situation can be turned into a scoring situation... for both him and his teammates.

One of our biggest problems right now, imo, is the fact that we're running set plays half heartedly. Paul Pierce isn't trying to take it hard to the rack (don't tell me he's too old, he did it perfectly fine just a few months ago in the finals). KG is aggressive for 5 minute stretches at a time, but he's lost some of that consistent intensity.

I guess what I'm saying is i'd much rather see Pierce being used as a slasher to rack up opponent team fouls and demoralize his defender as opposed to constantly setting picks and running the baseline. If they back off him, then he can simply shoot. Rondo does not have that luxury.

Rondo is aggressive but his effectiveness is limitted because he's so one dimensional. He's essentially ineffective in a half court offense when you put a good or big defender on him.

PP34RA10 · Post #2 » by **PP34RA10** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:31 am

laughable post

ray allen sucks at driving and finishing

he averages 2 fts per game or something very low like that, and 90% of his free throws are from techs and last minute foul situations

ray allen will have and should have field days against teams like toronto, gstate,knicks,nets

but he usually stinks against strong defensive pressure teams like cleveland in a situation he should and needs to dominate for the celtics to have a chance.

jP3000 · Post #3 » by **jP3000** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:30 am

PP34RA10 wrote:laughable post

ray allen sucks at driving and finishing

he averages 2 fts per game or something very low like that, and 90% of his free throws are from techs and last minute foul situations

ray allen will have and should have field days against teams like toronto, gstate,knicks,nets

but he usually stinks against strong defensive pressure teams like cleveland in a situation he should and needs to dominate for the celtics to have a chance.

Ray does not suck driving and finishing, EVERYBODY has a hard time agaisnt like Cleveland! They play mean D! I think we should look to get Ray more shots! If KG doesn't want to post up then Ray should be the second option.

s1ickd · Post #4 » by **s1ickd** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:25 am

playing aggressive ha snothing to do with driving and dunking over people.

playing aggressive has to do with playing alert and assertive at all times.

the opposite of playing aggressive is fading in and out (a la lamar odom).

Al-Haqq · Post #5 » by **Al-Haqq** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:30 am

Ray Allen is not our most aggressive player. It may look like it because he's playing a lot of MPG, but let's be real. He's becoming more and more of a jump shooter as the games go on.

s1ickd · Post #6 » by **s1ickd** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:43 pm

again, you dont have to take it to the hole and finish over people ot be agressive.

it has to do with being alert and assertive.

reggie miller is a good example of an aggressiv eplayer who doesnt necessarily take it to the hole. right now ray is alert and trying to find ways on offense to consistently contribute, not taking any plays for granted .

MVE85 · Post #7 » by **MVE85** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:52 pm

Ray Allen's hesitance to take it to the hoop is one of the reasons I feel they need a guy like Walker to come off the bench and provide that spark. Tony Allen is completely out of control and has no vertical anymore so his game is completely useless.

I think Ray often plays way to passive and gets lost out there. Hel be playing with the bench and not touch the ball on consecutive possessions.

celticpride50 · Post #8 » by **celticpride50** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:30 pm

There's no way you can call Ray Allen our most aggressive player when all he does is take jumpshots and occasionally drives to the hoop. The only he takes it to the rack is when he gets an open lane from a pick if he has a smaller and weak defender on him but even usually then he'll try to shoot over him. I will say that he is the best moving without the ball but prior to the game against Toronto he wasn't even doing that very well. Pierce, when healthy and getting plays called for him is still our most aggressive driver to the hoop. He can draw a foul on anyone and has the strength to finish at the rack any time. However, I will say that he has been a little passive lately with taking it to the hoop but that could be because his shot is finally coming to him and he often found himself with a smaller defender when the Celtics run that pick at the top with him and rondo where teams havn't been switching; Pierce can easily back the guy down and shoot over him.

With all the said, the key to the Celtics winning this year will be Ray Allen's shooting. I agree that to be aggressive doesn't necessarily mean taking it to the rack every time; it works just as well to always be moving without the ball and not shying away from a good shot. Ray still has one of the best shots in basketball but at his age he is having a more difficult time creating his shots. Becuase of this guys like Pierce and KG have to spend more time setting picks to try and get ray open. Ray is also the only one of the big 3 who has to be dependant on their teammates to get a good shot off. We saw that when Rondo strugggled during this losing streak due to bigger defenders and teams finally realizing he can't shoot what so ever, Ray also struggled because Rondo wasn't able to find him in the same places or give him the same passes.

s1ickd · Post #9 » by **s1ickd** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:19 pm

Right, thanks for clarifying what i was tyring to say. Ray may not be successful every time at creating his own shot and shots for others, but he's the most consistent at trying to do it.

Pierce and KG defer far too often now, and it puts LESS pressure on the opponents defense. Trust me, gaurding a driving Rondo or TA is MUCH easier than gaurding a driving Paul Pierce. Similarly, defending Perkins or Powe in the post is much easier than defending KG in the post. Our superstars need to apply more pressure on the defense and actually play like superstars. Thats the difference between us and the Cavs and Lakers right now.

And I won't believe for a second that we're too old to do it. Pierce outplayed Kobe and Lebron just a few months ago.

Gold Chain · Post #10 » by **Gold Chain** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:42 pm

Ray was absolutely ridiculous yesterday and I cursed his name every time he hit a long ball.

I am hoping someone decides to stay on him tonight.

He was always one of my favorite players in the NBA, especially the year when the Sonics went into the playoffs.

Great player, classy dude and even a movie star.

I hope he is sick tonight of course, but after that I hope he gets back to his great shooting ways.