RealGM

Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/ne ... id=4889007

The article talks about the decline of Ray Allen...

But looking deeper into Allen's numbers, some alarming trends come into focus that paint the picture of a player for whom age is starting to be a factor.

Allen has had much more difficulty bouncing back on short rest. While playing in Seattle, his production actually went up when playing on consecutive days. In the season before joining the Celtics, he averaged 27.8 points in the second of back-to-back games.

In all three seasons in Boston, Allen's production dragged in those situations. This season, it has been particularly noticeable. Allen is averaging 15.3 ppg on no days' rest and shooting just 27.3 percent from 3-point range.

A similar trend has emerged late in games. One of the Celtics' primary options in the clutch, Allen has come up short on multiple occasions this season. However, it's not just the buzzer-beaters. In the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, Allen has a 35.7 field goal percentage. Back in the championship season of 2008, it was 46.9 percent.

These numbers could merely be the product of a small sample size or a shooting slump. However, given his age, one has to consider whether it could be a permanent downturn.

doc's been playing him a lot.
1st qr- 10 minutes
2nd qr- 4 mnts
3rd qr-10 mnts
4th qr- last 6 mnts

30 minutes should be max for him. I think it'll solve his shoting slump and back2back problems a bit at least.

with marquies is arriving and the other Allen is finally playing some quality basketball ,cutting Ray's minutes is more easy than before

Great, great post....thanks

I think with all the rumors and stats like this people must realize that Ray is not the same Ray he was 3 years ago and that we are not trading allstar sg ...we are trading solid sg on decline...Its not about the name, its about stats...

To me, these stats provide further evidence that we need to give Ray some rest out there.

He's the oldest of the big three, yet the guy plays more minutes than anyone on the team (right there with Rondo). That's why he has been coming up short late in games. The guy is freaking tired...

I am confident that if Ray was playing 26 to 30 minutes a night instead of his usual 36 minutes a night, his legs wouldn't be so tired and he'd be playing a lot better. Especially in back to backs.

I find it a bit ironic that a lot of Celtics fans are already throwing dirt on Ray's grave, yet the guy has been the only one starter who hasn't gone out this season with an injury, and he and Rondo lead the team in minutes played. None of our younger SG's have been able to step up. TA has been rehabing most of the 1st half of the year (seems like an every year occurance), Marquis has been out so long he doesn't even remember the plays, and House with limited minutes hasn't been playing well all year.

Having TA and Marquis back and healthy, should help. But Doc also needs to purposely manage these guys minutes down the stretch. What is he going to do when the playoffs come and he shortens up the rotation and the top player's minutes expand. Are Ray and Paul gonna play 40 minutes a game? That's a recipe for disaster.

You could go the other way on this to. There are no back to backs in the playoffs, and it's pretty clear that's what this team is focused on, not mid season back to backs against the Pistons and Bobcats. Also, for what it's worth, the C's have no backs to backs until March.

Havlicek17 wrote:To me, these stats provide further evidence that we need to give Ray some rest out there.

He's the oldest of the big three, yet the guy plays more minutes than anyone on the team (right there with Rondo). That's why he has been coming up short late in games. The guy is freaking tired...

I am confident that if Ray was playing 26 to 30 minutes a night instead of his usual 36 minutes a night, his legs wouldn't be so tired and he'd be playing a lot better. Especially in back to backs.

I find it a bit ironic that a lot of Celtics fans are already throwing dirt on Ray's grave, yet the guy has been the only one starter who hasn't gone out this season with an injury, and he and Rondo lead the team in minutes played. None of our younger SG's have been able to step up. TA has been rehabing most of the 1st half of the year (seems like an every year occurance), Marquis has been out so long he doesn't even remember the plays, and House with limited minutes hasn't been playing well all year.

Having TA and Marquis back and healthy, should help. But Doc also needs to purposely manage these guys minutes down the stretch. What is he going to do when the playoffs come and he shortens up the rotation and the top player's minutes expand. Are Ray and Paul gonna play 40 minutes a game? That's a recipe for disaster.

Agreement with everything you said, however I wish Marquis and or Tony could consistently hit it from down town.

I never knew shooters get worse with age and big minutes Seriously. This is common sense. We can't make Doc manage minutes correctly. It should be a given. The team as a whole is not playing to their potential..Rondo being the closest.We are still yet to see a complete game from them for 4 quarters. Enlighten me if you recall that game. There real question is can they actually do that IMO.

According to Doc, Ray is easily the most fit player on the team (which i don't doubt)......so of course he can handle 40 minutes every night, right Doc?