Why Ray is wearing a sleeve...

[BillessuR6]

Ah, yes, the sleeve. Allen started wearing it when he was in a horrific slump during the Detroit series last spring. He wears the sleeve on just his left arm - sort of like Michael Jackson without the creepiness.

"Rip Hamilton grew his fingernails long and he was scratching me," explained Allen. "I needed the sleeve to shield me from those nails. And I've stayed with it."

No sense changing now. It's part of the routine.

Link: http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... ce/?page=2

I have seen a lot of little tricks watching basketball but to grow your nails so you can scratch your opponent? Unbelievable!

[Mahoney_jr]

I didn't know that Rip was grewing them on purpose, but I knew Ray wears his sleeve because of Rip's scratching.

Whenever I played basketball I used to cut my fingernails once a week because I didn't want to hurt myself when fighting for loose balls (rebounds) due to a snapped/folded (don't know the correct term in English in this context) fingernail. So I'd be disturbed if Rip risks to fold his own nails because he wants to distract (hurt) an opponent. You can scratch with short nails as well...

[MaxwellSmart]

Rip Hamilton is one of the DIRTIEST players in the NBA---don't you remember him choking Ray Allen--then Faking the elbow injury,so he wouldn't get called for that choking?....of course he played the next game and his shot was almost perfect....pfffft-faked the injury for sure.

[BillessuR6]

Yes, I have never seen a player grab, pull, push, flop more than RIP in the series against Ray. Dirtiest player in the league, IMO.

[Red2]

Rip's game is on the decline but even so if it's true about the nails ( and I don't doubt that it is) that's pretty low. there's no question though that scratching is a big part of the game. If you look at Perk's arms they're full of scratch marks.Im surprised there aren't more eye injuries the way players get raked across the face.

[Tricky Ricky]

Rip benching must be due to him clipping his nails

[BakersDozen]

Ray has basically been on fire since he started wearing that sleeve. It will probally be in his routine till he retires now.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Ah, yes, the sleeve. Allen started wearing it when he was in a horrific slump during the Detroit series last spring. He wears the sleeve on just his left arm - sort of like Michael Jackson without the creepiness.

"Rip Hamilton grew his fingernails long and he was scratching me," explained Allen. "I needed the sleeve to shield me from those nails. And I've stayed with it."

No sense changing now. It's part of the routine.

Link: http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... ce/?page=2

I have seen a lot of little tricks watching basketball but to grow your nails so you can scratch your opponent? Unbelievable!

I remember Rip was scratching Ray like a little girl in that series...whatta chump Rip is...

Also, Ray busted out of his slump when he began wearing the sleeve...no need to stop wearing it now!

[ParticleMan]

Ray said that last year. He showed scratch marks to prove it. I don't know if it's on purpose, but you gotta notice when your nails are getting so long that they can scratch people. Maybe Rip's manicurist was on vacation.

[DorfonCeltics]

I definitely think Rip did it on purpose. He's cut from the same cloth at Reggie Miller and I remember saying in an interview he was always trying to gain on advantage over his opponent. No difference here. I remember hearing about this sleve during the playoffs. It didn't surprise me then and it doesn't surprise me now.