Get The Ball To Ray!

Posted by Brian Robb on Apr 7, 2010 732028 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F04%2F07%2Fget-the-ball-to-ray%2FGet+The+Ball+To+Ray%212010-04-07+17%3A24%3A37Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D7320

I’m going to make this quick since, well, last night’s game doesn’t deserve much analysis. Something in particular has ticked me off lately though. This team’s inability to get Ray Allen, their best offensive weapon, the freaking basketball.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Ray’s been hot lately. Hell, he’s played tremendous since the All-Star break, and has heated up even more in the last 10 games, shooting a sensational 42 percent from downtown.

He carried the Celtics for three quarters against Cleveland, finishing with 33 points on 10 of 17 shooting (6 of 9 from deep). These numbers came despite the team going away from him offensively, for nearly the entire final frame as the team’s offense stalled.

You’d think the C’s would learn from their mistake right? Wrong. Last night, once again Ray came out hot.He shot 5 of 6 in the first half. Hit a couple from deep. Got to the rim at will. As far as I was concerned, 6 shots in the half wasn’t nearly enough for Ray Ray. They should have kept feeding him at every opportunity as far as I was concerned, until The Knicks proved they could stop him. 

So what happened in the second half? Three shot attempts in 14 minutes. Zero in the fourth quarter. And one blown attempt to get him the ball for the final shot, even though everyone in the arena knew the Knicks would be denying him to get that shot, with the C’s needing a 3 and only one other real threat from deep on the floor in Pierce. (Sheed doesn’t count)

There’s plenty of blame to go around for these two games. Rajon Rondo is the distributor, it’s his job to realize who deserves the ball out there. He, more than anyone else, looked like he could give two sh*ts about that game last night. I trust this will change when the games matter……oh wait last night, a win could have tied the C’s for the 3 spot.

Then there’s Doc Rivers, who keeps on calling plays for Paul Pierce in late game situations, as he did with the team down 1 with 36 seconds left last night. Pierce drove, was triple teamed in the lane, and made an ill advised pass to KG to turn it over. I’m sorry, but Ray Allen has to be an option, if not the primary option on this play.

I love The Truth to death, but he’s just not “right” offensively as of this moment. I don’t know whether it’s injuries, focus, or what, (probably a little of everything) but he hasn’t been on his game in the last couple weeks.

Doc, as a coach, should be able to figure this out and adjust accordingly, especially when you have one of the best shooters on the planet being underutilized, while also playing his best ball of the year.

And here’s the kicker. The Celtics played NO defense last night, yet they still could have easily beat the Knicks in a shootout. They put up 119 points against the freaking Cavs on Sunday. The Knicks are one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Obviously the C’s were careless with 18 turnovers, that limited their opportunities.

However, if you want to dog it defensively, I’m not cool with that, but at least get the ball consistently to the player to the guy who can put up points with the best of them. That means Ray Allen needs to shoot more than 9 times.

So I beg you Doc Rivers, realize that Ray Allen is your best offensive option right now. Get him 15 shots a game. I don’t want to see KG taking 21 foot jumpers at the top of the key. I don’t want to see Paul Pierce shooting from the midrange where he is just making 34 percent of his attempts (career low for Pierce).

I want this team to live and die offensively with the healthiest member of the C’s Big Three right now, especially in crunch time.

Get the ball to Jesus.