2011: An Amazing Year For Ray Allen
Posted by Brian Robb on Jan 14, 2011
I had every intention last night of writing a post today on the team’s roster situation moving forward. Without any real new news on Jermaine O’Neal’s condition however, that will have to wait a day or two.
Instead, as the Boston Celtics moved back into the top spot of the Eastern Conference last night as the LeBron-less Heat got blown out of Denver, I figured it was time to post something positive while addressing one of my pet peeves in this team’s offense right now.
Let’s start with the good though and we should look no further than number 20. The 35-year-old Allen is having a career year in his Celtics uniform, with a 50.9% FG percentage, and a eye-opening 46.6% from downtown, which is good for number five in the league from downtown.
Those numbers in themselves are incredibly impressive for a guy that has had to play 35 minutes per game in a year with a constantly shifting supporting cast, both off the bench and in the starting lineup. While everything else has been inconsistent about this team, Ray’s shooting has been rock-solid all the way through.
It bears noting though, just how tremendous the Connecticut product has been though through the first seven games of this month. You’re probably already sitting down for this, but I just wanted to make sure you were before I dropped these numbers on you, since I had to look twice myself the first time I saw them.
The Month of January (7 games): 60.6 FG %, 70 % 3pt FG (21/30)
I kid you not. 70 percent from downtown through seven games when he’s averaging over four attempts per game from that range. Just absurd goodness. My issue though. How have the Celtics lost two of these games with Ray shooting so well? And should he be shooting more? My thoughts, after the jump
Obviously, a large problem in those losses has been the defense, (especially the Houston game) but for the sake of this argument, I’m going to focus on the offense. And the guy I have a bit of a beef with is none other than Glen Davis.
Let me preface this by saying, I’ve loved what Davis has done this year. He’s been invaluable to this squad and he’s playing more minutes right now than he should be. With that said though, he’s also doing one more thing more than he should and that’s take a very high number shots.
Check out his shot attempt numbers from games the month of January: 14, 14, 17, 8, 18, 15, 14
With Big Baby filling in for KG at the starting power forward spot, I expected hisshot attempts to go up, as well as his outside jumpers as he filled in for KG’s role in the first team offense, highly predicated on open mid-range jumpers.
Still, this is a guy who, with Ray Allen shooting out of his mind, has led the team in shots taken from the field in four of the last five games. He’s also taken double digit shot attempts in 17 of the past 19 games. That can’t and shouldn’t happen.
My beef here though isn’t so much with Big Baby as it is with Doc and Rajon Rondo a bit. With Ray (and Paul Pierce for that matter) shooting so well, you have to find a way to get the ball in Ray and Paul’s hands more. Davis is going to take open jumpers when he gets them, and C’s fans have to expect that. Would I like him to cut down on them a bit, especially when he could feast against inferior compeition inside? Yes. Do I think he will? I’m not holding my breath. That’s his game now for better or worse.
So lies the issue. If you’re Doc, you don’t want to tell Baby NOT to take those shots. Ultimately, the C’s need him to take those shots in order to win. He feeds on confidence like any other player, and obviously has shown he has plenty of it in a contract year. Yet, there is something wrong with this picture. Consider these numbers:
Shots in January
Glen Davis: 100
Ray Allen: 94
Paul Pierce: 92
Then, in addition to Ray’s hot shooting and career high three-point shooting percentage (46.6%) there’s Paul Pierce’s stellar efficiency this season:
Season: FG% 51.1%, 3pt-FG 41.1%
January: FG% 57%, 3pt-FG 53.8% (14/26)
Not as incredible as Ray, but still outstanding numbers from Paul.
Put it altogether and it’s quite simple for me. You’ve got two guys having career years offensively with a top-five point guard at the helm. I want them shooting more than anyone on this team. And Doc Rivers should too.
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