Big three?? Only big two

[Andy Jick]

you mean none of us here wouldn't love discussing the growth of al jefferson...should we finally trade paul pierce?...will this be the summer that gerald finally "gets it"?...will we have a shot at michael beasley? 

[BrickJames]

Brick - have you been watching the playoffs?  Ray Allen is playing like a 100-year-old man.  He is getting beaten by one of the slowest players in the NBA.  He is supposed to be scoring points and is not.  The regular season means nothing now.  Ray is playing poorly.

There are playoffs going on?  I didn't know.

Do you notice that LeBron is ALWAYS on the same side of the floor as Wally?  Would you rather him get in front of Wally and let LeBrick cut to the hoop, or force Wally to go to the basket?

[vinnie]

Brick - have you been watching the playoffs?  Ray Allen is playing like a 100-year-old man.  He is getting beaten by one of the slowest players in the NBA.  He is supposed to be scoring points and is not.  The regular season means nothing now.  Ray is playing poorly.

There are playoffs going on?  I didn't know.

Do you notice that LeBron is ALWAYS on the same side of the floor as Wally?  Would you rather him get in front of Wally and let LeBrick cut to the hoop, or force Wally to go to the basket?

I'll repeat.  Ray Allen is stinking the joint out in this series.  He has had one good half of basketball out of 12.

[MaineBleedsGreen]

Ray is the only perimeter "allstar" i've ever seen incapable of a pick and roll. He can't even accidentally get it right. He always comes off the pick and dribbles back, he can't turn the corner, he acts like he needs a 3 ft bubble from the defender, and then he ends up passing it by jumping in the air when he gets trapped/doubled, which is always risky. That's the one thing that gets me the most. It just looks so pathetic. Anyway, there's plenty of other things in his game to gripe about, but that's mine.

[BrickJames]

Brick - have you been watching the playoffs?  Ray Allen is playing like a 100-year-old man.  He is getting beaten by one of the slowest players in the NBA.  He is supposed to be scoring points and is not.  The regular season means nothing now.  Ray is playing poorly.

There are playoffs going on?  I didn't know.

Do you notice that LeBron is ALWAYS on the same side of the floor as Wally?  Would you rather him get in front of Wally and let LeBrick cut to the hoop, or force Wally to go to the basket?

I'll repeat.  Ray Allen is stinking the joint out in this series.  He has had one good half of basketball out of 12.

I guess you didn't notice my question, or you didn't notice the Cavs offensive scheme.  That's a shame.

[35Reggie]

For most of the playoffs, it's been the "big one".  Ray has been bad, but Pierce hasn't been so hot himself. 

that's exactly why i gave pierce a .5 

Don't be too hard on Pierce just because his point total isn't what we're used to. He's spending a ton of energy defending Lebron, whereas Ray only has to stand in front of Wally and therefore has no excuse for sucking as bad as he does. The Carmelo trade would be great, but Denver would never go for it.

[drza44]

This playoffs has aged me 10 years, and a big part of my frustration is that this team is looking just like most of the Timberwolves teams of the last 12 years...not even the Cassell/Sprewell Wolves, either (at least that year Cassell was a good wingman till he got hurt).  For the most part this has looked like KG surrounded by role players that may or may not show up on a given night, like Pierce and Allen have turned into Wally and Troy Hudson.  It's driving me CRAZY!

For large chunks of the regular season Pierce was outstanding.  But in the playoffs...what has happened?  Where did he go?  Where is his impact?

And don't even get me STARTED on Ray Allen.  It's to the point now when I am legitimately worried every time he touches the ball...I just feel like something bad is going to happen.

Rondo, Perkins, Powe, Baby...they're young, so I can forgive them some ups and downs in their first trip to the big stage.  But Pierce and Allen are supposed to do BETTER than this! 

AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH.

(I'm sorry, I just needed to vent.  I NEED for the Celtics to win on Sunday.  And I would LOVE to have the whole team contributing to the victory.  How about one good "Boston Three Party" effort just for old times sake)...

[Andy Jick]

if paul would only have scored 15 points tonight, but took over in the 4th quarter and hit key shots that led this team to victory, i would have been the first to sing his praises.

but he didn't do that...

[EJPLAYA]

Ray hasn't been near as bad as people are saying. He hasn't been on fire in the playoffs, but the guy gets nothing run for him at all. No picks set. Nothing but the afterthought offensively. He's not the problem...

Those of you thinking how nice it would be to have not made this trade, remember. We'd also not have KG. Without Ray coming KG wasn't either. We'd be the Timberwolves now instead of a home game away from the conference finals.

Sorry, EJ, but Ray has been horrible.  His defense has been spotty at best.  He has done nothing except for the second half of game 2. 

He sure held Wally to 2-11 shooting tonight. That seems to be a pretty big turnaround. The guy gets NOTHING run for him and is expected to play like he did in Seattle. They get KG his shot all the time. PP gets his all the time. Ray is just expected to take the leftovers and shoot things that aren't his best shots but still be on fire. You're way overblowing Ray's issues. PP's #'s are just as bad as Ray's percentage-wise against Cleveland. The difference is that PP is taking 5-6 more shots a game than Ray. If you're going to rip Ray you better do the same for PP. Only KG is putting up really good #'s vs. Cleveland.

[drza44]

He sure held Wally to 2-11 shooting tonight. That seems to be a pretty big turnaround. The guy gets NOTHING run for him and is expected to play like he did in Seattle. They get KG his shot all the time. PP gets his all the time. Ray is just expected to take the leftovers and shoot things that aren't his best shots but still be on fire. You're way overblowing Ray's issues. PP's #'s are just as bad as Ray's percentage-wise against Cleveland. The difference is that PP is taking 5-6 more shots a game than Ray. If you're going to rip Ray you better do the same for PP. Only KG is putting up really good #'s vs. Cleveland.

I'm willing to agree with you that both Pierce and Allen have far underachieved this series.  But I don't think that Allen should get a pass because he isn't the main cog in the offense, because that has been true all season.  He's getting many of the same shots that he has gotten all year, he's just missing them.  Unfortunately, so is Pierce.

I remember tonight on two clear occasions when KG posted up, got the ball down low and sucked the defense in, then set up either Pierce or Allen for WIDE open 3s.  I mean butt-naked, no-one-within-five-feet wide open 3s.  And they clanked them.  Those weren't instances of not having plays run for them or being fatigued from LeBron, they were just missed shots. 

Unfortunately, the Celtics two All Star swingmen have both lost their perimeter shots at the same time, and have been able to find them only rarely for the past month.  I just don't understand how this can happen...

[Scintan]

Allen is hesitating with his shot, and that's never good for a pure shooter.  Then again, with Cleveland sagging so far off of Rondo, he's usually only got a split second to decide whether to shoot or pass, because the second defender is right near him.

[EJPLAYA]

He sure held Wally to 2-11 shooting tonight. That seems to be a pretty big turnaround. The guy gets NOTHING run for him and is expected to play like he did in Seattle. They get KG his shot all the time. PP gets his all the time. Ray is just expected to take the leftovers and shoot things that aren't his best shots but still be on fire. You're way overblowing Ray's issues. PP's #'s are just as bad as Ray's percentage-wise against Cleveland. The difference is that PP is taking 5-6 more shots a game than Ray. If you're going to rip Ray you better do the same for PP. Only KG is putting up really good #'s vs. Cleveland.

I'm willing to agree with you that both Pierce and Allen have far underachieved this series.  But I don't think that Allen should get a pass because he isn't the main cog in the offense, because that has been true all season.  He's getting many of the same shots that he has gotten all year, he's just missing them.  Unfortunately, so is Pierce.

I remember tonight on two clear occasions when KG posted up, got the ball down low and sucked the defense in, then set up either Pierce or Allen for WIDE open 3s.  I mean butt-naked, no-one-within-five-feet wide open 3s.  And they clanked them.  Those weren't instances of not having plays run for them or being fatigued from LeBron, they were just missed shots. 

Unfortunately, the Celtics two All Star swingmen have both lost their perimeter shots at the same time, and have been able to find them only rarely for the past month.  I just don't understand how this can happen...

When you are only taking 7-8 shots the difference of shooting 35% and 50% is missing just ONE shot. It is really tough to blame Ray who has taken a back seat on this team without any complaining over 1 shot per game in the playoffs. He is just not being used effectively.

[DrD]

Denver is looking to trade Carmelo.... I'd do a Ray Allen + 1st round pick (#30) for Carmelo in a hearbeat..... KG could keep Carmelo in line .... both are bad defenders but at least Carmelo is younger and bigger.....a lineup of Rondo, Pierce, Carmelo, KG, and Perkins looks very promising...

There is no starting lineup which includes Perkins that looks good to me.

[Edgar]

Denver is looking to trade Carmelo.... I'd do a Ray Allen + 1st round pick (#30) for Carmelo in a hearbeat..... KG could keep Carmelo in line .... both are bad defenders but at least Carmelo is younger and bigger.....a lineup of Rondo, Pierce, Carmelo, KG, and Perkins looks very promising...

There is no starting lineup which includes Perkins that looks good to me.

ohh u hater uu...
have to agree
we need a center
badly
ala Oberto, ala, bogut, ala whoever... a center

[drza44]

When you are only taking 7-8 shots the difference of shooting 35% and 50% is missing just ONE shot. It is really tough to blame Ray who has taken a back seat on this team without any complaining over 1 shot per game in the playoffs. He is just not being used effectively.

Once again, I grant you the point that Ray isn't getting as many touches as he's used to in his career.  And I agree that that can affect his play to an extent.  I definitely give him props for being willing to sacrifice his personal numbers and for buying into his new role...in the regular season.

That said, we're not talking one game or 7-8 shots anymore.  We're talking 13 games, and 155 shots that Allen is shooting at 39%.  It'd take a lot more than one made shot, at this point, to change Allen's shooting percentages around.

Also, as I said before, his role now is the same that it's been all year.  The Celts don't need for him to be the Seattle Allen that scored 25 ppg when he had all types of plays run for him.  Just be the Allen from the season that would give a consistent 17 points on reasonable shooting, the one that was a legitimate outside threat, the one that defenses had to spend at least a bit of time game-planning for.  It's not a new thing that he hasn't been having plays run for him...it's just a new thing that when he does get a shot he's missing so many of them.

That's part of what this team has been missing this post-season.  Allen hasn't played his part.  Neither has Pierce, to be honest, and at least one (and preferably both) need to get their heads on straight soon if this season is going to continue beyond Sunday.