We've talked about it many times during this season. Ray Allen is one of the most underrated and underappreciated players on the Green Army. Everyone focuses on KG, Paulie, Rajon, the bench, even Shaq. When it comes to heaping praise, Ray Ray is usually near the bottom of the priority list. After last night's 95-90 comeback win over Sacramento, Allen is finally getting some well deserved ink.
Somehow, our boys were trailing 45-54 to the Kings at the half. The usually quiet and reseved Ray Allen had enough. "I kind of let everybody have it," Allen said of his halftime pump up. Even Paul Pierce noted the unusualness of the Allen halftime exchange, "It's funny. We knew we were messing up when Ray's the one yelling and screaming." The yelling and screaming worked, however, as the Celtics charged back, regained their focus, and started off on the winning foot with a powerful 29-17 third quarter. The coming together of the squad even saw my boy Rajon Rondo push a Kings player who was standing over a fallen KG near the Cow Town bench. I love getting physical (by which I mean sitting on my couch while players from my favorite team get physical).
Allen wasn't just a voice in the locker room in this one. He led the team with 22 points, adding 6 rebounds and 2 assists. KG, Pierece, Big Baby, and Rondo each had double digit points, with Rajon getting another double double (with grilled onions) on his 17 and 10 night. Kendrick Perkins, still slowly coming back, chipped in 8 points and 10 boards.
So, just how important is Ray Allen to this team? Why do I consider him to be so underapperciated? Well, when Ray scores 20 or more points, the C's are 14-0 this season. He has the second most total points scored on this team, behind Pierce. He easily has the top 3PT% on this team at a whopping 46%. Outside of the lesser playing Von Wafer, Ray has the top FT% on the team, at 86%. His 2.3 three pointers per game puts him well ahead of anyone else. He's #2 in minutes played per game (35.8) on the team, just behind Rondo, despite being 11 years older than our much loved point guard. His win shares are an impressive 6.6, again the second highest on the team.
Clearly he has an argument (and a good one at that) for being the most important player on the entire team. Not only does he contribute at the highest level (or the second highest in some cases) in the aforementioned stats, but his leadership as a 35 year old stud still throwing down, and still getting pumped up about a regular season game against the Kings is immeasurable. If there was a captain of this team, Ray Allen would be that captain.
I haven't even gotten to the fact that his real first name is Walter, he has a borderline case of OCD (which he credits as helping his 3-point shot), and has been described by Roger Ebert as, "a rarity: an athlete who can act" based on his performance as Jesus Shuttlesworth in Spike Lee's "He Got Game."
See what I mean? He's a stud.
By the way, the Celtics are now 37-11, lead the East by 3 games over "Heat-wood Mac," and get them some Dallas on Friday.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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