See Allen Iverson, This Is What It Is Like To Be A Team Player

Ray Allen on the possibility of coming off the bench next season: "To me, however I can help the team, it'll figure itself out. One thing in regards to Jeff [Green] is, whatever I can do to make him better and to push him and play the best that he can. It's weird that guys have always looked at it like coming off the bench is such a bad thing. I know we went through the situation with [Allen] Iverson, he didn't want to come off the bench. But, you've always worried more about who finished games, but more importantly, when you're on a winning team, winning the game is the ultimate objective, so that's my primary concern. I want to win. I looked at our record this year. It was sad that we didn't get to 60 wins, and we should have had 60 wins, based on the games we lost, and that would have gave us home-court advantage throughout the whole playoffs, East and West."
I would love for Doc to tinker with the line up a little. I think moving Jeff Green to the starting line up and Ray to the bench would be a great move. I feel Jeff needs to get in the flow of the game, while Ray can just go in the game and be Ray. That would probably move Paul Pierce back to the 2 and have the starting line up be Rajon, Paul, Jeff, KG and Jermaine O'Neal and Ray the 1st one off the bench. This would also give the Celtics a legit scorer off the bench.

Who knows if this will even happen, but I'm definitely not opposed to it.

Heat 97, Celtics 87

Around this time 4 years ago, Celtics fans were talking about lotteries. And now we're disappointed that we've only seen the C's win 1 title in 3 years. So let's not get too depressed about the possibilities of the Big Three breaking up. Let's not dwell on lost opportunities, or focus on the negative. In the last three years, this team went from a joke to a model franchise. They won 3 divisional titles, 2 Conference Championships, and 1 NBA Championship. They've become a face-franchise of the Association. They've rekindled old rivalries (Los Angeles) and established new ones (Miami, New York). This might be the end of an era for the Celtics. But it was one hell of an era.



Now to the game. You have to give credit to Miami. LeBron's been long criticized as a poor finisher. And before this series, I felt like if the Celtics could keep games close, their experience and clutchness would propel them to victory, just as it did in the Knicks series. However, the Heat were better in those late stages. Last night, while Ray Allen missed a three, and the C's turned the ball over with ease, LeBron, Wade, and James Jones were knocking down huge 3 point shots.



The Celtics turned the ball over 17 times. Garnett was 3 of 8 with his free throws. Glen Davis still can't find himself. Rondo played 30 minutes and most of those were ineffective. There was no singular reason for the Celtics losing. They lost for a number of reasons.



And without stellar 4th quarter performances from guys like Delonte West, it might have been over much sooner. West was the Celtics' best player in the 4th quarter. That's not a winning formula.



And at least LeBron's post-game interview was classy, and laced with praise for the Celtics. At the same time, he's still an annoying bitch, and I hope either the Bulls or Hawks destroy him in the next round.



Beat LeBron



-The Commodore

Pierce and Allen Square Off For 3 Point Contest

The only thing worth watching during the NBA All Star game Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are competing against each other in the 3 point contest. Pierce surprisingly won it last year then proclaimed himself one of the best shooters in NBA history.

Rounding out the field will be Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Daniel Gibson of the Cleveland Cavaliers, James Jones of the Miami Heat and Dorell Wright of the Golden State Warriors.

I don't really want to see Daniel Gibson, James Jones, or Dorell Wright in it. They should've LeBron in it so he can be embarressed, Stephen Curry and anyone from any team but Cleveland.

Celtics @ Bobcats Preview

Ray Allen needs 4 more 3's to be the all-time leader, I think tonight is the night he gets it done.

Charlotte has little luck against the Celtics, losing 18 of their 23 meetings, and Ray Allen is a big reason for that averaging 17.5 points and shooting 52.5 percent from 3-point range during Boston's 6 game winning streak in the series. The Celtics do enjoy letting these game be a lot closer then they should, and I have a feeling they will do it once again tonight. Still, the Celtics always find a way to pull out these types of games even when they are disinterested.

The 2nd unit is starting to get thin for the Celtics, Daniels is out after that scary injury last game, both O'Neals are out, and Delonte is a little while away. That means Big Baby and Nate are really going to need to carry that 2nd unit. That will be the reason this game will be close, but like always the Celtics will just find a way to win.

Celtics win 98-94
Tommy Award: Ray Allen
Game starts at 7pm on Comcast

Celtics 95 Kings 90

The Celtics looked terrible in the first half (Kings led 54-45 at the end of a first half, and the Celtics in almost every phase), but like so many times this season they were able to turn it on when it mattered and got the win. Usually if the team needs a spark it is guys like Pierce or Garnett that start getting on the team to play harder. Last night, according to sources it was Ray Allen who went off on his teammates, which led to the 2nd half turnaround.

We have seen all year that the Celtics have trouble getting up to play shitty teams, last night was no different, but at long as there on a W on the board at the end it really doesn't matter. Ray Allen was the star of the game scoring 22 points with 6 boards, while Rajon did his job with 17 points and 10 asts.

The Kings were red hot coming into this game beating the Hornets and Lakers, but they didn't have enough in the tank to take down the Celtics, and are still looking for their first 3 game winning streak of the season. Overall, you have to be happy with the way this West Coast trip turned out. The Celtics had a really tough schedule and ended up 3-1.

Next up, the Mavericks on Friday at the Garden.

Ray Ray Is Back To Play Play

Of course the band is coming back together, of course Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were going to resign, of course the Celtics are going to go to the NBA Championship again. Ray Allen signed a 2 year deal worth 20 million dollar deal. The 2nd year has a player option. Is that a little much for Ray Allen, I think so. I would have preferred him come back for 5-7 but hell, with this market every team needed to pony up a little cash.

Ray's playoffs were a little bit of a roller coaster ride, but he was one of the more consistent players during the season. Ray proved that he's a valuable defender and can still spread the floor. I don't mind it, I like it, and I'm glad all of them are going to ride into the sunset together.

It stinks, I must have missed his one hour special.

Latest On Ray Allen

So much has been made of Pierce, Rivers, and the rest of this free agent mess that we sometimes forget about Allen. Today comes word that he might not be signed for awhile. Reports indicate that Allen wants to wait to see where everyone lands. There are rumors that if Wade and Bosh go to Miami they could still have enough cap space for him, and that Riley would be very interested and adding a shooter that can play with Wade.

Still, I don't see Ray leaving Boston. So, hopefully Bosh and Lebron sign with the Cavs, and Boston gets Allen back and then adds some more free agents.

103 Celtics, 94 Lakers

The Celtics went to LA and did what they needed to do. That's take 1 game in LA and steal home court advantage. The series is all knotted up at 1 game a piece and the good guys are going back to Boston.

As soon as the game started you could tell this is a different Boston team, they stayed aggressive, drove to the basket, and played stout defense. In the box score it may say the Lakers had 14 blocks, but I really don't mind that stat because that meant the Celtics were getting to the hoop for the shots to be blocked.

In the first half it was the sniper Ray Allen who hit 7-8 3 pointers and had 27 of his 32 points. In the second half he hit another one which was an NBA record and according to Tommy he doesn't care for Kobe too much. This really goes to show how much he means to the offense and with him in foul trouble in game 1, really killed the flow of the Celtics offense.

In the 2nd half we turned to the youngster Rajon Rondo who fucked around and got a triple double. 19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists was his stat line, but more importantly than that he had a huge block on Derek Fisher and late strip on Kobe, both were extremely risky plays at the time but it worked out.

The bench played a great role for the exception of Shelden Williams who almost blew the game in the 4 minutes he played. But Nate Robinson played a great game scoring a quick 7 points and Sheed and Davis combined for 15 points and 14 rebounds.

The officiating once again was bad, calling 29 on each team, and there was a major free throw discrepancy in the game before the Lakers started putting us on the line at the end, but whatever, I didn't mind this game because they were shitty calls on both sides. I also didn't mind because both Kobe (21 points) and Artest (6 points) were in foul trouble for a majority of the game.

Poopface once again had a great game with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks. He has been outplaying whoever we put on him. With that being said, what the fuck is up with KG? 6 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists is unacceptable. He is missing open shots and trying to tip rebounds to himself rather than grabbing the rebounds. This needs to stop very soon, because at some parts of the game I almost preferred Sheed or Baby to be in over KG.

Pierce struggled, but he'll be ok. A win, is a win, is a win.

Cavs 108 Celtics 88

The Celtics were the better team in the first half, but the Cavs just had too much talent on their side, and blew out the Celtics in the 2nd on their way to a 108-88 win. Lebron had 36 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds, and Mo Williams scored 14 of his 19 points in the 4th quarter.

I wouldn't read too much into this loss. The Celtics were playing without arguably their best player (Pierce), and the Cavs could be the best team in the NBA. With that being said, there has been an ominous trend all season that the Celtics play really well in the 1st half only to turn around and fall flat on their faces in the 2nd. Whether it is age, bad coaching, or just a lack of focus the Celtics need to figure this out before the playoffs begin.

Still, you couldn't expect the Celtics to win this game, and there is a silver lining to this game. Shaq injured his thumb and early reports say it could be serious. Obviously this is good news for the Eastern Conference, since the Cavs will be weak up front without him, or at least until they get Big Z back.

Another good sign is that Ray Allen continued his hot streak with 21 points, and Rajon Rondo had another good game putting up 19 points, 11 assists, and 4 boards. I feel like the Celtics as a team are heading in the right direction, but I would really like to see them play some stronger in the 2nd half once Pierce returns.

Celtics 87 Lakers 86

Last time these two teams played Ray Allen missed a potential game winning shot. This time he was able to make up for it with his defense. Allen's key defensive stop on Fisher secured a 87-86 victory. He also scored 12 of his 24 points in the 3rd quarter and made 10 of his first 11 shots, helping send their hated rivals to their first loss in 5 games since Kobe Bryant went down with a sprained left ankle.

It was a nice win for the Celtics. They played great defense, and even though the Lakers seemed to be getting all the calls (going to the free throw line 12 more times then the Celtics) they stayed strong. Once again Boston lost in rebound, which has to be a concern, and obviously if Kobe was playing the Celtics would have lost.

Perkins had another very solid game with 13 point and 14 rebounds, but the bench was nowhere to be found. The Celtic's bench was outscored 12-24. I can chalk some of that up to the fact they had to play without House, but still you should be expecting more from guys like Sheed, T. Allen, Daniels (who didn't even have 1 point).

The hope is Robinson can be that scoring weapon off the bench, and it looks to be coming not a moment too soon.

Newest Celtics Trade Rumor: Allen To Wizards (UPDATED)

I will say right now that if this happens I might have a heart attack, because if they pull off this trade the Celtics will be stacked!!!!

The rumor is Ray Allen, Brian Scalabrine and J.R. Giddens to the Wizards for Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. Jamison is a beast on the offensive boards, which is one of the Celtics biggest weaknesses. On top of that you can replace Allen's scoring with Butler, which is nice. Another reason I love this deal is because Jamison wouldn't be traded to the Cavs, which has been rumored for much of the season.

I am very biased here since I am a huge Jamison fan, but I am also an Allen fan. If the Celtics are looking at winning it this year it is a great deal. We'll keep ya posted.


***UPDATE***

"There is no truth to either one of those," Ainge said. "I have had conversations with a lot of teams but those have never been discussed. There are a lot of things I would like to do but I don't feel a need to do something. I am always looking to upgrade the team, if possible (Boston.com)."

But he did add...

"It will probably heat up next week," Ainge said.

Another Ray Allen Trade Rumor

We have been hearing so many of these lately that you really wonder what is true. The one I have been hearing today is the Ray Allen to the Kings for Kevin Martin. On the surface it seems to make a lot of sense. Ainge has said that he will only trade Allen for a young proven scorer. Martin fits that as he is only 27 and averages over 20 ppg.

So what's the problem?

There are rumblings that whoever trades for Martin (who was made expendable with stellar play of rookie Tyreke Evans) will have to include Andres Nocioni(notes) and the two years left on his contract. That would kill the Celtics for the future as Martin's contract is for another 3 years also. I have to agree with what DP was saying earlier. The Celtics (unless some great deal comes along) should stay put, so that they can have some money freed up for maybe the greatest free agent class of all-time. Then add someone who gets bought out later in the season.

Allen Feels Good After Talk With Ainge

Over the past couple of weeks there have been a lot of trade rumors surrounding Ray Allen. Ainge began to worry that this would affect Ray Allen, so he called him in for a sit down meeting to clear the air. Ainge told Allen that he had not placed any calls in regard to trading him, and most of the rumors are just being started by the media, and representatives of other teams.

Unless they can get top dollar for Allen I don't think they should trade him. He is my favorite player on the team, and would hate to see him go. So, unless they can get a young player with the skill of Allen then it is not worth it, since Allen is in the last year of his deal and this could be the greatest free agent class of all-time.

Don't Trade Perk

So I was just reading an article a little while ago which was discussing possible trade rumors and options for the Celtics to explore. As much as it pains me to say, I think dealing Ray may be our only option to add the neccessary talent to compete for a Championship THIS year. The Celtics would obviously be looking for a top of the rotation player(s) in return. He is an expiring contract, and if we let him walk at the end of the year, who knows if he'd be willing to sign for significantly less - or walk and play for another team knowing his role here would most likely be diminished. Why not get something for him now then roll the dice?

Talking about trading Ray upsets me, so I'm not going to get into it. Another rumor that I hadn't heard until today was the possibility of trading Kendrick Perkins. Obviously Perk has generated some interest from around the league. He is a big body, physical, hard nosed type of player. He's defense minded, and has improved his offensive game drastically by each season that he's been in the league. Playing only a shade under 30 minutes a game Perk has managed to average about 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks per this season. If you ask me that's pretty impressive on a team where you are considered one of the last scoring options, and basically have to fight in the trenches for your points and touches.

With that said, Perk is only making 4.3 million right now, so why trade him? At that price I consider Perk to be a bargain. If my memory is correct, Big Baby is making the mid level exception at 3 million per and has been basically a disaster for the team over both the offseason and well into the regular season with his lackluster play and off the court antics. What would we get in return for Perk? With a deteriorating Kevin Garnett hobbling around, it is evident that the Celtics need to get younger in the near future, and they need to start now. Perk is only 26 years old, and already has NBA Championship experience. Not a lot of guys have that mentality. He may not be much of a leader, but you can guarantee that he will play hard and leave it all on the court.

So I say please don't trade Perk Danny. He should be a staple for this team in the future, and someone you should build a team around. We need to keep our young nucleus in tact (Rondo, Perk). These guys have played together and know what it takes to win. If we can progressively get younger year by year then I'm all for it. The Garnett era isn't forever, and I think we need to maintain our strong defensive minded basketball to be successful in the future. Physical D is what won us a title in the first place, and Perk definetly brings that to the table.

I still think that the Celtics can compete for a title with the team they have now as long as they're healthy come playoff time which at this point may be wishful thinking from here on out. I just hope that Danny doesn't do anything drastic before the trade deadline. Sure the rumors are floating around about Ray, but as far as Perk goes, he should stay put. Every year he is proving himself more and more, and he is the type of guy that can get the job done. I leave you with this: If Rashard Lewis drives baseline at the end of the game on KG, and Perk is in on the help defense opposed to Sheed do the Celtics still lose that game? Just a thought. Keep Perk in Celtics Green.

The Answer Says Ray Allen Has To Go

This is the saddest article I'm ever going to write. I hope this never sees the light of day, but it will, because I'm right.

No matter how much fire the Celtics have, it won't be enough. Sorry Boston. But this team is not the best team in the NBA. Even if they are healthy. Even if they play perfect, they are not the best team. I thought the game against the Lakers was one of the best games I've seen from the Celtics in a long time. They came out with fire. They fed off the home crowd. Garnett looked scary for the first time this year. Paul Pierce was on fire. Rondo was doing what we now take for granted, which is dominate the game. Rasheed was making intelligent plays with the basketball. Perkins had a tremendous game. Eddie House hit his shots. Tony Allen game the best game of his career. So what is wrong? What happened. Why am I looking at this game and saying this is a good thing. Look at all those positives and we still came out losing. Sure, you can blame that we gave up a lead. But you really can't. It;s the Lakers. You aren't going to beat them by 15 points. Over the course of a game these things balance out. Like when they were beating us by 13. This was a simple case of Kobe hitting a ridiculous shot. That's it. Nothing more. Ray Allen played perfect defense. Ray Allen Ray Allen Ray Allen. In my last article I said I have nothing bad to say about you, I still don't, but guess what, the Celtic's need to make a serious move. Or we are out in the second round. I see one move that makes sense for two teams.

Ray Allen for Andre Igudola.

What?! Are you Fucking crazy? Maybe. Maybe not. But I'll tell you that the Celtics need a number one man. This is Paul Pierce. And they need a number two man and I think this is where the offense has trouble. Who is it? Well sometimes its Allen. Sometimes it's Garnett. Sometimes it's Rondo. The roles are unclear. I love Ray Allen but we need young, high flying legs in the play off. Andre Igudola is such a good number two man that he's the Sixers number 1. This trade makes sense for both franchises.

Celtics- they need to shake things up. We need to get younger. Simple as that. What are we losing in Ray? The best shooter of all time. You ask who's gonna take the last shot in a game. The same guy that's been doing it for the C's the past 11 years. Paul Pierce. I would rather see Paul shoot and miss than watch anyone else take the shot. I'm sorry but it's true. Giving up Allen for Iggy, we'd gain more than we lose. Iggy we gain a dunker. A power player who can play the 2 and the 3 spot. This is a very good player and would fit well in their schemes. I fully support this move. I love you Ray, but we gotta shake things up. If we make a second round exit, the off season will be a disaster trying to build a team at the same time everyone is doing it.

Sixers- Your thinking why the fuck would they trade their franchise player for Ray Allen? If your thinking that then your not thinking. They've made it widely known they are trying to trade Iggy for an expiring contract. There been a lot of T-Mac talk. Now that doesn't make any fucking sense, since T-Mac hasn't done a damn thing in 3 seasons while Ray Allen has been hitting game winners, and won a ring. So If I'm the Sixers, I take the Ray Allen contract over T-Mac. I think there is no question that the Sixers will move Iggy before the deadline, the question is where, and for who? This team is gonna rebuild next year and would to dump Iggy, and that waste of space Elton Brand.

I won't be mad if this doesn't happen, but I really wanna see a move made. We need something to shake this team up. Ray Allen is the only expendable piece. Lets see what happens.

Hot Rumor

Here is a hot rumor that Golden State would be willing to trade Monta Ellis to the Celtics for Ray Allen.

The reason why Golden State would do this is because they think Ellis isn't letting rookie Stephen Curry progress at the rate he should be. The Warriors would have to throw in someone else to match Allens salary as well.

I love Ray. I do. However, if this has any truth to it, I would jump immediately. Ellis is a prolific scorer, extremely quick and an above average defender. Basically he can do everything better on the court than Ray Allen other than shoot 3s on the court. I mean imagine Rajon and Monta in the back court, no one would be able to keep up with them. Yes, you could argue that this could create some chemistry issues, but who cares when you have Kevin Garnett and Doc to calm everyone down.

Ray Allen's Most Memorible Moments

Kind of a cool thing to do since he just passed 20,000 points...

Big Baby Misses Practice

"Forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis (hand injury) missed practice Monday afternoon and his status has not been determined for the Celtics' regular-season opening visit to Cleveland Tuesday.

"We sent him for X rays," coach Doc Rivers said of Davis. "He was complaining about it before (practice)."

The Celtics will also be missing Tony Allen (ankle surgery), Brian Scalabrine (ankle sprain), and Bill Walker (knee surgery). Ray Allen, who sustained a cut over his eye during practice Saturday, trained at full speed and is expected to be in the starting lineup (Boston.com)."

We will let you know the outcome of that X-Ray tomorrow, but the Celtics have certainly had to deal with a lot of injuries to begin this season. The good news is that Ray Allen seems to be fine, and Tony Allen isn't on the court.

Ray Allen Gets 5 Stitches

"Celtics guard Ray Allen missed part of Saturday afternoon's practice after a Kendrick Perkins elbow caused a cut over his eye. Allen was taken for stitches at the team's Health Point facility in Waltham. The Celtics later announced Allen received five stitches. Allen's status for the Celtics' season-opening visit to Cleveland has not been determined. Coach Doc Rivers described the clash as an accident, since both Allen and Perkins were playing together, during a "skeleton" drill, which does not include a defending team.

"It was a 'skeleton' drill, no defense," Rivers said. "We thought he was goofing around when he went down. But then we saw the blood."

Allen and Perkins were working a hand-off play, Perkins keeping possession as Allen cut past him. But Perkins, holding the ball, brought his elbow down as Allen raced by (Boston.com)."

I would be shocked if this keep Ray Allen out of the Celtics season opener against the Cavs. It is funny that they all thought he was joking around. I really never thought of Ray Allen as much of a jokester, but anyways everything seems to be fine and I doubt we will hear much more about this. We'll keep you updated if his status for the game vs the Cavs changes...

Ray Allen Talking Extension

"The Globe's NBA writer Gary Washburn caught up with Ray Allen at the end of tonight's Hall of Fame ceremony. Ray Allen said Friday night that he would like to negotiate a contract extension with the Celtics beyond this season. Allen, who turned 34 in July, is entering the final year of a five-year, $85 million deal he signed with the team formally known as the Seattle SuperSonics. Allen will earn $19.7 million this season.

“Of course, but it will be dealt with in its time,” said Allen, when asked whether he would like to play more years in Boston. “My job doesn’t change. I gotta go out and do the same things. We get paid to play basketball. We’re all in a great situation so we can’t look past this year (Boston.com).”

Ray Allen is a class act plain and simple. He is saying all the right things, and I really do believe he is focused on the upcoming season and not his contract. I would love to see him back, but he is starting to get up there in age, so I don't know if the Celtics will bring him back with all the great free agents out there. Still, he is one of my favorite players of all-time, and it is great that he is being a team player and leader.