Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 5, 2006 1:41:46 GMT -5
I meant to post this a week and a half ago, but never got around to it. We may have a nice little surprise on our hands with Allan Ray. He's basically gone unnoticed--not being drafted, barely hearing a whisper out of him since summer league--but through all the cuts and through all the uncertainty that has surrounded the team since opening day, Allan Ray remains. He could have been sent down to the D-League long ago, and he could have been cut last week, but Allan Ray remains. And finally, after sitting and watching through 16 games with no mention from the local beatwriters if he's even alive, Ray finally makes his debut against the Bulls, and he cooly sinks 4 - 6 shots for 9 pts in just 11 minutes.
It was just for one quarter of action, but Celtics fans, who had nothing else to watch the game for, other than to watch the young kids play, got to see Allan Ray display his sweet, quick trigger jumper and even got to see his improved dribbling ability (which is very nice because we may use him at PG at some point this season).
Comparing him to Delonte, he has many of the same qualities that Delonte has, but is better at certain aspects (while Delonte is better at others). For one, he's more athletic and agile, making him more deceptive with the ball in his hands and harder to contain. He's also got the ability to create his own shot, especially the quick two dribble penetration and pull up jumper that made Iverson so hard to guard throughout his career. If there's one thing about Delonte that is painfully obvious is that he can't create his own offense off the dribble. And when the shot clock is expiring, the player with the ball in his hands needs to be able to get a shot off. Delonte doesn't appear to have this skill and Allan Ray seems to have the capacity to do it.
Filling in as a situational PG and backup SG, Allan Ray may push Delonte for minutes. Even from the summer league games, you could see that Ray has promise as a catch and shoot guy because he can get into his shooting crouch instantly after receiving a pass and elevate for a picture perfect jumper. As Wally Szczerbiak has been demonstrating this season, this offensive repetoire is very essential for our style of uptempo basketball. Delonte has a sweet shooting stroke, but he hasn't demonstrated the ability to catch and shoot. He gets most of his shots off either from a set position or when the defender sags off of him. Having more guys who can come off of screens and quickly fire away, and bury open jumpers will make our offense less reliant on Pierce--and that's the best thing we can hope for.
Ainge is very high on Ray. He was seeking to snatch him up as soon as the draft concluded. He called Ray's agent once he saw that Ray got past the first round and wasnt drafted yet. And without even hesitating, he offered Ray a short term contract if he wasn't picked up in the second round. And even though Ray sat on the bench and saw absolutely zero playing time this season, despite having so many young guys already, waiting for their chance to show their goods, Ainge did not cut him or send him down to the D-League. But instead, he rewarded Allan Ray with a contract extension. And Ray cooly shows his gratitude by going out on the court and with his encouraing performance, saying, "look what I can do".
I'm very excited to see Allan Ray get more playing time. I think we have a nice little gem on our hands. This is even more incentive for us to go with our youth and start the rebuilding process around Perk, Jefferson, Powe, Gomes, Gerald, Allen, Telfair, Rajon, Delonte and Allan Ray. We should have started the rebuilding process a couple of years ago. It'll set us back a few years, but in the meantime we'll get a few more cornerstone players from the upcoming drafts and our young players will develp and mature through experience and tons of playing time. We will fly under the radar as this crucial process takes place, but we'll taste the sweet reward of our labor of patience, just like how Allan Ray did.
It was just for one quarter of action, but Celtics fans, who had nothing else to watch the game for, other than to watch the young kids play, got to see Allan Ray display his sweet, quick trigger jumper and even got to see his improved dribbling ability (which is very nice because we may use him at PG at some point this season).
Comparing him to Delonte, he has many of the same qualities that Delonte has, but is better at certain aspects (while Delonte is better at others). For one, he's more athletic and agile, making him more deceptive with the ball in his hands and harder to contain. He's also got the ability to create his own shot, especially the quick two dribble penetration and pull up jumper that made Iverson so hard to guard throughout his career. If there's one thing about Delonte that is painfully obvious is that he can't create his own offense off the dribble. And when the shot clock is expiring, the player with the ball in his hands needs to be able to get a shot off. Delonte doesn't appear to have this skill and Allan Ray seems to have the capacity to do it.
Filling in as a situational PG and backup SG, Allan Ray may push Delonte for minutes. Even from the summer league games, you could see that Ray has promise as a catch and shoot guy because he can get into his shooting crouch instantly after receiving a pass and elevate for a picture perfect jumper. As Wally Szczerbiak has been demonstrating this season, this offensive repetoire is very essential for our style of uptempo basketball. Delonte has a sweet shooting stroke, but he hasn't demonstrated the ability to catch and shoot. He gets most of his shots off either from a set position or when the defender sags off of him. Having more guys who can come off of screens and quickly fire away, and bury open jumpers will make our offense less reliant on Pierce--and that's the best thing we can hope for.
Ainge is very high on Ray. He was seeking to snatch him up as soon as the draft concluded. He called Ray's agent once he saw that Ray got past the first round and wasnt drafted yet. And without even hesitating, he offered Ray a short term contract if he wasn't picked up in the second round. And even though Ray sat on the bench and saw absolutely zero playing time this season, despite having so many young guys already, waiting for their chance to show their goods, Ainge did not cut him or send him down to the D-League. But instead, he rewarded Allan Ray with a contract extension. And Ray cooly shows his gratitude by going out on the court and with his encouraing performance, saying, "look what I can do".
I'm very excited to see Allan Ray get more playing time. I think we have a nice little gem on our hands. This is even more incentive for us to go with our youth and start the rebuilding process around Perk, Jefferson, Powe, Gomes, Gerald, Allen, Telfair, Rajon, Delonte and Allan Ray. We should have started the rebuilding process a couple of years ago. It'll set us back a few years, but in the meantime we'll get a few more cornerstone players from the upcoming drafts and our young players will develp and mature through experience and tons of playing time. We will fly under the radar as this crucial process takes place, but we'll taste the sweet reward of our labor of patience, just like how Allan Ray did.