Ray

[Joobie]

Sorry to disagree with you BigErn, but you are sooooooooooooooo wrong about this. Ray WAS slighted by the Celtics front office. They tried to trade him 3 years in a row & he was told to back his bags at the end of last season. He was 5th (!!!) in line as far as the Celtics priorities went for signing free agents. Jason Terry was before Ray, which I thought was a pretty hard slap in the face, all things considered. The night before the Knicks played in Boston last season, Ray was in the hospital with a stomach bug, but there he was, all suited up & ready to play. He hit the shot that sent the game into OT (I was there, it was thrilling). Why wouldn't you do everything & anything you could to keep a consummate professional like that on your team? The answer is not enough & THAT'S why Ray is playing in Miami...

 

[Huskies4ever]

Well said, Joobie.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Sorry to disagree with you BigErn, but you are sooooooooooooooo wrong about this. Ray WAS slighted by the Celtics front office. They tried to trade him 3 years in a row & he was told to back his bags at the end of last season. He was 5th (!!!) in line as far as the Celtics priorities went for signing free agents. Jason Terry was before Ray, which I thought was a pretty hard slap in the face, all things considered. The night before the Knicks played in Boston last season, Ray was in the hospital with a stomach bug, but there he was, all suited up & ready to play. He hit the shot that sent the game into OT (I was there, it was thrilling). Why wouldn't you do everything & anything you could to keep a consummate professional like that on your team? The answer is not enough & THAT'S why Ray is playing in Miami...

Oh yeah? Well you're wrong! How about that.

Look, he turned down a no-trade clause because he felt disrespected being told he'd come off the bench. So he went somewhere else to come off the bench. He didn't like that the Celtics are committed to Bradley long term. He doesn't get along with Rondo. He complained about being a decoy, despite the fact that he was still getting plenty of shots. He wanted to be treated like a superstar when those days are behind him. He was a broken down guy on the down slope of his career for an awful lot of last year and he - and I dont relish saying this - seemed to have a hard time putting the interests of the team ahead of his own.

So you can go on and on about how poorly he was treated but it sounds silly. And ponder for a second why he's left every NBA team he's played for on bad terms.

I like Ray. But the public bitching he's done since he left Boston doesn't become him.

 

[mauconnfan]

Oh yeah? Well you're wrong! How about that.

Look, he turned down a no-trade clause because he felt disrespected being told he'd come off the bench. So he went somewhere else to come off the bench. He didn't like that the Celtics are committed to Bradley long term. He doesn't get along with Rondo. He complained about being a decoy, despite the fact that he was still getting plenty of shots. He wanted to be treated like a superstar when those days are behind him. He was a broken down guy on the down slope of his career for an awful lot of last year and he - and I dont relish saying this - seemed to have a hard time putting the interests of the team ahead of his own.

So you can go on and on about how poorly he was treated but it sounds silly. And ponder for a second why he's left every NBA team he's played for on bad terms.

I like Ray. But the public bitching he's done since he left Boston doesn't become him.

He's Ray Allen.......he was with the Celtics, they asked questions prior to the Heat playing the C's.......call it bitching if you wish but I call it answering questions asked by the media honestly......

And the reason you may think he left eveyrwhere on "bad terms" is because he's a future HOFer and you hear about things that occurred when he left.......and it wasn't all bad you just elect to see it that way!
Some of it's on Ray, his pride and ego no doubt but to give the C's a pass on this is a joke!

 

[aceboon]

What bad terms did Ray leave Seattle on? I know there was some sniping with George Karl after he was traded from Milwaukee but what player hasn't Karl pissed off during his career?

Oh yeah? Well you're wrong! How about that.

Look, he turned down a no-trade clause because he felt disrespected being told he'd come off the bench. So he went somewhere else to come off the bench. He didn't like that the Celtics are committed to Bradley long term. He doesn't get along with Rondo. He complained about being a decoy, despite the fact that he was still getting plenty of shots. He wanted to be treated like a superstar when those days are behind him. He was a broken down guy on the down slope of his career for an awful lot of last year and he - and I dont relish saying this - seemed to have a hard time putting the interests of the team ahead of his own.

So you can go on and on about how poorly he was treated but it sounds silly. And ponder for a second why he's left every NBA team he's played for on bad terms.

I like Ray. But the public bitching he's done since he left Boston doesn't become him.

 

[UConn990411]

He was never mistreated? He dealt with trade rumors for the past 2-3 seasons, was always considered an aging player that retained some value, a good piece to be moved.

Last thing I'll say on this, because it's going nowhere.

Ray did have to deal with his name being in trade talks more than any player not named Rondo, which is why I COMPLETELY understood his decision to leave for Miami. Not only would he be increasing his chance for a ring, but he would be finishing his career on his terms as well.

However, to say the Celtics mistreated him by including him in trade talks is absurd. It had nothing to do with Boston disliking him, but rather that he had the most affordable contract of the Big 3 and a skillset that every team can use. It's just business.

Look at last year, for instance: Ainge had trades in place to send Ray to Memphis and Paul Pierce to New Jersey. Ray wasn't being dealt because the Celtics thought he was useless; Ainge was in the process of blowing the whole thing up and starting over.

(Pierce, by the way, has been a Celtic all 14 years of his career and is one of the top 5-6 players in franchise history...and Ainge was on the verge of trading him to one of the worst teams in the league. If anyone was disrespected, it was him. And yet he said before this season it was nothing personal.)

 

[Joobie]

990411...I am not convinced that Ainge was serious about trading Pierce. Pierce has been the face of the franchise for a really long time. I think that Danny Anige has just enough of the blarney in him to make me question the validity of a Pierce trade.

There was a LOT more going on behind with Ray & the C's than we will ever know. As far as Ray's "bitching" in concerned, he was given a golden opportunity to throw KG under a bus & instead took the high road, saying only "that's just how he is".

BigErn, if you are still convinced that I am so totally off base on all of this, I suggest you talk to someone who knows a lot more about Ray's relationship with the Celtics than any of us. I was so bothered by Ray going to Miami, that's what I did. I dunno that Donny Marshall was happy to talk to me, but he DID & I came away with a completely different perspective. Maybe you should do the same...

 

[Huskies4ever]

Oh yeah? Well you're wrong! How about that.

Look, he turned down a no-trade clause because he felt disrespected being told he'd come off the bench. So he went somewhere else to come off the bench. He didn't like that the Celtics are committed to Bradley long term. He doesn't get along with Rondo. He complained about being a decoy, despite the fact that he was still getting plenty of shots. He wanted to be treated like a superstar when those days are behind him. He was a broken down guy on the down slope of his career for an awful lot of last year and he - and I dont relish saying this - seemed to have a hard time putting the interests of the team ahead of his own.

So you can go on and on about how poorly he was treated but it sounds silly. And ponder for a second why he's left every NBA team he's played for on bad terms.

I like Ray. But the public bitching he's done since he left Boston doesn't become him.

What am I missing here? How ignorant or misinformed are you? How did Ray leave the Bucks and Sonics on bad terms? How has he been bitching and moaning, when he's been answering reporter's questions honestly, and with class? He could have told the world how much of a jerk KG is, and instead, he took the higher road (as always).
Ray was being pushed down the ladder from "big three" to "big six". How is that not being mistreated? he is now showing the Celtic's how wrong they were. They didn't believe in him as much as he believed in himself. He will prove them wrong for underestimating them.

 

[Gurleyman]

I'm with Dogdeacon on this one. Whatever little personal feelings/slights were out there would have been easily put aside by all parties if the basketball end of things made sense any more. But Ray couldn't get open in the playoffs - some of it was his ankle costing him a little explosiveness coming off screens, but some of it was the fact that Pierce and KG don't draw doubles any more, and some of it was that teams defended him coming off screens with two guys - leave the screener (Bass, Stiemsma, KG) open if you have to, but make sure Ray can't catch and shoot on the three. You could see it was frustrating him - and it wasn't anyone's fault. The screener was trying, Rondo was looking, but the play wasn't there most of the time. Too easy to defend. Ray does need to be able to play off a dominant player at this stage of his career (Rondo is elite, but doesn't command help defense). Hence, the Miami fit made a lot of sense (or the Clippers, before that fell through).

The Terry signing was perhaps the final nail (although we don't know - perhaps the decision was already made by then). Terry can create his own shot better and they didn't sign him to sit on the bench in the fourth quarter. Ray might have been looking at possible 9th or 10th man status in Boston if he stayed (with crunch time minutes on a good night).

While it is true that Bradley was playing better than an injured Ray during the regular season, in a lot of ways it was fool's gold. Once you got in a long playoff series and the intensity was higher, Bradley's inexperience and erratic jump shot killed the C's floor spacing before he was hurt. Although certainly he would have helped defending Wade once they made it that far - that was where he was really missed.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

He's Ray Allen.......he was with the Celtics, they asked questions prior to the Heat playing the C's.......call it bitching if you wish but I call it answering questions asked by the media honestly......

And the reason you may think he left eveyrwhere on "bad terms" is because he's a future HOFer and you hear about things that occurred when he left.......and it wasn't all bad you just elect to see it that way!
Some of it's on Ray, his pride and ego no doubt but to give the C's a pass on this is a joke!

First of all mau, I'm not talking about the run-up to the Miami game. I'm talking about the talking he did on the way out the door, and over the summer, when he was the only one making his departure an issue.

Second, I don't know how it's a joke. If we have no problem with kids getting recruited over, why do we wring our hands when the same thing happens to a 30-something zillionaire? They made him an offer based on what they envisioned his role being. He didn't take it. So goes life. This whole "disrespected" thing is a little over the top. By the definition thrown around here, Paul Pierce has endured an awful lot more disrespect in his 15 years in Boston than Ray ever did.

 

[Dogdeacon]

First of all mau, I'm not talking about the run-up to the Miami game. I'm talking about the talking he did on the way out the door, and over the summer, when he was the only one making his departure an issue.

Second, I don't know how it's a joke. If we have no problem with kids getting recruited over, why do we wring our hands when the same thing happens to a 30-something zillionaire? They made him an offer based on what they envisioned his role being. He didn't take it. So goes life. This whole "disrespected" thing is a little over the top. By the definition thrown around here, Paul Pierce has endured an awful lot more disrespect in his 15 years in Boston than Ray ever did.

Go back and read Ray Allen's comments. I agree that he talked about this too much and should have taken the high road and said no comment, but he never says they disrespected me or I left because my ego was hurt. He doesn't say he wanted to be treated like a star. He says that he disagreed with how he was being used, wanted things to work differently. I think part of why he spoke (again too much) was honestly playing defense to the Celtics making public statements about what they offered him and how they wanted him back that were arguably made public by the Celtics MORE because they didn't want the bad PR for not bringing back a popular player. So Ray felt he needed to set the record straight and point out that both basketball-wise and contract wise the Celtics didn't want Ray quite as much as the Celtics PR campaign indicates. But everyone who writes about it and thus fans turn those basketball statements into respect, ego and other bull$hit. Its simply not true that the Celtics needed to kiss his or something and he would have stayed. Ray essentially says I didn't stay with Boston because in the past and going forward the Celtics weren't going to maximize his role. I don't think that's ego, I think that is a fact about what takes place on a basketball court. I think its about the sport and you can even break it down by numbers. Want to bet that Ray shoots a better percentage this year than he did last year?

Ray's quotes:
“I was very loyal to the city and I love the city, but when it came time to keep me in a uniform [the Celtics] did everything they could to seem like … to not want me to come back,” Allen said.
"In Boston, they were telling me they were going to bring me off the bench — 'We're going to play you less minutes' — and all I asked was, 'How are you going to use me because the last two years you've been using me as decoys,' " Allen said. “ "'You're running all these plays for me just to pass it to somewhere else and you're not putting me into any scoring opportunities and I'm just standing over in the corner the majority of games.' "
Re: Miami Ray says;
 ‘This is how we envision using you.’ It was better than what Boston was telling me and that was the team that I played on.”

But then in between the quotes the writer says its about respect and ego... To me those quotes are about BASKETBALL. And again, no one disputes that Ray's effectiveness, usefulness etc.. is maximized in Miami. At most you can claim Ray didn't accept a worse basketball fate in Boston because the Celtics weren't loyal enough to him for him to accept a declining role. But again, why take that role even if you love the Celtics and are super loyal if you have another opportunity with a greater chance of winning and a greater chance of being effective on the court?!
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/...-miami-heats.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy