As much as we all used to love Ray Allen and miss his 3 pt. shooting accuracy and clutchness, one can't help but feel a sigh of relief that he no longer is with our team especially on defense in crunch time situations.

Seeing him abused by Gordon Hayward (who?) in the defining last minute offensive play by the Jazz against the Heat tonight made me smile.

Flashes of abuse which Ray took from almost every player with decent dribbling skills in the last few years are finally laid to rest.

Amen.

P.S. Good times again fellow Boston Celtic fans! :)

He won't win a one-on-one lock down defensive player of the year, but he was at least a decent team defender the first couple of years with the Celtics. I can definitely see his defensive degregation this year.

Yeah, he doesn't even try anymore.  Law of conservation for Ray means limiting his energy to the offensive end. 

I hope Doc puts Avery on Allen so he will be totally frustrated. Ray will probably start pouting to Doc that Avery is guarding him to closely. At this stage of their career's I'd take Avery over Allen 10 out of 10 times! See you in 12 days you fraud!

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In 2009, yes. But in 2013, Ray is definitely NOT better than Terry.

In response to stevekubersky's comment:

Opposing coaches would go directly to RA as he is a laibiity of defense and back off on Rondo as he was a liability on offense...coupled with the rebounding woes...

In response to Ortiz123's comment:

2. If the oppnent has a very quick guard --> We have AB and/or Lee

3. Terry is worse than Ray on D   

4. Ray already won a couple of games for Miami, what has Terry done so far?

In response to Gasthoerer's comment:

I don't even really know why anyone cares that much one way or ther other.  He was great. Terry was good.  Now they are both average.

In response to snakeoil123's comment:

In response to concord27's comment:

In response to Gasthoerer's comment:

That is laugable. Just look at the numbers. Ray is head and shoulders above Terry. And not only on offense.

Keep laughing. You know very well if you had a choice between Allen and Terry, when a 1 point game is on the line and you're on defence, you will NOT pick Allen. Unless of course you're a heat fan.

Ray who

In response to stevekubersky's comment:

Ray is just slow but he is a above average team defender and has above average size. He has problems with quicker opponents (we have AB for this). Against other (taller) guards he is not as bad as people make him, he just doesn't go for highlights (like Rondo for example). Just check the stats of last years postseason, they proof that Ray isn't that bad.

Terry on the other side, was ALWAYS horrible on D and is also getting old. He is not a good team defender, has Bass like moments when he is completely of and is very undersized. Just ask Dirk about Terry's D! Against Terry Dirk looks like a DPOY. Terry was never a starter in his career cause he cannot defend anyone, that is a fact.

I like terry better with this team because:

1) he's comfortable with the role as the primary scorer on the 2nd unit.  The only way ray ever accepted that role was when we kept him on the floor after starting (year 3 I think)

2) terry is good with the ball in his hands and can get his own shot. Ray has become more of a spot up shooter.  He does still work screens well, but that requires a slow down halfcourt offense.  He would have to start here.  he does not fit in with the bench.

In response to KenDNP's comment:

Larry Bird used to take abuse on defense too, I supposed you wanted him traded as well once some of his skills diminished.  It is tough to lose a sharp shooter...

In response to jackbu's comment:

Larry Bird was never a defensive liability, never!

Even if Larry Bird was slow and couldn't jump as high, he was fundamentally sound. He would box out, take a charge, or even dive on the floor for a loose ball.

When was the last time you saw Ray on floor fighting for a loose ball?

In response to Gasthoerer's comment:
No I do not know! Terry is a worse defender than Allen.

Ray is just slow but he is a above average team defender and has above average size. He has problems with quicker opponents (we have AB for this). Against other (taller) guards he is not as bad as people make him, he just doesn't go for highlights (like Rondo for example). Just check the stats of last years postseason, they proof that Ray isn't that bad.

Terry on the other side, was ALWAYS horrible on D and is also getting old. He is not a good team defender, has Bass like moments when he is completely of and is very undersized. Just ask Dirk about Terry's D! Against Terry Dirk looks like a DPOY. Terry was never a starter in his career cause he cannot defend anyone, that is a fact.

Two things I observed during our conversation:

1 - We can argue until we're both blue in the face who is the worst defender, so we'll agree to disagree.

2 - On the bright side, we both agreed on one thing about Ray Allen's awful defence: I also prefer at all times to have Ray Allen on defence when a 1-point game is on the line, and I'm hoping the Heat will take me up on that, but I'm afraid Spoelstra might have learned his lesson last week.