Ray Allen has meant so much to the Celtics success these past two years. Closing out games, game winners, and all-star performances are all part of his NBA regime. Watching Ray for two seasons now we have learned that Ray can do more than just shoot the ball. We have learned that Ray is great at attacking the basket, and a lot of this has to do with the defenders mind set that he is always going to shoot.

With that being said I am not overly concerned, but there is some concern on my end about Ray so far this year. I am not jumping to conclusions and saying Ray is done, his legs are too old etc. What I have noticed though is that he seems to be focusing more this year on getting to the basket. This may be because at some point during the end of his career he knows his legs are not going to allow him to shoot like he always has.

During the earlier stages of the game Saturday night against New Jersey I noticed the affects of Ray playing in his 14th year in the NBA. Before making a late charge and scoring 8 points in the fourth quarter, Ray scored only 4 points on 1-8 shooting in the first three quarters. I think anyone who knows Ray can agree that these are not the numbers we expect from him. Granted, that game was the last game of a VERY tough eight games in twelve day stretch to begin the season. So far this season Ray is only shooting 34% from behind the arc, which is below his career average, and the lowest so far in his career.

Again, I am just throwing out the idea that we may be seeing the demise of Ray's game. The numbers show it so far this year, but honestly I think he will turn it around. Like I said this was a very tough way to open up the season, once the team settles in I expect Ray's play to get back to where it was last year. His three point average should go up and we should see a more energized, and productive, Jesus Shuttlesworth.