I wrote this piece before we found out about the pinched nerve in Ray Allen's neck. I have several thoughts about the pinched nerve. 1. Uh oh. This could be serious, and I hope Ray is ok. 2. The Lamar Odom play becomes that much dirtier in hindsight. 3. If Ray is ok and overcomes this injury, I would expect at least a slight tick upward in his shooting percentage, something I was anticipating below anyway.
Being a baby boomer and a product of the 60s, I'm hip to the theory of relativity as it applies to most things in my life. In short, my theory of relativity comes down to the proposition that the value of any one thing only can only be assessed in light of the value of something else.
The Boston Celtics are a great team, you say?
I say, no they are not.
They are playing great basketball, but we won't know if they are a great team until the season is over and we can compare them to how other teams have done in the past over a full season. Even their 29-3 start is only impressive when you realize that it is the fourth best start in the history of the NBA, and none of the teams with better starts wore da GREEN.
So it always surprises me when the disclosure of a fact reveals my apparent inability to apply the theory of relativity to something I follow closely, something like the Boston Celtics.
Since game five of this season, I have been disappointed in Ray Allen's performance. Sure, he probably leads the league in walk-off home runs. Sure, he finds other ways to contribute even when he's shooting 0-9 or 3-16.
But by and large, Ray Allen has not lived up to my expectations. I expected the reincarnation of Jerry Sichting...or better. Jerry Sichting shot .570 from the field during the 1985-86 championship campaign. Yes, that is Jerry Sichting, he of zero all-star game appearance. Isn't it reasonable to expect Mr. 7-time all-star Ray Allen to at least shoot as well?
My perception of Ray Allen, then, is that of a player mired in a very long slump, which contrasts with my perception of Eddie House, which is that of a player who has been hotter than Vinnie Johnson used to get for the Bad Boys in the late 1980s.
So what to my wondrous eyes did appear the statistic that House was shooting .438 overall and .430 from three. Ray Allen, by contrast, is shooting 38% from 3 and 42% overall. So Allen is shooting worse, but not by much.
Yet my perception was way off:
Allen very cold.
House del fuego!
You factor in that Allen is playing more minutes, asked to do more things, and the shooting differential is more understandable. It is also a differential that can be closed with a week or two of hot shooting from Ray-Ray.
As for Jerry Sichting, his role was closer to House's, fairly limited and focused.
So maybe it was my expectations for Jesus that were off the mark, instead of Jesus himself.
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