Routine excellence is Allen's secret

Because we believe there is no such thing as too much Ray Allen, here's a good article I found earlier when I was researching his Shooter of the Month award. Click on the title below to read the full story.

Routine excellence is Allen's secret - The Boston Globe

By Jackie MacMullan
Globe Staff / April 20, 2008

WALTHAM - The routine is paramount. People don't understand that. They see Ray Allen, his head meticulously shaved, his jersey tucked carefully into his shorts, his socks pulled up to precisely the same length, and they are drawn to his silky jumper. Can you blame them? It is so smooth, so fluid, so seemingly effortless.
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Everyone wishes they could shoot like Ray. They tell him that all the time. They are envious, they say, of his God-given talent.

'An insult,' says Allen. 'God could care less whether I can shoot a jump shot.'

As the Celtics kick off their campaign for an NBA championship tonight in the opening round of the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks, Allen will leave nothing to chance. He will line up for the tip exactly as he has for his other 73 games. His pregame ritual does not waver: a nap from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m., a meal of chicken and white rice at 2:30, an arrival time at the gym at precisely 3:45 to stretch. Allen will shave his head, then walk out to the court at exactly 4:30. He will methodically take shots from both baselines, both elbows, and the top of the key.