I think Tony has earned the playoff rotation!

[2short]

Now I don't want to sound like a flip flopper or fair weather friend (but it is going to sound that way) 
I think Tony has proven he deserves the playoff minutes over Marquis Daniels and Michael Finley.  I've never been that keen on Tony and voted Marquis to be the best bench player up to the point of last week or week before.  HOWEVER I think Tony is bringing more to our team than any other sub wing we have.  Granted Marquis will be used to help defend bigger sf but I feel Doc has found a defensive combo in rondo & TA to pump some life into our team.
I understand the arguments that some/many will make about a dumb foul or turnover coming by way of tony but I feel our team needs his energy and posistives that he can give us over the mistakes that come with tony.

[guava_wrench]

Now I don't want to sound like a flip flopper or fair weather friend (but it is going to sound that way) 
I think Tony has proven he deserves the playoff minutes over Marquis Daniels and Michael Finley.  I've never been that keen on Tony and voted Marquis to be the best bench player up to the point of last week or week before.  HOWEVER I think Tony is bringing more to our team than any other sub wing we have.  Granted Marquis will be used to help defend bigger sf but I feel Doc has found a defensive combo in rondo & TA to pump some life into our team.
I understand the arguments that some/many will make about a dumb foul or turnover coming by way of tony but I feel our team needs his energy and posistives that he can give us over the mistakes that come with tony.

He seems to be outplaying Daniels big time these days.

[Spilling Green Dye]

The problem is that he earned the playoff rotation, and rotation in general, several weeks back.... yet Doc Rivers refuses to go with common sense (ever!).

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

As a frequent and longtime TA basher, praising him doesn't come easy for me, but I must admit that his performance of late has been quite good. For a team that inexplicably lacks emotion, TA has been a much-needed charge of positive energy off the bench.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

TA earned his spot a long time ago, he is the best slasher that the team has, and the most mobile defender..well known by everyone except Doc. TA and Sheldon should be in the rotation......they both get done what needs to be done. The only other mobile guy is Rondo. Sheldon should be with the first unit, plenty of other shooters, no more rebounders, KG doesn't get to the rim as much as we need him to, Sheldon is the obvious choice. Doc really has everything he needs, it actually looks like he is tanking it at times. The other night Sheldon was killing them 12 points in 11 minutes, so what does doc do...bench him....... The guy seems to want the team to lose...maybe he has a master=playoff-plan....!

[More Banners]

I agree with the OP, but have to add that playing Casino Tony as a rotation guy in the playoffs to improve our odds of winning isn't exactly reasurring.  One never knows what will happen when Tony goes in the game, other than that his presence will be noticed, which is more than can be said for the other bench wings, but doesn't mean he'll be noticed in a good way.

He's definitely outplayed both Quisy and Finley, though.  I expect Fins to get some situational playoff minutes, and Quisy, at this point, to sit.  It's almost hard to believe that so many folks expressed that Quisy would take up our MLE this coming summer...now, he'll be lucky to get a roster spot, let alone even a 20% raise.

Back to the point: I also expect Doc to tweak rotations game-by-game, too...so we'll probably see as much of Scal as any of the other 3.

[snively]

Check out their stats for the year: http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=iEaMU

TA's been out-producing him all season, with the differences getting even more pronounced when you check the per-minute measures.  More points, boards, assists, steals and blocks, more than compensating for the higher turnover and foul rates.

I think Marquis was theoretically a much better fit with House, but Nate's assumption of ball-handling duties have removed the need for his ball-handling.  Also the slow-footedness of Sheed, Baby and Finley (and to a lesser degree their starting counterparts) have put a premium on speed and energy, Tony's best attributes.

At this point my preferred playoff rotation is:

Rondo 40, Nate 8
Ray 38, Nate 4, TA 8
Pierce 38, TA 10
KG 35, Sheed 13
Perk 35, Sheed 13

Very slow at the 4 and small in the backcourt, but we don't have many other options.  Finley is too slow to play outside of special scenarios, Daniels is undesirable for the reasons listed above and Baby doesn't represent enough of an upgrade from Sheed/Perk at the 4 to dilute the big man rotation and play them both, nor has he played well enough to take Sheed's place in the rotation.

Against teams like Magic, Hawks and the Cavs that like to go small, we'll have to use Pierce at the 4 and hope that he can rebound.  

[Meadowlark_Scal]

If scal plays 1 minute in the playoffs I'll puke....that will be the first indicator that doc does want to lose..it was bad enough when doc started the guy...i mean that is insane, but i thought it was a PR trick....as for the "you never know what you'll get out of TA", well, these days you do know that he will hustle, slash and run, that is more than what you get out of others these days. It is a mystery what we'll get out of PP daily, KG's shot is iffy, and when it is...he doesn't add much else, sheed shows sometimes he can really do things, but not enough times, finley is a zero, quisy is still , in his mind, hurt....BBD is an instant blocked shot for the other team, Ray is very streaky, like Eddie now, except for his layups, which are still good..PP doesn't really cover anyone anymore...Sheldon always does great, or good...please do not let scal in.......!

[Roper]

Tony still gives me a heart attack everytime he dribbles the ball....

I agree Sheldon should definitely get some time, every time I see big baby get blocked I lose my mind


I dont understand Doc and his rotations some times, not playing some players, bad combinations on the court together...

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Tony still gives me a heart attack everytime he dribbles the ball....

I agree Sheldon should definitely get some time, every time I see big baby get blocked I lose my mind


I dont understand Doc and his rotations some times, not playing some players, bad combinations on the court together...

Dude, you need a TP......and for taking up Sheldons case..! now you got the big 3.......( I saw a guy on here that had 1.5 times as many TP's as posts..?)

[CoachBo]

18 min a playoff game for Casino Tony.

*shudder*

It's gonna take about 10 Tylenol PMs to go to sleep with that vision in my head.

[snively]

Tony still gives me a heart attack everytime he dribbles the ball....

I agree Sheldon should definitely get some time, every time I see big baby get blocked I lose my mind


I dont understand Doc and his rotations some times, not playing some players, bad combinations on the court together...

It would be better if neither Shelden nor Baby saw the floor.  Shelden's the slightly better finisher than Baby, but his hands are far worse and he's less adept at getting close enough to the rim to show off that finishing ability.  He's slightly more mobile than Baby, but he's far less aware (did you catch him running into Lowry from behind for the 3-pt play in the 3rd quarter?).  

They are both extremely flawed players who have only seen the floor because KG is too fragile to play starter's minutes and Sheed is too fat and slow to pass as a 4.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

I knew people would balk at the idea of playing TA....he turns it over, everyon e wants his head...PP tries to do it all and flubs it, no big deal, get him the ball again...Ray misses 20 3's, pass it to him again......TA gets a foul covering the guy no one on The C's can cover, sit him down, doc will put someone on him who doesn't even come close enough to foul him..it is always the same.....but i will agree that TA is a 15' and in player..but i hardly see 2 way bbal out of our stars....i see that in TA, at least he can tire out the player he is covering so our old-hurt guys can take over......maybe....(Houston, OKC...NJ......? ).

[Meadowlark_Scal]

BUT, I am not busting on anyone here...just saying my side, so please don't take it personal....'cause i am just talking about the team...!

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Tony still gives me a heart attack everytime he dribbles the ball....

I agree Sheldon should definitely get some time, every time I see big baby get blocked I lose my mind


I dont understand Doc and his rotations some times, not playing some players, bad combinations on the court together...

It would be better if neither Shelden nor Baby saw the floor.  Shelden's the slightly better finisher than Baby, but his hands are far worse and he's less adept at getting close enough to the rim to show off that finishing ability.  He's slightly more mobile than Baby, but he's far less aware (did you catch him running into Lowry from behind for the 3-pt play in the 3rd quarter?).  

They are both extremely flawed players who have only seen the floor because KG is too fragile to play starter's minutes and Sheed is too fat and slow to pass as a 4.

didn't you see Sheldon get those 12 points in ...like 11 minutes, when someone finally passed to him...? He dunked time and time again, got rebounds and dunked him, his hands problem are a myth.....sort of like when i posted something about him and someone shot at my spelling.......odd and mistaken distractions....Tommy gave him the Tommy award that game...did you see that one.....of course then Doc-the-genius pulled him...because he was making doc look like.......a fool for not playing the missing piece (aka Leon Powe!).