Celtics (35-25) at Bobcats (7-49) 4/15

[alajet]

First of all, anyone claiming Ray Allen doesn't play very good defense, doesn't know what the heck they are talking about. Ray Allen plays very good defense, but there are just those times when his age and lack of speed shows. When you look at most of the games that are lost, Ray Allen usually isn't the one failing his defensive assignment in ways that costs us the game.

And, as impressed as I am with Bradley, and as much as I agree that he offers very helpful benefits over Ray in a starting role, what Ray Allen brings to this team can't be replaced by anybody, not even Bradley. What Ray lacks compared to Bradley, he makes up for in the fact that he's such a known quantity as far as his deadly 3 point shooting is concerned, that it forces defenses to pay attention to him in a way that opens up the floor for our other players in a way that just doesn't happen with any other Celtics player, and there's also the added benefit that it requires so much energy to defend and chase Ray around so constantly off screens. Ray usually always comes up big in the late game, clutch situations.

When Ray's threes are dropping, which is pretty [dang] often, it's almost unfair if any other Celtic is in a nice offensive groove as well. How quickly do people forget that Ray was our best player by far at the start of the season, and how soon do people forget the insane percentage from three that Ray was shooting in last year's playoffs. Do not doubt Ray Allen. There is no championship for this Celtics team without Ray Allen's contributions.

Great post. TP.

[Celtics18]

Come on, eja. Doc could be the best in the world at developing players, and it wouldn't matter this year unless he gave Johnson some mega-steroids. JJJ simply needs time to grow.

I agree, but I don't think he needs much time to grow better than Hollins

I don't really think that either Johnson or Hollins are ready to be consistent contributors to this team this year.  Doc is trying to slowly work Hollins in to the mix because he thinks he's closer to being ready.

I can't argue with that even if I think that eventually JJ will be a better player.  

If Johnson vs. Hollins is the most legitimate debate going about who deserves playing time, then that points to Doc doing a really good job.  Which ever one of those guys gets 5 to 10 minutes every other game isn't making a significant impact on wins and losses. 

Arguing about who he did or didn't play at the beginning of the season is a pointless exercise, in my opinion.  For me, it's much more about; "is he playing the right guys now?"  To me the answer to that question is "yes."