I think Tony has earned the playoff rotation!

[Spilling Green Dye]

Just in case people were wondering I think the Playoff Nine will be the starters, Rasheed, Davis, Finley and Robinson. That is this teams best nine players.

Nick, usually I agree with you on stuff, but I have to disagree here.  Out of curiosity, how many minutes do you think those guys should be getting?

Personally, I'm all for the following bench minutes:
Wallace:  24 minutes
Sheldon:  4 minutes
Tony Allen:  16 minutes
Nate Robinson:  8 minutes

The starters should absolutely be getting the remaining minutes.  I'm fine with Davis for the 4 minutes in certain matchups, but in the end that's all the playoff time there will be for our 3rd string backups at the PF/C position. 

Whether looking at PER, or pretty much any other angle, Tony Allen exceeds Finley.  I like Finley, but he's inferior to Tony at this point.

[nickagneta]

Just in case people were wondering I think the Playoff Nine will be the starters, Rasheed, Davis, Finley and Robinson. That is this teams best nine players.

Nick, usually I agree with you on stuff, but I have to disagree here.  Out of curiosity, how many minutes do you think those guys should be getting?

Personally, I'm all for the following bench minutes:
Wallace:  24 minutes
Sheldon:  4 minutes
Tony Allen:  16 minutes
Nate Robinson:  8 minutes

The starters should absolutely be getting the remaining minutes.  I'm fine with Davis for the 4 minutes in certain matchups, but in the end that's all the playoff time there will be for our 3rd string backups at the PF/C position. 

Whether looking at PER, or pretty much any other angle, Tony Allen exceeds Finley.  I like Finley, but he's inferior to Tony at this point.

Playoff coaching and use of the bench is all about thinking which players give you the best chance to win and utilizing them accordingly.Just because other players are not in a playoff rotation doesn't mean they will not be used. Scal will be used when defense of mobile, perimeter oriented PFs is necessary. Shelden will be used if Baby falters or severe foul trouble occurs. Tony will be used for defense against certain wing players. Marquis the same thing.

But I think the nine players that, if used in a rotation that maximizes their skills, that gives the team the most weapons and best chance to win is the starters with Rasheed, Baby, Nate and Finley.

I'm not going to go into exact rotational minute expectations, I think that is fluid dependent upon who's hot, who's not and what the match ups are. So the point is useless in my opinion. The starters will see action in most of the first and third and parts of the second and third and the rest will be used according to need in between.

I would also expect most end of the game situations to come down to Rasheed being used instead of Perk because of his defense and much better FT shooting.

[droopdog7]

Are you kidding? A cheap and-1?

There is a 0% chance Lebron would be allowed such an opportunity as one of 2 scenario's would have happened:

1. Give him the lane/hoop.
2. Foul hard and wrap him up

We're talking about KG as ****ed as I've seen him and Perk being the one's to greet Lebron in the paint. I wonder why he chose to settle for the jumper?

0% chance?  Are we talking about the same Lebron here, the one who routinely runs through arm tackles to get And-1s like 4 or 5 times a game, even when people are purposefully trying to stop him?  Listen, Lebron had a head of steam heading for the rim against Ray and Tony Allen.  About the only way you stop him for getting an easy layup or dunk would be to:

a.) take him out at the knees, a la a defensive back in the open field (which would result in a flagrant foul, btw); or
b.) hope he misses.

Those were the alternatives.  Either he gets a layup/dunk and probably an And-1 attempt (to win the game); or he hits a 3 pointer for the first time all game (he was 0 for 8 at the time from deep).  It's an easy choice and TA made the right play.  Lebron can't be stopped at the rim when he's in attack mode and you have to do anything you can to get him to jack a jumper.  That's the only play you can make.

How is that the worst possible shot Lebron could have taken? They already clinched the best record in the league and had NOTHING TO LOSE! That 3-ball would have sunk a dagger so far into our hearts that we all would have questioned the C's mental toughness and ability to finish a game. Tony GAVE Lebron an UNCONTESTED 3. Completely unacceptable.

The only chance, and I mean only change in hell you have against Lebron is to entice him into a contested jump shot and hope he misses.  If he gets in the lane, HE CANNOT BE STOPPED, especially in transition.  This is the league-wide defense against Lebron--entice him into contested jump shots, hope he misses.  That's all you can do.

TP.  Salmon speaks the truth.  Heck, Lawrence Taylor in his prime would have a hard time preventing james from converting And 1 nowadays.  James is THAT strong.

[mmbaby]

I'm with you, Nick, re the rotation, except to add Tony off the bench.
Also about Rasheed replacing Perk near the end when Perk is getting tired. I've often thought that watching games lately. I think Perk is still hurting (physically) and is certainly getting better and better, almost like last season, but when he starts looking tired near the end of games, I keep begging Doc to put Rasheed in, especially when a game is super close.

[MVP]

Putting Sheed in at the end of games is a bad idea. nba.com had an article earlier on how Sheed has the biggest dropoff in production from 1st half to the 2nd half I think. And it is evident when I watch him play. In the 2nd half he is a different player. I don't know if it is a mental thing, but I don't trust Sheed in the clutch. I want Perk or KG at center if the other team is going small.

[rav123]

Tony's Assignment: "Run Lebron off the 3-point line". I repeat, RUN LEBRON OFF THE LINE. MAKE HIM/DARE HIM TO GO AROUND YOU AND DO NOT DIP BELOW THE 3-POINT ARC AS HE WILL PULL UP FOR 3.

The result? Tony, as always, blows the assignment and allows Lebron's dribble-jab-shake to force Tony below the 3-point arc which then allowed Lebron to pull up for 3 (and the game) with Tony nowhere to be found. Tony Allen had absolutely zero impact on the outcome of Lebron's 3-point attempt for the lead. Zero. Yet, for some reason Tony goes nuts throwing his arms around and talking smack to Lebron as if Tony was somehow responsible for the missed 3-ball.

  Here's a quote from today's herald:

“He just plays hard - he’s our best defensive player,” Rivers said of Allen. “He’s just bought in completely to the team and the way the team plays. He’s no longer trying to score - he understands that scoring just happens. He’s trying to be the best defensive player on our team and he’s figured out that’s how he’s going to play. He gives our team energy.”

  I'd say Doc disagrees with your assessment. I'm also not so sure that TA's assignment was "RUN LEBRON OFF THE LINE. MAKE HIM/DARE HIM TO GO AROUND YOU AND DO NOT DIP BELOW THE 3-POINT ARC AS HE WILL PULL UP FOR 3" In fact, I'd say that *not* letting LeBron get into the lane for the obvious and-one was the smarter move.

  In a two point game, with 5 seconds left, you *dare* LeBron to go around you and take it to the rim? Wow. That would not be my call on the play.

Yeah, simply put the 'assignment' was to stop him from scoring and the best way to do that--either with 5 seconds left in a 2 point game, or in the 1st quarter--is to encourage him to shoot a jump shot.  That's your only chance against Lebron--hope he misses his jump shot.  He's just too deadly when he starts penetrating.

Now, if it would have been a 3 point game, you'd want to crowd him and potentially foul him before he could shoot the 3.  But in a 2 point game with the best player in the world barrelling down on you, the last thing you want to get in his grill and encourage him to drive around you and dunk the ball and possibly get rewarded with a cheap And-1.  

TA did the absolute right thing in that situation--he made Lebron take the worst possible shot he could.  And for doing that, he deserves the right to celebrate for helping Lebron make a stupid play...

***

It's amazing how people judge a play's worthiness by focusing on the player involved.  I guarantee you that if KG had persuaded Lebron into a hero shot (that he missed badly), or mistimed his jump on a rebound, people would be looking at things a lot differently, praising KG for his veteran guile or his amazing rebound and agility.  But anything TA does come with a ton of baggage...

Are you kidding? A cheap and-1?

There is a 0% chance Lebron would be allowed such an opportunity as one of 2 scenario's would have happened:

1. Give him the lane/hoop.
2. Foul hard and wrap him up

We're talking about KG as p---ed as I've seen him and Perk being the one's to greet Lebron in the paint. I wonder why he chose to settle for the jumper?

BBallTim said it exactly right. The force you need to stop Lebron would be equivalent to a Flagrant Foul, which will give them 2 free throws, and posssesion afterward.

Even if you manage to foul him in a non-flagrant way, the way LBJ is usually treated by the refs will ensure that a flagrant foul is called.