Will Tony Allen finally see minutes against the Pistons? He should

[wdleehi]

I expect to see Allen at least a little bit next series...but not too much.  It is a long series, and defensively, he is a good matchup against both their big PG's, as well as against Rip.  I don't expect him to get any extended minutes, but he could come in for 2-3 minute spurts to give Allen a bit of a break, and maybe get a little energy on the floor.

I thought he would be a good guy to use at the end of a quarter when the other teams has the ball with around 30 seconds left or in the offensive/defensive switches teams do at the end of games.

But since he wasn't used at the end of game 7 when they were doing that (they had House out there on defense instead), I don't think he will see court time without an injury, foul troubles, or blow out.

They were using House as the offensive replacement in game 7, not defensive.

But anyways, Allen is a much better matchup against Detroit.  They have 2 big combo guards, and Rip Hamilton, all of which are perfect for Allen to chase around, and be physical with.

With that said, I only expect to see him play around the quarters...I can't see them trusting him much near the end of the game.

He was out there for both.

Rondo and Ray kept switching. 

Hmmm, I stand corrected. 

For what its worth though, House did play very good defense on Delonte.  He really is a pest when he wants to be.

It worked out.


I wasn't complaining.  Just using it as one of the reasons I think we are going to see less of Tony 'the Turnover'.

[Triboy16]

Posey cannot guard rip. Lets give tony allen some credit , the guy is one of the best sg defenders in the league period. Alot of you guys need to wake up.

I expect tony allen to get alot of minutes in this series, taking some mins from rondo and ray allen

posey will be good to share some time with paul and or come in if detroit plays small ball

we will rock detroit

[crownsy]

and what exactly do you base that on? Tony is a good defender, he's not elite, elite defenders don't commit terrable fouls with alarming freqency (billups pump fake, countless other pump fakes in the regular season). He makes dumb foul after dumb foul. you want to know why he isn't even getting short runs right now? probley has to do with sending joe johnson to the line for a four point play on a bad foul on a jump shot, and for three more free throws 2 games later on another needless foul on a jumpshooter.

And how do you figure posey can't gaurd rip? he has in 2 games this season, for shorter minutes. Lebron is JUST as quick as rip, and outside of game 7, where he had a bit of a let down, posey kept a hand in bron bron's face all night.

Tony is a nice kid, but in 4 years he has yet to develop any kind of relable offensive game, turns the ball over, and so far this post season, in limited minutes, has commited 3 terrable fouls on jumpshooters. why exactly would we gamble on him waking up vs detroit?

posey on the other hand is a championship vetran who spreads the floor when he's on the permiter, is a elite defender, hits clutch 3's and protects the basketball.

And that waking up comment can also be said for people who want TA to take poseys minutes on rip, he's done nothing, absoultly nothing, to earn playoff minutes for the last 4 months. why would we suddenly take productive minutes and risk them on TA? so far i've seen no reasonable argument for tony other than

A) he deserves time, he helped get us here! and he should get a lollipop too!

or the even more maddining

B) he's a better defender on gaurds than posey! which has no basis in reality that i can find.

[Brickowski]

I don't think the Celtics can win this series with Tony Allen on the bench, and I'm certain they can't win it with Sam Cassell on the floor.

[Triboy16]

tony is not an elite defender?? I believe even kobe bryant stated tony was one of the toughest matchup for him

average defender?? u must be a new celtics fan

[wdleehi]

tony is not an elite defender?? I believe even kobe bryant stated tony was one of the toughest matchup for him

average defender?? u must be a new celtics fan

He is a good defender.  That's all. 


And the positives of his defense in undone by his offensive missteps the longer he is on the floor.

[crownsy]

tony is not an elite defender?? I believe even kobe bryant stated tony was one of the toughest matchup for him

average defender?? u must be a new celtics fan

despite your condesceding comments, the fact remains that he's not an elite defender. elite defenders don't commit silly fouls for no reason. and no one said average defender, we said good. good is not elite. If your fouling one of the best free throw shooters in the nba on 3 point attempts in a playoff game not once, but twice, your not a elite defender. If your falling for a pump fake with a second left on the shot clock, your not an elite defender.

and, as wdleehi pointed out, he's a liablity on the offenseive end, espcailly with turnovers. What is your case for starting him over posey? it's all well and good to keep saying he's an elite defender, but even if we assume that were the case, why does he deserve time over another elite defender who is a valuble offensive player?

I'd also like to see these kobe comments, link?

[Ben Pepper]

Tony Allen certainly has had games when he's played like an elite defender, but it would definitely be a stretch to put him among the best defenders in the game. He's not even the best SG/SF defender on the team -- that goes to Posey and possibly Pierce.

He's too inconsistent. Put the blame on Doc or someone else if you want, but the reality is his inconsistency is what is keeping him out of these games. He can be a liability at times on offense and there are times when his defense is not as good as it should be.

That being said, I'd love to see him get some playing time in the early games of the series, if only to take the load of those playing heavy minutes.

[footey]

I know this sounds radical, but here is my rationale:

1. Ray is in a huge slump.  Having 6'7" Richard Hamilton on him from the get go is no way to break out of the slump. Also, Detroit, guaranteed, will design a game plan centered on stopping Ray Allen. We all know that. How thrown would they be if Ray was not starting?

2. Tony Allen is an excellent perimeter defender. Excellent.  It's not like there would be a huge drop in offense, given how slumped Ray has been. Tony could really do a great job on Hamilton, who has become the Pistons' leading scorer.

3. Ray can come off the bench as soon as either RIP or Chauncey go to the bench. This will give him a better chance to get his offense going, as he will not be facing as tough a defender, plus the Piston rotation at this point will be less trained to shut Ray down.

This is the out of the box thinking that we need to beat the Pistons. We can't just assume that we will start to play better, without shaking things up.

[35Reggie]

Start Posey and have him guard Hamilton. That way Pierce can check Prince and prevent him from driving to the basket.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I think you need to see how Ray's comfort zone against the Pistons is before you start making these drastic panic changes based on a bad series.

[Yakmanev]

I see where your coming from and they are by no means terrible ideas however the Conference Finals is not the time to bench the HOF for a guy who has probably not played 5 minutes the entire postseason.

[indeedproceed]

George Micheals had it right. You gotta have faith.

Ray Allen is at home right now listening to Enrique Iglesias's hit song "Hero" and he is getting pumped up.

We are Jennifer Love Hewitt in this particular instance.

 

[crownsy]

you guys do realize this would mean on defense the pistons would play 3 on 5 right?

despite ray's struggles, he's still one of the best shooters of all time, the pistons have to gaurd him on the permiter, and spread the floor.

tony is 1 for his last 32 from behind the arc and hasen't hit since febuaray. he has no mid range jumper. he turns the ball over when he tries to drive. why on earth would they waste a defender on him?

so, it would be kg, pierce and perk vs the pistons, because until rajon proves he can hurt a team consistantly for doing it, the pistons will take a page out of clevlands book and leave rondo wide open while chauncy helps out.

just because ray isn't scoring does not make him and TA equivlent on offense. Tony is a non-factor, he does one thing marginaly well, drive, and you don't have to gaurd him from that, the pistons have plenty of help big men in the paint.

this would effectivly take our offense, which is struggling, and make it non existant.

[celts55]

you guys do realize this would mean on defense the pistons would play 3 on 5 right?

despite ray's struggles, he's still one of the best shooters of all time, the pistons have to gaurd him on the permiter, and spread the floor.

tony is 1 for his last 32 from behind the arc and hasen't hit since febuaray. he has no mid range jumper. he turns the ball over when he tries to drive. why on earth would they waste a defender on him?
so, it would be kg, pierce and perk vs the pistons, because until rajon proves he can hurt a team consistantly for doing it, the pistons will take a page out of clevlands book and leave rondo wide open while chauncy helps out.

just because ray isn't scoring does not make him and TA equivlent on offense. Tony is a non-factor, he does one thing marginaly well, drive, and you don't have to gaurd him from that, the pistons have plenty of help big men in the paint.

this would effectivly take our offense, which is struggling, and make it non existant.

I totally agree, but I have said it before and still wouldn't mind starting Posey with Ray off the bench. Posey does have an offensive game and is a better than aveage defender.