It's the Eastern Conference finals.
WAY too late to be rotating in a player who makes mental mistakes by the bunches, including on the defensive end where some here VASTLY overrate his abilities.
We're trying to win a title, not give pity time to a guy who's proven, IMHO, he doesn't belong out there. I understand the attachment. People still want to bring Gerald Green back, for reasons I will never agree with.
But it's time to give it up. Time to fill that roster spot with a better, smarter player.
I haven't followed this whole thread, but I think you have to distinguish between the pre-injury Allen and the post-injury Allen. The pre-injury Allen may have been a little young and inexperienced, but he was a quality defender and was on a path to becoming a stellar lock-down defender. The post-injury Allen hasn't been nearly as good. Will he ever return to form? We don't know. But from what I understand of his knee injury, this season was really just a recuperation year for him. Next year is the year that we should see if he'll really be able to return to form.
Tony Allen will become 27 next season, how much improvement do you expect? And as others pointed out, a big part of his problems have to do with his low bball IQ. At his age, you either have it or you don`t, you can`t expect a sudden turnaround. I mean, his injury was bad, but how much time do you give this guy on a team with a 3-year-window to win it all?
I would like him to get time now to look towards the future. Not because I think the Detroit series will be a cakewalk, but we still have to look to the finals. A cold Tony isn't going to play well against Kobe/Manu. He did a stellar job on both Kobe during the regular season, and I don't remember much of him against the spurs, except he did a good job of not letting Manu draw a foul. After that, I'm one of those people that finds him a good player, but realistically he could well be dropped.
I think we should focus on the ECF first, and there´s simply no time or space for Tony just to find his groove back. Additionally, I think we don`t need 12 men in the playoffs. As I said, 8-9 men is the ideal amount of rotation players, imo. I already have my problems with Doc`s rotations, and I don`t want to see him experimenting with the lineups just to prepare Tony for a possible Finals appearance.
I'm still a half-full kind of guy, and despite the obvious cluster of flaws in Tony's game and head, I'd rather focus on what the guy's positive contributions could be, in lieu of making him as valuable as possible for trade negotiations in the future. The more he's neglected/down-played, the less of a prospect he'll be to other teams. (There's more dimensions to this than meets the eye)
I think we´re all aware of the other dimensions you`ve pointed out, Bahku. After all, that`s how we got KG. The thing is, we are not the 20-win-Celtics anymore. There`s simply no need to showcase our scrubs just to get value out of them.
1. We are a top-destination for every FA or vet who wants to win a ring.
2. Players on winning teams are always worth more than players on losing teams. You always find someone who is willing to pay more than he should just to acquire players from a top team. We´re not talking about Scal. Tony played meaningful minutes during the regular season, and I´m certain there are already a hand full of GMs in the league who feel they could need a player like him.
Again, the ECF is not the time or place to showcase our scrubs, imo.
