Is TA Right Now as Good as He will Ever Get?!

[footey]

Tony does not have the lift he had before the knee injury two seasons ago. That Tony finished much stronger than this one. He also shot more confidently from the outside, even from 3 point range.  I think he is still not all the way back from the injury. He just does not finish the same way. You can still see the caution in his eyes.

[xmuscularghandix]

simply put, NO.

i think by the end of this season he will be finishing like old tony, and also will be showing more confidence in his jumper.

[nickagneta]

Tony is what he is and will never be more than what he is. He had one magnificent 16-18 game stretch late in 06 and early in 07. Other than that, is he really markably better than the kid we first saw out of college? I don't think so. He will be a serviceable role player his entire career who will give you as many boneheaded plays as highlight reel suff and be extremely inconsistent. He is what he is. A Posey replacement, he isn't.

[housecall]

Tony is what he is and will never be more than what he is. He had one magnificent 16-18 game stretch late in 06 and early in 07. Other than that, is he really markably better than the kid we first saw out of college? I don't think so. He will be a serviceable role player his entire career who will give you as many boneheaded plays as highlight reel suff and be extremely inconsistent. He is what he is. A Posey replacement, he isn't.

TP...couldn't have stated it better.

[BillfromBoston]

People are going to have to accept the fact that Tony IS 100 percent physically...that part of it is over...

What remains to be seen is how he asserts himself in games and how aggressive he wants to be when he attacks the rim...

I think Tony will average double-digits this season personally...I don't think he is fully integrated into the offense yet, but he has had some streaks and I think they'll increase in frequency..

[BudweiserCeltic]

As far as development, I don't think there's much more to go for. I think he can improve his consistency though. He has played more under control this year. I still think he can work on his jumper a bit, but I'm not holding my breath. It's not a tool he has used often in games, which is why I don't disaprove of him taking jumpers this season... same as I don't mind Baby taking them, no matter how many they miss. It would be different if this were the playoffs, but it's in the regular season when they have to work on this things and more importantly have confidence in them.

[CoachBo]

Tony is what he is and will never be more than what he is. He had one magnificent 16-18 game stretch late in 06 and early in 07. Other than that, is he really markably better than the kid we first saw out of college? I don't think so. He will be a serviceable role player his entire career who will give you as many boneheaded plays as highlight reel suff and be extremely inconsistent. He is what he is. A Posey replacement, he isn't.

And one. Accurate assessment of Tony. He's a piece in the puzzle, one that will alternately wow you with solid play and disgust you by going brain-dead.

He's a contributor. Nothing more, nothing less.

[BballTim]

No. I think his jump shot can improve so he isn't at his limit yet. I would also say that he has been our best bench player. I also don't think you can expect bench players to be super consistent. NBA players hit shots in spurts - so with less time the numbers they put up will be inconsistent.

Leon Powe has been our best bench player closely followed if not tied by House. TA is a distant third.

  Based on what? Tony's the best defender out of the three. They all score equally per minute but Tony's been the most consistent scorer of them. Leon averages more turnovers than Tony, who A) has only had more than 2 turnovers twice all year (3 both times) and B) only has 1 more turnover than steals for the year. He's not perfect, and sometimes he tries to do too much but he hasn't been bad.

Based on a couple things. Tony hasn't been consistent at all. He has games where he is putting up numbers, but a third of his games he has 4 pts or less. A negative assist to turnover ratio is not good. He continues to lower his head and commit charges. He is still well deserving of Turnover Tony.

Powe on the other hand doesn't have the same control of his touches TA does. He has to wait for someone to drop the ball down into him, or collect the offensive rebounds. When given the ball down low he has been very consistent all year. TA takes almost twice as many shots a game as Leon does. He should score more.

  Tony's been inconsistent but so's Leon. Tony has 11 games in double figures and 7 with 5 or less points. Powe's got 8 games in double figures and 10 of 5 or less. Eddie, for the record, has 9 of 10+ and 8 of 5 or less. They're all about the same. According to 82games Tony's got 8 offensive fouls this year compared to 12 for Leon.

  And, again, you're basing your evaluation solely on offense. Tony's a much better defender than the other two. TA might not be clearly the best bench player but he's not a distant third as you claim.

[BballTim]

Tony is what he is and will never be more than what he is. He had one magnificent 16-18 game stretch late in 06 and early in 07. Other than that, is he really markably better than the kid we first saw out of college? I don't think so. He will be a serviceable role player his entire career who will give you as many boneheaded plays as highlight reel suff and be extremely inconsistent. He is what he is. A Posey replacement, he isn't.

  Of course he's not a Posey replacement. James carried the team on his back all the way to the finals last year. Don't you remember all of the posts last summer claiming that the Celts would be a much weaker team without Posey? We're lucky to be in contention for the playoffs without him.

[nickagneta]

I think one glaring weakness in not only TA's game but just about everyone on the bench except House is leadership. There just isn't any in that group and House isn't good enough to take that leadership role off the bench, hence PP and RA always having to be in the game with them.

[nickagneta]

Tony is what he is and will never be more than what he is. He had one magnificent 16-18 game stretch late in 06 and early in 07. Other than that, is he really markably better than the kid we first saw out of college? I don't think so. He will be a serviceable role player his entire career who will give you as many boneheaded plays as highlight reel suff and be extremely inconsistent. He is what he is. A Posey replacement, he isn't.

  Of course he's not a Posey replacement. James carried the team on his back all the way to the finals last year. Don't you remember all of the posts last summer claiming that the Celts would be a much weaker team without Posey? We're lucky to be in contention for the playoffs without him.

So are you claiming that it is Tony Allen that is the reason that the Celtics are so much better than many thought? Because if you asked me I would say Tony Allen is playing a bit better than last year but it has been pretty much better chemistry between the Big Three and the exceptional increase in the quality of play of Rondo and Perk that is the reason for the Celtics success this year.

And as for him being a Posey replacement, come talk to me when Tony is shutting down Kobe, Odom, LeBron, Smith, Johnson, Prince and McDyess in the playoffs while hitting late game clutch fourth quarter three's in pressure situations. Posey was a leader, was clutch and was extremely versatile, words no one uses when describing Tony Allen.

[Big_Matt34]

Tony may be inconsistent on offense this year but he has been flat out awesome on defense, which was one of the two things Posey did. At Sg TA has a PER of 17 and his opponents is 11.2, to give you and idea of how good that is, KG opponents PER at PF is 14.3. Poseys opponents PER is 17.2 at Sg and 13.3 at SF His roland rating is also 5th best on the team at 3.4, Powes is -0.5 and House is -0.8. Tony has been the best bench player this year, its not by some huge amount but the numbers show it.

http://www.82games.com/0809/0809BOS.HTM

[BballTim]

Tony is what he is and will never be more than what he is. He had one magnificent 16-18 game stretch late in 06 and early in 07. Other than that, is he really markably better than the kid we first saw out of college? I don't think so. He will be a serviceable role player his entire career who will give you as many boneheaded plays as highlight reel suff and be extremely inconsistent. He is what he is. A Posey replacement, he isn't.

  Of course he's not a Posey replacement. James carried the team on his back all the way to the finals last year. Don't you remember all of the posts last summer claiming that the Celts would be a much weaker team without Posey? We're lucky to be in contention for the playoffs without him.

So are you claiming that it is Tony Allen that is the reason that the Celtics are so much better than many thought? Because if you asked me I would say Tony Allen is playing a bit better than last year but it has been pretty much better chemistry between the Big Three and the exceptional increase in the quality of play of Rondo and Perk that is the reason for the Celtics success this year.

And as for him being a Posey replacement, come talk to me when Tony is shutting down Kobe, Odom, LeBron, Smith, Johnson, Prince and McDyess in the playoffs while hitting late game clutch fourth quarter three's in pressure situations. Posey was a leader, was clutch and was extremely versatile, words no one uses when describing Tony Allen.

  No, I'm saying that Posey's contributions from last year have taken on almost mythical proportions. A player who "shut down Kobe, Odom, LeBron, Smith, Johnson, Prince and McDyess in the playoffs while hitting late game clutch fourth quarter three's in pressure situations" would have been much more deserving of the MVP than Paul Pierce, who's accomplishments in the playoffs pale in comparison.

[nickagneta]

Tony is what he is and will never be more than what he is. He had one magnificent 16-18 game stretch late in 06 and early in 07. Other than that, is he really markably better than the kid we first saw out of college? I don't think so. He will be a serviceable role player his entire career who will give you as many boneheaded plays as highlight reel suff and be extremely inconsistent. He is what he is. A Posey replacement, he isn't.

  Of course he's not a Posey replacement. James carried the team on his back all the way to the finals last year. Don't you remember all of the posts last summer claiming that the Celts would be a much weaker team without Posey? We're lucky to be in contention for the playoffs without him.

So are you claiming that it is Tony Allen that is the reason that the Celtics are so much better than many thought? Because if you asked me I would say Tony Allen is playing a bit better than last year but it has been pretty much better chemistry between the Big Three and the exceptional increase in the quality of play of Rondo and Perk that is the reason for the Celtics success this year.

And as for him being a Posey replacement, come talk to me when Tony is shutting down Kobe, Odom, LeBron, Smith, Johnson, Prince and McDyess in the playoffs while hitting late game clutch fourth quarter three's in pressure situations. Posey was a leader, was clutch and was extremely versatile, words no one uses when describing Tony Allen.

  No, I'm saying that Posey's contributions from last year have taken on almost mythical proportions. A player who "shut down Kobe, Odom, LeBron, Smith, Johnson, Prince and McDyess in the playoffs while hitting late game clutch fourth quarter three's in pressure situations" would have been much more deserving of the MVP than Paul Pierce, who's accomplishments in the playoffs pale in comparison.

Holy hyperbole Batman!!

Did I claim that Posey was the only person playing great defense? Did I say he was the only person responsible for the Celtics success? Did I say he was MVP material?

All I am saying is that when it counts most, in the playoffs, Posey has for two different World Championship teams proven that he can shut down some of the best in the business for periods of time and will take and hit some of the most important shots at critical times.

Tony Allen has never, ever done anything close to that. When he does, come talk to me about his replacing Posey's contributions, until then, stop trying to put words into my mouth. He isn't the overall, all around player Posey is, I think that's pretty evident just from the contracts they signed in the off season not just what they have accomplished on the court.

[cordobes]

(...)
The biggest problem is TA having to play SF, he has been awesome at SG but just awful at SF offensively. The team needs a legit backup SF for two reasons, first it will help having a natural SF and secondly it will let TA play all of his minutes at SG. His per 48's at SG are 22/5/3 with a 17 PER but at SF they are 9/9/0 with a PER of 5. ITs pretty clear that he should just be at Sg and not playing SF.

This doesn't even make sense. The C's don't play with a SG and a SF, they're completely interchangeable. There are two swingmen, that's all. The 82games stats don't acknowledge that so the allocation per position is generally pretty misleading. Anyway, even if you really want to follow and give credit to them, he has no more no less than 1% of the minutes at the SF (they have Powe playing 16% as the SF, for example), and that's not statistical significant at all. For example, his PER is 5, but his opponent PER is... 0.4!!! With this kind of defense, he should be playing as a SF 48 minutes per game. Seriously, those stats are as meaningless as they come.

Also, the revisionism about Posey is becoming annoying. Kobe had a quarter in the Finals where he only scored from technical free-throws, remember? Who was guarding him?