Tony Allen

[Atzar]

I actually think Rondo's matador tendencies - to an extent - are condoned by the coaches.  Doc has said in the past that one of the weaknesses of the defense is that it doesn't force very many turnovers.  Allowing Rondo to gamble might be an attempt to compensate a little bit for that, although judging by Doc's reactions in timeouts, Rondo does it a lot more than he wants.

Personally, I'd prefer if Rondo just stayed in front of his man.  Every one of our starters is capable of defense ranging from solid to exceptional.  I thought one of the best aspects of our defense last year was our propensity to force 24-second violations, which seemed to happen regularly.  This year, and especially lately, that just doesn't happen anymore.  I forget who mentioned this during last night's broadcast (it might have been Thibodeau, actually), but somebody said that the team has lost track of the fact that they're a defensive team first.  I hope they get back to that as the playoffs begin.

[xmuscularghandix]

I actually think Rondo's matador tendencies - to an extent - are condoned by the coaches.  Doc has said in the past that one of the weaknesses of the defense is that it doesn't force very many turnovers.  Allowing Rondo to gamble might be an attempt to compensate a little bit for that, although judging by Doc's reactions in timeouts, Rondo does it a lot more than he wants.

Personally, I'd prefer if Rondo just stayed in front of his man.  Every one of our starters is capable of defense ranging from solid to exceptional.  I thought one of the best aspects of our defense last year was our propensity to force 24-second violations, which seemed to happen regularly.  This year, and especially lately, that just doesn't happen anymore.  I forget who mentioned this during last night's broadcast (it might have been Thibodeau, actually), but somebody said that the team has lost track of the fact that they're a defensive team first.  I hope they get back to that as the playoffs begin.

i think the gamble defense is good when we're full strength, but you can't send your man right into the defense every play when your low on bigs and four trouble can kill you. with KG and Perk back there you can gamble all you want and not get hurt too bad.

[bballdog384]

We now know that we must go through the playoffs without KG. Although we are royally screwed, I believe that we still have a chance. This chance is relying almost entirely on Tony Allen.

I was just reading Bill Simmons' latest article. He pointed out that, in a Cavs v Celtics series, the C's can survive temporarily because of Pierces great defense on LeBron James. Pierce, however, can only play his heart out for a couple nights before dying from exhaustion. We cannot rely on Pierce to carry this team on both offense and defense. This is where TA comes into play.

Tony Allen has proven in the past that he can guard the likes of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. He has played some amazing defensive games in his career. If TA can step it up and take the defensive burden away from Pierce, I believe that we have as good of a shot as any at winning the Finals.

[xmuscularghandix]

I beleive that TA will defend and slash and he will be a part of our success (if we have any), but its not even close to depending entirely upon TA.

[xmuscularghandix]

could be really held to nothing if Ray came off the bench. just saying.

also i really don't beleive that this is a good idea, i just wanna have 2 Tony Allen threads.

[CoachBo]

I'm happy Tony Allen is back - I've said multiple times we wouldn't have a realistic chance to win it all without him: the House/Marbury combo as the only backcourt backup is too limited in terms of defence and rebounding. Allen is going to be very useful.

That said:

1 - Reliability is probably the most underrated aspect of winning basketball.

2 - Shot-creation from players like Tony Allen is the most overrated aspect of winning basketball. You can't win with guys like Tony Allen (or, say, Jannero Pargo or even Corey Maggette) being shot-creators. They're too mediocre and flawed in other aspects of the game that are much more needed from role-players.

3 - Whatever happens, once again Tony Allen failed to deliver what his fans (whose fanaticism and fundamentalism is almost scary) were expecting. He is what he is: an injury prone, erratic player, who has yet to show remarkable improvements and a perennial 8th man in the NBA. Looking for an upgrade over him should be a priority this off-season.

TP. Excellent summary.

Tony's at a crossroads as far as I'm concerned. He can play consistently and intelligently - which he's never done - and play his way onto next year's club.

Or if we get the usual from him, then it's time for the long national nightmare to end. We are on the cusp of losing a year from the Big Three's window. We have no more room for fan obsessions - the idea that an overrated defender who struggles to defend for two straight possessioos can shut LBJ and Kobe down will have me chuckling for awhile - and projects who are actually suspects. He will need to go.

[Brickowski]

He's already signed for next year.

[CoachBo]

Big deal. Buy him out. Include him in a trade. Whatever.

Either he upgrades his play mentally and physically right now, or replacing him with a quality player is a major priority in the off-season.

[2short]

Hes still Tony Allen

still run the floor on defense
still try to catch the mid pass with some succes
still usually defends good to anyone but bron and kobe
still drives with head down
still dribles too much
still miss stupid easy baskets for not passing the ball
still makes stupid passes
still complains to himself ala gerald green
Still is a decent scorer off the bench

still Tony

yeah tony's game has always been ruled by his confidence in himself and the guy honestly thinks too much while he's out there
not that might sound crazy since he has shown the not be the smartest player but i think he overthinks everything and needs to keep it simple
again what cousy said, ta needs to be a 2 dribble guy
I feel if TA was healthy he would have been traded.  Walker is going to take his minutes next year.  Where does tony fit in, an undersized sf.  At sg we have ray who can still put out 40 minutes a night, eddie, pp
He'll give us energy for good or bad.  Good tony can help us, bad tony will hurt us bad.

[Brickowski]

Big deal. Buy him out. Include him in a trade. Whatever.

Either he upgrades his play mentally and physically right now, or replacing him with a quality player is a major priority in the off-season.

You can keep hating, but the fact is that you won't replace TA with a better player for anything close to TA's contract.  As I said in another thread, he's a steal at 2M per year.

The guy just played two excellent games. Why are you ripping him now?  Why are we talking about relying on turnover-prone, brick-laying, no D Stephon Marbury instead of a solid defender and slasher like Tony Allen?

[CoachBo]

Excellent? Uh, no. Game quality depends on a lot more than points. His defense continues to be erratic - and wildly overrated by those obsessed with him. He cannot string three good defensive possessions together.

And no, I don't get excited about head-down bull rushes to the hoop, a bad handle and a general low basketball IQ.

I don't care what he makes. He is not an adequate wing replacement for a championship team - yet. Grousbeck needs to pry a couple of pennies out of his thumbs and provide this club with an adequate wing off the bench.

Prove me wrong, Tony. Grow up. Play smart basketball.

If not, hopefully Ainge puts moving him at the top of his priorities when he recovers.

[gar]

If we are pinning our hopes on Tony Allen or Marbury we could be in trouble. If we are concerned about KG, we can take some comfort in a resurgent Powe and BBD's recent play. Perk has also been able to step up in KG's absence.

Let's hope Tony is not the key. He can be a factor in some games; but let not get carried away.