Bradley needs to start. End of story.
Bradley is a straight up beast on defense, and is better offensively then the current state Ray Allen is in.
You don't seem to get it. Bradley has his moments. He has not yet developed into a superior offensive weapon than Ray Allen. No, he may not be better offensively than Ray, because he isn't aggressive enough with his offense. He is a weapon for us with regards to sneaking away some easy baskets, I'll give him that. I know he can do other things surprisingly well, but he doesn't do it nearly enough, and maybe, just maybe, his shoulder is preventing him from giving it to us.
He also helps us far more than Ray on fast break opportunities. I'll give him that, too.
Bradley is a better natural one on one defender than Ray, but it's arguable if he's a more overall intelligent defender than Ray. Bradley's defensive timing in a one on one is superior to Ray's. He sticks to guys like glue and denies the ball in a way Ray never could. He has a gift that Ray has never had in that regard.
However, Ray's experience and intelligence on how to play defense in big game situations, most importantly on reading what kind of play the offense is trying to make, and not necessarily just what the guy he's guarding is trying to do, even with his limited speed and natural instincts, is superior to Bradley's. Bradley sometimes can be overzealous and overcommit, and there are numerous times when it has costed the Celtics in this postseason. I don't ever blame him for any one particular loss, however. And I never forget that Bradley has saved our rear end on more than one occasion in these playoffs. I'm not suggesting decreasing his minutes. I'm also well aware of the fact that he takes away a number of offensive options for teams in ways that Ray never could, like certain guaranteed fast break baskets.
A good example of where Bradley can be a liability at times, is what happened in game 1 against the Hawks, where they would just shoot over him because he was so small. Bradley is great, but teams have made certain adjustments that I've noticed, and Ray being out there at the same time with guys like KG, Bass, Rondo, Pierce, might help everybody else have greater offense, because of the respect that has to be paid to Ray Allen.
Ray's effectiveness is quadrupled when he's on the floor with other big offensive threats. Bradley is good, but his offensive instincts and ability right now, as incredible as I know his ability to be (and have seen it be this season), this shoulder thing for Bradley is becoming more and more serious, and defenders are mostly respecting Bradley's quick cut to the basket ability, and not necessarily his mid range shot or 3 point shot.
There comes a time when adjustments must be made, and teams that don't adjust accordingly throughout the playoffs lose. Hollins was one such adjustment in key situations that has helped us win games. I personally wouldn't mind seeing Pavlovic inserted into our bench rotations, also. He's another important piece, I feel.
Topic: Ray Allen helps our other offensive options score easier, should he start again? (Read 4404 times)