Tony Allen

[humblebum]

I'm convinced though that Doc won't figure it out. He's stuck on offensive spacing. That's his primary concern. With Eddie you get better spacing but you have to defend 4 on 5 because he's terrible there. And Marbury at the two guard is out of sync, unconfident, and mediocre on defense against Gordon, Rose. If Doc goes with House early in this game over Tony Allen... I'm not sure that we'll be having discussions about coaching strategy and matchups for round 2. We'll be talking about the draft, trades, and free agency. That's how important it is for Doc to play Tony over House/Marbury in this game IMO.

[Setshot33]

Hopefully Bill Walker emerges next year and TA is let go.

[ryaningf]

I'm convinced though that Doc won't figure it out. He's stuck on offensive spacing. That's his primary concern. With Eddie you get better spacing but you have to defend 4 on 5 because he's terrible there. And Marbury at the two guard is out of sync, unconfident, and mediocre on defense against Gordon, Rose. If Doc goes with House early in this game over Tony Allen... I'm not sure that we'll be having discussions about coaching strategy and matchups for round 2. We'll be talking about the draft, trades, and free agency. That's how important it is for Doc to play Tony over House/Marbury in this game IMO.

Hey humblebum, I'm not going to go as far as to say that if we play Eddie we are going to lose..I think we still have a decent chance with him out there, we've already won 3 with him in the rotation. I also think there's a chance he finally hits a big shot or makes a scrappy play like against Cleveland in Game 7 last season. I'd just state it the other way: if we play TA 15-20 minutes (and House about 3-5), then I think we have a really good chance to win.

You're right about Doc: he talks about defense but when it comes down to it he'd rather have a non-defender spacing the floor than a great defender not spacing the floor. The problem is, he could have it both ways, if he just ran a few sets for TA when he was in the ball game. TA on the block can be pretty devastating, especially against Gordon or Rose. And it would help keep his focus high as well.

But for some reason Doc doesn't go the extra mile for TA. If he plays him, he wastes him by sending him to the corner like he's House....

[canman1971]

How is Tony not the defender people think he is?

The question canman, is that if you don't like Tony who do you propose to be a better option off the bench for the Celtics right now? Marbury, House? Those guys have been downright terrible at the two guard.

No, Tony Allen, despite his warts, is the best option that Doc has. But he has to get him into the game earlier enough for him to establish a rhythm. Not for Tony's sake but for the sake of rest Paul and Ray, for the sake of the team, and for the sake of the defense.

As mentioned above, unfortunately, he doesn't have any. But in no way should Doc have put him in in those situations. Doc needs to do a better job of resting the starters early on so they are not dead at the end. It certainly is a double edge sword.

[Fencer reregistered]

I've been watching the Celtics and NBA basketball for 25 years. In that time, I don't recall ever seeing a player with a basketball IQ lower than Tony Allen's.

Jerome Moiso says Hi.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Tony is a rhythm player, and he takes a stretch of games to get into game shape. Not minutes.

Tony's game shape is more about being mentally ready, he acts from instinct. This make him great when he is in the zone, but potentially horrible when he isn't.

If Doc is going to play Tony, he has to recognise this fact and give him regular minutes. Otherwise we get the results that we are currently getting.

^If that's the case then his career should be over...

[MyInsatiableOne]

I've been watching the Celtics and NBA basketball for 25 years. In that time, I don't recall ever seeing a player with a basketball IQ lower than Tony Allen's.

Jerome Moiso says Hi.

So do Gerald Green and Kedrick Brown....but all 4 of them have supremely low BBIQs...

[GuyClinch]

TA is well ahead of those guys in terms of BBIQ. Kedrick or Gerald would never be called off the bench late in the game for defensive purposes. TA's problem is his lack of a jumper - much like Rondo. It makes him hard to play for Doc..

[sully00]

I am sorry I think it is dopey to love Eddie House but think TA has no value to this team. I am not saying that TA is a great player but he is a productive player if you start TA he will produce like starter. On this team, following yet another injury, he is forced into a specialist role which is not what he does well because he is a freelancer on offense. Eddie House is like a speedy wide receiver, he just runs down the sideline in a straight line and if he catches it TD great , but no blocking, not route running nothing but a one trick pony and nobody seems to care if he doesn't produce.

In game ending scripted situations it is difficult to make proper use of TA guys like House and Baby who are spot up shooters make it easier to design plays. But killing TA for what he does with the clock running down on a broken play that someone else failed to execute is pretty ignorant, do you think those plays were designed for Tony Allen?

This team asks him to go in cold and play smothering one on one defense on the other team's best player but don't foul him, if it was easy why would they bother asking TA to do it? Eddie and Tony are actually a pretty good compliment Eddie is a good spot up shooter and TA can do everything else.

[GuyClinch]

I am sorry I think it is dopey to love Eddie House but think TA has no value to this team. I am not saying that TA is a great player but he is a productive player if you start TA he will produce like starter. On this team, following yet another injury, he is forced into a specialist role which is not what he does well because he is a freelancer on offense. Eddie House is like a speedy wide receiver, he just runs down the sideline in a straight line and if he catches it TD great , but no blocking, not route running nothing but a one trick pony and nobody seems to care if he doesn't produce.

The TA hate is misguided - and tales of his low BBIQ are grossly exaggerated. If he got extended minutes he would be very productive on the court - likely a 15/5/4 kind of guy as well as the fact he plays excellent defense.

[MyInsatiableOne]

The TA hate is misguided - and tales of his low BBIQ are grossly exaggerated. If he got extended minutes he would be very productive on the court - likely a 15/5/4 kind of guy as well as the fact he plays excellent defense.

[Red2]

forget basketball for asecond. allyou need to know about TA's future is that he can't stay out of trouble and the celts don't want problem guys on their team. ANyone remember the gun incident with telfair? he was as good as gone when that happened. DO you really think WYc wants to keep tony if the rumors about tony are true? ie that he owes a loan shark and that his "friends" were involved in a murder last summer which makes TOny part of one murder and one attempted murder? There's no way they want him back