Tony Allen should start

[GuyClinch]

You start the better player - especially if he is an older one because it affords them more rest. The starter quality guy you bring off the bench is a young guy (McHale) not an older one. The "rest" a player gets at the start of a game doesn't help them because they weren't playing in the first place - thus they are not winded. If you bench a guy for say half the first quarter and have the third quarter to get his minutes in he has to play two long stretches of basketball. This is bad planning and just a bad idea.

The only way Ray goes to the bench is if you flat out believe TA is a better player then he is. I liked TA ALOT more then most people around here. But that's going to far. I will say this RA should consider retiring after his contract. It's a shame when guys play too long. This rarely happens but its a really good idea. It's a shame when a great like Ray Allen can get smoked by a C player like JJ Reddick.

[Captain_Caveman]

Ray can play until he is 40 with that stroke and training regimen... he just cannot have such a big role on a championship-caliber team.

[cisco]

Ray can play until he is 40 with that stroke and training regimen

Hopefully not with the Celtics. I want him on the team, but not when he's 40.

[cfan79]

If we are trying to get his value up then maybe its not a bad idea. But its the wrong choice otherwise.

[Celtics_85]

Ray Allen is simply played too much, as is Pierce. A guy like Ray should not be playing 38 to 40 minutes a night at all. This happens when we play the better teams, and Allen's production seems to fall due to fatigue. Once Daniels comes back I don't see where Ray will rest any more than he has as he or Pierce seem to need to play with the second unit. I would like to see Ray come off the bench at the 4 minute mark of the first quarter for TA and play the rest of the half. This would give him 32 minutes a game. Bring TA back to relieve Rondo in the 2nd quarter with Daniels coming in for Pierce for a second unit of TA, Daniels, Ray, Davis, and Sheed. House can be the tenth man as he hasn't been consistant at all this year. Let me break down the reasons I see it would benefit Ray coming off the bench.

1- Ray would get 32 minutes in this time period. Playing 2 16 minutes stretches at these points of the quarters allows him rest between periods and most timeouts come during these stretches that would allow Ray to not get fatigued.

2- Like I said before, House needs to go to the bench as TA is much more needed by this team with his defense and energy on the floor.

3- Rondo needs to take the next step to being the true leader of this team. If you look back at this year when Rondo scores and assists Ray's numbers are not as good, and when Ray has a good game Rondo's scoring is down. Rondo is the future of this team and needs to take over as this player with this team getting older, but it is the big three holding him back from this. Bringing Ray off the bench would allow Rondo to be the third scorer with the first unit and the unquestioned leader.

4- We all know Doc likes to keep either Ray or Pierce in the game at all times, this would allow Pierce to get rest and play 32 minutes also with Daniels getting Pierce's minutes and maybe a few from TA with Rondo on the bench. Ray will still get minutes with the first unit at the end of the first and when the they come back in in the second unit. Most important is he is in when crunch time comes.

[tombattor]

I'm all for giving TA more minutes and curbing Ray and Paul's minutes, but I don't know about starting TA in place of Ray. Ray's not what he used to be, but he's still pretty good and his presence alone opens up the court for everyone.

[darrendaye]

Doc is going to have to overcome his phobia of having both Ray and Pierce sitting simultaneously. This is going to involve coming up with sets that can take advantage of the reserve wings he has. Tony should not start.

I think the perfect example of how you properly use TA's skillset can be seen in the last Raptors game. Ray came around several picks and got the ball on the right wing. He didn't have a good look and passed to KG at the high post. KG immediately swung the ball to TA on the left wing and TA knifed through the heart of the defense for the score. TA is also very capable of posting up other wings.

If Doc believes he needs a starter out there at all times, run with a lineup of Daniels, House, TA, KG, and Rasheed.

[Celtics_85]

Let me give two more good reasons to start TA, first, TA is a much better defender than Ray and can take the better wing player on the oppositions offense which will help Pierce more for the offensive end. This theory to hold when Ray is on the floor with Daniels also. The second, Rondo needs a player to run with for easy baskets and Ta is the better player for that. As Doc said in his article about defensive rebounding resulting in easy baskets at the other end.

Why should it matter when Ray plays as long as he gets his minutes? In the case of Ginobli and the Spurs, they are a title contender so they don't throw out what people call the right way of playing guys. The same should be said about this team, as we have aging veteran stars who at this point should have thrown out their egos to play for championships. If Ray had a problem doing this then he should be put in the same category as Iverson who so many slammed when he made noise about going to the bench, not to mention the fact that Ray may just be brought off the bench if kept next year, so why not make the change now?

[Kids Are Alright]

Despite the suckage that's been going on lately?????
Ray's about my fav all time player, but he's been a stinker on both sides of the ball lately...Rondo couldn't (or wouldn't) guard Miller, the other night and Ray flat out couldn't..The combo of Ray at 2 and Rondo at 1 means there's a lot of scoring going on every night at the 1 and 2 on the opposing team.
Now, Tony's obviously not the answer as a starter, but we're pretty near porous on D at those positions.
Do you guys supporting (this year's) Ray watch the games?

[tombattor]

Despite the suckage that's been going on lately?????
Ray's about my fav all time player, but he's been a stinker on both sides of the ball lately...Rondo couldn't (or wouldn't) guard Miller, the other night and Ray flat out couldn't..The combo of Ray at 2 and Rondo at 1 means there's a lot of scoring going on every night at the 1 and 2 on the opposing team.
Now, Tony's obviously not the answer as a starter, but we're pretty near porous on D at those positions.
Do you guys supporting (this year's) Ray watch the games?

I'm not disagreeing with you about Ray's slippage. But I don't think bringing him off the bench and starting TA is the answer. TA has been pretty good, but his role is limited. And he certainly doesn't bring what Ray does. Ray's no longer automatic when given any room, but his presence still forces the defense to stay honest and the defense still doubles him/switches to him on every screen. TA doesn't command that yet.

Besides, the fact that opposing PGs have been torching us has little to do with Ray and a lot to do with Rondo.