If you didn't hear last night's post-game call in show, you missed me already starting to get worked up about minutes. Right off the bat… I'm wondering what Doc was thinking with Ray Allen, who played 42 minutes in last nights win.
42 minutes on opening night. 42 minutes on the front-end of back-to-back games. 42 minutes on a night where he wasn't really carrying the majority of the offensive load. 42 minutes of play when Eddie House and Marquis Daniels, two guys specifically tasked with giving him some rest, COMBINED for 30 minutes.
This can all be remedied by cutting back on the minutes tonight. If Ray plays 32 minutes tonight… then we can all move on and just chalk this up to me being a jerk with a hair trigger temper and internet space to fill.
But I fear that it won't be remedied. I'm afraid Doc leans on Ray too much. He has for two years now. Ray is ALWAYS the guy who plays the most minutes. I know he's in phenomenal shape. But we don't need to be riding this horse this hard this early.
I'd rather try and fail with Marquis Daniels and Eddie House getting more than 17 and 12 minutes respectively than push Ray to the limit so soon. Wasn't the entire reason for the Marquis Daniels signing an effort to get Paul and Ray rest? 42 minutes and, while we're at it, 38 for Pierce, doesn't seem like rest to me.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
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