Tony Allen on starting: 'It isn't how you start, it's how you finish'
Tony Allen entered the Grizzlies starting lineup during the 2010-11 season and, for the most part, has been a mainstay there ever since. Sure, Allen has sporadically come off the bench over the past few seasons, but he's started more often than not, running as a consistent member of the Memphis first unit.
Now, there's a question mark over whether Allen should start or not heading into the 2015-16 season. Should coach Dave Joerger start Courtney Lee and Jeff Green on the wings? Does Matt Barnes fit into this somewhere? Should he bring two of those three off the bench and give Allen time with the first unit at the 2?That's what Joerger went with during last year's postseason, though it didn't work out particularly well.
Allen, though, doesn't seem to care about when he enters a game. Here's more from Don Wade of the Memphis Daily News:
The Warriors took advantage of Allen's weak offensive play during their second-round series against the Griz in last year's postseason when they stuck center Andrew Bogut on him and basically turned the game into 4-on-5. So, maybe you spot start Allen depending on matchups.
Throwing Bogut on Allen is an impossibly playoff-y thing to do. You're not going to see moves like that anywhere other than a long postseason series. But you do want to give other guys opportunities for if and when a move like that comes in the playoffs.
We'll see exactly how Joerger decides to play it.
(h/t Memphis Daily News)
Competition at the wing sets up as a potential subplot.
“I like it when it’s like that,” Allen said recently after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Memphis Redbirds game. “That brings out the best in me.”
Does he care if he starts?
“I don’t get into any of that, man. It isn’t how you start, it’s how you finish. Starting don’t mean nothing to me. I showed that already.”
