Could the Celtics Go Small?

The John Hollinger column I mentioned in my previous post apparently had a suggestion that the Celtics try, from time to time in Game 7, a lineup of Rajon Rondo, Tony Allen, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett. The rationale for this, I gather, is that it gets Tony Allen -- who has defended Kobe Bryant better, by far, than any other Celtic this series -- onto the court without taking Ray Allen and Pierce off of it.

Here's something I never thought I'd say: I like the idea of getting Tony some more PT. He's been not-terrible-to-decent offensively, and there's no denying that he's been our most effective Kobe-stopper. He crowds Kobe a little bit too much for my liking, but it's obvious to anyone watching that the shots Kobe gets with Tony checking him are tougher than the ones he gets with anyone else checking him.

I have no indication that Doc is even considering this strategy, but there are several things that concern me about its possibility:

• We have not, to my knowledge, done this before. It'd be like a football team running the hook-and-ladder or Statue of Liberty on the last snap of the game, only without having practiced it beforehand. Sure, it may force LA to call an audible, too, but it's a big adjustment for us to make with the season on the line.
• It would set up a pretty hairy Pierce-Lamar Odom matchup on defense, if the Lakers chose to exploit it and Odom was uncharacteristically assertive. Pierce has shown he can score on Odom, but I imagine that Odom's length would bother Pierce more than Pierce's, uh, nothing, would bother Odom. On the other hand, if the Lakers are giving the ball to Odom instead of Bryant and Gasol, it's probably a good thing for the Cs -- at least until Lamar gets going.
• It would mean that Ray and Pierce aren't getting rest. I know, I know -- there's no Game 8 to rest up for, so everyone should be prepared to go the full 48 in Game 7. But the odds are overwhelmingly against us blowing out the Lakers on their homecourt; chances are, if we're going to win, we'll need a strong performance from our starters in the fourth quarter. To that end, every second of rest those guys can grab will be crucial.
• LA killed us on the boards in Game 6, and that lineup would be extremely vulnerable on the glass. With Kendrick Perkins out, stops will be a bit tougher to come by than they were before, and we can't afford to give up extra possessions when we do get stops by not grabbing the defensive rebound.

With that said, I endorse this strategy in limited situations. If, for example, a couple of our bigs get into foul trouble and Doc doesn't trust Shelden Williams or Brian Scalabrine, then he might need to go small by necessity. Or if Kobe is getting everything he wants offensively but we need to keep our guards on the court because of what they are doing offensively, then bringing Tony in might be a solution.

In reality, though, I don't expect Doc to do anything fancy. He's not that kind of coach, and, anyway, I'm not sure the circumstances call for it. The Celtics minus Kendrick Perkins can beat the Lakers with hard work, team play, strong defense and attacking offense -- and every player on Boston's roster is capable of providing those things.