The fact that Tony Allen is even on the floor right now is a testament to how hard he’s worked to get back. He should be commended for that. However, I’m starting to see a little bit of a disturbing pattern with Mr. Salmon and Mashed Potatoes.
It starts with the Celtics refusing to pick up his option. It seems innocent enough at first… they want to see how well he recovers before locking him up beyond this season. Business is business, right? But… they know better than we do how hard he’s worked. Usually, someone who has put that much effort to be ready this quickly is someone you can trust to keep working. And as we saw last year, he can be VERY effective off the bench.
Add to that this YouTube clip of Kevin Garnett on the bench tapping Tony on the head and asking “where you at? where you at?”
And then… add to it what I saw last night, when Tony Allen was taken out of the game in the second quarter. There’s a quick clip of him on the bench with Doc Rivers in front of him (we saw Doc’s back). After Doc finishes what he’s saying… he walks off and we see Allen, not even looking at Doc, and then saying “whatever man.”
Now… I know that coming back from an injury is tough… especially a knee injury for a high flier like Tony. He’s clearly not the same player out there yet… and that’s OK. That will come back at some point. But its the mental issues that have continued to dog him… and I think are still dogging him right now. We’ve seen too much of it already in the early going. And with James Posey (herniated disk) and Brian Scalabrine (concussion) out, he’s going to be a guy we need in the next few games. I don’t want everything this team has worked for to become so good, so quickly, to be derailed by a clearly distracted Tony Allen.
Trust me… I’m pulling for this kid because I think he can be a very good player… and I think his energy can be infectious. But unfortunately, I’m wondering if he’s ever going to get his head on straight.
As for tonight’s game. As far as the authorities know… we do not encourage gambling… but if anyone just so happened to be in a position to partake in such an obviously illegal activity… I’d like to point out that New Jersey is currently favored by 1 point. I believe the line opened at NJ -2, so it’s already starting to move. Where’s Tim Donaghy when I need him?
I’m curious about this line… because New Jersey, at 4-1, beat Atlanta by 5 and Washington by 3 and they got crushed by Toronto by 37. The Celtics, however, have beaten Atlanta by 23, Washington by 20, and Toronto by 3. I normally say Vegas knows what its doing… but I don’t know what they’re doing there.
In the papers: Herald – Open House a big hit | Celts ride Big Ticket to paradise | Pierce a renaissance man | Garnett C’s brightest star vs. Hawks | Globe – C’s rout Hawks to stay perfect | C’s have 4 of a kind | Scal joins injured | Rondo, Hawks Smith old friends | Souza – C’s say they ain’t done nothing yet | Enterprise – C’s stay on a roll
(photo courtesy Getty Images)
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Slow down a minute here. Let’s not go making something out of nothing. We’re 4-0, even if this was a problem, which it is absolutely not, it shouldn’t be something we are worrying about. I don’t think people understand just how good the relationship is between Doc and Tony Allen. Maybe this will help illustrate that fact: Tony played 16 minutes against Washington, 2 minutes against Toronto, 18 against Denver, and 17 against Atlanta. You might have noticed that the one game Doc didn’t coach, Tony received no playing time. Don’t discount the fact that Doc was a huge factor in drafting Tony Allen and has stuck with him through the good and the bad over the last 3 years. Again, let’s not read too much into this. The guy wasn’t even supposed to be 100% for a couple of months.
I know people are going to think I’m looking for problems…
But either Tony’s got something that’s distracting him besides the injury…. or maybe the injury is playing more games with his head than we thought.
What with this talk of the celtics refusing to pick up Tony’s option? The only option he had was picked up last season by the celtics and the choice they had this summer was to sign him to extension now or after the season when he will be a restricted free agent.
My mistake… but the effect is the same. The Celtics refused to offer him an extension by October 31… which will make him a restricted free agent.
The bottom line is, the Celtics chose to wait rather than lock him up. whether it was via extension or option doesn’t matter.
i think you’re looking into that option thing too much. this guy’s coming back from some major surgery, it’s incredible how hard he’s worked and how much dedication he has, but that alone doesn’t get you a contract extension. remember he’s missed significant time from 2 knee injuries, as much as a lot of people are pulling for him the celtics have to be smart about this.
laid 150 on the C’s thanks for the heads up great call!!!!!!!!
[...] Up With Tony Allen? Part 2 I raised that question a month ago. I know that coming back from an injury is tough… especially a knee injury for a high flier like [...]