Will the real Tony Allen please stand up?

[vjcsmoke]

As you probably noticed, Tony Allen looked like an all-star player last night, putting up 32 points.  And this is the perennial tease with Allen.  There are times he has looked world class, and times when he just looked lost and out of place.  So which Tony Allen are we going to see when the regular season begins?  Place your bets now gentlemen.  Will we see more of the 'good' Tony Allen or will he revert to 'bad' Tony Allen when the real games start?

[moiso]

I think we will get the best Tony Allen we have seen yet.  He will still frustrate with mistakes at times, but he seems to have a lot of his athleticism back and he appears far more relaxed and comfortable than we have ever seen.  I love his ability to blow by people and get to the foul line.  Lets keep our fingers crossed that he stays healthy- then we can finally see what kind of player he can be.

[Triboy16]

Tony allen is a good player. Before his show off dunk two seasons ago he was putting up 20 points per game with ease. He can score and play defense. If he can cutdown on mental mistakes(which is lessen so far) he will be a really good 6th man.

[Chris]

Tony allen is a good player. Before his show off dunk two seasons ago he was putting up 20 points per game with ease. He can score and play defense. If he can cutdown on mental mistakes(which is lessen so far) he will be a really good 6th man.

On one of the worst teams in Celtics history...when he was given the green light, 40 minutes per game, and not being asked to play within an offensive system.

This is the problem with Allen, and how I will feel about him until he proves me wrong.  He is a superstar on a bad team, who simply not able to keep his focus when asked to play a smaller role on a good team. 

He really is not much different a player this year than he was last year...he just has been given the keys to the car in the preseason, while the Big 3 rest up.  I just have no confidence that he won't zone out when they tell him to move into the backseat again.

I honestly think the best thing this team can do is play him a ton early in the season, and let him do his "thing".  Then see if they can get a team to give up someone who will fit in better with their system for the rest of the season.

Wouldn't a deal of the Tony Allen from last night, and Scal for Nick Collison make a ton of sense for both teams?

[Scalablob990]

As TA said, he needs more rings on his hand besides his pinky finger. Last night he played very well and his FT% was very good. A few games before that he put up a good amount against the cavs. I know he WONT be getting 25+ points a game during the regular season, but to have a consistent player come in (like powe) who we know is gonna score, to me at least is quite comforting.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Chris, Tony Allen is completely different than last year... it's quite evident, and it has nothing to do with being good on bad teams or having the green light.

His jumper looks exponentially better (his form, lift, etc.), with that alone you can tell he's different. He's protecting the ball better, making better decisions, etc. Heck, even his free-throws look better.

I've said it before, but he had shown signs during the playoffs of good play. Doc a couple of weeks ago confirmed this for me. Tony is vastly different than the one we saw during the season last year.

[rondohondo]

Tony allen is a good player. Before his show off dunk two seasons ago he was putting up 20 points per game with ease. He can score and play defense. If he can cutdown on mental mistakes(which is lessen so far) he will be a really good 6th man.

On one of the worst teams in Celtics history...when he was given the green light, 40 minutes per game, and not being asked to play within an offensive system.

This is the problem with Allen, and how I will feel about him until he proves me wrong.  He is a superstar on a bad team, who simply not able to keep his focus when asked to play a smaller role on a good team. 

He really is not much different a player this year than he was last year...he just has been given the keys to the car in the preseason, while the Big 3 rest up.  I just have no confidence that he won't zone out when they tell him to move into the backseat again.

I honestly think the best thing this team can do is play him a ton early in the season, and let him do his "thing".  Then see if they can get a team to give up someone who will fit in better with their system for the rest of the season.

Wouldn't a deal of the Tony Allen from last night, and Scal for Nick Collison make a ton of sense for both teams?

that trade makes no sense to me. They already lost Posey, are you going to put trust into Walker and Giddens to fill that role as a swing man off the bench? We already have Powe, BBD and O'Bryant as the backup bigs , I don't think Collison is that much better then what we already have. Tony is going to play a huge role on this team this year . It takes about 18 months to come back from the injury he had and you can see he has gotten his quick 1st step back. It also appears he has been working on his ball handling because he isn't dribbling the ball off his foot anymore. I think he just needs to play and will be the perfect 6th man for this team.

[EJPLAYA]

Chris, Tony Allen is completely different than last year... it's quite evident, and it has nothing to do with being good on bad teams or having the green light.

His jumper looks exponentially better (his form, lift, etc.), with that alone you can tell he's different. He's protecting the ball better, making better decisions, etc. Heck, even his free-throws look better.

I've said it before, but he had shown signs during the playoffs of good play. Doc a couple of weeks ago confirmed this for me. Tony is vastly different than the one we saw during the season last year.

Although I disagree that he is completely a different player than last year and agree more with the other comments, you did have one thing right on that I liked. I did like to see TA's jumper going down last night. In the past the lack of an outside shot has forced him to lower his head and drive wildly to the basket even when it wasn't open. If he can knock down the open shot he will be a much less out of control player. I still need to see more than a couple preseason games of good offense to be convinced though. I think best case scenario he has a few games like last night. Worse case he plays himself back to the end of the bench. I hope it is the first.

[Chris]

Chris, Tony Allen is completely different than last year... it's quite evident, and it has nothing to do with being good on bad teams or having the green light.

His jumper looks exponentially better (his form, lift, etc.), with that alone you can tell he's different. He's protecting the ball better, making better decisions, etc. Heck, even his free-throws look better.

I've said it before, but he had shown signs during the playoffs of good play. Doc a couple of weeks ago confirmed this for me. Tony is vastly different than the one we saw during the season last year.

You may be right.  But until he does it as a role player in regular season games (which he has NEVER done), I am not going to trust him. 

Again, this is not because I think he is a bad player, it is because I think he does not a good fit for what this team needs mentally.  He has never shown the ability to play consistently coming off the bench.

Believe me, I hope I am wrong on this, and I will gladly admit it, if he proves that.  But it will take a lot more than a couple preseason games, where they are not playing normal rotations for him to prove anything.

[BballTim]

Wouldn't a deal of the Tony Allen from last night, and Scal for Nick Collison make a ton of sense for both teams?

  I don't think it makes much sense for the Celts at all. Allen's going to have a pretty big role with the 2nd unit.

[wdleehi]

Wouldn't a deal of the Tony Allen from last night, and Scal for Nick Collison make a ton of sense for both teams?

  I don't think it makes much sense for the Celts at all. Allen's going to have a pretty big role with the 2nd unit.

No.  That deal does make sense to me. 

Then sign a Bonzi Wells, Kirk Snyder or one of the other SF/SGs that always seems to become available.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

[IowaGuy]

Chris, with all due respect, i think you will be proved wrong by TA this year.  His whole game has improved, his passing, his ball handling, his shooting (specially his lift on shots) and he seems to be much more under control.  I think he could actually be in the running for 6th man of the year if Doc does what he says he will due in resting PP & RA more than last year (I'd like to see 32-35mins tops for each).  I expect TA to get a good 20-25mins a game where he plays tough, hard nosed defense and attacks the rim to draw fouls and get to the line.  I also think around mid season we will see him regain his explosive lift he used to have and coupled with his hurky jerky fast first step he will be a foul producing machine.

I also beg to differ on your statement that he as never EVER played well within a role.  He had a solid stretch of games last year when Ray Ray was down with that pinched nerve or whatever it was.  The Lakers game also comes to mind when he helped shut down Kobe, sometime around new years of last year.  Let's just hope he stays healthy...

[Mr October]

Tony allen is a good player. Before his show off dunk two seasons ago he was putting up 20 points per game with ease. He can score and play defense. If he can cutdown on mental mistakes(which is lessen so far) he will be a really good 6th man.

On one of the worst teams in Celtics history...when he was given the green light, 40 minutes per game, and not being asked to play within an offensive system.

This is the problem with Allen, and how I will feel about him until he proves me wrong.  He is a superstar on a bad team, who simply not able to keep his focus when asked to play a smaller role on a good team. 

He really is not much different a player this year than he was last year...he just has been given the keys to the car in the preseason, while the Big 3 rest up.  I just have no confidence that he won't zone out when they tell him to move into the backseat again.

I honestly think the best thing this team can do is play him a ton early in the season, and let him do his "thing".  Then see if they can get a team to give up someone who will fit in better with their system for the rest of the season.

Wouldn't a deal of the Tony Allen from last night, and Scal for Nick Collison make a ton of sense for both teams?

Well put Chris. As always you are a scholar and a gentleman. TP.

I hope to see improved decision making and consistency from TA when the real games start. Until then, I'm in the skeptic pool.

[Test Dummy]

Wouldn't a deal of the Tony Allen from last night, and Scal for Nick Collison make a ton of sense for both teams?

  I don't think it makes much sense for the Celts at all. Allen's going to have a pretty big role with the 2nd unit.

No.  That deal does make sense to me. 

Then sign a Bonzi Wells, Kirk Snyder or one of the other SF/SGs that always seems to become available.
                                                                                                                 

Collison would be huge for this team.  I see both sides of this, but I don't have much faith in Tony Allen over the course of a season.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Chris, Tony Allen is completely different than last year... it's quite evident, and it has nothing to do with being good on bad teams or having the green light.

His jumper looks exponentially better (his form, lift, etc.), with that alone you can tell he's different. He's protecting the ball better, making better decisions, etc. Heck, even his free-throws look better.

I've said it before, but he had shown signs during the playoffs of good play. Doc a couple of weeks ago confirmed this for me. Tony is vastly different than the one we saw during the season last year.

You may be right.  But until he does it as a role player in regular season games (which he has NEVER done), I am not going to trust him. 

Again, this is not because I think he is a bad player, it is because I think he does not a good fit for what this team needs mentally.  He has never shown the ability to play consistently coming off the bench.

Believe me, I hope I am wrong on this, and I will gladly admit it, if he proves that.  But it will take a lot more than a couple preseason games, where they are not playing normal rotations for him to prove anything.

Well, regardless of wether he performs or not, his skills set is ready to enable him to perform. That wasn't the case last year, so in that regard he's not the same Tony Allen. Now, he may simply not deliver when the time comes, but the tools he currently has should enable him to do so.