How badly will the Celtics miss Tony Allen?
The most frustrating player in Celtics history? Probably.
For years, I prayed that Tony Allen would be cut, traded or would simply just decide to quit basketball altogether. I’m not even kidding. I love every Celtic unconditionally, but TA was the one exception. Every time he touched the ball, I feared for the worst. I KNEW he was going to make a blunder at the worst possible time, and Tony almost never failed to reach that expectation.
Now, he’s gone. And I’m left wondering whether the Celtics will miss him, all because he put together one season where he actually seemed to have some sort of basketball intelligence.
So my question is, and you might have guessed by the headline, how much will the Celtics miss Tony Allen?
I say very little. His defense was great, but Tony could be such a train wreck on offense — where his penchant for a terrible turnover often made me want to chuck my television across the room, and the sight of his broke jump shot could turn perfectly healthy men blind — that the Celtics should be able to replace his production pretty easily with the crew they assembled in his stead. The combination of Delonte West, Avery Bradley, Von Wafer and Marquis Daniels should make us forget about Tony pretty quickly, even the Good Tony we were treated to last season. (Which, forgive me for being skeptical, happened to be a contract season.)
A penny for your thoughts, in the comment section.
Bonus links: Paul Flannery discusses Tony’s departure, and TA once came out of the shower holding… a laptop?
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Celtics Blog | Jay King | September 9, 2010
He’ll do well in Memphis, with his athleticism and defensive mind, but Delonte West is a definite upgrade.
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The only problem with West is that he can’t defend the physical 3s like Tony could. But Marquis Daniels shouldn’t do badly in that role. Remember, nobody wanted Tony to get ANY minutes last season. Marquis was supposed to be a great fit.
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As much as I enjoyed him last season, I think the loss of Tony will be a smooth transition due to the new acquistions. His offense would make me cringe at times and as hard as he rallied for his teammates, I never felt that he truly fit into the team chemistry. As we now know, he felt overshadowed by the bigger stars so likely, he did not fully accept his role. The worst loss for me in recent years was James Posey. Comparatively, I think we can all move on.
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I was upset when TA was lost since I saw no way they could sign a better player. He is one of the best wing defenders in the NBA. But his offence is so so at best. Delonte West is an upgrade though. He may not be quite as good a defender as TA but he is much better offensively overall. So he represents an improbable upgrade (how did Ainge pull that off?). The Celtics main hole now is simply age (need the old guys to remain productive and injury free into the playoffs … not sure how this can happen) and needing a solid small forward to back up Pierce. Daniels can do it a little but he is undersized. They need a Posey type backup who can defend and keep the other side honest in spacing. How they can do this without trading away other pieces I have no idea.
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With the acquisitions the Celtics have made he won’t be missed and I am not so sure he will thrive in Memphis. Here he was the the flawed family member that Celtics Nations had grown to accept by accentuating his positives while trying to overlook his bonehead plays. In Memphis the team and the fans are going to expect big things from him since he is the newly signed kid on the block. His statements regarding playing in the shadow illustrated that he has an inflated sense of self. He can be a solid role player, but he is not a star and he most likely be playing in someone’s shadow his whole career. He is likable enough and I wish him well.
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Strummerland’s comment regarding James Posey is right on the money. Even with Perkins injury we would have had a different outcome in this years finals if he was still on the team. At the time and now I feel letting him go over that 1 extra year was a very big mistake.
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People get really emotional regarding Posey, and it’s understandable: he was a key piece in the championship run. But he fell off since 2008. He’s not the same dude you remember.
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There is such a thing as synergy and how it effects a player’s performance–look how well Ben Wallace did when he returned to Detroit. Posey would not have fallen off if he was still here and we would had won the 2010 finals if he was here.
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Would have won in 5 games
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That’s just crazy man, Posey would not have changed that series. We lost because we couldn’t rebound, and the offense went stagnant in the 4th. Posey was not going to change that. Posey would have helped I don’t doubt, but he does not have the ability to carry a team like that and make that much of an impact. Bottom line was Doc rode the starters to much, Rondo was gassed and didn’t push the tempo, Paul couldn’t get his shot off, and they just didn’t close it. Posey probably isn’t even on the court enough in that game to have changed anything.
Far as Tony goes, his effect is over-rated. People forget Tony didn’t see the floor in the first part of the season, while Daniels was playing incredibly well. Daniels is a great defender, and much more complete all around player than Tony. He absolutely has the ability to be every bit what Tony was to this team last year, and even more. As long as he stays healthy of course, which is really the main issue.
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Our players would not have been as worn down if Posey was coming off the bench all season. Secondly his defense would have slowed down the Lakers enough to tip the series in our favor. Thirdly he is a player who plays hard making his teammate play harder. Maybe we would not have won in 5 games but we would have won. If he wasn’t such a valuable player we would have been able to keep him.
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