Ah, Tony Allen. The turnover-prone, three-point shooter-fouling, heart attack-inducing guard left Boston, but he hasn’t stopped making me cringe. (Tulsa World)

Post-switch, Allen said he felt “overshadowed” by Boston’s Big Three.

“I was definitely overshadowed,” he repeated before Memphis’ preseason game Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the BOK Center. “Anybody would have been overshadowed considering those Hall of Fame prolific-type scorers that they had.”

Overshadowed? Maybe, but I think Kendrick Perkins gave Slam Magazine a better description in September:

“And to say you got overlooked a little bit—I ain’t trying to go against TA—but without them, people probably wouldn’t even know your name.”

Zing. Allen’s new head coach, Lionel Hollins, actually said Allen should have stayed in Boston. When a player’s own head coach says he should have signed elsewhere, it’s a pretty good sign that player made a big mistake.

Memphis head coach Lionel Hollins, and you’ve got to respect his frankness, said, “I don’t think it’s smart” when asked about Allen changing teams in hopes of securing an expanded role.

“What would you rather do? Win and play 15 minutes a game? Or you may not win as much and play 15 minutes a game,” Hollins said.

“My thing is I would rather play on a winning team and have a chance to win championships – and get a playoff share too.”

You hated being overshadowed by Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, right Tony? Well, it’s really gonna suck being overshadowed by Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo and Xavier Henry on your way to winning 40 games. At least you’ll have a longer summer vacation, though!

Delonte West earned a few fist pumps tonight.

This was a meaningless preseason game, the second night of a back-to-back, against the NBA’s worst team, played in front of a crowd that would make Podunk look densely populated. It was no surprise, then, that the starters looked comatose in falling behind 28-19 by the end of the first quarter. Also no surprise? The bench turned the game around.

By the time the starters reentered, the Celtics were winning 56-54 and on their way to a 96-92 win. (Yes, I know the game was close at the end. But this is the preseason, folks; that was nothing more than garbage time.)

The catalyst to the second quarter turnaround? Delonte West. Watching West drill open jumpers and play freely in sync with Nate Robinson, it’s not difficult to imagine the C’s bench winning loads of games for them this season. As great as Tony Allen played last season, West brings a new dynamic (after years of hating his guts and wanting to strangle Doc every time he subbed TA into the game, it’s still weird to say Tony Allen played great). When Nate Robinson kicked the ball out to TA for an open jumper, it was time to hide yo kids, hide yo wife; a brick was coming. But when it’s West open in the corner? Buckets.

West can play point guard or off guard, create plays for himself or others, and always maintains control of himself and the game. When West has the ball, I feel completely calm, utterly confident. When Allen had the ball last season, I sweated profusely and gripped the remote control just in case I had to whip it angrily at the television. There’s a different feel, a better feel, to this season’s second unit. Even though West can’t defend small forwards like TA could, he brings so much to the table that I’m not even worried about it.

With West leading the charge, Nate Robinson lighting up the scoreboard, Marquis Daniels taking advantage of opportunities and Semih Erden, Big Baby and/or one of the O’Neal brothers holding down the fort inside, the C’s bench is versatile and loaded. And the main difference between this year and last? West. He brings Boston one more steady playmaker, one more accurate shooter, one more gritty defender.

Today was the first game the Celtics bench turned around this season. It won’t be the last.

(Click the jump for game notes) Read more »

By “I think we’ll have a lot more steals,” I think Rudy Gay meant, “I’m 100% positive we’ll foul a lot more three-point shooters.”

(h/t Red’s Army)

I know, neither Eddie House nor Tony Allen play for the Boston Celtics anymore. But they did when they combined for the NBA’s top assist from 2010-2011. The other assists are great to watch too. There’s nothing in life — and I mean absolutely nothing — prettier than a nice dime.

Can you please tell me how Hedo Turkoglu’s assist only ranked as the sixth-best? Ludicrous. He threw a perfect underhanded alley oop straight out of his dribble. That’s more difficult than these. Okay, maybe not, but still.

Before you watch the NBA’s top ten dunks from 2009-2010, I just want to apologize to Glen Davis for posting this video. You’ll see why when you watch, but I’ll give you a three-word hint: Andrew Bogut, devastation.

If you ask me, and I may be the only one who thinks this way, Amare Stoudemire’s dunk on Anthony Tolliver is overrated. Stoudemire’s supposed to dunk on Tolliver. Meanwhile, 6’4″ Dwyane Wade dunked on 6’11″ Anderson Varejao, Varejao’s parents, his grandparents, his un-born grandchildren, and all his ancestors, all at the same time. I give the mythical dunk of the year title to Wade, and Derrick Rose’s two-hand cock-back comes in second. Vote for your favorite dunks here.

Click the jump for the Celtics’ top dunk of the season. Read more »

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?