Tony Allen Is Crucial To Celtics Championship Hopes
Monday, September 10th, 2007
This time last year I had very little hope for Tony Allen. Allen had showed very little in his first two seasons. Going into his third NBA season, I saw Allen as an athletic swing man who couldn’t shoot and made horrible decisions. Out of all the Celtics’ young players at the time, I put him above only Bassy Telfair in terms of potential. That isn’t much of a complement. If Brian Scalabrine was in his early twenties, I would have put him ahead of Telfair too. On top of his on court problems, Allen faced possible jail time for aggravated battery over an altercation in a Chicago nightclub. In short, I didn’t see much hope for Tony.
The first month of last season was much of the same. Tony Allen looked completely lost. It was obvious that Doc and Danny believed in Allen and wanted him to be a key part of the rotation. Unfortunately, he just wasn’t helping the team. Coming off the bench, Allen averaged 4.4 points a game with 0.5 assists. Tony had a few good defensive games but overall he stunk.
Then December came and suddenly everything clicked for Tony. (more…)





