The biggest lead the Celtics ever had on the Lakers was 43 points. That came after a reverse alley oop by none other than Tony Allen. The most important 2:14 for the Celtics in the last 23 years came in Game 4 in Los Angeles when the Celtics went on a 10-0 run late in the 3rd. The only 2:14 that a certain player played all game. That player:Tony Allen.
That is why I like Tony Allen. Tony Allen was on the court as time expired for a 17th and counting title. He has a championships ring and is in uniform for the picture on the back of my 2007-08 Champs DVD, along with all the greats, Doc, KG, Paul & Ray, Havlicek and right next to the legend himself Bill Russell.
Nobody can say that Tony Allen cost us a championship or two. I can understand if you want a better player to take his place, that makes sense. Going out of your way to dislike the guy? Out of all the championship teams I've rooted for and see win there isn't one guy on those teams that I dislike.
I don't think anyone hates Tony Allen to the point where we wish he was never a Celtic. The main problem simply is that he never became the backup wing / new-Posey / pre-injury TA that we all assumed, and holding him on for this much longer is tough.
Not to mention his showing in the Chicago series was less than inspiring.
I don't think the player should be held accountable if the fan's expectations were too high.
Isn't it possible we just don't want him on the team because he isn't useful?
I don't hate tony allen, i hope he somehow turns it around and has a great career, but he is worthless to a contending team as currently constituted.
There's still a chance he might become useful. I'd say he has as much of a chance as Giddens does. They're on the end of the roster anyways, so it's not like it matters anyway. I just don't see why Tony, as a 15th man, receives so much more hate than Giddens, just because he's been in the league longer. If we end up trading him for someone useful then great. But until then there's no reason to talk about this guy like he's a joke.
Probably 10% of guys in the NBA are exactly as useless as Tony Allen, yet he manages to receive the most trash talk on this site. Even though this is CelticsBlog and he's a Celtic.
Isn't that the point? Our complaints stem especially due to the fact that he's a Celtic. If there's a really bad player being paid above the LLE who had high expectations but is now an end of the rotation player on ANOTHER team, they'd be the one complaining.
I also don't think our expectations were too high. Tony had a great half a season, ruined by a needless showboat attempt. He hasn't been the same.
Wishing he was better than he is is one thing.
A lot of people take it a step further and put him down every chance they get.
That's your opinion, and i don't think it's on point.
He's a bad player right now. people joke and kid about bad players. It doesn't mean they spend all day hating them and wishing bad things will happen to them. It just means they dont like what he brings to the team.
I am not contractually obligated to pretend players are better than they are because they have CELTICS across their chest.
I root for them, hope they do better, and wish them all the best. But when one is consistently bad, then yes, I am going to make fun of them. IT's not done in a mean spirited way.
I made light of Patty O'blount, sam I am, pruitt, mikki, blout, GG and countless other players that didn't pan out.
Why does the fact that i choose to rib tony allen make me a bad person? He's a bad basketball player, and i don't think he's useful.
So yes, i will joke about him, call him the human turnover machine, and hope he gets replaced by someone better. But that doesn't mean i don't want him to do well when he's on the floor.
Nothing would make me happier than tony allen suddenly "getting it" at the age of 27 and becoming a light's out bench player.
But as long as one of the top defenders to play against him is his own right foot in traffic, then yes, i will joke about him.