**** at Tony Allen

[housecall]

True, although Tony's trip to junior college suggest that he wasn't exactly an Academic All-American in high school.  His criminal record also backs up his poor decision making.

Getting arrested and eventually being found NOT GUILTY does not equate to having a criminal record; that is, unless you don't believe in the presumption of innocence.

Going to junior college (or community college) has a lot more to do with one's socioeconomic condition than it does with one's intellectual abilities.  

***

But let's be honest here, and let's quit talking in code. The fact is that Tony Allen was too black to be embraced by the majority of Celtic fans, and this predisposition has led to a career-long mischaracterization of Tony's strengths and weaknesses as a basketball player. The amount of irrational hate thrown Tony's way is and always was inversely proportional to Tony's impact on the game, and it continues even after he's gone to another team. 

Memphis is a team struggling to create an identity.  They don't have a rotation.  Players like TA are bound to get jerked around in a situation like that--on a young team searching for chemistry, it's going to be a process of mixing and matching and the players who are already established are going to be set aside to a degree until the more volatile and evolving parts of the team have had a chance to settle into stable roles on the team.  If and when Memphis settles on a style, identity, and a rotation, TA will be right there doing for them what he did for us--providing a defensive spark off the bench.  He's one of the top perimeter defenders in the entire league and that has not changed one bit.

Danny Ainge badly miscalculated this offseason, and only good luck in the form of Shaq and Delonte West prevented him from completely mismanaging the summer of 2010.  He figured TA wanted to come back, and so put him on the backburner as he attended to other matters.  Chris Wallace, in the meantime, swooped in and made Tony feel wanted, and then presented him with a reasonable contract offer that gave Tony the kind of financial security he was looking for going into a possible lockout season in 2011-2012.  And so while Danny was busy getting a complete loser like Jermaine ONeal to sign on the dotted line, he let Chris Wallace poach Tony Allen right from under his nose. 

If not for Shaq having no suitors willing to pay the full MLE, and if not for Delonte having a damaged reputation and buyout clause in this contract, this offseason would have been a disaster.  As it turned out, we got lucky--we signed two MLE-level players for minimum deals, and then resigned Daniels with early Bird rights because no one else was available.  Don't let that luck change the fact that letting TA go for nothing was a mistake.

I don't mind letting TA walk. However, I do think that the biggest mistake in hindsight was not re-signing Posey. The sticking point was that it would take him until the 2012 season. However, we were over the cap anyways and the majority of our contracts would've expired along with Posey's. I wonder if DA regrets that one.

BTW...I did see Posey versus Miami recently and he looked really good. Far removed from the player we saw in NO. I think Posey is one of these guys that needs to be on a really good team to bring out the best in him.

TP...Agree about J.Posey regardless of all the naysayers who feel it would have been a bad deal.

[cavman]

First of all - you describe the worst possible low economic situation. Is Tony Allen really from that bad of an environment? Second of all, while inner city schools under perform, they are not generally under funded on a per student basis compared to well performing schools, instead it seems the culture of the community and the parents have a lot more influence then the cash pumped in.

Tony Allen comes from the south side of Chicago, one of the worst places on earth.  Yes, it was that bad for him.  One of the reasons TA wants to get into education once he retires is to give back to children and provide them with the education and support he found lacking as a child in a poor neighborhood.

But you're partly right, the culture of the community and the parents are huge factors--that is why socioeconomic condition is so important, because the cycle of poverty and a lack of education and opportunity goes from generation to generation.  If your parents are poor, and they raise you in a poor environment, it's very hard to escape the cycle--only the exceptional ones and those who matriculate through the right outreach programs can escape (and those who find other means of escape, like athletes, musicians, etc.).  At the same time, if your parents are rich and you're raised in that environment, you tend to stay at that level even if you neglect your studies or are otherwise unworthy of that station in life.

But not all schools are created equal.  Going to an affluent school on the East cost is not the same as going to one in the mid-west, nor is there much equality between high schools in affluent neighborhoods out east and poorer neighborhoods in the same cities.  Culture goes hand in hand with socioeconomic opportunity.

Here's the eligibility for playing ball: (these might have changed since TA played, but close enough.)

4 years of English
3 years of mathematics (Algebra I or higher)
2 years of natural/physical science (one must be a lab science)
1 year of additional science, math or English
2 years of social studies
4 years of additional core courses (they can be from any listed above or from nondoctrinal religion or philosophy or foreign language)

The "sliding scale" used by the NCAA now allows a higher core GPA to reduce the SAT component. A 2.5 core GPA will still need a 820 SAT score, a higher core GPA of 2.75  will need a 720 SAT score, a 3.0 core GPA will only require a 620 SAT score and a 3.55 core GPA will just need a 400 SAT score. The NCAA has stated that their research now indicates that core class grades were the best indicators of academic success during a student-athlete’s freshman year.

Now you get a lot of chances in life - and I wouldn't hold the JuCo thing against anybody - in fact with the cost of college these days, it's probably a good route for everyone to consider unless money is not an issue, i.e. the wealthy and those getting scholarships.

Given that the first 2 years of college is usually a bunch of general requirements anyway, I'd tell everyone to go to community college unless they're on scholarship or have rich parents--the money you save from 2 years at community college as opposed to going to some of the more prestigious institutions is outrageous, probably between 25,000-60,000 dollars and let me tell you there is little difference between Calc 1 at your local community college and Calc 1 at Harvard.

But TA was knucklehead in college (suspended for a fight amongst other issues), he's been a knucklehead in the pros (legal trouble, bone head plays, the dunk injury) - this is a pattern and their is no evidence of change.

First, he was never convicted of anything, and given where he came from the transition to college life was probably difficult.  Second, he has shown a pattern of change, his last season in Boston was perhaps his best as a pro, he finally embraced the finer points of the game, mainly the importance of film study and preparation.

Finally I think what was meant by two black is "culturally too inner city." This raises two questions:

1. Since its been stipulated that this culture is at least somewhat responsible for negative things (like the bad schools), isn't it right to criticize someone for being too tied to it?

I don't think so, but this is another issue altogether.  I'm a part of American culture and all the good and bad things that come from it, but I don't think it's fair to criticize me for something that started before I was born and will continue long after I'm dead.  It's not like many have a choice to divorce themselves from the culture they find themselves in.

2. Does this apply to white players that might "act black"? For example if someone with Eminem's background was a great PG with attitude issues - would be right as saying "he's not embraced because he's too black?"

Yeah, there was somebody like that, his name was Jason Williams.  And you can bet he lost millions of endorsement and contract dollars because of the way he acted.

One of the worst places on earth???  Have you traveled beyond the borders?
I'd grant you one of the worst places in the country, but I've seen places far worse than any part of Chicago.

Since he got criticized for being "too black", does that mean that black athletes who don't get criticized aren't "black enough"?  This who line of thought is pathetic since you are talking about systematic racism by Celtics fans all around the world- black, white, Asian ....

[Larry for 3]

 Tony did an awesome job against Kobe last year, you could see how frustrated Kobe was gettin with Tony.  You watch, come playoff  when Kobe is going off these threads will start up again.  Everybody focuses on what Tony didn't do, I focus on  what he did do which was play lock down D.  IF he has sucess against Kobe than I dont care what else he does. I remember Jeff Van Gundy calling Allen an elite NBA defender several times in last year's playoffs fwiw.  Tony found his nitch last year, and as far as the bench is concerned, after Big Baby, the jury is still out on this group IMO. Tony would have fit in real nice this year.

[Roy H.]

Tony Allen compared to Albert Einstein?  That's a first.

I'm not going to get into the "too black" thing.  It's silly at best, and at worst intentionally inflammatory.  I will say, though, that I think it's pretty offensive to hold up Tony Allen (arrested repeatedly for violent crimes) as the epitome of what it means to be "black".  African American culture isn't homogeneous, despite the attempts of some to use easy and stereotypical labels.

 

[barefacedmonk]

Tony Allen compared to Albert Einstein?  That's a first.

LOL...yea, that makes no sense.

I'm not going to get into the "too black" thing.  It's silly at best, and at worst intentionally inflammatory.  I will say, though, that I think it's pretty offensive to hold up Tony Allen (arrested repeatedly for violent crimes) as the epitome of what it means to be "black".  African American culture isn't homogeneous, despite the attempts of some to use easy and stereotypical labels.

Agree completely....very well said. TP.

[moiso]

Here's the silly little reality of this blog:

Some of you would be making excuses for Tony Allen regardless of the situation he found himself in - all over a role player with no jumpshot whatsoever who could, occasionally, play a little defense.

Tony Allen doesn't matter. To the Boston Celtics or to any other NBA team. He's not talented enough to matter.

The rhapsodizing and exaggeration of this guy's limited skill set has been one of the true sources of entertainment on this blog over the years, much like the silly defenses of the waste of space that was Patrick O'Bryant, etc.

Yourself and Shelden Williams is another example.

[moiso]

There is no such thing as too black on a basketball court.  You either can play or can't play.  KG isn't too black, he's just a psycho.  Rasheed and Steven Jackson aren't too black, they just can't control themselves.  Are Eddie Curry and Baron Davis too black because they never want to play?

I really don't get it at all.  If there were more decent American white guys in the league, just as many of them would be too black.

The whole topic seems ridiculous to me.

[Neurotic Guy]

You can tell when you talk to people if they have a below average IQ.

I could write a dissertaion on how unlikely (and extraordinarily gifted) you would be to have the ability to know people's IQ from a conversation, but I won't.  I'll just suggest to you that this is a power you think you have -- but really don't.

That is not to say you wouldn't be correct (or in the ballpark) some of the time.  However, you'd be incorrect to think that overall IQ is always congruent with verbal articulation skills.  And this assessment becomes even more convoluted when you consider that your judgement is based on the person's ability to use the language of YOUR culture rather than the culture they were raised in.

[snively]

I always thought TA's turnover problems were the result of his extreme aggressiveness, loose handle and poor court vision, not stupidity.  Never struck me as dumb in his interviews or dealings with the media. 

[ballin]

I wasn't a big Tony Allen fan because he SUCKED.

And yeah, the guy played basketball like a low confidence, low IQ moron. He's gotten himself into enough trouble where it's obvious that he doesn't think things through. Plus, the times I've heard him give interviews, he hasn't sounded that bright. Not based on the WAY he said things but simply on the content of his answers.

So in summary I dislike Tony Allen because he was a bad player, an idiot, and frankly not that charismatic (sometimes you've gotta factor in a player's personality. hence, my love of rasheed despite how bad he sucked while playing for us). I think it's safe to say that the majority of Celtics players disliked him for the same reasons.

But disliking him because he's "too black"? It's just kind of unreal you'd even think that.


You seem to be ignoring the far likelier answer that people just dislike Tony for all his negative traits, which happen to be numerous. If you want to call the culmination of Tony's negative traits "acting black" and then declare that people hate him for "acting black" then I suppose that's your prerogative, but it still doesn't change the fact that nobody here actually dislikes him because of his cultural background.