Tony Allen... is he finally all the way back?

Dirty Water · Post #1 » by **Dirty Water** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 8:14 pm

It's been close to 2 years since the knee injury. It took him almost a couple years to get to where he was in 2007 when he got hurt in 2005. Are we getting the Tony Allen we thought we had 2 years ago? I have a feeling that after the all-star break he's going to make us forget about Posey. IMO, he plays better defense and the explosiveness is starting to take form. He is much more athletic than Posey, but doesn't possess the jumper, which isn't a big problem on this team. Heck, I know I'm very uncomfortable when I see him spot up, but he did hit a couple threes the other night anyway. Expect big things from Tony. Him and Rondo have the ability to shut down any starting backcourt in the league. Just look what happened to Detroit the other night.

With Tony Allen at full health and reaching his potential I believe this is once again a championship contender. The one thing I am concerned with is a backup forward. Powe has been nothing short of amazing but it would be nice to have a guy who can hit that 15-17 foot jumper like PJ Brown to stretch the defense. I see BAby is trying to expand his repertoire but we'll see how that goes.

All in all I've been rooting for TA ever since he showed this ability his rookie year. I am very excited to see him back to full health... I think he has the possibility to put up 12 ppg while playing lockdown defense the rest of the year.

LongTimeFan · Post #2 » by **LongTimeFan** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 8:45 pm

He's definately not all the way back. He's very good. IMO, he's still ramping up.

I just hope he has learned how to avoid injuring his knees. He goes into the zone, he forgets about the damage he can do to himself. Both injuries were self-inflicted. I hope he's learned how to manage the zone. (I'm guessing the night club incident he wan't thinking about risk management.)

Rocky5000 · Post #3 » by **Rocky5000** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 9:00 pm

He's a lot closer than last year. A fully healthy Tony Allen has a penchant for dunking on people, but who knows if he ever regains all of the insane athleticism he once possessed.

Kids Are Alright · Post #4 » by **Kids Are Alright** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 9:40 pm

No way can he prevent re-injury by being careful. He'd have to give up bball. This will limit his salary but it isn't impacting his playing, IMO. His confidence has been spotty on the offensive side of the ball, but it's improving. He's just about the best slasher around, and he learned to pass the ball watching from the bench! I hope he has a long Celtic career.

C-West · Post #5 » by **C-West** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 10:22 pm

Tony is looking very good. He's not 100% physically yet, but I think he may have improved his game.

Case in point: The play against Toronto when he was on a breakaway with Kapono following him. Tony did not try to rise up and make a highlight dunk. He checked up, he MADE Kopono foul him, and he softly laid the ball in for a 3 point play. That's maturity, that's experience, and let's face it, that's something Paul and Ray would do. I replayed that one several times thinking, "he's learning . . ."

I'm excited about Tony's play, and very happy for him. I think he'll only get better and more confident as the season goes on. As Danny said the day he drafted Tony: "He's unguardable inside the 3 point line." That will be true again in the second half this season.

Fencer reregistered · Post #6 » by **Fencer reregistered** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 11:43 pm

Even if he hadn't had devastating injuries, he would have had to get over the idea that one gets style points for dunks. Similarly, while it's reasonable to expect him to be physically quicker than the other professional basketball players he's on the floor with, it's not reasonable to expect him to be at a night-and-day different level of quickness.

Tony has superior athleticism and gives excellent effort. Beyond that, he's adequate by most other metrics. None of his height, handle, BB IQ, shooting ability, etc. are special, when he's compared to other NBA players, but they also aren't bad enough to keep his athleticism from making him a good player.

Post #7 » by **ParticleMan** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 2:42 am

he's not really all the way back, but he may be as back as he's gonna get.
i don't think his knees are going to improve any at this point. he is what he is.
he's not quite as explosive as before but as was said he's a smarter player and definitely makes less mental mistakes.
too bad he couldn't have learned that earlier, a good case of youth being wasted on the young.

MyInsatiableOne · Post #8 » by **MyInsatiableOne** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 2:21 pm

I don't need to see Tony doing acrobatic stuff around the rim like in his early days. I like the way he plays now, under control but aggressive. I think he's been damn good this year...I was a hater last season but now I am liking what I'm seeing very much...

Triple M · Post #9 » by **Triple M** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:35 am

Tony is not all the way back but he is close at this rate I'm thinking he'll be consisntently playing well(avg in double figures) by mid Dec.

Harison · Post #10 » by **Harison** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:45 am

TA plays pretty well, good enough for any championship team, he just needs one thing - consistency.

Post #11 » by **UGA Hayes** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 4:09 pm

He is playing well though he still makes some of the most infuriating basketball decisions. I'm encouraged that he has been productive off the bench. Whether it was injuries or something else, Tony hadd previously played much better when he started vs coming off the pine. That hasn't been the case this year.

Dirty Water · Post #12 » by **Dirty Water** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:20 pm

That's the one thing I have seen this year... although the bonehead mistakes are still there, they are not coming in bundles like they use to. I remember during stretches last year he'd come off the bench and look completely lost on both ends of the floor. Now, there is more flow to his game and he's a bit more mature and under control, without losing that patented Tony Allen aggressiveness. Like I said, by the second half of the season after the ASG, i think we might be in store for a TA show. Right now I think he's solidified himself as the second best player off the bench behind Powe. Which is pretty impressive given we are a championship caliber team. Remember when this guy was starting for us? He has the talent. Let's see if he can regain some of the explosiveness.

One thing I am a little disappointed in is his jumpshot. I have not seen an progression with that. Maybe it just will never be a part of his game. Oh well.

rambo_ortega · Post #13 » by **rambo_ortega** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:27 pm

he is getting there, clearly ahead of where he was last year. he will become better as the season progresses.

GuyClinch · Post #14 » by **GuyClinch** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:04 pm

He isn't fully back yet. The "good" TA has an effective mid-range jumper and a so-so 3 point shot.

Kids Are Alright · Post #15 » by **Kids Are Alright** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 9:42 pm

Tony's substitution late in the Sac game was great. Too bad they're the smallest team this side of NJ as he played well with the Big 4. (Except the 3-pointer foul) :-?

Dirty Water · Post #16 » by **Dirty Water** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 8:10 am

GuyClinch wrote:He isn't fully back yet. The "good" TA has an effective mid-range jumper and a so-so 3 point shot.

I mean I'm a TA fan and all, but I've never seen anything consistent in this area. But if you think so, we shall see.

GregB · Post #17 » by **GregB** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:41 pm

Ghost of the Garden wrote:
GuyClinch wrote:He isn't fully back yet. The "good" TA has an effective mid-range jumper and a so-so 3 point shot.

I mean I'm a TA fan and all, but I've never seen anything consistent in this area. But if you think so, we shall see.

He did show it before his last knee injury. His shooting has been better. But I agree with Pete it could still be better.

TheSheriff · Post #18 » by **TheSheriff** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:42 pm

Well that breakaway dunk last night was thrown-down with the confidence of the old tony allen. I would say he is pretty close to as healthy as he ever will be.

JMillott · Post #19 » by **JMillott** » Mon Dec 1, 2008 2:56 am

I have no doubts that Tony Allen could start at SG for a lot of teams in this league and make a major impact, he could be putting up 17 PPG, 5 RPG, 3 APG, 2 SPG on 50% shooting for teams like the Nuggets, Thunder, Raptors, Wolves, Hornets, Pacers, Magic, Wizards, Mavericks, Jazz, Suns and Clippers and would add 7-10 wins to any of those teams over the course of the season.

Thankfully the league was more concerned with signing James Posey instead who god love him isn't as good as TA and is heading into the twilight of his career unlike TA who is entering his prime here on perhaps the best bargin contract in the league.