Grizz to retire Tony Allen's #

[neno]

If they retire him they probably retire Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Zach Randolph as the other key running mates.

[Froob]

If they retire him they probably retire Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Zach Randolph as the other key running mates.

Zbo is being retired. Others I'd assume would be because Gasol and Conley are probably more meaningful players for Memphis by the ends of their careers.

[Ed Pinkney]

Maybe Bryant “Big Country” Reeves number can get retired too.

[Celts17Pride]

Great for TA. Congrats Tony!!

[TheSheriff]

I know defense doesn't necessarily show up on the stat sheet but i'd never thought I'd see the day a 8/3/1 player get his jersey number retired. Hell, the Grizz should just retire Bryant Reeves jersey while they are at it. The guy averaged 12/6/4 for them.

Loscutoff: 6.2 ppg in 18.5 mpg
KC Jones: 7.4 ppg

Just sayin'

[Celtics_History_Lesson]

This is a joke, which is appropriate because that is what that franchise is.

There are more than 40 Grizzlies with more points per game than T Allen.

T Allen is known for defense, and on the other side of the game he is known for bouncing the ball off his foot and watching it go out of bounds.

Two Gasols, not one. Rudy, Stromile, Mr. Battier, Big Country, all as "deserving" as T Allen and 'JailBlazer' Z Randolph.

Bibby and J Williams were the best passers, for assists per game, do they get a big ceremony.

T Allen is 10th there for minutes played, total for the Grizzlies career, and 38th for minutes per game.


Time for the highlight videos:

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Tony Allen is 92 on the list of Grizzlies for 3-point percentage. Eric Mobley is tied for 5th, at 50%. He hit 1 of 2. That Eric Mobley hit a 3 in the NBA is more shocking than T Allen getting his jersey retired.

T Allen getting his jersey retired, it isn't as embarrassing as the teams celebrating division banners.


18 Vancouver Grizzlies played for the team in their first season, don't cheat and see how many you can name.

[captain green]

At 1st glance I'm pfft really?.. but I wrote down a piece saying my nope opinion then erased it and typed this. it occurred to me who do I constantly compare my sg spot d first clutch hustle too.. Tony Allen that's who o want jb to be a taller ta. I want smart to be tony 2.0 also like to note he was lock down. So take it for what that's worth Memphis has had little history way to rep with grit 1st it will be nice to see gasol, reeves, and conley to be reopen by a relatively new Franchise and yeah not 8/10 smart but 7/10 is believable for his leadership, grit, etc.. I do have him as a standard and to have that says something.

[Marvel]

He's the epitome of grit n grind and the Grizz identity/who they are. In that scope, it totally makes sense. They want someone who represents what they're about, i don't have a problem with it. One of the best 1 on 1, on ball defenders of all time. Can't remember what season it was but he defended KD like no one else in the playoffs, almost made him cry. Kudos, TA.

[ermocrate]

The retirement ceremony banquet will feature salmon & mashed potatoes.

I would have thought Ham and Egg cooked from a French Chef...

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

I know defense doesn't necessarily show up on the stat sheet but i'd never thought I'd see the day a 8/3/1 player get his jersey number retired. Hell, the Grizz should just retire Bryant Reeves jersey while they are at it. The guy averaged 12/6/4 for them.

Loscutoff: 6.2 ppg in 18.5 mpg
KC Jones: 7.4 ppg

Just sayin'

I don't agree with those numbers being retired either.

[Elrod is Back]

I know defense doesn't necessarily show up on the stat sheet but i'd never thought I'd see the day a 8/3/1 player get his jersey number retired. Hell, the Grizz should just retire Bryant Reeves jersey while they are at it. The guy averaged 12/6/4 for them.

Loscutoff: 6.2 ppg in 18.5 mpg
KC Jones: 7.4 ppg

Just sayin'

I don't agree with those numbers being retired either.

But if Paul Silas had played two or three more season in Boston, you would agree that his number should have been retired, right?

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Loscutoff: 6.2 ppg in 18.5 mpg
KC Jones: 7.4 ppg

Just sayin'

I don't agree with those numbers being retired either.

But if Paul Silas had played two or three more season in Boston, you would agree that his number should have been retired, right?

Dunno depends what kind of numbers he put up. The guy was good in his prime but a career of 9ppg and 9 rpg doesn't seem like it's good enough for his jersey to be retired.

[GWVan]

I know defense doesn't necessarily show up on the stat sheet but i'd never thought I'd see the day a 8/3/1 player get his jersey number retired. Hell, the Grizz should just retire Bryant Reeves jersey while they are at it. The guy averaged 12/6/4 for them.

Loscutoff: 6.2 ppg in 18.5 mpg
KC Jones: 7.4 ppg

Just sayin'

I don't agree with those numbers being retired either.

Really? Do you know what those guys meant to the franchise?

and I like Tony Allen's number being retired, nice to see a player recognized for contributions that don't show up on the stat sheet and therefore won't get noticed by casual fans.

[Elrod is Back]

I don't agree with those numbers being retired either.

But if Paul Silas had played two or three more season in Boston, you would agree that his number should have been retired, right?

Dunno depends what kind of numbers he put up. The guy was good in his prime but a career of 9ppg and 9 rpg doesn't seem like it's good enough for his jersey to be retired.

I don't mean to sidetrack or derail this thread, but anyone who saw Silas play knows he was the among the three best defensive players in the league, the five best rebounders in the league, and had a genius IQ as a player. The only thing missing from his game was scoring, but Hondo and White and the rest of the gang provided that. Plus he had a set of balls the size of New Zealand, to use the current vernacular, meaning the bigger the game, the better he played. He rarely started but he was always on the floor when the game was on the line.

He only played 4 seasons for the Cs, but we won two titles and should have won a third, except Hondo injured his shoulder in the 73 ECF. No Silas, no chance of winning any titles those four years.

Tony Allen is a Silas type player, just not as good, and not fortunate enough to play on Memphis teams with several hall-of-famers in their primes.

Had Tony not bolted for Memphis in the summer of 2010, the Cs might have been able to have a more successful run in 2011-13, and a different course of events altogether. Tony was important like Paul Silas--though he never got Silas type minutes-- to the 2010 team's playoff run.

[Crossy2008]

This basically means that Allen, Randolph, Conley, and Gasol are all basically guaranteed to have their numbers retired.

11
33
9
50

All for a team that got tossed out of the first round 4 times. Tossed from the second round 2 times, and lost one time in the conference finals.

This is obviously a decision that stretches a little further off the court than most number retirings. They really did create a great culture in Memphis, and doing as well as they have in a very challenging Western conference has been remarkable. I hope they stay healthy this season. It's going to be very difficult building a good Memphis team over the next few years with Conley, Gasol, and Parsons eating up almost all of their cap space.

[ZeroTolerance]

Feeling good about TA....Very nice to be honored and respected in this way....Even though he went on to greater things when he left Boston, he was and is still a former home grown Celtic player....No joke!... I'm glad he was bestowed with this honor...

[UHar_Vinnie]

He coulda been absolutely awesome if he had Jaylen Brown's brain.

But having said that, I have always been a TA fan (and his dribbles off his foot). Congrats, man!

[Big Baby]

I feel like most franchises would have retired Rondo's #, we kinda had to up our standard a bit before we end up assigning triple digits or letters.

Can we unretire #s? Some of them are just not to the standard of this franchise.

I feel like some numbers don't belong on the rafters. Like Cedric Maxwell's. I'm also not sure if Reggie's number should be hanging in the rafters. Loved the man and seriously was in tears when he passed away but his number is up there just because he passed away. And Walter Brown and Red. They should make a banner out of Red's image and hang it in the rafters but to assign numbers 1 and 2 for guys who never played but ran the franchise...I don't know. I don't know about Brown but I'm 100% sure Red would probably be all for un-retiring #2 if he were alive and making it available for a player.

Big congrats to TA. He changed their culture overnight. He will go down as one of Memphis' finest and I'm happy for him.

I wonder when/if we'll retire KG's number. He spent 6 memorable seasons but more than his stats, he changed our culture overnight. I used to be against retiring KG's number but I think the ownership will announce that they will soon after the Truth's number is raised to the rafters.