I Believe This Year's Team Will Help Tony Allen...and Vice Versa

By: Greg Payne

It's my general understanding that a fair majority of Celtics Nation is fed up with Tony Allen at this point. Riddled by injuries for the majority of his career, the Oklahoma State product hasn't exactly lived up to expectations. It always seems to be something with Allen: A knee, a thumb, an ankle, a bar fight or a death threat.

But despite all the ailments and distractions and headaches, it cannot be denied that for one magical stretch of the 2006-2007 season, Tony Allen was a legitimate beast in the NBA. With Paul Pierce out nursing a stress reaction in his left foot, Allen morphed into the offensive force we knew he was capable of becoming. You all know the time frame I'm talking about. We all remember him relentlessly slashing to the hoop and scoring on seemingly every play he took control of.

But then of course came the Indiana game and he blew out his knee after the whistle. You felt absolutely terrible for the guy seeing as he was on such a tear, but at the same time it was impossible not to shake your head with an almost sick sense of shame. Did that seriously just happen? How does that happen?

But for that one stretch where he was injury free and his mind was apparently in the right spot, he was tenacious.

Now, I completely understand that people are sick of hearing about this and I'm not trying to sound like a broken record, but he'll be healthy coming into this season and with the additions this team made, we're looking at a very confident bunch from front to back. With the expectations raised once training camp starts, maybe Allen will once again find a mental groove and contribute to this team and another championship run. I for one believe the mental aspect of it all has been what's held this guy back for nearly his entire career. And I also believe that the swagger this team will play with could seriously reinforce Allen's mental state of mind and propel him in the right direction.

Put it this way: Can it actually get any worse? I mean, we all have legitimate reason to expect next to nothing from him, but at the same, why not sit back with a hidden sense of hope that he could actually help us out? Will it hurt anything to hope? I don't think so.

I always have a difficult time giving up on a player, practically to a fault. I don't want to give up on Tony Allen. I really don't. Call me loyal or biased or whatever else you want. But if he's on my team, I'm going to support him no matter what. So with that said, I'm cautiously optimistic at best, that a healthy and mentally rejuvenated Tony Allen could somehow have a hand in this year's season.