I know after his injury last year people wrote him off and said he'd never be the same. Maybe he will be the same, given the minutes. It's apparent that Tony was right when he said "January/February" he would be back to 100%. He's playing out of his mind recently ever since the TA PG experiment stopped. Every Celtics fan remembers last season from the middle of December to the middle of January up until his injury Tony was playing the best basketball of his life. Could Tony be even better than he was in that one month period? December 13th, 2006 to January 10th, 2007 (The Injury Game) 18.9 Points Per Game 5.9 Rebounds Per Game 3.0 Assists Per Game 2.6 Steals Per Game 59% from the field This season Tony is only averaging 7 points per game but he has been one of our best bench players. (Keep in mind he wasn't 100% until recently). He's coming off a 14-point performance against New York and I've seen him make a few highlight-reel dunks as of late. It seems like it was all just mental and Tony has gotten rid of that mentallity. He feels great, looks great and has the potential to be a very good player. Does anybody see him ever, even if it's after the big 3 is gone, putting up the sort of numbers he did when he was playing his best basketball from 12/13/06 to 1/10/07?
I personally think TA is back pretty much completely, of what he was last January. I think he has not only been one of our best bench players, but one of our best players overall for a good month. The defense has been terrific, the shooting has certainly improved from what it was last season, and the explosiveness is nearly fully back. He is playing with a lot of confidence out there, and I'm ecstatic because he's one of my favorite Celtics. I'm not sure, however, if he will be putting up 19/6/3 at any point in his career on a winning team. Let's face it - he did play great ball last year, but we also didn't have Paul or Wally for most of his little run. He was the #1 perimeter option on the worst team in the East, so his numbers were padded a little bit. He made the most of his opportunity, but I don't think a winning team is going to ever use Tony as their #1 perimeter guy. I think he can be a valid starter in the future though, and a valuable defensive weapon. I really hope we can lock him up to a 3-4 year deal this summer, and I think he'd be a nice replacement for Ray in a few years.
When I think of Tony Allen, I don't think of potential anymore, I think he's been in the league long enough for us to know what he can and can't do. No I don't believe he's in his "prime," but as CB32 said, I don't think we'll ever get 19/6/3 out of Tony Allen. I'd love to have him as our guy off the bench (if he's injury free) and a role player, but I won't expect him to replace, Ray, Paul or KG in the future.
