Season Goals: New Orleans Pelicans Role Players
By Seth Nefsky
This article is the sixth in a series about every Pels’ most important goal for the 2017-2018 season.
To read the first article about Anthony Davis click here.
To read the second about DeMarcus Cousins click here.
To read the third about Jrue Holiday click here.
To read the fourth about E’Twaun Moore click here.
To read the fifth about Rajon Rondo click here.
The 2017-2018 season is almost upon us, which means soon we will finally get to watch some Pelicans basketball. And with the new season almost here, it is time to set some goals for New Orleans Pelicans role players.
Tony Allen: Be Grindfatherly
At this point in his career, it is quite evident who Tony Allen is on the court. He plays some of the best perimeter defense of all time, is a skilled cutter, and great positional rebounder and that’s about it.
He will never be a league average three-point shooter, he will never be an explosive driver, and he will never be a good on-ball playmaker. And that is fine, as his defensive prowess has given him a pretty good 1.1 career box plus-minus, despite having a career -1.1 career offensive box plus-minus. That is just who he is, and that will never change.
And so, instead of suggesting that Allen work on something on the court, which simply will not happen at age 35, Allen’s goal is instead to be the much-needed leader in the Pelicans locker room.
As fellow Pelican Debriefer Justin Jett put it in his piece on Allen, “Tony Allen helped build an entire culture in Memphis.” A culture which spawned the sixth best defense in the entire league during his seven-year tenure.
And though there is no stat for it, Allen also helped them become one of the most hardworking teams in the league, giving them their famous “Grit and Grind” catchphrase, which is definitely on the Mount Rushmore of Memphis Grizzlies catchphrases. It sits aside Zach Randolph’s “Blue Collar,” David Fizdale’s underrated “They’re not gonna rook us” and his famous, shirt inspiring “Take that for data (table slap).”
And with the Pels being a team in need of some leadership, having a guy like Allen, who has had tremendous success with multiple teams in the past, could give the Pels the competitive edge that has been lacking from this identity-less squad.