Media Day: Tony Allen is still awesome, believes ‘Core Four’ has unfinished business

Media day proved that Tony Allen is still very awesome. From talk of his defense, the longevity of the Memphis Grizzlies’ Grit ‘n’ Grind culture to Chandler Parsons not wanting to match up with him, he had a lot to talk about.

Once Tony Allen walked into the room, he took a Snapchat selfie with everyone in the room.

Before I go deep into the Tony Allen Media Day experience, let’s dive into some of this quotes through Twitter.

Throughout the media day, Tony Allen was very…uh well… Tony Allen-like. However, when the Colin Kaepernick issue came up, Tony Allen light-heartedly said that he was here to talk basketball (side-note: Zach Randolph and Mike Conley spoke about it -> worth checking out).

Tony Allen & Mike Conley

Before Mike Conley became a free agent, Tony Allen mentioned how he has a hard foul coming if he left. Hence, a reporter asked him about it.

Allen was glad he doesn’t have to deliver that hard foul. Furthermore, he is glad that his point guard is back.

In addition to on-court work, Tony Allen is looking forward to exchanging dad stories with new father Mike Conley. Allen says he sees Conley being a great father.

Grit ‘n’ Grind & First-Team

Based off the tweets, Tony Allen’s “first-team all defense” was definitely a topic during the day. He refused to say who his toughest match-up. In addition, he talked about the young guys buying in, more notably Tony Wroten.

Tony, of course, had a perfect response: “Probably because I was Second-Team All-Defense.”

Aside from “first-team,” Allen is looking to be a bigger factor on the other end of the court.  He is looking forward to being a more “dynamic playmaker.”

Core Four

In addition, Tony Allen did mention how the change in offense and the rotation threw the Grizzlies out of whack last season.

I asked Allen if there was any unfinished business left with the “Core Four”:

"Yeah man, I definitely believe that. You know, we got to get guys back in a rhythm of just playing with each other. Obviously, you miss so many games with Mike being out and Marc being out. Just get back to a rhythm and getting to playing to our tendencies, where we like the ball. Like Marc getting it in the post. Me cutting and getting that little pass to me when I’m cutting. Mike coming off the pick-and-roll. Whether Zbo rolls or Marc pops, Mike knowing which way to make that pass to make off that read. You know, just the little things where we play a lot in training camp."

Furthermore, I proceeded to ask him about Chandler Parsons’ fit with the Core Four. TA had nothing but good things to say:

"Chandler Parsons, he got it. Trust and believe. I’ve had a lot of battles with this guy. What surprised me is him coming here saying he didn’t want me to guard him. I kind of thought that was funny. I didn’t believe he would say something like that. But, I’m glad to have him because he space the floor. He’s going to knock down that shot, and I have 100 percent confidence in him shooting that ball."

*Goat emoji*

Tony Allen is one of the most interesting personalities in the NBA. He stole the show at media day. Aside from his crazy persona, he seems like he is ready to make an impact on both ends of the court.

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