Why dont you show some respect? Allen is a solid college/nbl player and has achieved more than Isaac ever has.

It is Ben Allen today

funny how pretty much every player can get bagged out on here (including Patty Mills). and hardly no one is ever good enough to be on their respective team.

Hoops.com: where incredible happens

I thought Ben showed some decent progress this year from his work with Pat Reidy. He certainly toughened up his defence a lot, and is still 6'11 with range.

Why dont you show some respect? Allen is a solid college/nbl player and has achieved more than Isaac ever has.

I can only comment on him in the NBL as that is all I have seen, he is shit/end thread

When they drive a Ferrari I guess they can say Isaac isn't that successful.

Ben has some upside, it's just his confidence is so low. And defense is pretty bad. But he can be a solid 2nd string big man in this league, IF he wanted too.

I am the biggest Crocs homer there is and will defend their players to the ends of the earth.

And still:

- Ben Allen has terrible footwork.

- He is unfathomably slow

- He is unfathomably weak

- His attitude is appalling.

- He shies away from contact at all times

- He cant grab a rebound unless it falls right on his chest with no defenders around, and even then sometimes he drops it.

- He is nearly seven feet tall and I've never seen him dunk it.

- He cares about his hair more than winning.

- His only post move consists of getting pushed out of position before shying away from the contact and shooting a soft fadeaway, which always misses.

- He was given AMPLE opportunity to start this year, starting the first 8 or so games of the season and getting huge minutes.


If the Crocs re-sign this monkey I will boo him all season long.

Ben will just be a late developer in the NBL. When you come from a decent college system and spend your first year riding the pine it's harder to adjust to this league. But give him a couple of years and he could be one of the dominant centres

Ben Allen is the clone of Murray Shiels

Mick covered all the relevant points

Exactly. He's not young. And he hasn't been riding the pine.

He's been give plenty of opportunity.

It's definitely been one of the more dramatic falls from grace. I remember when Ben signed with Indiana University and the so called 'experts' were calling him the next Bogut!

Only 10mins per game is kindof riding the pine, and there was good reason for that - he was soft. He turned the corner in the second half of the year though and if definitely worth another go at the right price.

If you watch him game-in-game-out, you will get the picture of why he is loathed by his own fan base:

The fumbles, the missed passes, the missed layups, the missed defensive rotations, the points differential while he is on the court, the mental lapses, the unexplainable explosions of rage.

What was more frustrating was that on his contract, he was supposed to be a contributor - and Townsville where one big man away from competing with the top two teams.

It's best for both parties if he moves on to another team, I think.

Who knows, he might be like Trigger - who by his own admission was out-of-shape and lazy while at the Crocs - and develop into a useable offensive asset elsewhere.

Official:

Allen signed to 1 year deal, 65k.

About 35k over what he's worth.

ash, sorry to upset you. I'll let you get back to writing letters to Boti about saying far worse to a bigger audience. I was scared that Marty Clarke might think Allen could be another project.

paul, could be being harsh, but I imagine that if he trained harder and showed more in games, he'd get more than that 10 MPG, right? Maybe he'll get there eventually, I'm just not unhappy about him doing it with another team.

Glad it's not a two-year deal. Playing for a contract can be very helpful for players mentally, IMO.

I agree one year to do something or SEABL here he comes.Wanted 15K to play SEABL last year.Clubs baulked at the price.....

Read my post again Isaac. I said "10mins per game is kindof riding the pine, and there was good reason for that - he was soft."

This is his last chance in the NBL. Huge pay cut for him, 1 year deal.

Hope it lights a fire under his fat arse.

Does he play SEABL anywhere in the off season???

He will be playing for Ipswich this offseason.

He played for the Townsville Heat last year, with poor results for an NBL player.

How does a thread about Ben Allen get this many posts!?

Because most were not expecting him to get another deal.

The team didn't want him back. Word is Pat Reidy got him over the line. Pat's been working with him all season before Crocs trainings trying to teach him to be a man and play in the post, which has yet to translate to on-court access.

Reidy didn't want all his hard work to go to waste and the Crocs heeded his concern.

He would have taken a paycut of around a third of his previous deal, which is significant.

If the Crocs re-signed Luke Schenscher, Ben Allen wouldn't be in Townsville. Because Luke didn't return it fee'd up some money & they needed a big man off the bench to back up their import Big (TBA)

Ben looked very ordinary the first season he was on court for the Gaels. All of the knocks were the same as what I'm reading here.

Because of his frame, everybody expects/wants him to play a certain way. He needs to improve in those areas, but a team has to use him for what he is good at as well. Indiana didn't, so they never got a good return for their time with him. Saint Mary's did and he was a key player for them as a senior. He was the 4th highest scorer on that team, and the #2 rebounder, and #3 in assists. That's about where he wants to be. A contributor on the boards (but not "the guy") and a pick and pop guy who operates from the high post.

He's got a complementary skillset. If he's your best big on the floor then you're in trouble, but as a 2nd big he can do a decent job.

Is that an informed TBA nat?

Lol - Ben Allen, the quintessential 'Cower Forward'

Anyone who thinks this guy is anything other than a scrub knows nothing about the game of basketball.

@ Ziah: the Crocs have stated they are looking for an import C.

Risky IMO, since most international bigs who are any good will be earning too much elsewhere, so you're left with crumbs.

Yeah I knew that, I thought Nat's post (hoped) alluded to him knowing who it might be...

I am also hopeful that with an Allen paycut, a M. Cedar paycut (if he stays), and Hinder being worth less than an import, and with Woolpert's contacts overseas, that there may be substantial money to get a decent quality 4/5 in place of Schenscher... hoping hoping hoping.

@ Naph: the problem with using Allen as a stretch big is that every time he tries to make a move off the face up at fifteen feet, he travels; when he doesn't try to put the ball on the floor, he has a terrible three point and mid range shot.

There was a time he could hit the three ball (hell there was a time when Bogut could hit the three ball!), but that time has long since passed.

The other difference between him playing NBL and college is that if you're a terrible defender here, you'll get exposed very quickly. As such, every minute he is on the floor, the opposition thrives on the glaring +/- deficiency he creates for his team.

Having said that, when Allen came on for the second unit it normally coincided with Mick Cedar coming into the game too, so when you have two of the slowest, worst defenders in the league trying to guard a pick and roll, it's not gonna end well.

@ziah they're still scouting big men, nothing has been signed or even close to it yet. Still early stages.

If it's an import, it's quite possible they'll leave it late like most teams. Throw everything at Wilkinson, maybe? He'd be good with Holmes and Hinder backing him up.

I know Wilkinson's done the whole "I couldn't play against the Breakers" ra-ra, but seriously? It's a job. You'll get over it and adopt your new team.

lol at 'cower forward'

i havent heard that one before. sadly its so fitting for so many big men. some act like they are in a china shop or something. helliwell wouldve been invisable if he wasnt a huge ugly bastard.

Very Old - I'm sorry but no way is Ben as bad as Murray. Murray was a great guy but not much of a threat at either end of the court. I must say that it is nice to see that someone else is around that remembers that far back.

I agree Isaac but have they got enough to offer to stop him going to Europe where he will make decent money the way he has been consistently playing?

(Wilkinson) I know of two NBL clubs (Not including NZ) that have expressed interest. How far that interest actually goes, i'm not sure. But he IS wanted in the NBL.

Wilkinson should have been in the NBL 1st Team again instead of Worthington. His family will have a big say over where he goes.

The Crocs could have had Horvath for less than Allen's contract.

Pat Reidy is swearing by the strides Allen is making under his tutelage, which have yet to translate onto the court.

http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2012/05/05/327911_sport.html

"It takes time for these things to be put into practice ... but he's big, he's solid, he can shoot and he's a really good passer so the potential's there to be in the national team or at least a really good NBL player," Reidy said.

Reidy is one of the great post scorers in NBL history, so he's either lost his mind or... wait, yeah that's it he's lost his mind.

Just what the Boomers need. A slow, soft, somewhat tall centre who can't rebound, dunk or do much at all.

There was a definite change in Allen's approach on the court second half of this year. Some people list the issues he had the first year and a half as if they are still there, but things have changed and I am interested to see how that translates after a full off-season.

Having now read the article, Pat is getting a little ahead of himself though!!