Players back Sea Bears’ decision to cut high-scoring Allen loose

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This article was published 19/06/2024 (798 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Sea Bears are ready to move on without their best scorer and biggest distraction.

The club released reigning CEBL MVP Teddy Allen on Monday and his former teammates are fully on board with the decision.

The Sea Bears reached a breaking point with the face of their franchise in last Sunday’s 97-87 loss at home to the Edmonton Stingers as the team was butting heads and Allen — who had already been causing issues for several weeks — was at the centre of it.

“I think just with all the chaos and stuff going on, to have that finally kind of die down with the move they made two days ago, it allows us to now focus and not put so much energy on all that other stuff you guys (saw). I don’t think we’ve necessarily had the opportunity to do that since the beginning of the season, to be honest with you,” said guard Alex Campbell after Wednesday morning’s pre-game shootaround prior to the Sea Bears contest against the Vancouver Bandits at Canada Life Centre.

“It’s more so just like a clean slate. We get to wipe it clean and see what we’re going to look like for the rest of the season, but I’m excited and super optimistic, obviously. Teddy is my guy, best wishes to him, but we got a game to play and a season to finish.”

After losing four in a row to drop to 3-5, something had to be done, but no one on the outside saw it coming with Allen. The 26-year-old from Phoenix, Ariz., leads the league in scoring with 28.1 points per game and had just dropped 39 points against Edmonton.

He isn’t sitting at home sulking, though. After being let go, Allen flew to Orlando and was at Disney World on Wednesday. He also went on Instagram Live and said he will share his side of the story in the near future.

“Teddy and I are really good friends, we connected last year right from when he got here. But unfortunately, there were events out of the team’s control, off the court stuff and some stuff he was dealing with on his own, so, the organization had to make a choice,” said centre Chad Posthumus.

“It’s not really too disappointing, it’s just unfortunate the way things played out this season. But it’s a business, right? You’ve got to make business decisions and that’s what the organization did. The players, we all stand behind it… We’re ready to take the next steps as a basketball team because at the end of the day, it’s about winning games. Playing basketball is not about managing egos and worrying about other stuff. That’s for the GM and the coaches to do.”

Head coach and general manager Mike Taylor believes Allen’s departure has already benefited them.

“I think the work environment is clearly better. There’s less distraction and more focus, and a lot of positive energy from the guys,” said Taylor.

“They understand. I think there’s a sense of relief. I think it’s a point where they were like ‘Hey, it’s been hard for us to function and be productive.’ We’ve been doing our best within the circumstances, but now there’s real opportunity for them.”

Allen attempted a league-high 20.4 shots per game. The offence will now have to be a more well-rounded attack.

“I can understand the shock, for sure, for the fans. Obviously, Teddy is a phenomenal player, a great talent, and a good dude at his core as well,” said guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, who’s nursing a back injury but expects to play Saturday against the visiting Saskatchewan Rattlers (5-3) at 7:30 p.m.

“We just got to move forward. It gives other guys a chance to step up. We still have a lot of talent and experience in this locker room and I think we can do some big things this year but we just got to put it together on the floor.”

The Sea Bears still have an elite scorer they can turn to in crunch time in point guard Justin Wright-Foreman who they signed last week. Last year in Saskatchewan, he set the CEBL record for highest scoring average in a season at 29.2 points per game. The 26-year-old played four games with the Utah Jazz during the 2019-20 NBA season.

“He’s a very prolific scorer, but he is somebody who with the ball in his hands will make the rest of us better, versus a guy like Teddy where the point guard is distributing him the ball and then he’s going and making great plays and putting up all those points for us,” said Posthumus. “I think it’s gonna be a great fit for our team just with all the pieces we have around him that are going to be able to showcase a little more of their skillsets and talents now that we have some extra ball movement.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @TaylorAllen31