Allen lets his play do the talking Sea Bears’ star ‘Teddy Buckets’ puts adversity in past during MVP-worthy season By: Taylor Allen Posted: 7:01 PM CDT Thursday, Jul. 27, 2023 Last Modified: 7:49 AM CDT Friday, Jul. 28, 2023 Updates

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This article was published 27/07/2023 (1128 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Teddy Allen is done talking about his past.

The star guard for the Winnipeg Sea Bears has been through a lot, and all it takes is a couple of clicks online to find his story — growing up with an abusive father, going to high school at a treatment and education facility for at-risk youth in a small town in Nebraska, losing his mom to cancer in Grade 12, and bouncing around five different college programs for various reasons.

There’s a lot to unpack, but Allen, a 25-year-old from Phoenix, doesn’t want his winding road to becoming the favourite to win this season’s Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Most Valuable Player award to define him.

“They always try to tie me to whatever I went through. It’s like I’m stained or something,” Allen said.

“My story has superseded me and I’m not running from it. I’m not saying there hasn’t been things that should or shouldn’t raise questions, but I just feel like I’ve learned from those things and I’ve come out on the other side. I’m a better person for it and a better player for it. If you have me around your program, and I think it’s been shown out here, I’m going to make people better as people and make them better as players, too.”

That’s something Sea Bears head coach and general manager Mike Taylor can attest to. With Winnipeg being an expansion franchise, Taylor was given a blank slate. He was the head coach of the Fraser Valley (now Vancouver) Bandits last season and came to the conclusion that having a big, scoring guard is a difference-maker in the CEBL.

The 6-6 Allen, who earned the nickname Teddy Buckets during his freshman season at West Virginia, fit the bill perfectly. He joined the Scarborough Shooting Stars midway through last season and averaged 11.6 points, five rebounds, and two assists in seven games, but Taylor saw someone who was just scratching the surface.

His hunch was spot on, as Allen’s averages with the Sea Bears have skyrocketed to 26.9 points (second best in the league), 7.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. More importantly, he’s the biggest reason Winnipeg is 12-7 and has a chance to finish as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a win at home Saturday night against the visiting Edmonton Stingers (8-11) or with a Calgary Surge (11-8) loss on Friday against the Saskatchewan Rattlers (8-11).

Allen has also put himself in the CEBL record books this year as his 42-point performance on June 2 at Scarborough tied a league mark for most points in a game. Less than two weeks later, he was back at it again, this time with 40 points and a record nine three-pointers against the Brampton Honey Badgers at the Canada Life Centre.

“He’s been a great teammate, he’s been really coachable, he’s been a leader, and I think you’ve seen the best version of Teddy throughout the summer,” Taylor said.

“For me, he’s the MVP of the league. He’s influenced our winning and taken a leadership role in an expansion organization and just led us to the top. He’s been fantastic.”

“He’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do. I think he’s made a lot of strides in his life and I think this summer has been a big one for him in Winnipeg.”

“For me, he’s the MVP of the league. He’s influenced our winning and taken a leadership role in an expansion organization and just led us to the top. He’s been fantastic.”–Sea Bears head coach Mike Taylor

The basketball world has taken notice. Taylor has had NBA and high-level European organizations reach out for intel on his top offensive weapon.

Allen played in the 2022 NBA Summer League for the Denver Nuggets after going undrafted.

“There’s no doubt he has the talent, he has the skills. I think the big thing with Teddy is understanding the role and how to play in a system,” said Taylor.

“I think that would be a dream come true for him and I’d love to see nothing more than for Teddy to follow the path of Xavier Moon (Edmonton Stingers to the Los Angeles Clippers) or Lindell Wigginton (Hamilton Honey Badgers to Milwaukee Bucks) and go from the CEBL to the NBA. I think it’s really possible.”

After stints at West Virginia, Wichita State, Western Nebraska Community College and Nebraska, Allen ended his college career with the New Mexico State Aggies under coach Chris Jans. Allen was only there for a year, but he left a huge impact on the program. In January of 2022, Allen torched Abilene Christian for 41 points to become the first Aggie in nearly 20 years to score 40 or more points in a game.

His biggest feat came on the biggest stage — March Madness. New Mexico State was a No. 12 seed taking on fifth-seeded Connecticut and Allen exploded for 37 points to lead the Aggies to a 70-63 upset victory.

He was a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line, making him the first player in NCAA tournament history to score more than half his team’s points and not miss a single free throw. He started the game 0-6 from the field, but eventually found his stroke and UConn couldn’t contain him.

UConn went on to win the national championship the following year.

It was New Mexico State’s first tournament win since 1993.

“To do it when the lights are at their brightest and to recover from a poor start, I just think it’s got to rank up there with anyone else’s performance that I’ve ever been around and I’ve been around some good ones over the course of a longer career,” said Jans, who now coaches at Mississippi State.

“But I don’t remember one quite like that with what was riding on the game.”

Jans believes if you’re an NBA team, you want Allen on your roster. He’s also not surprised to see what Allen has accomplished up north.

Allen’s younger brother Timmy went to Texas and played in the NBA Summer League earlier this month with the Memphis Grizzlies.

“If you want to win you do,” said Jans. “He does what moves the scoreboard. Us coaches are obviously well-trained to teach our players schemes, individual improvement, and all what goes into our program. At the end of the day, the rebounding, the defence, the toughness is all good and really important, but what they keep score of is how many baskets you score and who has the most points at the end of the game. And his ability to score is undeniable. His nickname is Teddy Buckets for a reason.”

Before that avenue is explored, Allen will look to end his summer in Winnipeg the right way. The Sea Bears will host a home playoff game — on either Aug. 4 or 6 — and are hoping to advance to the CEBL’s championship weekend in Vancouver (Aug. 11-13).

“His ability to score is undeniable. His nickname is Teddy Buckets for a reason.”–Chris Jans, New Mexico State Aggies under coach

“It would mean a ton,” said Allen on bringing a title to Winnipeg.

“For me personally, for this city, and for my teammates. They’ve showed us a lot of love here and every time we play, the other teams are wowed by our fans and how are games are. It’d be awesome to pay them back, and also pay back David Asper. He’s been a great owner and by bringing him a championship in the first year, to establish and make that history, that’d mean more than anything.”

As for the MVP race, Allen is exactly where he thought he’d be.

“With what I put in this game and with the talent that God gave me, that’s the type of discussions I should want to be in and should expect to be in whenever I’m playing,” said Allen.

“If I wasn’t, I’d feel like I fell short.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31