Grayson Allen is Carrying on the Blue Devil Tradition

Just try and trip me, jackass

I want to take my time today to take a crack at this punk ass Duke men's basketball player, Grayson Allen.

This kid is a world class asshole. He looks like every whiny, over priveledged arrogant white kid that has played basketball at Duke. The problem with him, he isn't even in the top 25 or 30 or kids that have played at Duke. He is not that bad, but he is not some superstar that is going to set the NBA on fire in two years either. He reminds me of another white kid that was looked at as a "star" by some idiot analysts when he was in college and that kid is Aaron Craft. Does anyone remember this douchebag? Yes, I have a preconceived hatred for this kid because he played at that lame ass college full of cheaters in Columbus, Ohio, but he was not this "great" that so many analysts made him out to be. He was dirty, he was a cheap shot artist, he was a terrible shooter and he did not make that team any better. Not at all in fact. Without guys like Jared Sullinger on the same team as him, they would have been lucky to be a .500 team had Craft been their best option. He was an annoyance that hasn't made it out of the D League, so maybe he wasn't this all time great college player. I see a lot of the same thing in Grayson Allen that defined Aaron Craft. Grayson is a better shooter, but trade his shooting for Craft's defense, and you get the exact same player.

In addition to being overhyped, Grayson Allen is one of, if not the, most dirty players in all of college basketball. How many times does he get to trip opposing players before the ACC lays down some real punishment? Sure, they sent him a letter to reprimand him and deemed that sufficient, but that's a crock of shit. If this kid played anywhere else, save for Kentucky, he would have been suspended multiple games for tripping people. First of all, tripping an opponent on a hard wood floor could cause a very bad, possibly career ending injury. What if one of the two kids he tripped fell so hard they smacked their heads on the floor and were concussed? Would the ACC deem that enough of a problem to suspend him? Sure, if he played for Syracuse or North Carolina, but not for anyone on the Duke Blue Devils. Coach K is a standup guy and he doesn't teach his players to be dirty, right? Absolutely not, he has had some of the dirtiest players to ever step foot on a college basketball court, but no one in the main stream media has the guts to call him out.

Let's look at some past dirty players that the mighty Coach K has had. You have to start with Christian Laettener. He is one of the all time greatest college basketball players, but he was also one of the dirtiest. He'd kick players while they were down, he'd foul guys excessively hard when it was not needed, he was arrogant and could be a malcontent. Hell, ESPN even did a "30 For 30" on him called "I Hate Christian Laettener", that how epic his play and his dirty play was. It turned out to be a fluff piece because that's how ESPN rolls, but at least some got to show and tell about his dirty play. Later in his coaching career you can take guys like Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer and Steve Wojohoweski. These guys all came off like they were good, decent, respectable human beings on the court, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Battier was an arrogant, self righteous asshole while in college. Whenever he didn't get a call he thought he deserved, he would bitch and moan so much, that officials would give in. Carlos Boozer used to set dirty and illegal screens all the time while at Duke, but no one ever called him out on it because he was "playing the Coach K way". Steve Wojohoweski was an undersized little shit that fouled everyone on every play because that was his way of trying to get in opponents heads. Even recently you can look at players like Kyrie Irving, Greg Paulus and Jahlil Okafor. Kyrie Irving was a prized recruit who only played 11 NCAA basketball games, but was looked at as a star because of the nice things Coach K had to say about him. Now, he comes off as a diva. He couldn't lead the Cavs to the playoffs when it was his team and now that LeBron is back, and is the unquestioned leader and coach and GM, reports have come out that he is unhappy with his role and he wants to be traded. Sounds like a whiny, spoiled brat to me, AKA a Duke Blue Devil. Greg Paulus was so average at college basketball, he tried his hand at football and that was a disaster. He sounds like another kid that was given everything he wanted in life, no questions asked, and when the times got tough, he whined and complained instead of working hard at something else, AKA a Duke Blue Devil. Jahlil Okafor is proof positive of "getting way too much, way too soon". He won a title in his lone season at Duke, was looked at as the star of that team, was drafted in the lottery and now, he's making mistake after mistake, and is he really a good NBA player? First of all, without Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow, Duke doesn't even come close to even being in that title game, so no, Okafor was not the reason they won. Second, sure he ended up in a terrible situation, being picked by the 76ers, but that doesn't make it okay for him to get in bar fights and to play terrible, non existent defense. He is also a bad teammate. He clearly only cares about his stats and himself, AKA a Duke Blue Devil.

Now we have this Grayson Allen shithead. This kid may take the cream of the crop. He is the worst since Laettener, but at least Laettener could back it up with his game. Allen is mediocre at best and he is an extremely dirty player. This tripping nonsense needs to stop before he really hurts someone. It also makes the play look even worse than it has all season. It is childish and the fact that the ACC and Duke aren't doing anything about it makes it even worse. I'd take all the players, plus a lot more, that I mentioned above before I'd even consider this Allen kid and his childish behavior on the court makes me even more sure that I would not want him on my team.

So, no Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas and Seth Davis and Clark Kellogg, Grayson Allen is not a transcendent player, he is a malcontent, whiny and arrogant douchebag, AKA a Duke Blue Devil.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He has a love hat relationship with Duke basketball, he loves when they lose and hates when they win. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.