Grayson Allen has earned a reputation as a physical, high-motor player capable of getting under the opposition's skin, but he may be building toward another reputation as well.
The TV broadcasters calling Duke's game with Florida State noticed Allen apparently tripping Xavier Rathan-Mayes with just a few seconds left in the game. After slowing the clip down, it seemed as if Allen stuck his left leg backward as he was walking away from Rathan-Mayes.
"He wanted to keep playing physical, so I tried to walk away from it as he was grabbing me," Allen said after the game, according to The Fayette Observer. "We ended up tangling up and falling. It was really nothing."
While Duke was trying to run out the clock, a Florida State player attempted a steal, at which point Rathan-Mayes made to take off for the possession change, at which point he abruptly fell to the floor. A referee was faced directly toward Allen when it happened, but did not call a foul.
Allen was spotted tripping a Louisville player earlier this month, and was issued a flagrant foul. In that incident he was sitting on the court and lifted his leg as the opponent ran by him.
Allen acknowledged his physical style of play earns him his fair share of contact, but he also asserted that opposing teams single out him and Brandon Ingram to push around to throw them off their rhythm.
"For me and Brandon, we have to be really strong and really tough physically and mentally each night, knowing we're going to get those blows," The Observer quoted Allen saying after the Florida State game. "I'm going to be just as physical with that person as they are with me."
But the ACC may not buy both incidents in which a player suddenly falls to the floor after running near Allen as accidents. Paul Brazeau, the conference's senior associate commissioner, told ESPN the ACC will conduct a review and will decide if punishment is necessary.
