Jarrett Allen: Nice Head of Hair

He went 9/10 in a game that barely made it to overtime the game before this one guys

I feel like a lot of people who post here have no concept of the ups and downs of a long NBA season and how matchups impact performance and stats. If you watch this team consistently and don’t see Allen’s impact, both in and out of the box score, you should find another sport to watch. Or go root for Buffalo.

David. said:

He went 9/10 in a game that barely made it to overtime the game before this one guys

Click to expand...

Yeah he sucked before the last few min in that game too.

Jscc said:

He can be lackadaisical and low-energy at times in the regular season, but he turns it on when the game gets tight. I fully expect him to go Balls Deep in the post-season.

Click to expand...

Fixed it.

Last season proved we don't need this guy. He got injured and the team didnt miss a beat.

Actually we didn't miss a beating, because that's what we suffered most nights without him.

We got this dude for next to nothing and only pay him $20 mil / year. It's one of the best contracts in the game, he helps us win, he's a cool chill dude, and as I'm a guy who went to school in the 70s he's got that look with the 'fro. He's one of the many players I'm loving having on our team. Frankly, from a total fan experience standpoint I wouldn't trade our team with any other (although I wouldn't be heartbroken if we had Giannis).

His offensive stats are down a bit from last year which was pretty much the best of his career, but they are right around career averages. I do think it’s because the backcourt has shifted a bit from emphasizing lobs to emphasizing Donovan scoring on his own. It’s ok, people are kind of too rough on Jarrett around here.

His numbers being down is a culmination of things:

Less touches - the team added Mitchell, LeVert and another year of Mobley since Allen was the number two option putting up crazy numbers before the all star game.

More physicality - teams know the scouting report with the bigs on the Cavs is to beat them up all game. That means less high flying dunks.

Worse spacing and added defensive attention - teams refuse to give up the open lob to the Cavs this year. It’s on every scouting report. The whole defense drops into the lane on a Garland pick and roll every single time. Cavs don’t have enough good, willing, or both shooters to punish it yet.


Now, with those said, I think now’s a good time to mention what I’ve been seeing and sitting on the past few games. I feel like the plays were *instead* of handing the ball off, Allen or Mobley takes their man to the rim in one dribble have largely subsided this year. I don’t know if that’s on scheme, the players, opposing defenses, or all 3, but I don’t see Allen getting to the rim with the ball near as much this season.

cabs said:

Feels like Ayton always gets the best of him

Click to expand...

JA is 4-4 vs. Ayton. Their averages:

JA = 11.4 ppg @ 64% FG%, 8.3 rpg, 0.9 blk

DA = 18.0 ppg @ 61% FG%, 14 rpg, 1.6 blk

He's not going to dominate Ayton, but he's not terrible against him. Last night was an aberration. Phoenix played zone defense much of the game and our slow paced allowed Phoenix's defense to set and play that zone defense in the half-court, which means they were shutting down the paint and daring the Cavs to beat them from 3. It almost worked. Neither JA nor Mobley were going to do much. JA was only able to get under the basket one time the whole game.

Last night's game is what teams will be doing to us in the playoffs.

cavsfever said:

His offensive stats are down a bit from last year which was pretty much the best of his career, but they are right around career averages. I do think it’s because the backcourt has shifted a bit from emphasizing lobs to emphasizing Donovan scoring on his own. It’s ok, people are kind of too rough on Jarrett around here.

Click to expand...

Why would his offensive stats be down? Its not like our starting SG last year was a black hole offensively and this year our starting SG averages 30 a night and even scores over 70 occasionally is it?

JA has been too passive, passing out of the paint all the time instead of attacking. He's not the only one, sometimes the whole team treats the ball like a hot potato and the paint like a minefield. Sometimes players just have to attack and take less that ideal shots, in order to force the defense to move and adjust.

Not many bigs in the NBA can take one stride/step inside the free throw line, fly, and throw it down one handed like JA:

Big time game from JA today against the Pelicans!

When asked if he read a book during the road trip he replied:
"I read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Excellent book, by the way, excellent."

The love for Jarrett is a perpetual motion machine actualized

I notice him gliding to the free throw line after screens where he can catch the ball and sink a little jumper, get to the basket, big-to-big pass, kick out to the corner. His offensive skillset is underated.

stickboltman said:

Big time game from JA today against the Pelicans!

When asked if he read a book during the road trip he replied:
"I read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Excellent book, by the way, excellent."

The love for Jarrett is a perpetual motion machine actualized

I notice him gliding to the free throw line after screens where he can catch the ball and sink a little jumper, get to the basket, big-to-big pass, kick out to the corner. His offensive skillset is underated.

Click to expand...

Yeah he should get the ball on the move more. Great awareness game for him. Just put himself in good positions.

Not only is it a wholly remarkable book, it is also a highly successful one.

JA soon to drop 42.