Jarrett Allen: Nice Head of Hair

What I hated the most about Jarrett this year was he seemingly lost his rim protecting abilities.

This playoffs shown me how true rim protecting bigs impact the game and JA is not in the same league.

mAo_mAo said:

What I hated the most about Jarrett this year was he seemingly lost his rim protecting abilities.

This playoffs shown me how true rim protecting bigs impact the game and JA is not in the same league.

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With how much it changed from the regular season and how much he shaded or helped which left him out of position it had to be a scheme from JBB. Which clearly didn't work and hopefully he learned from that.

N7RobBob said:

With how much it changed from the regular season and how much he shaded or helped which left him out of position it had to be a scheme from JBB. Which clearly didn't work and hopefully he learned from that.

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The heat had a similar tactic of Bam shading over Bronson and it worked for them.

I hope people are watching the adjustments Ham has made with the Lakers, or similarly how playing Robert Williams alongside Horford changed the series for Boston..

The importance of having a rim protector behind a primary big defender has been the key factor in placing Davis in a roam position and putting Williams in the lineup...

Having Allen and Mobley in the lineup defensively allows them to cover either big spot and have the other roam without sacrificing anything defensively or have poor matchups..

Understand the offensive adjustments needed moving forward but these series speak to the importance of having bigs like Allen and Mobley together..

Smooth said:

I hope people are watching the adjustments Ham has made with the Lakers, or similarly how playing Robert Williams alongside Horford changed the series for Boston..

The importance of having a rim protector behind a primary big defender has been the key factor in placing Davis in a roam position and putting Williams in the lineup...

Having Allen and Mobley in the lineup defensively allows them to cover either big spot and have the other roam without sacrificing anything defensively or have poor matchups..

Understand the offensive adjustments needed moving forward but these series speak to the importance of having bigs like Allen and Mobley together..

Click to expand...

But you need 3 shooters in the team to make it work. Heck... both horford and davis can shoot from 3. Until mobley can do that and we find an SF that can, the offensive minus is greater than the defensive plus.

Smooth said:

I hope people are watching the adjustments Ham has made with the Lakers, or similarly how playing Robert Williams alongside Horford changed the series for Boston..

The importance of having a rim protector behind a primary big defender has been the key factor in placing Davis in a roam position and putting Williams in the lineup...

Having Allen and Mobley in the lineup defensively allows them to cover either big spot and have the other roam without sacrificing anything defensively or have poor matchups..

Understand the offensive adjustments needed moving forward but these series speak to the importance of having bigs like Allen and Mobley together..

Click to expand...

I'm so glad you brought up Robert Williams because that's a fair comp for Allen.


Williams plays 20 minutes a night but can be inserted into specific situations when needed. Versatile player. But limited.

Now that's entirely different than Allen being a 35 minute a night starter all season and a guaranteed member of every closing unit.

If Allen played the Robert Williams role, that'd be awesome. Right now, he's been given a far bigger role than that.

I think Allen in a reduced role going forward would be ideal but the problem therein is how do you improve the team to the point Allen can be put in that role when he's the only quality trade piece you have?

Smooth said:

I hope people are watching the adjustments Ham has made with the Lakers, or similarly how playing Robert Williams alongside Horford changed the series for Boston..

The importance of having a rim protector behind a primary big defender has been the key factor in placing Davis in a roam position and putting Williams in the lineup...

Having Allen and Mobley in the lineup defensively allows them to cover either big spot and have the other roam without sacrificing anything defensively or have poor matchups..

Understand the offensive adjustments needed moving forward but these series speak to the importance of having bigs like Allen and Mobley together..

Click to expand...

Any team can put two tall, athletic defenders in the game if they have them on their roster.

Where the Lakers lose nothing from that is they can play either LeBron or Rui at the 4 spot (smaller guy) and bait Jokic into the post to have AD shade over. They especially love this defensive look when the Nuggets insist on Jeff Green time..

It’s a fantastic look defensively and the best they can do against Joker. (Didn’t have to do this against the Warriors at all)

Problem when the Cavs implore this look they get absolutely nothing offensively (as opposed to what the Lakers get from Bron & Rui)

It clogs their offense, disables spacing, and ultimately cost them.

It was literally the New York Knicks that exposed this. Not any of these quality contenders, not even the Bucks— but the New York Knicks.

My fears about what this JBB regime might do with Mobley are being actualized right now by Allen.

This guy should be a 25-28 min a night rim-protector with his talent for defensive mobility on the perimeter and recovering to challenge shots on defense, rim running and passing out of the high post on offense being utilized in 12 mins a half (6 min a qtr) spurts.

Jarrett Allen has skills right now, that if utilized optimally on both ends of the floor, can make the game much easier for Mobley and our guards. Instead, he looks like an anchor for our offense and his excessive minutes makes him look like he's testosterone deficient on defense.

Put a coach with a clue in charge of the rotation and ultimately the schematics and watch his strengths be magnified and his weaknesses minimized.

You cant teach his mobility on both ends with the willingness to challenge everything at the rim. You can't teach his deft passing from the high post and alot of that results in some beautiful big to big action that really should be accentuated by a half court offense built around his and Mobley's interchangeability as high post hubs both capable of initiating action as hubs in the half court.

Allen has skills that limited offensive bigs like Capela, Rob Williams, Nic Claxton, Mitchell Robinson, Zubac, Gafford, Rudy Gobert could only dream about and also has a defensive resolve and ability that organizations are wishing bigs like Ayton, KAT, Porzingis, Myles Turner, Christian Wood, Vuc would approach the game with on the other end.

There are only a handful of guys after the MVP candidates who have put it together or have the runway still as young guys to put it together with the right skillset and mindset for both ends: Bam, Looney, Jarrett Allen, Okongwu, Naz Reid

We've got a young guy who just turned 25 and still hasnt hit his NBA prime, who you don't have to reprogram but who has range/spacing limitations on offense. USE HIS STRENGTHS in the right amount of court time with the right rotation of guys around him and we're not having this discussion heading into year 2 of his bargain contract.

Fire JBB!

mAo_mAo said:

The heat had a similar tactic of Bam shading over Bronson and it worked for them.

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Because they had rebounding behind Bam. The problem wasn’t forcing misses with that defense, but rather Mitchell Robinson owning the glass.

PIP said:

Any team can put two tall, athletic defenders in the game if they have them on their roster.

Where the Lakers lose nothing from that is they can play either LeBron or Rui at the 4 spot (smaller guy) and bait Jokic into the post to have AD shade over. They especially love this defensive look when the Nuggets insist on Jeff Green time..

It’s a fantastic look defensively and the best they can do against Joker. (Didn’t have to do this against the Warriors at all)

Problem when the Cavs implore this look they get absolutely nothing offensively (as opposed to what the Lakers get from Bron & Rui)

It clogs their offense, disables spacing, and ultimately cost them.

It was literally the New York Knicks that exposed this. Not any of these quality contenders, not even the Bucks— but the New York Knicks.

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Spacing is going to be the key to making the Mobley and Allen pairing work... It will at the very least require a legitimate spacer at the 3 and for Mobley to possibly show he can consistently knock down a mid-range shot...

The versatility and impact the two have defensively along with the offensive potential Allen has, is why I'd like to see if they're able to make this work..

Allen has a lot more to his offensive game than people give him credit for...

I still look at these playoffs and find more evidence amongst the contenders that it's more important to have at least one big, at minimum, truly spacing the floor at all times then having two non-spacing bigs sharing the floor. And none of them, ever, have two non-spacing bigs sharing the floor for a majority of the game like we do.

The closest is the Lakers with Vanderbilt and Davis. But Davis is a far better shooter than either Mobley or Allen.


The rest of them? You can't find it. I'm not sure you can find them play any lineup outside of a random minute here and there where two non-spacers share the floor.

Has Bam and Zeller shared the court for any length time? Maybe a minute here and there....


Denver doesn't even play another big man. It's just Jokic (who can shoot) and then guys moonlighting as big men, like Jeff Green and Michael Porter Jr.


I say the Cavs give it till the deadline to see if Mobley has started to develop real signs of a jumper. Otherwise, you've got to make a move here imo.

You will not compensate for two total non-spacing bigs with a journeyman wing to space the floor. It's not enough in the modern NBA.

Rich said:

I still look at these playoffs and find more evidence amongst the contenders that it's more important to have at least one big, at minimum, truly spacing the floor at all times then having two non-spacing bigs sharing the floor. And none of them, ever, have two non-spacing bigs sharing the floor for a majority of the game like we do.

The closest is the Lakers with Vanderbilt and Davis. But Davis is a far better shooter than either Mobley or Allen.


The rest of them? You can't find it. I'm not sure you can find them play any lineup outside of a random minute here and there where two non-spacers share the floor.

Has Bam and Zeller shared the court for any length time? Maybe a minute here and there....


Denver doesn't even play another big man. It's just Jokic (who can shoot) and then guys moonlighting as big men, like Jeff Green and Michael Porter Jr.


I say the Cavs give it till the deadline to see if Mobley has started to develop real signs of a jumper. Otherwise, you've got to make a move here imo.

You will not compensate for two total non-spacing bigs with a journeyman wing to space the floor. It's not enough in the modern NBA.

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So what are you thinking? Trade Mobley for Tatum?

Boobie4Three said:

So what are you thinking? Trade Mobley for Tatum?

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No I'd axe the Allen/Mobley pairing and bring in a floor spacing big man.

If you can do that w/o trading Jarrett Allen, amazing.

If you ahve to trade Jarrett Allen to do it? Fine.


The cavs are trying to zig while everyone else is zagging. Sacrifice spacing to have elite rim protection. Well, they were the number 1 rated defense in the regular season and then they got to the post-season and couldn't score 100 points against a middle of the road defensive team.

I'm of the opinion they will, eventually, have to sacrifice the number 1 rated defense to move in a direction that the rest of the league has went in. One of your bigs has to space the floor, at minimum.

And all the time. Not just 10 minutes a game. But all 48 minutes needs to be comprised of at least one floor spacing big man.

Mobley has more upside than Allen (by a lot), he's a more versatile defender than Allen, and for a couple more years, he's way cheaper than Allen.

he's the one you keep.

Rich said:

No I'd axe the Allen/Mobley pairing and bring in a floor spacing big man.

If you can do that w/o trading Jarrett Allen, amazing.

If you ahve to trade Jarrett Allen to do it? Fine.


The cavs are trying to zig while everyone else is zagging. Sacrifice spacing to have elite rim protection. Well, they were the number 1 rated defense in the regular season and then they got to the post-season and couldn't score 100 points against a middle of the road defensive team.

I'm of the opinion they will, eventually, have to sacrifice the number 1 rated defense to move in a direction that the rest of the league has went in. One of your bigs has to space the floor, at minimum.

And all the time. Not just 10 minutes a game. But all 48 minutes needs to be compromised of at least one floor spacing big man.

Mobley has more upside than Allen (by a lot), he's a more versatile defender than Allen, and for a couple more years, he's way cheaper than Allen.

he's the one you keep.

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Cavs just have terrible depth in the front-court to where JA is basically a financial necessity at this point. I think shooting solves most of the Cavs problems for now. Go out and get a Mo Bamba that can space and stagger JA/Mobley with him. Hopefully Mobley's shot and girth improves to where JA can be moved for a more relevant piece.

I would love JA for Myles Turner, but I don't know why Indiana would.