Jarrett Allen, though a big, taciturn player, has played at All-Star level in Cleveland.
It wasn't until Christmas that Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen began imagining his first All-Star trip. He had never thought about it before. Before the start of the season, the All-Star goal was unthinkable for Allen.
For four years in his career, Allen was doing thankless work — running under the basket, catching the ball and shooting — and as an offensively limited center, his contributions were not at all related to the stars. But so far this season, he's done a fantastic job on the league's most surprising team. When the fan vote officially began on December 25, the 23-year-old, who has always been modest, had to face his own progress.
"All my family kept telling me, 'I'll vote for you.' I'll vote for you. "I was like, 'Oh, well, there's a small group of people around me who voted for all-stars!'" It made me a little angry, but then I got excited. ’”
On January 6, the NBA officially announced the results of the first round of fan voting. Among the league's Eastern Conference frontcourt players, Jarrett Allen is close behind Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Jason Tatum and Jimmy Butler. Aaron learned about the voting results by tweeting. He didn't expect his name to appear on the list, and he didn't expect him to get so many votes.
The Cavaliers lead the East, but as an efficient team player, Allen is gradually ignored and underestimated. He's very good at his position, he doesn't do things that don't make sense (shooting three-pointers, possession, 20% or more usage). In the East, he has been the second-best big man and the new nominee for the fastest improving player and best defensive player of the year. Just like in Cleveland, he deserves All-Star recognition.
Allen's rebounds, efficiency, true shooting percentage (he ranks second in the league) and victory contribution (fourth in the league) all lead the team. Last year he finished 107th in estimated plus-minus, and now he is eighth overall. When he's on the court, the Cavaliers have the NBA's second-best defense, in large part because their starting center is more nimble and stronger than ever. Instant rookie Evan Mobley certainly helped, and when asked about his own improvement in defense under the basket, Allen immediately called out his teammate's name: "I'm not Evan Mobley. That guy is unique. ”
When Allen was on the floor, his opponent shot just a modest 56.2 percent from the basket, 2.4 percent lower than the league's worst Thunder. More specifically, when Allen was in the three-second zone, his opponent shot just 50.3 percent from the basket and ranked seventh out of 89 players who defended at least 100 shots in the three-second zone.
He averaged 17 points per game and shot 71.8 percent from two-point range, which is also the league's lead and higher than last season's 63.1 percent. Never in NBA history has a player averaged 10 or more shots per game and has at least 70 percent shooting percentage. Aaron was probably the first. "Everybody's going to say, 'He's going to dunk and get on the layup.'" But hey, I hit 70 percent of them," he said, "and that's easier said than done." ”
Allen was able to achieve this in large part thanks to his emerging blocking combination with Darius Garland. When discussing Aaron's progress, Garland's growth as a dazzling organizational core cannot be ignored. Asked about the fastest improving player, Allen immediately canvassed for his point guard, who he thought Garland should be selected. The duo has a natural chemistry. With the exception of Trae Young and John Collins/Clint Capela, they have assisted more from the basket than any other combination in the league.
"Sometimes you just get into the rhythm of the game with your point guard, and when you start training, you can read each other's movement intentions," Allen said. Even if we just play casually when we're training, I think we'll build a tacit understanding. ”
During the game, Allen would maintain constant communication with Garland, adjusting the angle and asking if he should block longer or quickly bypass.
In addition to cultivating this tacit understanding, Allen's most important pre-season goal is to become a better leader, despite his soft-spoken speech. This means that his body is prepared for a longer state of excitement; keeping the excitement affects other people.
In the offseason, he exercised his body in a way he hadn't used before. Because Allen wants to move faster when he wants to change defenses on the perimeter (he knows the Cavaliers will change more this year).
Allen added sprint training to his offseason training. He hated them, but he knew that to reach higher levels, these were necessary. A particular practice scenario came to his mind. "All the big guys know this kind of training." He laughed. He started at halftime, ran to the bottom line, ran back to the three-point line, went back to the bottom line, and then ran to the other end of the court, where he repeated the same action over and over again. "I'm going to sprint back and forth constantly, just to simulate a real state of the game." He said.
Allen also works on low-post movement and back-to-back singles. He's adept at shooting with both hands and has developed flexible footwork and advanced counter-attack techniques that make feeding him pie inside the box a good choice. (According to Synergy Sports, he ranks second in efficiency out of all players who have completed at least 70 back-to-back singles, behind Marcus Morris.) Aaron was followed by LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler).
Allen had doubted whether his hard work would be successful, but now he made it a part of his own game, which made him better. "Honestly, we went into the season with coach (J.B. Bickerstaff) always says there will be plenty of back-to-back singles. I thought: 'Okay, okay. You know, we're 2022 now. The games I've been familiar with throughout my NBA career are blocking games," Allen said, "and maybe every other game is a blocking game, and I'm going to be happy." ”
'But as the year progressed, I scored more and more points every game and now points are starting to become part of my attack.
Allen's growth on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends allowed the Cleveland Cavaliers to reset expectations of him. A team that was ridiculed for buying Laurie Markkanen, who then gave Allen a five-year, $100 million contract extension... Mobley was then selected with the third overall pick. "You see all these memes... The whole league is laughing at us. It's like saying, 'Okay, but we can fix that.' Aaron said.
When he first signed the contract, Allen felt he had to play harder than ever to prove he deserved it. He didn't know if he was under pressure. "Do I need to do more?" Aaron asked himself. But now he realizes that being the best version of himself is more than enough: "I got this contract for a reason. I can still be the best Jarrett Allen, you know? ”
Five months later, Aaron could become an All-Star, and even though Aaron was the last person to realize it would come true.
By Michael Pina
Compilation: Poetic