Jarrett Allen (59 views)

[Druce]

Jarrett Allen
C
6'11
245
19
Texas

A large part of the appeal with Allen surrounds his physical profile. Despite standing just 6'9 without shoes, a hair short for a center, he has a tremendous 7'5 ¼ wingspan, a 9'1 ½ standing reach, gigantic hands, and a 234 pound frame that will fill out nicely in time. Allen saw quite a few touches in the post for a Texas offense that struggled mightily to space the floor effectively. Allen flashed outstanding potential all season as a rim-runner and pick and roll finisher. His long strides, solid agility and excellent hands allow him to cover ground and present himself to his guards for easy looks. He converted 68% of his attempts around the basket this season, some of them in highly creative fashion, in part due to the elite extension he gets around the rim due to his length, giving him more angles to work with than most players his size. Operating with his back to the basket, Allen can palm the ball like a grapefruit, and has good footwork to go along with soft touch. He is capable of finishing with nifty hook shots and up and unders using either hand, sometimes after connecting a series of post moves together with impressive spin moves and body control. Facing the basket, Allen is largely unpolished, but shows flashes of potential that hint at things to come down the road. He can straight line drive from the high post using his long strides, and showed glimpses of being able to knock down a mid-range jumper with solid shooting mechanics, rotation and touch.

With that said, Allen has a long ways to go before he can be expected to put it all together and become a consistent scoring option at the TMBSL level. He lacks strength in a major way, and doesn't bring the type of nasty attitude you'd like to see to compensate, setting soft screens, being weak with the ball, and struggling to finish in traffic through contact. He lacks polish with his perimeter skill-set as well, making just 56% of his free throw attempts on the season, and 24/68 of his jump-shots. At this stage of his career, he's at his best finishing plays created for him by others. Allen's tremendous combination of length, reach, agility and ability to get off the floor quickly give him a great framework to build off. He has quick feet as well, being capable of sliding on the perimeter in small doses, covering ground and staying in front of opponents. His lack of bulk causes him to get sealed off in the post by stronger big men, and he doesn't always show the type of fight you want to see in terms of his ability to get take contact, with older players often going straight through him en route to the basket. He's also not really the type of rim protector you might hope considering his reach, at just 2 blocks per-40 minutes.

This manifests itself most vividly on the glass, where his 6.9 defensive rebounds per-40 minutes is just a decent rate. He relies heavily on his tools here, rarely boxing out, not throwing his body around, and not always showing the highest motor attacking loose balls. He does show some potential with his big hands and long arms, as evidenced by his solid work on the offensive glass. Allen has considerable tools to work with, having the type of length, agility, frame, hands, and budding skill you love to see in a developing big man. With that said, he's clearly a project on both ends of the floor, and there are major question marks about what he will be able to hang his hat on at the TMBSL level early on in his career.