You know things weren’t going particularly well for Jarrett Allen this season when he got benched for DeAndre Jordan. A couple years ago, that would be a normal thing to have happen, but it seems like Jordan can barely dunk these days. How is a springy/youthful/afroed Allen losing his starting gig to old man Jordan?
That’s a question I don’t have an answer to, because I’m basically boycotting Nets games right now on account of how much less fun they are compared to last. Why did Kyrie Irving have to go and suck all the fun out of the team with the most fun to suck? Couldn’t he have gone to a team that was already joyless so that his arrival didn’t cause as much of a morale hit? So, for the time being, DownToBuck is definitely NOT your source for any insights regarding the Nets. I already barely have insights as it is, but the Nets are for sure not occupying any of brain cells right now.
I have heard murmurs of “soft” regarding Allen this year. That’s probably true, because he’s never been the hardest center in the league. Is he softer than usual? His afro sure looks softer than usual. But these 18 points didn’t look soft at all. They were hardly contested because the Pelicans have a serious lack of competent bigs, but this is the kind of dunkage I expect from Allen.
Hopefully this means he’s turning a corner, because if he’s firing on all cylinders that would restore some of the fun that was lost when Cryrie Virgin came into the fold.