Brooklyn Nets: 5 takeaways from satisfying win over Knicks
By Phil Watson
4. The transformation of Allen a sight to behold
Jarrett Allen came to training camp last month with all sorts of buzzing about how much he had improved over the offseason.
Those reports may have undersold the whole thing.
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Allen is quite simply a different player than he was last season, even as he emerged as a starter late in the campaign.
His footwork in the post is light years ahead of where it was. He’s finishing with both hands. He’s had double-digit rebounds in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
Allen has 32 points through the first two games on 12-of-18 shooting and he’s 2-for-4 from 3-point range.
What he’s doing as a rim protector has transformed the entire Brooklyn defense. Allen, after averaging 1.2 blocks per game last season to lead NBA rookies, has eight blocks in two games this season.
While he may not sustain that pace the rest of the way, it’s worth pointing out that since the NBA began counting blocks in 1973-74, only seven players have averaged at least four blocks per game in a season.
That short list includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Manute Bol (twice), Mark Eaton (four times), Dikembe Mutombo (twice), Hakeem Olajuwon (three times), David Robinson, Tree Rollins and Elmore Smith.
At the very least, though, Anthony Davis‘ league-leading total of 2.6 blocks per game may not stand up in 2018-19.
He may not quite be at an All-Star level yet, but Allen should at the very least be the first Net to get an invitation to the Rising Stars Challenge since Bojan Bogdanovic in 2016.