Every Cleveland Cavaliers season feels like deja vu, especially with Jarrett Allen. He enters the campaign looking for redemption after some questionable postseason performances, somehow becomes underrated, and then goes MIA in the playoffs again.
That's why Golden State Warriors Draymond Green finally said what everybody else was thinking. In the latest edition of his podcast, the four-time NBA champion called out Allen for being soft and not being able to hold his own in the postseason:
“Jarrett Allen seems to get into these playoffs and get really, really, really soft," Green said. "Jarrett Allen, I don’t know what he be doing. I’ve seen him say in the playoffs, ‘The lights were too bright.’ I’ve seen him say that. Once you feel that way, how do you get over that, mentally? I have not seen him get over that, mentally."
It's time Jarrett Allen flips the script
That's the ultimate sign of disrespect, and the fact that Green says it out loud only means that he doesn't expect Allen to do anything about it. Granted, Green's words must often be taken with a pinch of salt, given his personality, but that's still telling. No one would've said that of Shaquille O'Neal or Kevin Garnett. No one would even dare say that of Victor Wembanyama.
The Cavs don't need Allen to be any of those guys, but he's not even being himself right now. He's gotten outhustled, outmuscled, and outworked on both ends of the floor. That has been the case every year in the playoffs, so it's not even a matter of less favorable matchups or that a certain opponent has figured him out.
Allen isn't a superstar by any means, but he's still one of this team's glue guys. He keeps the pieces together, especially on defense, and his ability to give the team second scoring chances is crucial. This team can get hot and cold from beyond the arc in the blink of an eye, and Allen's offensive rebounding can be the difference between a close win and a blowout loss. And with Evan Mobley showing the same symptoms, this team should be worried.
Watching him go from a borderline All-Star to an unplayable big man in a matter of days is infuriating and hard to explain. It's as if somehow, someway, he became ten inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter as soon as the playoffs begin.
Now, the cat is out of the bag. Allen has publicly called him out by name. What's he gonna do? How is he going to respond? He cannot wait until facing the Golden State Warriors in the regular season to address this; it'll be too late by then.
Allen needs to show some teeth and pride and let everybody know that they should keep his name out of their mouths. There's stlil time to redeem himself, but this will likely be his final opportunity, at least in Cleveland.
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