Jarrett Allen Joins NBATV’s Gametime

Jarrett Allen Joins NBATV’s Gametime

State Farm from our Atlanta studio. Good to have you with us Matt Weiner, the coaches Sam Mitchell and Dave Yeager. And our special guest with his own slick video intro. All Star big man Jared Allen from the red hot Cleveland Cavaliers in town to play the Hawks tomorrow night. Welcome.

I appreciate you guys having me. You guys have won six in a row. What feels like it’s going right these days? Right now we’re just having fun. Our offensive working defense. I saw a stat that we might be #1 in that in that stretch of time, which is out there enjoying playing.

I’m not surprised. You’re 4th in the league in defensive efficiency over the course of the season, so that makes sense. You guys also seem to have a knack this season for playing really well with star players, sideline for one reason or another. You had a good stretch without Donovan.

Right now it’s without Darius Garland or Evan Mobley. What have you learned about your group that allows you to play so well? With all those disruptions? We’re willing to face anybody? We have this thing Next man up, there’s more opportunity to go around, so why not step up, try some

Things that you learned in the offseason and just have fun? Well, I’m the president of the Jared Allen All Star Club, OK? I’m just like, I’ve watched every one of your games. What what I see this year though, is that not every time guys calling

You out for a pick and roll and Biggs, just that gets old, right? They’re throwing you the ball now at the elbow. And I think that’s where your assist numbers have gone up. Guys are cutting off it and you’re making plays. Are you real comfortable there? Because they’re comfortable throwing it to you

There? All right, One of my things this summer I wanted to work on was passing, and it’s a perfect opportunity for me to work. I’ll flash the elbow. We have great back door cutters, so just get my assist numbers up. You know, I gotta ask you this, ’cause you made your bread and

Butter playing defense, right? You watch the different styles of defense for Biggs. You know, you guys can come up, you can drive back, you’re one of the most athletic bigs in the league. What’s the difference for you and coming up for that switch or dropping? Do you like the drop coverage ’cause

We own NBATV, We hate drop coverage because of God be torturing y’all. But what are the differences for you and which one do you prefer? You know, when I first got in the league, I used to love the drop covers. It was easy for me. I see everybody in front of me.

But now that I’ve been here for a while, I like being up. If you disrupt the guard the first time to pick a role is set. It messes up all of it. We mentioned the assists. It is a career high right now. 3A game for you. What numbers do you care about?

I mean, the numbers are going to fluctuate right season to season. You know little here, little there, they’re going to go up or down. What numbers do you look at at the end of the year? Honestly, I look at my rebounds. I try to get at least 10 rebounds

Every game and as a big man, I like being selfish. I like getting assist numbers. Be honest with you. Well, I think you’ve been doing that and every year in the league you’ve gotten better and better. I used to be, you know, they show the highlights of

The lob dunks and that was in Brooklyn. You did a lot of that. But now you’re slow rolling in the pocket, you’re jump stopping and making those passes. It’s been fun to watch you work on your game and it just keeps expanding for you. Yeah, I appreciate it. Appreciate it.

Just learning as I go. You know, this is what my 7th year in the league, I’m getting old now, you know, so I’m getting old. These needs aren’t how they used to be, but the game just slowing down for me. I’m seeing things I didn’t see when I first got in. Now

Matt said something earlier about how you guys have played when your star players have been out. My question is, once you get fully healthy, you look at Philly, you look at Boston, you look at all these teams ahead of you guys right now, if Y’all can put it together and play

This way when Y’all are fully healthy, because I thought you guys could be top four teams in East with the talent on paper, but you don’t play the game on paper. If you guys can figure out how to come together when all your pieces are healthy, how good can you be?

And do you think you could be the best team in East if everything comes together? I think we can. And one thing, I think that’s special about our team, about our guys, we have people that’s willing to buy in when Darius and Evan get back, they understand we’re playing well,

We’re sharing the ball. I think they’re going to fit right in. You’re here on the road, obviously, to play the Hawks tomorrow night. You are famously a man of many varied interests. Smart guy. Does a lot of different things, including travel. We’ve got pictures of your trip from this summer.

Great Sand Dunes National Park. I’ve never been there. Looks fantastic. Looks beautiful. We hiked the one of the tallest sand dunes in America at 4:00 in the morning. Wow, It’s black outside. Wait till 7:00 to get me up. OK, Where’s the trip? Where’s the trip? Worth the trip by far.

It looks amazing. So I am curious, what do you do on the road? So many guys will stay in the hotel room, play their video games, other guys will go out, they’ll go to dinner, they’ll go to the club, whatever it is. What are you doing? What have been? I’ve been trying to

Catch up on some movies. If it’s a popular city, a big city, I’ll find the library. Like a bookstore, some off market, you know, local bookstore. Try to find a new book. We must be them guys from Texas, because Chris Bosh was

The same way. It got to be true. It has to be Chris Bond. Supposed to read it. All he did was read on the road. I knew where to find him. Yeah. When I’m on the plane, I just opened up a good book past the time. It’ll

Knock me right off. Hold on. Let me make sure to show you an NBA player. Are you sure you’re an athlete? They don’t make them ideal at home no more. I want to get a book record after we get off the air. Alright. Jared. Appreciate you being here. Continue. Good luck to you.

Good luck tomorrow night against the Hawks and the rest of the way for sure. Thank you guys. Hey man, you gonna get some votes for All Star this year? Be appreciated. Cleveland Cavaliers here in studio for us. Game time presented by State Farm continues.

Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen was in-studio in Atlanta, appearing on NBATV’s with hosts Matt Winer, Sam Mitchell, and Dave Joerger. Allen discussed the team’s recent play and what he does while on the road.