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(Photo by Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
(Photo by Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
At this point, it looks like everyone in Big Blue Nation is officially a member of the Dontaie Allen Fan Club. Unfortunately for Allen, the only person who actually controls his minutes still stands.
A range of criticisms were thrown at John Calipari on Saturday night after Kentucky’s loss to conference opponent Auburn. One of the most common criticisms was Calipari’s decision to only play Allen for 23 minutes. Calipari had an answer, but not one that satisfied any of the opponents.
“At the end of the day we were playing for Dontaie and he wasn’t shooting the ball,” Calipari said in response to his replacement models.
Now on the surface it obviously upset people, but to be a fair judge I went back and watched the game again (yes, it was as painful as the first time).
Upon review, Allen let two huge looks go wide open. On the other hand, he kept the team in the game in the first half, led the team with an 11 +/- and was one of two players on the team to have no turnover in the night.
Additionally, Allen gave the team something that no other player provides: srhythm. When Allen was on the ground Auburn struggled to contain players on the disc and constantly had to locate Allen off the ball. On the flip side, with Allen on the bench, Auburn contracted his defense to the point where the gaps for all the inside cut Wildcats became almost impenetrable.
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It seems painstakingly clear that Allen not only did more of a positive on the pitch than a negative, but perhaps had the best night of any of the ‘Cats, while only playing almost halfway. Match. So why doesn’t he play more?
For starters, it’s true that Calipari calls games for Allen. Nonetheless, more often than not these pieces end up falling apart or resulting in Allen being completely ignored. Let’s start with the less depressing explanation of the two.
Calipari runs a few plays for Allen, but perhaps the most repetitive was the door screen leading to a three-point attempt for Allen at the top of the wrench. A good game, but not one for which a defense will succumb repeatedly. As Kentucky attempted the same game in the second half, Auburn’s defenders were leaping across screens as if they had seen the future.
More generally, Allen found his shooting attempts in the course of the match as Auburn’s defense got caught looking at the ball. The problem isn’t just that Allen doesn’t shoot when a piece is played for him, but rather that the play call becomes repetitive and, more importantly, predictable.
Second, as mentioned earlier, Allen is simply being missed by his teammates. One can only assume that this problem is less intentional, but the problem is just as urgent.
Fellow guards such as Davion Mintz and Devin Askew missed an open Allen multiple times throughout the game. For a player like Allen to be successful, it is imperative that whenever the defense goes wrong, he has a chance to capitalize. Allen won’t be the player to step back from deep within the defender’s grid, but he is the type of player who will win team matches. I can confidently say that most people would prefer the latter.
Two shots not taken by Allen don’t match the many shots he takes and help create for his teammates when he’s on the pitch. Much of the root of this problem lies in the same drawback that Calipari has faced for years – having a longer leash for highly touted players.
Allen isn’t the only one of the cats to let loose blows, but he’s the one paying the price. Why? Because he’s not supposed to be as good as the other guys on the pitch? Dontaie Allen was just as good, if not better, than the other players on the pitch.
Frankly, Allen deserves more chances not only for his shooting ability, but also for his effect on the game. If Coach Calipari is concerned about taking “anyone’s heart” then he should be more concerned about it. the kid from Kentucky, ready to play his heart out, sitting at the end of the bench.
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