Getty Steve Nash reacts to a call during a matchup with the Golden State Warriors.
Brooklyn Nets big man, Jarrett Allen put on a show last night.
Nets legend Derrick Coleman loved Jarrett Allen’s performance for Brooklyn vs. Jazz this evening & tells me: “Kid should have been starting. Small ball ant for everybody Nets get out rebounded every night.”
Allen stat line: 19 points & 18 rebounds in 32 minutes.
Starting at the center position on Tuesday, the Stanford big man recorded 19 points (8-9 FG, 3-7 FT), 18 rebounds, three steals, two blocks and an assist across 32 minutes in the Nets’ 130-96 win Tuesday over the Utah Jazz.
“Kid should have been starting,” Nets legend Derrick Coleman told me following the Nets’ win.
“Small ball ain’t for everybody Nets get out rebounded every night.”
Coleman was a stats stuffer during his 15 year NBA career in stints with the then-New Jersey Nets, Philadephia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets and the Detroit Pistons. Coleman averaged 16 points, nine rebounds and nearly three assists per game.
Coleman was the Nets’ first pick in the 1990 NBA Draft out of Syracuse University after being the star of a 26-7 Jim Boheim-led Orangemen team that won a Big East championship after going 12-4 in the conference.
Coleman was the only Net to earn at least two All-NBA honors before Jason Kidd a decade later. He’s also one of the top 10 scorers and rebounders in franchise history and was part of the core that led the Nets back to the playoffs after a five-year absence.
Coleman entered the NBA Draft after being 12 credits short from finishing his coursework and on the verge of signing a five-year $15 million contract, something unheard of for a rookie in the NBA at the time.
Coming from a family with a large military background, he was the first in his family to attend a major university.
Although Coleman went to the league, he always promised his mother that he’d go back and finish school. Twenty five years after making that promise Coleman, completed those 12 credits and earned his sociology degree from Syracuse.
Over his five years with the Nets, Coleman averaged 19.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, good for eighth in franchise history in scoring and sixth in rebounding. No other player in Nets history matches Coleman in ranking eighth or higher on both lists.
Meanwhile back at the ranch: While DeAndre Jordan has started many Nets gamesAllen’s averaged more minutes than Jordan.
Allen’s start on Tuesday against the Jazz was against Rudy Gobert, an elite defender who’s won multiple NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards.
With Allen’s impressive showing on Tuesday, he may receive more playing time as he’s averaging 10.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. “I think we have two talented guys over there,” said Coleman.
“Who’s the kid with the big afro? I love his energy. I love what he brings to the table,” Coleman told NetsDaily’s Matt Brooks.
“I don’t know why he’s not starting. And again, I think everybody’s trying to play small ball. Everybody can’t do that. Golden State showed they were really capable of doing that because they had shooters. They had guys that could pick and pop and shoot the ball. I think you need a big guy in there just to be that presence on the defensive end of the floor and to be able to communicate.”