Arizona basketball: Kadeem Allen to play off the ball in his senior season

Sean Miller believes it will help Allen be more effective on both ends of the floor

When Kadeem Allen decided to transfer to Arizona from Hutchinson Community College, it was believed the Wildcats were getting a player that would instantly light up the scoreboard in Tucson.

After all, Allen scored 25.9 points per game in his sophomore year in junior college, was named as the 2014 National JUCO Player of the Year and was a two-time All-American.

But in Allen’s first season on the court — after taking a redshirt year — the expectations didn’t line up with the production. The production wasn’t missing, it just came in a different fashion than originally anticipated.

Rather than being asked to score, Allen was primarily used to distribute for the Wildcats, playing more minutes than anyone else on the roster at point guard.

Allen averaged 8.4 points and a team-high 3.6 assists per game, while shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 36.0 percent from 3-point land. He was also the team’s best perimeter defender, leading Arizona in defensive box plus/minus — a box score estimate of the defensive points per 100 possessions a player contributed above a league-average player — of 5.3.

It was a solid junior season for Allen, all things considered, but the Wildcats are hoping a position change will allow him to play more to his strengths, and therefore bring out the most in him in his senior season.

Arizona head coach Sean Miller says he now sees Allen as more of a “2-3” than as a “1-2.”

In other words, Allen is expected to play off the ball more often.

“I think, given his strengths, when he’s off the ball he just plays more free,” said Parker Jackson-Cartwright, the team’s other point guard in 2015. “I think that’s what he does. He gets out in transition, he’s strong, and he can really shoot it. I don’t think guys and opposing teams really understand that yet, but he can really shoot it.”

“I think I’m a better fit at the 2 on offense,” Allen added. “I’m more fluent moving off the ball.”

Offensively, yes, Allen playing off the ball will allow him to focus on what he’s does best, which is to put the ball in the hoop. But defensively, he’ll also be maximized by moving away from point guard.

Being freed from the responsibilities of running the offense, Miller believes Allen — already a solid perimeter defender — can become a go-to defender, one that can switch onto the opponent’s best player on any given night.

“We talked to Kadeem about that,” Miller said. “Kadeem brings something that we didn’t have on last year’s team and that’s something you really take for granted...We really had a string of about four consecutive seasons with a perimeter player that you could count on that would guard the team’s best player.

“I’ll go back as far as Kyle Fogg in his last year…obviously Nick Johnson, TJ (McConnell), Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson) and I think this year, Kadeem, his quickness, his toughness, his experience, he wants to be that guy, but it’s hard to be that type of player and then also be the point guard, so I think by taking him off the ball, it might free him up to bring a valuable asset to the table to where he can be our defensive stopper... I think he would be a great candidate to have that role.”

It’s a role that Allen certainly wouldn’t mind having.

“I always embrace playing defense, even in high school,” Allen said. “I just had the edge and chip on my shoulder. To me defense is better than offense. I’ll take defense over offense any day.”

Miller said Allen may still see some time at point guard if there are injuries or foul trouble, but Jackson-Cartwright and Kobi Simmons are expected to take ahold of that position.

That gives Arizona two true-point guards at the position and it puts Allen in a better position to succeed.

It’s the best of both worlds.

“[Kadeem] playing more off the ball this year is really going to help our team and it’s really going to be really beneficial for him,” Jackson-Cartwright said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how we put it together.”

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You can follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapireUA

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