Lance Allred was the best player on what is likely the best team in the D-League from what we can tell so far. Allred has been having an outstanding season so far, and his excellent play is obviously no fluke. Whats impressive is that Allred has been able to maintain the same level of play even with two NBA big men (Saer Sene and Josh McRobets) competing with him for minutes, which is a real testament to what he brings to the floor or Idaho.
Allred has solid height for a center at 6-11, with an average frame that appears to be well conditioned. He sticks to what he does best offensively, which is catch and finish simple moves around the basket, and knock down mid-range jumpers and free throws effectively with a really nice touch. He has excellent hands and is aided greatly by the fact that he has such great passers around him, in the form of Randy Livingston and fellow big men Cory Violette and Josh McRoberts. Hes actually a pretty unselfish player himself, smart enough to find the open man when the double team comes. Allred is also a fairly active player, stepping in for the occasional charge, running the floor extremely hard, and trying to make his presence felt as much as possible on the offensive glass. Hes actually a solid rebounder, more because of his fundamentals and activity level than his athleticism, which appears to be average. Hes not the most talented guy in the world, but hes able to be effective at this level because of his intelligence, fundamentals and the energy level he plays with.
Average athleticism seems to be the main thing holding Allred back from a hypothetical career in the NBA at this point. His lateral quickness is fairly poor, he isnt very strong, he lacks the explosiveness to be much of a shot-blocking threat, and his general awareness defensively is not very good. NBA big men would probably be able to overwhelm him with their superior strength and quickness, but there have certainly been worse big men to draw an NBA paycheck, thats for sure.
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