Monday, September 23, 2013

Blazer Player Review: Allen Crabbe

            One of the newest, and it seems least known, members of the Portland Trail Blazers is rookie SG Allen Crabbe. If you followed the PAC-12 the last three years then you know Crabbe has been one of the best shooters in the entire conference.

Photo Courtesy of Oregonlive.com
            Throughout college at the University of California he shot 38.2%. His only sub 40% year was last year at 34.8%. Although his 3-pt % was low last year his FG% was the highest it’s ever been at 45.9%. He averaged 44.6% over his career at Cal. Overall scoring he averaged 15.7 PPG, and his highest average was his last year when he averaged 18.4 PPG. Also, don’t overlook his Free Throw shooting, he never shot below 80% at Cal.
            His Freshman year he was the PAC-10 Freshman of the Year. Sophomore year he was named to the All-Pac-12 first team. Finally his last year, 2011-2012, he was named to the first team again and voted PAC-12 Player of the Year, and he was recognized as a third team All-American by Sports News and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
            A bonus for the Blazers is he isn’t just a stop and shoot player like Luke Babbitt was for so long. Crabbe will fight and scrap with the big guys down on the block. During his time at Cal he averaged 5.7 rebounds a game. He also averaged a little over half a block per game.
            Crabbe can also fight with the guards; he gets about 1 steal a game, so look for him to be clawing at the ball when he gets playing time. At 6’6” he will be a challenge for some guards, but he also provides offensive potential.
            There is a jam at the guard position for the Blazers so we’ll see how many opportunities Crabbe gets this season. He has great potential and he was worth the trade during the draft. In case you forgot, the Cavs picked Crabbe first and the Blazers traded them two second round picks to get the Cal product.
            After watching Crabbe the last two years from an opponent perspective, I’m excited to be able to root for him. He has always been a prolific scorer and a decent defender. We’ll just have to see if Crabbe brings the same attitude and swagger he had at Cal.