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A Philadelphia 76ers blog, hosted by Christopher A. Vito

Saturday, October 6, 2012

COLLINS: ALLEN NEEDS AN 'EGO' TRIP

(Associated Press)
Lavoy Allen was a full participant in the afternoon session Friday, even knocking down a pair of jumpers from the top of the key in a scrimmage – both of which came as a surprise considering how much rest he had gotten in the last 24 hours.

“No sleep,” he said. “Hard to stand up.”

A second-year big man out of Temple, Allen and his girlfriend welcomed a baby boy – the couple’s first child – late Thursday evening. A handful of false alarms were to blame for Allen missing three of the team’s first six training-camp sessions.

Allen didn’t offer the name of his newborn son.

“Can’t release that information until I get paid like Jay-Z and Beyonce, and Angelina and Brad,” Allen said.

Sixers coach Doug Collins said Friday he thinks Allen, one of the more understated guys on the team, could benefit from an ego trip. And he meant that in the best way possible.

Allen last season was ranked by ESPN.com as the NBA's No. 500 player ... the worst in the league. Allen took that title to heart, even changing his Twitter username to a more-fitting handle (@Mr_5Hundred). Even though he's climbed all the way to No. 232, Collins said he hopes a promising playoff showing against the Boston Celtics -- and more specifically, future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett -- improves the kid's confidence.


“Get a bigger ego as to how good of a player he can be, and that’s said in a very positive way," Collins said, when asked what advice he'd give Allen in training camp. "I was just down at Duke with (my son, and assistant Blue Devils coach) Chris, and they have a young player on their team who’s a very talented player and he told me, he said, ‘Dad, when he gets an ego, he’s going to hit the ceiling.’

"With Lavoy, I want him to get a bigger ego in a good way. He can be a double-double kind of guy."

For the record, Allen averaged 4.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in the regular season, and 6.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the playoffs.

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