Lavoy Allen

In a perfect world, Lavoy Allen would be playing with a Sixers summer-league team, impressing management so much that it would be preparing to throw a guaranteed contract at its second-round draft choice. This is not a perfect world or anything close to it in the NBA these days. So, as the league's lockout continues, Allen has done the prudent thing. The Big 5 Player of the Year from Temple signed a contract with Strasbourg in France. "I got the offer not even a week ago," Allen said last night.

Temple junior forward Lavoy Allen withdrew his name from consideration for next month's NBA draft on Saturday, the final day for non-seniors to declare their intentions per NCAA rules. Allen was unavailable for comment yesterday, but Owls coach Fran Dunphy spoke about his star player's decision. "I'm happy for him, and I'm happy for the program, because it was the right thing to do," Dunphy said. "We move on, and hopefully, this time next year, he will be in a much more advantageous position.

Lavoy Allen entered his rookie season with the 76ers without the highest of profiles. He had starred at Pennsbury High and Temple, but Allen, the 50th overall selection in the 2011 NBA draft, probably exceeded the expectations of Sixers fans simply by making the team. Even better, Allen contributed as a rookie and became a vital frontcourt performer in the postseason for the Sixers. This season, his profile, and likely his playing time, will rise. Even with the addition of Andrew Bynum, Allen was expected to see his share of time at power forward and possibly center.

The wiggle room the 76ers had last year heading into the all-star break is nonexistent this time around. A 20-9 start last season helped the Sixers survive a 15-22 finish that began with a momentum-killing five-game losing streak right before the break. They led the Atlantic Division at the all-star break last year. Before they reach the break this season, the fourth-place Sixers know the importance of games against the Los Angeles Clippers (36-17) and the Milwaukee Bucks (25-24)

AS SPENCER HAWES said a few days ago, these are the dog days of the NBA season with two more games, including Monday hosting Brooklyn, before the Sixers start the All-Star break. While minds start to wonder and bodies yearn for much-needed rest, coaches try to bleed any sort of energy from their team. Coach Doug Collins is looking to tap into newly signed guard Jeremy Pargo and starting center Lavoy Allen. Pargo, who torched the Sixers earlier this season for 28 points as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, played 29 minutes in Saturday's 87-76 win over the visiting Charlotte Bobcats and contributed 12 points and six assists.

One of the primary challenges for the 76ers over the summer and into next season will be to push forward/center Lavoy Allen not to level off too soon. Allen was one of the team's biggest surprises last season as a rookie who was selected with the 50th pick in the 2011 draft. The Sixers rewarded him with a two-year, $6 million contract, but Allen has shown only marginal improvement this season. Allen averaged 4.1 points and 4.9 rebounds as a rookie; he was averaging 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds through 74 games.

THE PRIDE of the Cherry and White was evident even in an empty hallway in the bowels of the Wells Fargo Center. Sixers forward Lavoy Allen was asked if he had a rooting interest in Sunday's Super Bowl. "Ravens," he said. "Because of Bernard Pierce. " Allen and Pierce's Temple careers overlapped for two basketball seasons (2009-11) and though Allen said they may not have been daily phone buddies, they would have occasional conversations. "But I've been following him and know that he's been doing real well," Allen said of Pierce, who is Baltimore's second-string running back.

ORLANDO - Second-year power forward Lavoy Allen officially re-signed with the 76ers on Wednesday. The Temple product got a two-year deal reportedly worth about $6 million. "I wasn't really sure how much I was going to get," Allen said. "I'm just thankful that they offered me to come back and I can be with the 76ers the next two years. " The 6-foot-9, 225-pound Allen averaged 4.1 points and 4.2 rebounds in 41 games, including 15 starts, during the regular season. The rookie elevated his play in the postseason, averaging 6.3 points and 4.9 rebounds.

SACRAMENTO - All 76ers coach Doug Collins could do was point to his head. There were no words forthcoming, just a finger to his temple. The question posed to Collins following Sunday's 117-103 win over the Sacramento Kings, which snapped a 15-game road losing streak, was: "What got into Lavoy Allen, and how come he can't play like this more often?" Allen posted a career-high 20 points in the win, only the second time in 17 games he has hit double figures. His minutes had dwindled drastically of late as the dreaded "plays with little passion" tag has grown larger and larger throughout the season.

It was a subtle prod at the end of a news conference that 76ers coach Doug Collins would like to deliver with the force of a jackhammer. Collins had just spent a moment Sunday after the Sixers' 104-101 win over the Phoenix Suns talking about wanting center Lavoy Allen to continue taking those 15- to 17-foot jump shots that Allen likes. "He's a very good shooter," Collins said when asked whether he was comfortable with Allen's taking that shot. "Our big guys - that's what they do. I'd like to say that we have guys who are going to pound it into the paint and stuff like that.

JOSH HARRIS acquired Twinkies and Hinkie in the same calendar year. Either move could make the billionaire investor look like a Ding Dong. Harris' group of investment sharks, Apollo Global Management, in March bought a piece of Hostess out of bankruptcy. Harris' group of hoops hobbyists, the Philadelphia 76ers, last week hired 35-year-old Stanford MBA graduate Sam Hinkie to be the team's president of basketball operations and general manager. Twinkies have a timeless allure.

Spend enough time around elite athletes and you come to realize something that you'd otherwise miss. While many wrongly assume they are all mostly narcissistic, self-centered, intolerant and out of touch, I've always felt that they have, in some regards, a better perspective on some things than the fans who complain about the salaries they help to pay. Athletes operate in a world where many of the picayune barriers we erect - racism, sexism and...

After a season that began with lofty expectations that they never came close to realizing, the 76ers are headed to the lottery along with the other irrelevant NBA teams. Here is one man's look at the players the Sixers may or may not bring to training camp in October. Who should stay and who should go? Lavoy Allen. A new contract and extended minutes didn't translate into better productivity from the former Temple star in his second season. He is owed $3.1 million next season and could be playing to remain in the league.

A year ago, there was plenty of excitement surrounding the 76ers. "We played Indiana on our team photo [day], lost, and played five straight road games to get into the playoffs and won four of them," said coach Doug Collins, whose team took this season's team photo Wednesday before a 124-101 setback to the Atlanta Hawks. "It's just interesting where you are from this year to last year. " These days, the Sixers (31-47) bear little resemblance to the team that was eliminated by the Boston Celtics last year in the seventh game of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

One of the primary challenges for the 76ers over the summer and into next season will be to push forward/center Lavoy Allen not to level off too soon. Allen was one of the team's biggest surprises last season as a rookie who was selected with the 50th pick in the 2011 draft. The Sixers rewarded him with a two-year, $6 million contract, but Allen has shown only marginal improvement this season. Allen averaged 4.1 points and 4.9 rebounds as a rookie; he was averaging 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds through 74 games.

It really is how you finish. Jrue Holiday, who had three points after three quarters, scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to lead the 76ers to a 100-92 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in front of 16,764 fans. The victory gave the Sixers (30-43) their third three-game winning streak of the season. Evan Turner led the Sixers with 22 points. Spencer Hawes finished with 19, Thaddeus Young and Damien Wilkins both scored 15, and Young grabbed 10 rebounds for the Sixers.

SACRAMENTO - All 76ers coach Doug Collins could do was point to his head. There were no words forthcoming, just a finger to his temple. The question posed to Collins following Sunday's 117-103 win over the Sacramento Kings, which snapped a 15-game road losing streak, was: "What got into Lavoy Allen, and how come he can't play like this more often?" Allen posted a career-high 20 points in the win, only the second time in 17 games he has hit double figures. His minutes had dwindled drastically of late as the dreaded "plays with little passion" tag has grown larger and larger throughout the season.

SALT LAKE CITY - The night after the Sixers snapped their 15-game road losing streak at Sacramento, things got back to normal. Randy Foye scored 17 points, Gordon Hayward added 15 on 3-for-3 shooting beyond the arc and the Utah Jazz beat the Sixers, 107-91, Monday night to halt a four-game losing streak. "We got off to a horrible start," Sixers coach Doug Collins said, "then we went to the second unit to see if they could get it going and they got to within 45-40. Then we gave them six straight turnovers and they had a 13-0 run. " Dorell Wright scored 19 for the Sixers (27-43)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - It takes a lot to distract Lavoy Allen. But the 76ers forward/center, a Temple graduate, said he took time out of his preparation for Sunday's game with the Sacramento Kings to watch the Owls go down to Indiana in the NCAA East Regional. Temple lost, 58-52. "I watched it, and I was rooting for my guys," Allen said. "But I have been focused on getting ready to play the Sacramento Kings today. " The Hoosiers closed with a 10-0 run. "They almost had them, yeah," Allen said of the Owls.

SACRAMENTO - There were plenty of Sixers players and staff with long faces roaming around the locker room, and many NCAA Tournament brackets were in pieces on the floor, torn up in frustration by those who now have little shot of winning their pools. It was more personal than that, though, for some. Lavoy Allen and assistant coach Aaron McKie were both suffering through Temple's close loss to Indiana on Sunday, as was Temple alum and equipment manager Scott Rego. Usually boisterous Jeremy Pargo was silenced by the fact that his top-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs were ousted on Saturday by Wichita State.