Last season, then Sixers coach Doug Collins was constantly asking for more energy, more consistent effort out of Lavoy Allen. By the end of the season Allen had faded from Collins’ rotation and it felt like a lost season.
This preseason Allen has been slowed by a knee injury, but as he works his way back into the rotation — he played in the Sixers preseason game in England against Oklahoma City then last Friday against Boston — new coach Brett Brown is starting to sound like Doug Collins when talking about Allen. Brown said Allen needs to lose 8-10 pounds.
Here is the money quote, via PhillyBurbs.com.
Allen is in a contract year and needs to show everyone around the league he’s worth investing in. He defends pretty well, but he’s a pick-and-pop big who doesn’t like to venture inside much.
Allen has the skills to be a solid NBA rotation player, but that all starts with conditioning. If he gets that in order we’ll see what else he can do — on this thin Sixers’ roster he is going to get the opportunities.