Jeremy Pargo, Lavoy Allen sparking Sixers

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. More important, his high-octane style of play seemed to be contagious, carrying some of those worn-out minds and bodies through the lethargic times.

And Allen, after some encouragement from teammate Kwame Brown, snared 22 rebounds while depositing 14 points and bringing his team a much-needed nasty presence in the lane. For Pargo, who is on a 10-day contract, playing all-out is a no-brainer when you're living paycheck to paycheck. In Allen, Collins sees a player doing what he has done in the past - play better in the latter part of the season.

"Jeremy came in [Saturday] night and played 29 minutes and I thought that was an incredibly positive effect," said Collins, whose team is 22-27 and three games out of a playoff spot. "You never know how that's going to work. I think our guys really fed off of his energy and what he brought to the game. I'm hoping we can find some kind of a rhythm. In the first half I thought we just couldn't make a shot. We went through that stretch in the second quarter where we had about four points in 6 minutes. The beauty of it is our defense has been good enough to carry us through those periods of time.

"I think that helps a lot [the fact that Pargo is fresh] and I think the fact that he's very confident. I think a lot of times, guys come in and they want to blend. I thought [Saturday] night he was very aggressive and assertive and I think it helps the fact that he's been in the league.

"When he played in Cleveland he put a tail-whipping on us and I think our guys respected that. I told him that I thought there were three or four shots in the paint that he decided to pass, but I think he could make. His energy, that's why when we had the first practice I told you guys I really liked what I saw. Sometimes teams make trades or whatever to change their teams and shake it up a little bit. Sometimes a little thing like that can have a really positive effect on your team, especially when you have a guy who has energy and toughness. And that's what we need."

Maybe even more so, they need what Allen provided Saturday and in recent games. Over the past five games, Allen has averaged just under 11 points, grabbed 9.6 rebounds and shot 52 percent from the floor.

"He's a second-half player," Collins said. "I went back and looked at Lavoy's career at Temple and the first half of the season how many double-doubles he had and then the last half of the season. And for some reason he's a guy that he's a second-half player. If you go back and look at his numbers, the amount of double-doubles he had in the first 15 games at Temple and look at how he finished and it's almost like what he's doing now. It's like he's picking up as we go along. I think he's in better shape, he's playing with a lot of confidence. And Lavoy is the one guy on our team who doesn't mind getting knocked around a little bit."

And the addition of Pargo also means relief for starting guard Jrue Holiday, who will not get time off during the break as a member of the Eastern Conference squad.

"The energy thing, that's just a part of me being who I am," Pargo said.

Added Collins: "Last year I could run some offensive stuff because we had four guys who could handle the ball and make plays. And now with Jeremy and Evan [Turner] and Jrue and Swaggy [Nick Young] and Dorell [Wright], I went back today and went through some of the stuff that will hopefully help us with our early offense that we've run in the past. Hopefully it will help us get into our stuff a little bit quicker and the fact that we have multiple ballhandlers now will help."

Of course, none of it really matters unless everyone starts to play with more consistency.

Andrew Bynum was on the court during media viewing time Sunday, wearing a shirt soaked with sweat. In the approximately 20 minutes the media was allowed to watch, Bynum shot jumpers from all over the floor. His shot looked very smooth on his standstill jumpers. The curtain was then closed as Bynum continued his workout in private . . . The Sixers will travel to Milwaukee on Wednesday to close out the unofficial first half of the season.

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