Someone on the Penn State Hoops board made an interesting observation. Tripping is so contrary to how you are taught to use your feet while playing basketball, he wondered if maybe there was something else at work here. He mentioned that about the only sport where people surreptitiously try to get away with tripping is in soccer and he wondered if Allen might have a soccer background. Sure enough, it turns out that Allen was
primarily a soccer player as a kid growing up. He didn't really concentrate on basketball until he was a teenager when his parents made him make a choice between the two sports. Apparently, some of his soccer "footwork" has remained with him to this date. It certainly doesn't excuse the tripping but it does make it a bit more understandable as to why it seems to surface at times.