Admit it. Ray Allen has a few idiosyncrasies. And they could sound rather peculiar to someone who doesn't know him.

Remember in January, when Allen started carrying a basketball with him? Fifteen games into his freshman season at UConn, Allen and his basketball became inseparable. For two months.

Allen always had it tucked under his arm. He even took the ball to bed with him. He would fall asleep watching television, the ball would roll out of bed, and in the morning Allen would find it on the floor.

It started after a four-game stretch in which Allen shot 32 percent from the field and made only nine field-goal attempts. Coach Jim Calhoun mentioned to Allen that Oscar Robertson had carried a ball with him, so Allen decided to give it a try.

The next game, Allen made 11 of 20 shots and scored a career-high 28 points in 32 minutes against the University of Hartford.

"I wanted to be more familiar with the ball, more comfortable with it," Allen said.

Ten months later, Allen is at it again. This time it's a videotape: "Come Fly With Me." A video scrapbook of Michael Jordan highlights. Death-defying dunks. Sky- scraping slams. Razzle-dazzle and tongue- wagging tricks that made Jordan basketball's all-time air traffic controller.

And Allen watches it every day. (Play) He can't get enough. (Rewind) It is his new companion. (Play again).

"I just study the things [Jordan] does because he has perfected a lot of things that were unperfected before he came along," Allen said. "I go back to my room and watch it at least once a night. Even though I know what's going to happen, every time I see it, it makes me think, `How did he do that?' "

Funny Allen should say that, because a lot of people are starting to ask the same question about him.

* * *

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is sitting in a crowded New York hotel ballroom, answering questions during Big East Conference media day. The conversation turns to Allen, a 6-foot-5 swingman who just became the first sophomore named to the preseason All-Big East first team since Lawrence Moten of Syracuse.

"He was the most explosive scorer in the league last year," Boeheim said. "He scored the most points per minute of any player in the league. If he had played 30 minutes a game, he would have been the leading scorer in the conference."

What does he do that makes him so explosive? Boeheim ponders the impossible explanation and smirks.

"What does Betty Crocker do?" Boeheim said. "I mean, he just scores. He can shoot the ball and he can drive. What did Michael Jordan do? He's just good. He's got the skills. He can shoot the three, he can get it off the glass. I think he might be the most explosive scorer in the country."

Those are sweetened words of praise. Yet there is every indication that Walter Ray Allen, the "Candy Man" from Dalzell, S.C., will support the remarks with some genuine home cooking this season.

Allen is the main reason Calhoun and the Huskies aren't worried about replacing the scoring of Donyell Marshall, who averaged 25.1 points last season, then headed to the NBA. Marshall started every game, scoring 855 points in 1,157 minutes. Allen came off the bench in all 34 games and was UConn's second-leading scorer with 429 points (12.6 average) in 735 minutes.

Based on Allen's productivity, if he had played the same number of minutes as Marshall, he would have averaged 19.9 points. Allen's minutes are certain to increase. Allen will start, splitting his time between small forward and shooting guard -- two positions that are virtually identical in UConn's offensive scheme.

His role is clear. Allen is expected to score. And he will do that in every imaginable fashion. Jump shots from three- point range. Slashing drives to the basket. Improbable off-balance leaners. And those dunks that display his 38-inch vertical leap.

"Last year, when I came in, I wasn't the focal point," Allen said. "Donyell was. That's where I think I got my confidence, because a lot of people didn't pay attention to me.

"Now it's going to be more of a team effort. The team is going to have to pick me up because I know defenses are going to concentrate on me. We're going to have to distribute the ball more. I just have to be patient. If somebody is really concentrating on keeping me from scoring, when I get the ball I can't be in a hurry and force my shot."

In an exhibition game against Spartak Aquarius of Moscow, Allen scored 27 points in 32 minutes despite an off night shooting (9-for-21, 1-for-7 three-pointers). Allen shot 40.2 percent from three-point range as a freshman.

"He won't go 1-for-7 from three-point range often," Calhoun said. "So, playing poorly, he had 27 points. He forced one or two three-pointers, but he forced nothing else. The coaches weren't opposed to the number of shots he took. We think he's our best scorer. We're going to give Ray every opportunity to do that.

"At this stage, he's probably as comfortable [with his role] as any kid I've had in a long time. I don't have any question that he's exceptionally comfortable. . . . If you get him the ball in the right places, he'll do great things with it."

Keep the cameras rolling. Allen has demonstrated a variety of head fakes, ball fakes and aerial acrobatics that seem to be inviting others to come fly with him.

One play, during the Blue-White scrimmage at the Civic Center in October, stood out from the rest. When guard Doron Sheffer lobbed an alley-oop pass that was far from perfect, it looked like a certain turnover. But Allen soared to the spot, got the ball with one hand and -- without looking at the basket -- dunked in the same motion.

Calhoun called it "Grant Hill-ish."

"I don't know if I've ever seen anything like that on our floor," Calhoun said.

Festival of highlights

Allen broke Shaquille O'Neal's scoring record at the U.S. Olympic Festival in St. Louis in July. He had 101 points in 101 minutes, leading the East team to a silver medal days before his 19th birthday.

In addition to leading the Festival in scoring average (25.3), he was the top rebounder (8.8) and was second in steals (2.8). He shot 54.4 percent from the field, 61.1 percent from three-point range and 94.1 percent from the free-throw line.

But people remember Allen more for his panache than his numbers. Dayton coach Oliver Purnell, who coached Allen's team at the Festival, still finds it dificult to describe some of the things Allen did.

"He caught the ball in transition and was in heavy traffic," Purnell said of the most memorable play. "It was a hard catch to start with. He catches the ball, balances on the dead run, and goes up and dunks it over a 6-8 guy. They're both on the run and Ray just runs by the basket. Boom! Dunks it matter-of-factly. It was done so quickly, it just sort of takes your breath away."

Purnell had heard of Allen but hadn't seen enough of him to know much about his game. He quickly learned what makes Allen unique. Purnell said Allen's "come- to-play-every-day" mentality makes him "too good to be true."

"The thing that separates him from a lot of people with tremendous athletic ability is that he's a refined player," Purnell said. "He's efficient. He uses screens well. He doesn't waste any motion, doesn't waste his dribble. And if he beats you, he doesn't allow you to catch up."

People noticed what Allen did at the Festival.

"He was a factor in a lot of games last season," Boston College coach Jim O'Brien said. "But I think everybody got their eyes opened up a little bit because he had a terrific summer."

Allen, rated the 27th-best player in his recruiting class by analyst Bob Gibbons, has been opening eyes for a long time. He was named Big East rookie of the week five times last season and would have been rookie of the year if Sheffer hadn't played so well down the stretch.

"The thing about [Allen] was he was so calm as a freshman," Villanova senior guard Jonathan Haynes said. "He doesn't really rush that much. He's explosive, but he takes his time with what he's doing and makes a lot of his shots."

Junior guard Kerry Kittles of Villanova, another first-team preseason Big East selection, sees a lot of himself in Allen.

"You have to watch so many things about him," Kittles said. "You've got to make sure he doesn't get a rebound, go back and put it in. You've got to make sure he doesn't drive past you. You've got to make sure he doesn't come off a screen and hit a jumper. He's very hard to guard."

And Moten, the Big East preseason player of the year, has been impressed by Allen's confidence.

"He took some big shots in big situations [last season], when we kind of thought Donyell would take the shots," Moten said. "He's a very good ballplayer, and I hear he played really well this summer. I'm happy for him. I just hope he doesn't shoot well against us."

It's all natural

Like most great players, Allen can't explain what he does on the court.

"I guess it's just natural," he said. "When I first started playing, I just threw the ball up and it would go in. I didn't really have form, it was just natural ability. It was my perception of how far the goal was and how high to throw the ball up.

"I don't really find any complexity in the shots I take. It's just normal for me to take an awkward shot. I just have a homing device on the goal, you could say."

Allen's jumping ability allows him to get off shots cleanly even when he is being well-defended. Many of the shots are actually more difficult than they appear.

"He came to us as an athlete and slasher," Calhoun said. "Now he's a slasher with a shot. And pretty soon he's going to be a slasher with all the other complements that go with the game."

Allen hears the crowd when he is playing and he knows a spectacular dunk is the thing that triggers a reaction. As much as he enjoys that, Allen said the plays he remembers most from last season happened along the baseline when he took the ball inside against bigger players.

He sometimes even impresses himself when he hangs in the air, draws the foul, makes the basket and goes to the free- throw line. He calls those his "and-one" plays.

"I would bring the ball up to the rim and then I'd kind of hold it back," Allen said. "I knew the first thing they were going to do was swat at it. I'd bring it back and their body would be on mine. I feel I can stay in the air a little while -- long enough for them to come down a little before me -- and I can put the shot up without somebody's hand there blocking it.

"Most big men don't have that good of a vertical jump. Nine times out of 10, the big man will come down before you do. I know I have an advantage over them when I go up in the air and come down in a cocked position. You just think about scoring really. I always think about putting the ball up."

For the most part, Allen tries not to think about what he is doing -- or what he has done.

"A lot of times I say, `That was kind of lucky,' " Allen said. "But the next practice, it will always be something new. Is it luck? Or is it repetitious luck? I really haven't come to the reality that I can do those things. I always think, `Is this going to happen again?' "

Personality sells

Allen is dressed and ready to leave the locker room, but he is struggling with his gold earring that bears a simple "34" -- his jersey number.

"I just got it this fall," Allen said. "I like it because it's a sporty look for me. Outside of basketball, I like looking sporty. . . . The only problem is I can't put it on without the mirror."

Allen is just as comfortable in a business suit. After returning to UConn from the Olympic Festival, Allen decided to get a summer job. Without an appointment, Allen walked into a Mansfield automobile dealership and sold himself.

"He came in with a suit and tie and said, `I want to work,' " said Ken Champagne Jr., vice president of Champagne Chevrolet Geo Jeep Eagle. "It caught me by surprise."

After Allen spent three weeks training and three weeks selling, Champagne offered him a job for next summer.

"He wrote five deals while he was here and he was doing it on his personality alone," Champagne said. "A customer came back to me who had been shopping to about six dealers. She came back and said the reason she bought the car wasn't the price, it was because of Ray's selling.

"We couldn't advertise Ray was here. Out of the five people Ray sold, I think only one knew him to be a basketball player. Salesmen are lazy by nature and they have a habit of shortcutting. Ray didn't shortcut at all. I think he's the same way in basketball. He's a natural hard worker."

If the NBA wasn't in Allen's future, he probably could be content selling cars for a living. For him, selling a car is like hanging in the air over that big man along the baseline.

"Salesmen are just very clever people," Allen said. "I feel like I can talk to somebody, know what they are thinking and know what kind of person they are. I can take a person out of their surroundings, look at that person and tell what kind of person they are. It helps me talk to them."

That intelligent, easy and open approach works for Allen regardless of his environment. Calhoun said that personality trait makes it even more pleasing to watch Allen's development.

"He almost looks like he enjoys playing, which is nice to say," Calhoun said. "I would hate for Ray to change. He's just a tremendously positive kid. Before he picks the ball up, I tell people he's a positive asset to our team."

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