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ShareBetson: The Team's True Nature
by CHUCK BETSON
For the 2002-03 season, Sixers.com will offer fans a weekly column rotating local sportswriters Chuck Betson and John DiCarlo. Visit Sixers.com each Thursday for a fresh and engaging look at your Philadelphia 76ers.
Betson & DiCarlo Archives
posted January 16, 2002
The NBA season is a grueling marathon that tests both wills and psyches.
That said, the Philadelphia 76ers would be wise to take a page from the playbook of the Philadelphia Eagles: Don't get too high after a win or too low after a loss.
Because of the nature of the NBA beast, exchange streaks for games when it comes to the Sixers.
The Sixers beat the New Jersey Nets 108-107 Wednesday night at the First Union, which ended a six-game losing streak.
During that streak the club seemed to reach a new low. Larry Brown mentioned it after the win when he talked about how his team seemed to sigh after every made jump shot by the opposition.
This just in to Sixers.Com: Teams are going to make jump shots against you now and then in the NBA.
"I think these guys are trying; I know they care,''' Brown said. "I just don't think we have a lot of confidence.''
It is Brown's job to make sure his team doesn't ebb and flow like the tides of the ocean. A six-game losing streak can become a four-game winning streak in the blink of a 24-second shot clock. It's hard to get a feel for this team's true nature right now.
The fast start followed by the road trip and recent home court swoon has many Sixers analysts befuddled.
One theory is that too many players have come and gone since November and that Brown needs to tighten up the rotation. He did that Wednesday night, basically going with the group that got the club off to the great start.
But there are still questions about the Sixers ability to defend in the weight room, with all due respect to Sixers play-by-play guru Marc Zumoff.
The Nets got 25 offensive rebounds against the Sixers; an arena record.
New Jersey hammered away at the Sixers frontcourt, with Kenyon Martin
leading the charge.
Now you tell me if the NBA isn't strange when a team gets 25 offensive rebounds and loses the game. And the Nets lost despite 16 assists from Jason Kidd. Where's Freddie Carter when we need him to explain this game?
"I think sometimes we try and help too much on defense,'' said Keith Van Horn, who was huge against New Jersey's zone in the fourth quarter. "We know we can't give up rebounds like that.''
As the Sixers seasons turns into the harsh winter, how the team reacts to wins and losses might tell us more about this group. This might be Brown's most fragile team yet in that it can go from bad to good as quick as a three-second violation.
How the Hall of Fame coach handles his team's mood swings will reveal just how successful this team will be in the long run.
For the 2002-03 season, Sixers.com will offer fans a weekly column rotating local sportswriters Chuck Betson and John DiCarlo. Visit Sixers.com each Thursday for a fresh and engaging look at your Philadelphia 76ers.
Betson & DiCarlo Archives
posted January 16, 2002
 E-mail him at chuckbetman@aol.com. |
That said, the Philadelphia 76ers would be wise to take a page from the playbook of the Philadelphia Eagles: Don't get too high after a win or too low after a loss.
Because of the nature of the NBA beast, exchange streaks for games when it comes to the Sixers.
The Sixers beat the New Jersey Nets 108-107 Wednesday night at the First Union, which ended a six-game losing streak.
During that streak the club seemed to reach a new low. Larry Brown mentioned it after the win when he talked about how his team seemed to sigh after every made jump shot by the opposition.
This just in to Sixers.Com: Teams are going to make jump shots against you now and then in the NBA.
"I think these guys are trying; I know they care,''' Brown said. "I just don't think we have a lot of confidence.''
It is Brown's job to make sure his team doesn't ebb and flow like the tides of the ocean. A six-game losing streak can become a four-game winning streak in the blink of a 24-second shot clock. It's hard to get a feel for this team's true nature right now.
The fast start followed by the road trip and recent home court swoon has many Sixers analysts befuddled.
One theory is that too many players have come and gone since November and that Brown needs to tighten up the rotation. He did that Wednesday night, basically going with the group that got the club off to the great start.
But there are still questions about the Sixers ability to defend in the weight room, with all due respect to Sixers play-by-play guru Marc Zumoff.
| “ |
I think these guys are trying; I know they care. I just don't think we have a lot of confidence.” — Coach Brown |
Now you tell me if the NBA isn't strange when a team gets 25 offensive rebounds and loses the game. And the Nets lost despite 16 assists from Jason Kidd. Where's Freddie Carter when we need him to explain this game?
"I think sometimes we try and help too much on defense,'' said Keith Van Horn, who was huge against New Jersey's zone in the fourth quarter. "We know we can't give up rebounds like that.''
As the Sixers seasons turns into the harsh winter, how the team reacts to wins and losses might tell us more about this group. This might be Brown's most fragile team yet in that it can go from bad to good as quick as a three-second violation.
How the Hall of Fame coach handles his team's mood swings will reveal just how successful this team will be in the long run.
