A lot of coaches think of themselves as teachers. Doug Collins is one of those guys. Hes fond of saying that he enjoys practice days, mainly because the court becomes his classroom.
On Tuesday, Collins gathered his students and gave them a one-question pop quiz. They all failed.
I asked them today what the day November 30 meant to them, Collins said. None of them knew.
Think about it and see if you can come up with the significance of that date. Heres a hint: It has something to do with the Sixers not playing well for, oh, a large portion of the season.
So, professor, whats the answer?
Its the last time we won two games in a row all year, Collins said. Its been six weeks. Now, we won three in a row that night in Charlotte.
Let that marinate for a moment. The Sixers have gone more than a month and a half without mustering two consecutive victories. During that span, they had two two-game losing streaks and two five-game losing streaks, but not a single winning streak. Thats how bad theyve been.
I want them to know that we havent tasted two wins in a row for six weeks, Collins said. Thats a long time. I just think you make them aware. You dont dwell on it. Its not like we can do anything about it, but maybe we can do something about it tonight.
They did not do something about it.
Hornets 111, Sixers 99 (see game recap).
The Sixers dont do anything particularly well. Entering Tuesdays game, they were 12th in the league in points allowed per game, which seems pretty solid until you consider that they were 27th in the league in scoring. The gap between those two categories is large enough that theyve fallen into it time and again this season and plummeted to countless losses.
Theres more. Or, rather, less. Before facing the Hornets, the Sixers were just 22nd in the NBA in rebounds per game and they were last in free throws made per game. Not surprisingly, they were also 21st in average attendance. Its tough to get people to watch hoops when the team struggles in so many disciplines for so many reasons.
The Sixers have serious personnel problems. A quick review of the NBAs efficiency rankingsreveals what you already know to be true -- that the roster is thin. For the unfamiliar, efficiency attempts to take into account all facets of the game to create an overall value for a particular player. Its not perfect, but its pretty good. Heres the formula: ((PointsReboundsAssistsStealsBlocks) - ((Field Goals Att. -- Field Goals Made)(Free Throws Att. - Free Throws Made)Turnovers)).
Jrue Holiday was 26th in the NBA in efficiency prior to Tuesdays game. Thats not surprising. Hes easily the Sixers best player. If he wasnt on the team, it would be impossible to calculate how bad the Sixers would be.
Thaddeus Young was 43rd in efficiency before the Hornets game. Evan Turner was 65th. After that, no other Sixers were in the top 100. (For the curious, Sir Shoots-A-Lot, Nick Young, was 226th in efficiency. Its remarkable that hes even that high. No wonder Collins recently buried him on the bench.
The team is basically three guys this year. Thats a tough way to win games -- which is probably why they havent done it much. They are 16-23 and sinking fast.
Its not like, lets win 20 in a row, Collins said about stringing together some victories. "Lets get number two. Every game here at home during this stretch is vitally important.
Thats what made the New Orleans game such a killer. Sure, the Hornets have played better recently, but theyre still a young team. New Orleans has just one player with more than five years of NBA experience. The Sixers have eight (or nine if you count Andrew Bynum).
That the Sixers couldnt beat the Hornets at home is beyond troubling. Collins was right. Every game during this home stand is vitally important, and yet the Sixers gave one away to New Orleans.
Collins said that good teams have energy. The Sixers dont have much energy. Collins said that good teams have confidence. The Sixers dont have much confidence. Collins said that players on good teams move the ball, move without the ball and talk to each other. The Sixers dont move the ball (with the exception of Holiday) and they dont move without the ball. As for the last part, they could talk to each other more than the women on The View (is that still a show?) and it wouldnt matter.
This is not a good team. Maybe Bynum will return and change that, but with each successive loss it becomes harder to imagine these Sixers as anything but mediocre.
Its time for us, Collins said. If were going to be in the talk, in the mix in the East, we have to start doing it now.
They had to start doing it on Tuesday night against the Hornets. So much for that.
E-mail John Gonzalez at jgonzalez@comcastsportsnet.com.