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During the first four games of the 76ers' preseason schedule, rookie coach Randy Ayers pretty much stayed to form, playing the starters in only the first and third quarters and giving the reserve players plenty of chances to show what they could do.
However, that will change for the final four contests, beginning tonight against
the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. Ayers plans to give his starters more minutes
and work on establishing a substitution rotation with which he will be comfortable
as the regular-season opener races toward the Sixers. Ticketmaster
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The preseason contest at the Delta Center marks the first leg of a three-games-in-four-days swing that also will take the Sixers (1-3) to Dallas and to Norfolk, Va., where they will play the New Orleans Hornets in Allen Iverson's home.
"I think you get to the point where you're probably comfortable playing
eight [players], nine maybe," Ayers said. "It's just hard, but it
makes it good because you have to earn your playing time out there.
"Obviously, some guys are going to play. Allen's going to play. Eric [Snow]
is going to play. But it really puts other guys in a situation where they have
to compete every day in practice." Ticketmaster
Ayers would like to get all five starters on the court at the same time. While
veteran Derrick Coleman is expected to see his first action of the preseason
tonight after recovering from a strained groin, forward Kenny Thomas will not
travel with the team because of a bruised right hip and tendinitis in his right
Achilles tendon.
Nor did Iverson - who was excused from practice yesterday for what the Sixers
called "personal business" - travel with the team to Salt Lake City
for the game tonight with Utah. It had not been determined whether Iverson,
who appeared at the Sixers' training center after practice yesterday, will rejoin
the club for tomorrow night's game in Dallas.
Ayers will have to adapt accordingly. He likes what he has seen from the team's
two rookies, second-round picks Willie Green and Kyle Korver. Green, in particular,
has excelled at crunch time, leading fourth-quarter comebacks in the last two
games against San Antonio and New Jersey.
Without Thomas, Ayers could experiment with a lineup that consists of three
guards and Glenn Robinson at power forward. And he said he wouldn't be afraid
to use Green or Korver in that situation.
During this trip, Ayers wants to tighten up the offense and defense and see
more consistency on the boards. Ticketmaster
"We've got to start putting things together," he said. "We've
put in some more offensive sets. Hopefully, they'll start picking that up. But
from here on in, we've got to have a focus every day."
The Sixers are still learning how to play with Robinson, who missed two preseason
games last weekend. Coleman will see his first action with Robinson tonight
but the full frontcourt won't be together because Thomas is out.
"It's a concern because we're not where we want to be right now,"
Aaron McKie said, referring to injuries. "I think we're getting better.
But at the same time, we've got two weeks left, so we've got to cram a lot of
things within that span."
McKie added that having everyone available is "very important from the
standpoint of timing, minutes played, and rotation.
"As a coach, sometimes you get lucky where if a guy goes down, you can
pop another guy back in and everything is still the same. But if people haven't
been playing from the beginning and don't understand the plays and don't understand
what's going on out there, it can take away from the timing of everything."
The Sixers meet the Mavericks tomorrow night at American Airlines Arena. They
then head to Norfolk, near where Iverson grew up in Hampton, Va., for Monday's
game against the Hornets.
Notes. The Sixers waived forward Lamont Barnes, a 6-foot-10 free agent from
Temple, leaving the roster at 16 players.