The Sixers suffered their sixth straight loss Tuesday night, a 14-point home loss to one of the worst teams in the NBA, a team that traded away their best player a week ago, the Orlando Magic. Doug Collins made it quite clear the ‘mind-numbing’ loss was rock bottom as he publicly went at his players during his post-game press conference.
Collins on the Sixers lack of effort and energy, which led to them being booed off the court:
“I gotta tell you. I’m sitting there. I gave my body to this franchise. I was never booed as a player. Never. I ran through my sneakers.”
I told you, I did not think our guys prepared themselves during the break to come back to play.”
“I looked out there to start the game and three guys weren’t even sweating when we started the game. They’re going to ease themselves into the game. You’ve gotta get sweaty, you’ve gotta get ready to go.”
I say all the time … they say it’s a players’ league, well then take ownership. Take ownership. That’s all I’m asking: Take ownership of what you’re putting out there.
When asked about how injuries have played a role, Collins hammered home the fact that the Sixers gave up too much, including a guy that just racked 19 boards against him, for a guy who hasn’t seen a second on the court:
“We made a huge deal and we have nobody playing a part of that deal. How many teams can give up Andre Iguodala, Moe Harkless and Nikola Vucevic and have nothing in return playing? That’s tough to overcome. That’s just the facts. I’m not looking for any outs. That’s a fact. Nik Vucevic had 19 rebounds tonight. Spencer [Hawes] had one, I think Lavoy [Allen] had two.”
In summary, Collins, referencing Pat Summit, says while he can control execution, the players are responsible for energy and effort every night:
“[Pat Summitt] is one of the all-time great coaches, and she spoke at my clinic when I was in Chicago, and she was incredible. And I’ll never forget what she said. She said when she goes into young ladies’ homes to recruit them, she said there are three things that you have to bring in my program: energy, effort and execution. And I’m in charge of one of them: execution.”
