To make playoffs, Sixers can't afford to lose motivation
Are the 76ers, Maurice Cheeks was asked, playing like a playoff team?
Not right now, the coach replied.
Not with the level of their performance in Sunday's 92-79 loss to the Indiana Pacers. Not coming off an arguably worse performance in Friday's 102-86 loss to the Orlando Magic.
Not with six losses in their last seven games, and nine losses in their last 11.
But there the Sixers are, mired in the No. 8 - and last - playoff berth in the NBA's Eastern Conference, treating their tenuous position as if it were quicksand.
There they are, at 32-37, 1 ½ games ahead of the No. 9 Chicago Bulls and 2 ½ games behind the No. 7 Milwaukee Bucks. They would have to win 11 of their remaining 13 games to equal last season's 43-39 finish. Two of those games will be against the Bulls, April 5 in the Wachovia Center and April 8 in the United Center. And before that, they have to contend - perhaps a poor choice of words - with the defending Eastern champion Detroit Pistons tomorrow night.
Talk about being great pretenders.
"For us to not hold on to that eighth [spot], we have to continue to lose, and somehow, someway, we have to change that, change the feeling, change the vibe," Cheeks was saying after practice yesterday at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. "We've got to get some confidence in there; certainly, you look at Chicago right there, and there's a balance that can go any way at any time. We have to somehow change that."
It's obviously of critical importance to the coach. But given the listless performances against the Magic and the Pacers, what about the players?
"I would assume it is [important to them]," Cheeks said. "I told them [yesterday], I was sitting in that seat at one time; I know the feeling of playing important games, and knowing the things you have to do and getting ready to play. I can't say to a player after a game, 'Show me some feeling.' I don't know how to make that feeling for them. I know how I felt as a player. I know how I feel as a coach. I've been on both sides of the fence. If I [lost] a game and didn't feel I gave everything I had, I know how that feels. I want them to feel that.
"I want it to be not just another game. Sometimes we get caught in that feeling of thinking that we have next year and we have the next year [after that] instead of taking the moment as it is. The moment is like the Indiana game, and not using all of that to try and win [that] game."
Disappointment reigns.
"It's obvious, we're not playing as a playoff team," point guard Kevin Ollie said. "If we keep playing like this, we're not going to be a playoff team, because Chicago's going to catch us, Boston's going to catch us [from the No. 10 spot]. We've got to win; that's the bottom line. There's no sugarcoating. We've got to play better.
"The last two games, we weren't there in the fourth quarter [down 20 to the Magic, down 21 to the Pacers]. We're relying on our offense, and relying on perfect plays, and we're not talented enough to make offensive plays like the Phoenix Suns and teams that can get away with not playing defense all the time. We have to keep the game close in the fourth quarter, and then our superstars, Allen Iverson and Chris Webber, [can] make some key plays for us. Allen can score all the points he wants, [and] if we're not stopping anyone on the other end, sooner or later, Allen's going to miss."
More disappointment.
"I said it after Orlando; I was disappointed that the level we need to be at, we weren't there," Cheeks said. "Looking over the tape [of the Pacers game] again, [there's] just not the sense of urgency there. I have to take some responsibility in that; I have to get these guys ready, get them up, get them prepared as much as I possibly can, every possession. Possessions become quarters; quarters become games."
And the games, if you haven't noticed, are running out. That, to Cheeks, means this is no time to rely on what he calls "gimmicks," intricate zones and traps.
"Really, you have to learn how to guard your man at some point," he said.
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