November 10, 2016
For many Sixers fans, watching the team lose close game after close game hasn’t been easy. The evidence is right there on my Twitter feed the night of every game, and it’s understandable. The Sixers still haven’t been able to break their 0-for-October and November streak that dates back to 2013, and even more frustratingly, they have blown four legitimate chances at wins with poor late-game execution.
But for the franchise’s most recent superstar, one of the most competitive players in the history of the sport, watching the losses from afar hasn’t been too difficult.
That’s right: A.I. trusts the process.
“It hasn’t been hard because I see where it’s going,” Allen Iverson said on Thursday. “I see that we have the talent to be great. The experience is going to matter.”
Iverson, who came in for what Brett Brown described as a surprise visit for the coaching staff, was on the practice court in Camden speaking with the team after an overtime loss in Indianapolis the night before.
.@alleniverson talks about message to team following practice. pic.twitter.com/ZRt6B1Iotn
— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) November 10, 2016
Maybe Iverson wasn’t talking about practice, but he certainly was talking at it.
“Anytime A.I. talks, especially with our young guys, he commands attention and he deserves it,” Brown said. “And the good thing was that his message was as appropriate given where we are now, as I could have asked for or scripted.”
“We do have an opportunity to be around him, to be in his presence, it’s always a joy,” Jahlil Okafor said.
The message was fairly predictable coming from Iverson: Play every game like it’s your last (as he did for every one of the 834 games he played in Philly), continue to believe in your teammates, as Iverson finally was able to do as he took a shaky supporting cast to the 2001 NBA Finals, and play to win instead of not to lose.
“It hasn’t been hard because I see where it’s going. I see that we have the talent to be great. The experience is going to matter.”
Those are clichés, but anyone who witnessed Iverson put his body on the line night after night during his playing career knows that he practiced what he’s currently preaching. The cachet that the recent Hall of Fame inductee has with NBA players that grew up watching him is undeniable.
And for Iverson, the positive outlook moving forward has to do with the team’s younger players.
“Young talent, great young talent,” Iverson said. “The upside of it all is the most positive thing when I look at this squad. The young talent is excellent, and I’ve been around the game for so long.”
As everyone knows, that young talent starts with Joel Embiid. When Iverson was asked to offer a comparison for the Sixers 7’2” rookie center, he paused for a second and realized he couldn’t, offering one word: Embiid.
“I knew when we picked him, I knew it was a great pick for us,” Iverson said. “I knew it. I’m a basketball head, I watch basketball players so I knew he was good. And he’ll be greater, he’s only going to get better. And he’s going to make the guys around him better as well.”
Iverson and Larry Brown once helped make the players around him better en route a finals appearance. The Sixers surely hope that Embiid can do the same one day, but for the team and its fans, they’ll take win over Indiana on Friday night for time being.
Embiid said he will play on Friday night while Okafor is listed as probable. With the team facing a back-to-back this weekend, Brown talked about the possibility of using Okafor in a “bullpen” role on Friday like he did last week for the team’s first back-to-back.
In that scenario, Embiid and Richaun Holmes would get the center minutes on Friday. Unless there is an emergency, Okafor would sit on the bench in uniform. Then Okafor would be available while Embiid sits out Saturday’s game in Atlanta.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
