Return of Iverson changes the look of Sixers' season DALLAS - Matt Harpring wanted to experience, just for a moment, the life of a Dallas Mavericks player. So after the 76ers practiced yesterday at the Mavericks' training facility inside the new America Airlines Center, Harpring toured the ridiculously lavish locker room. Each Dallas player has a small television in his locker, plus headphones and video games. Adjacent to the locker room are a gym, a pool table, and a training room that includes three whirlpools - one hot, one cold, one just right. "Look at this place," said Harpring, standing in one of the whirlpools, still wearing his practice gear. "This is awesome." But for all of Mark Cuban's money and all the toys he can buy, the Mavericks' owner still lacks what Harpring has - Allen Iverson on his team. If there was any doubt about Iverson's worth, there should not be now. Without Iverson in their first five games, the Sixers were a discombobulated, winless mess. With Iverson against the Mavs on Saturday, they were a cohesive, energetic, fun team that, oh, by the way, won. And now that Iverson and Aaron McKie - who are combining rehabilitation with game participation - have rejoined the starting lineup, the Sixers-of-old swagger has returned. Just like that. And just in time. The Sixers are 1-5 and in the Atlantic Division cellar. But that could change quickly. "I think it's a different attitude, a different atmosphere," Harpring said yesterday, before the team departed for Miami, where it will face the Heat tomorrow night. "I mean, we're going into these games and being like, 'Bring it on. Let's go. We're ready now.' I think, before, we were like, 'When's Allen coming back?' "Now it's like we're going full steam ahead. Whoever's in our way, we're coming after them. There's no holding back, and that's fun. I was at Cleveland last year, and we didn't have that." The difference Iverson made in his season debut was amazing. Although his jumper was off, he still drew double teams, and he found open teammates for uncontested baskets. And he still drove the lane, his surgically repaired right elbow exposed but unhurt. He still tossed alley-oop passes as well as one nifty behind-the-head pass to McKie for an easy fastbreak basket. Coach Larry Brown made yesterday's practice mandatory only for the younger players. McKie, who had returned from shoulder surgery on Thursday in Houston, shot a few baskets afterward, and Iverson got treatment on his elbow. It was a relaxing day after weeks of uncertainty. "I don't know if it'll turn around quickly, but I was encouraged," Brown said of Saturday's victory. "Derrick [Coleman] is playing great. Now that Allen and Aaron are back, it makes it a lot easier on everybody. The young kids are playing the positions they should be playing off the bench. Harpring was really solid. You get two of your best players back, it makes everybody better." In the Sixers' 98-91 win over the Mavs, Coleman was, as Brown said, "a monster." In 39 minutes, he made 10 of 16 shots from the field, scored a team-high 24 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, collected two assists, and blocked two shots, all without a turnover. Brown said that, given Iverson's 7-for-28 shooting and Coleman's touch around the basket, Coleman should have taken 20 shots. After the game, Coleman said that the previous weeks had not been frustrating, merely a learning experience. "We weren't organized," he added, "but we kept working hard, and eventually, we knew we'd get a win." Iverson helped. "I think A.I., even when I played with him [in an earlier stint with the Sixers], he was always more of a competitor than anything else," Coleman said. "The only person he really reminds me of - he didn't care who was in there, he was going to challenge you to that basket - is Isiah Thomas. He was fearless going to the basket." Harpring benefited greatly from Iverson's return. He made 6 of 11 field-goal attempts and totaled 13 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals in 38 minutes. Iverson said afterward that he had studied Harpring's strengths and knew where he should get the ball. Harpring, for his part, was amazed by Iverson's basketball smarts. "He knows the game, and I didn't know that," Harpring said. "I knew he had a talent because I knew he could do a lot of things. But he knows the game. That's the bottom line. And it's fun to play with people that know the game out there. "When I got here, everyone was talking about 'championship, championship, championship.' I've never been on a championship team, but this team, we've definitely got a chance."		Author Ashley McGeachy   Source Inquirer   Return to Articles