Brown not happy with Iverson The Sixers had it all figured out. They'd win all three home games this week, then head into their difficult seven-game West Coast trip with plenty of confidence and a four-game winning streak. But that plan backfired after Wednesday night's 94-85 home loss to the Charlotte Hornets. That leaves the Sixers (10-15) in dire need of a victory tonight against the visiting Atlanta Hawks. "This is an important stretch for us," said Aaron McKie. "These are the games you've got to get." The Sixers should feel like they owe the Hawks (9-16), who lost by 27 Wednesday night in Washington. The Hawks overcame a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Sixers in Atlanta on Dec. 11. But the Sixers have in-house issues to work out before they can realistically expect to compete with the league's better teams. Larry Brown was annoyed that Allen Iverson didn't practice yesterday because of right elbow soreness. Speedy Claxton, who is on the injured list with a sprained ankle, was the only other Sixer who didn't participate. "We had a great practice," Brown said. "We had everybody here but Allen, which is typical." Later, when talking about the Sixers' perennial need for a perimeter scorer, Brown seemed to be referring to Iverson when he said, "Well, we don't have anybody who'll pass it to a shooter. It hasn't happened." "Yeah, we had Timmy Thomas and Toni Kukoc," Brown said. "The only (small forward) who flourished was George (Lynch) because George was rebounding and defending. He wanted to shoot the ball, but he realized, 'Hell, I'll never get it, so I'm going to rebound and defend.' "Anybody we get there who wants to shoot the ball, they never get the ball. So we can have Michael Jordan out there (and) if he spotted up, I doubt he'd get the ball. So what does it matter?" Brown also said he'd like for Iverson to concentrate on getting other players involved early and then hit the big shots in the fourth quarter. "We come out and do it (bleep) backwards," Brown said. "When Allen gets other people off early, it'll make us better and make it easier on him. He's got to understand the fourth quarter is his quarter. That's winning time. You can talk about it all you want - it's a learning process."  Iverson was unavailable for comment. He leads the league in scoring with a 28.8-point average, but is shooting 39 percent and taking more shots per game (27) than the next two Sixers. Brown said he regretted his post-game remark Wednesday that Matt Harpring "absolutely" is in jeopardy of losing his minutes. He told Harpring so in front of the entire team yesterday. Harpring had six points and two rebounds in a season-low 15 minutes against Charlotte.  "I told him that I was embarrassed by that comment because I try my darndest not to point a finger at anybody, especially after a loss," Brown said. "We didn't lose the game because of Matt Harpring." Still, Brown's preferred lineup down the stretch is playing three guards - usually Iverson, McKie and Eric Snow - to have an extra ball-handler on the floor. Dikembe Mutombo handles the middle, which leaves one spot for Derrick Coleman or Harpring. With Coleman injured Saturday in Cleveland, Brown called on Harpring in the final minute and Harpring committed two backcourt turnovers that nearly cost the Sixers a game they should've won easily. Brown wants Harpring to "do the things you're capable of doing. No matter what your role is, you can always rebound, defend and hustle on the break." One option is to start McKie at small forward in place of Harpring, but Brown hasn't decided to do that - yet. "He's out there trying and playing hard and we're behind him," McKie said. "We're his teammates and we're going to be behind him all the way. Things will turn around for him." Just as they need to for the Sixers.		Author Tom Moore   Source Philly Burbs   Return to Articles