After the 76ers' 20th loss of the season last night, Allen Iverson went on a frustrated, fed-up, five-minute diatribe about the state of the team one season after reaching the NBA Finals. It was not pretty.

Iverson portrayed a team divided: Effort is lacking, there is no chemistry, and the coach makes unwise decisions, has little in the way of a game plan, and is as guilty as the players for the Sixers' 15-20 record. At least, that's Iverson's opinion.

In short, he said, this team of Sixers is totally different from last season's - as if there were any doubt.

"We're just not the same team that we were last year," Iverson said after last night's 102-91 loss to the Orlando Magic, who improved to 19-18. "We were much better defensively. Our offensive chemistry, we were just a much better team.

"A lot of stuff that goes on on the court out there didn't go on on the court last year. Nothing's being done about it. These are the results. We have 20 losses."

Brown talked to reporters before Iverson assessed the team. He volunteered a self-criticism, saying he substituted "terribly," often leaving in struggling players too long. But Brown did not mention sitting Iverson for the opening five minutes of the second quarter, when the Magic turned a 27-24 edge into a 39-31 lead in part because the Sixers struggled to score.

In the fourth quarter, the Sixers cut the Magic's lead to one point, 81-80, but never could take the lead.

The fluid Tracy McGrady had his way with the Sixers, scoring on just about everybody, from Derrick Coleman to Matt Harpring to Aaron McKie and Eric Snow. Finishing 9 of 23 from the field for 26 points, McGrady also had 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Brown also placed some of the blame on the players. All but one unidentified starter looked as if they "were running in lead boots," Brown said, adding, "I didn't like the way we played."

Iverson didn't - or hasn't - either. A blowout win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, behind Iverson's first career triple-double, elicited this response from Iverson: "Whoop-de-do."

The Sixers have suffered in "every aspect of the game," Iverson said.

"The effort is not the same," he added. "The chemistry is not the same, the defensive chemistry or the offensive chemistry. You need to get stops, definitely, in this game, but you need to put the ball in the basket, too. We don't have no kind of chemistry on offense, at all.

"I don't know what the plan is night in and night out as far as the offensive end, and the defensive end. It should be obvious. We need to get stops, and hustle, and scramble like we always did. But we don't have that team no more."

Asked what can be done to fix the myriad problems, Iverson said, "I don't know.

"That's not my job to fix things or put guys in the right spots. It ain't my job. I don't have no control over that. I don't know about that stuff until after it happens."

Iverson finished 12 of 28 from the field for 27 points against the Magic, while four of his teammates scored in double figures and two - Dikembe Mutombo (20 rebounds) and Harpring - had double-doubles. 

The Sixers collectively shot 44 percent from the field and made 23 of 27 free throws but forced just seven Orlando turnovers and allowed the Magic to shoot 48.1 percent from the field, including 52.6 percent from three-point range. 

Told that Brown was critical of his substitution patterns, Iverson said, "I can believe that.

"Sometimes it's just the momentum of the game. Sometimes if it ain't broke, don't fix it, unless somebody tells you they're tired and they need to come out. . . . Sometimes you've got to let it flow, let it go the way it's going.

"Usually, when guys on this squad get tired, they put a hand up or something. I just don't have that problem."

Iverson had been the good soldier most of this season, biting his tongue and absorbing the occasional public criticisms by his coach. But obviously, with losses mounting quicker than wins, he changed his approach.

Will Brown? Last season, after a heated team meeting, Brown took two days away from the team. Already this season, the will-he-leave speculation has raced through the organization. Will this latest firestorm from Iverson push him out?

The Sixers are scheduled to practice this morning in preparation for San Antonio tomorrow night. What then? 

One more gem from the reigning NBA MVP:

"I don't feel good about beating the Clippers or a team with a losing record, and then turn around and say, 'I think we're playing well,' " Iverson said. "We're used to beating teams [last season] - good teams [and] bad teams - and the bad teams we'd just run right through them. I don't wait until we get a win and then say, 'OK, we're playing well now,' because we played a sorry . . . team."