Blogs > Sixers Dish

A Philadelphia 76ers blog, hosted by Christopher A. Vito

Thursday, April 18, 2013

SEASON WRAP: Doug Collins goes from coach to adviser; owner Josh Harris says Sixers will look into signing Andrew Bynum

(Associated Press)
Well, it's official.

That sentence applies on a couple levels. Here are the more pertinent ones:
  • The season is over. Yeah, you knew that already.
  • You knew this, too: Doug Collins officially resigned Thursday in a press conference at the team's practice facility, ending his three-year tenure as head coach and beginning his five-year run as an adviser to Sixers owner Josh Harris.
  • The Sixers – in case you didn't want to believe it – will look into signing free-agent center Andrew Bynum in the offseason, Harris confirmed. The owner said he and the team have not ruled out going after Bynum, saying the ownership group knows just about everything they need to know about Bynum's bum knees, which is somewhat of an advantage in the negotiating process, Harris said.

Before his presser had ended, Collins made sure to put in his endorsement of
Michael Curry, his associated head coach, for the Sixers' head coaching vacancy. Harris said the Sixers would like to hire a new coach before the June 27 NBA Draft.

Also, Harris used his platform to reinforce his support of general manager Tony DiLeo. In a front office that will lose president Rod Thorn to a consultant's role, and a bench that will lose Collins to an adviser's capacity, DiLeo remains for now. It'll be interesting to see who DiLeo surrounds himself with in the offseason.

The team's breakup day at PCOM featured plenty of highlights. Here are some of the lowlights of the season. These are obviously up for debate, but obviously all played a role in turning the Sixers' season:

  • Oct. 1 – The Sixers open training camp without Andrew Bynum, declaring his knee setback to be a three-week shutdown and leaving open the possibility that he would be ready by the season opener.
  • Dec. 12 – The Sixers lose to Chicago – and lose Jrue Holiday to a left ankle injury. The team loses 13 of the next 16, including the four games missed by Holiday, go from a 12-10 record to a 15-20 team and never again sniff the .500 mark.
  • Feb. 13 – The Sixers lose at Milwaukee in the final game before the All-Star break. They went 29-1 this season in games in which they led entering the fourth quarter. This was their lone loss. Instead of a two-game deficit for the eighth-place spot in the East, they trailed the Bucks by four at the break.
  • Feb. 26 – The Sixers lose at home by 14 to a listless Orlando team, after which Collins chides the group for its lack of preparedness and effort. If the writing wasn't on the wall for Collins' exit prior to this game, it was now.
  • March 19 – The Sixers announce that Andrew Bynum underwent season-ending knee surgery, ending his tenure with the team without the big man ever having played a game for them.
Check out Friday's Daily Times for additional coverage of the Sixers' wrap-up day at PCOM.

Labels: , , , , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home