With the Sixers off to another slow start, head coach Brett Brown asked Hall-of-Fame guard Allen Iverson to provide some encouraging words to his frustrated team (link via ESPN.com). Iverson suggests that he still believes the 76ers have a promising future ahead of them, despite the fact that the club is 0-7 to start the 2016/17 season.
“I want the fans here to be patient with those guys,” said the former Sixers star. “We’ve got the talent. It’s here. Just be patient with them. And I just want those guys to believe in each other and trust in each other. That’s it. The future is bright for us.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic division:
- Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek says that the decision to install Kurt Rambis as a defensive assistant was his own, and didn’t come from team president Phil Jackson. Marc Berman of The New York Post has the details, along with the quotes from Hornacek.
- The Raptors are off to a hot start this season, despite shooting just 28.8% on three-pointers in a league that values three-point shooting more than ever. With that in mind, Scott Stinson of The National Post wonders if DeMar DeRozan has become an exception to an NBA rule, while Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun examines DeMarre Carroll‘s continued adjustment to a different style of play in Toronto.
- Jae Crowder remains on the shelf for the Celtics, and according to head coach Brad Stevens, the veteran forward is unlikely to return to the court for Boston until at least next Wednesday (link via A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com).
Sigh. Demar Derozan gets plenty of three pointers. They’re called AndOnes. He led the league last year, and probably now. They have the added advantage of getting the other team in the penalty and the other team’s rim protector in foul trouble.
The day when all basketball writers/analysts everywhere accept that efficiency and shooting long threes are not synonymous will be great indeed.
After that, blocked shots and post defense, again positive correlation without congruence…..