After Sixers hit new low, coach Doug Collins rants about players’ effort

What has been an ugly season for the Philadelphia 76ers hit a new low Tuesday — they got crushed by the worst team in the NBA, your Orlando Magic. The Sixers shot 39.5 percent for the game, lost 98-84 and it wasn’t that close.

Afterwards Doug Collins was dumbstruck by his team’s poor effort. And he wasn’t afraid to say so — and say that it wasn’t his fault, which is going to go over just great in the locker room. The video above is from CSNPhilly.com, but here are some highlights from the transcript.

“Well I sure didn’t see this effort coming. I thought we played incredibly hard against Miami. I thought we played incredibly hard in New York on Sunday. And this is mind-numbing to me. We went up 29-20, and from that point on, I couldn’t even tell you what occurred.

On why he had starters on the bench to start the fourth quarter:

“Hey, you know what? They weren’t getting it done. What were we down, 17? We went from seven to 17. And I go back to [coach Hank Iba], that voice I always here, ‘Hey son, if you don’t want to play, your substitute does. Give somebody else a chance.’ We did and we cut it to five. It wasn’t anything other than getting some stops, push the ball, play with some aggression. Basketball is a simple sport. The game is usually going to go to the aggressor. That’s just the way it is.

On if the players come to him and ask how to get better:

“No. I usually go to them. And, you know what, after a while, the talk gets old. Man, it gets old. It just does.

“At some point and time, you just gotta play. I told them at halftime, the game’s not about X’s and O’s. We went up 29-20 — it wasn’t about X’s and O’s. [The Magic] scored 14 out of 20 possessions going into half. We came out, we were going to be all fired up, and it was a 7-0 run before we could blink.”

On if there is leadership:

“I think we have some guys who have some capability. I say all the time … they say it’s a players’ league, well then take ownership. Take ownership. That’s all I’m asking: Take ownership of what you’re putting out there…..

“I looked out there to start the game and three guys weren’t even sweating when we started the game. They’re going to ease themselves into the game. You’ve gotta get sweaty, you’ve gotta get ready to go. So we started out at the break, and we come over to the bench and we’re 6-for-18 [shooting] to start the game.

So is this rock bottom?

“I sure hope so. I sure hope it can’t get any worse than this, but I mean, if you look at our schedule, 12 of our last 14 are on the road and look at the home games we’re playing: Atlanta, Golden State. Every one of them is a playoff team.”

There is nothing like dashed hopes. This was going to be a season things would be different in Philadelphia — hope was high and season ticket sales up. They had traded for Andrew Bynum, Jrue Holiday was going to take a step forward (he has) and Evan Turner was going to mature (not so much). Sixers fans believed their team wasn’t just going to be a playoff team, they would be a threat.

Instead, it has been a mess. Part of that is Andrew Bynum’s injuries, but it has spiraled into more than that.

And old school, lunch pail, you are responsible for your own effort Doug Collins doesn’t know what to do with a team rolling over.