Energy is high for the Sixers so far under coach Doug Collins

Whether a new attitude among the players will equate to more wins remains to be seen, but there seems to be a noticable difference at76ers practices under coach Doug Collins.

Collins has a very uplifting personality, constantly stroking the egos of players and pointing out the positives more than the negatives. He does get on his team when they are sloppy, but does it in a way that the players respond to and respect.

Sunday morning's workout was the best so far since training camp opened on Tuesday, according to Collins. This came following a "disappointing" workout on Saturday night in front of season ticket holders on the last night of training camp Saturday at Saint Joseph's.

The first year coach is still trying to figure out who is better playing with whom, and what kind of lineups he will be putting out on the floor when the team opens the season on October 27 at the Wells Fargo Center against the Miami Heat.

He has seven preseason games - starting Tuesday night against the New Jersey Nets in Roanoke, Va. - and about 13 more practices to figure all that out. His starting lineup right now looks like Jrue Holiday at the point, Andre Iguodala at the two guard, Thad Young at the small forward, Elton Brand at power forward and Spencer Hawes at the center spot.

So far offensively, the first unitl has struggled a bit in the halfcourt offense, but has looked good when it gets out on the break. Holiday has been great.

One thing for fans to look for in the preseason is the play of rookie Craig Brackins. He has looked very good so far during practices. Of course, there are many things to be looked at during the preseason.

Of note: Collins said forward Andres Nocioni is a couple of weeks away from going full tilt, though he is improving every day.