Collins to Brand: I love you, man

MIAMI - With 9.3 seconds remaining in last night's season-ending, 97-91 loss to the Miami Heat, 76ers forward Elton Brand made his way toward the bench after picking up his sixth foul. He was intercepted by coach Doug Collins, who appeared to say to Brand, among other things, "I love you to death."

That is the kind of emotion you get from Collins, a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, along with his grandchildren's names tattooed over his heart.

"I told him I loved him and that I was so proud of him," Collins said. "What a great year it was for him, after going through 2 tough years in Philadelphia. He's got the heart of a lion. He just competes every single moment and I'm glad he's on my team. I thanked him for all he did for me this season. He missed one game, and that was due to a suspension. He played with a broken left hand, a dislocated left pinkie finger and never, ever complained. He is one of the most ultimate pros I have ever been around."

Brand finished one of his most gratifying seasons with 22 points and six rebounds. Besides leading the team in scoring and rebounding much of the season, he has been the foundation that Collins needed with such a young roster.

"The growth was enormous by this team," Brand said. "From the start to now with just about every single game [in the series] going down to the wire except one. We're proud of ourselves, but we're definitely going to work harder to get better. It's obvious we're not far away from being a top-notch team.

"Andre [Iguodala] and myself were proud to have these guys under our tutelage. They work hard and they're going to get better. Being vets, we've played with young guys and sometimes it's tough, but not these young guys. They did a great job this season."

Though he still has 3 years left on his contract, the popular question is if Andre Iguodala expects to be in a Sixers uniform next season. Asked about that after the game, he said:

"I expect to be back in the NBA. It's always been a dream of mine to play ball. This has been a great ride so far, not just with the Sixers, but playing basketball in general. So I'm really looking forward to getting some rest this summer, letting my body recuperate and get back to 100 percent."

Iguodala battled a myriad of injuries this season, coping with a sprained wrist, a sore Achilles' and tendinitis in his right knee. Last night he had the most spring he's had in a while, erupting for 22 points and 10 rebounds and a few impressive dunks, something his sore knee hadn't allowed him to do recently.

As for wanting to return to Philly next year, Iguodala said, "I think it's something that I always dreamed about - playing in the league. Once I got here I always wanted to be in one place, not having to move around a lot, being comfortable in one spot. I still feel the same way. Being able to put a stamp on my career and in the Sixers' record books. I always think about that, keep climbing the charts with some of the greatest basketball players ever. Doctor J, Maurice Cheeks, Bobby Jones, Hal Greer, Wilt Chamberlain. Just for my name to be brought up as one of the guys with the most steals in team history is something I've always thought about."

Though LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were instrumental in ousting the Sixers from the playoffs in five games, coach Doug Collins couldn't hide his admiration for the two.

"I love the respect they have for the game," Collins said. "I've been blessed to be around players who love to play. When I look at D-Wade and LeBron I see two guys that when they're through [playing] they'll still be going down to the rec leagues and shooting some hoops and playing and having fun because they love the game. To me, there's one thing about being talented. But when you have respect for the game and you're that talented to play with that charisma, that pizazz every single night . . .

"When you see Dwyane Wade out there, I love it. He has such a swagger about him, like, 'This is my court,' and I love that about him. LeBron, I didn't think there was any way in the world he could live up to the hype coming in. He's better than the hype, that's hard to do. They're both great players on both ends of the floor, they both love to play, they're both very unselfish, they're both champions. I love the fact they've worked so hard on their games to get better and better and better.

"My son, Chris, has been with them through the summer with USA Basketball and he sings the praises of how they go about doing their jobs. From a fan, I admire what they do. When I'm coaching against them I don't want to admire them that much but I get myself caught [watching] sometimes. When they get out on the break, they really are jaw-dropping."

The admiration goes both ways.

"We knew coming into the series it was going to be [against] a grind-out team," Wade said. "They take on their coach's personality, a no-quit personality. We understood that this series was going to be a great challenge for us. We can look back and say we got better from this series, we grew in this series because [the Sixers] will never quit. They always bring effort, they always bring different guys in who play tremendously hard. I think we knew what kind of series this was going to be."