Brunch may have to suffice for practice for Sixers

COULD BE BETTER, could be worse. That about sums up the 76ers season after four of the season-opening five away games have been played.

The close loss in Portland was built around an early lead by the improving Trail Blazers in front of a raucous crowd and aided by the carelessness of the Sixers, who turned the ball over 20 times. Portland is going to be a pretty good team this season, so that loss is acceptable.

The blowout of the Phoenix Suns 2 nights later showed that a young, athletic, quick and fast team (the Sixers) will give the aging Suns a lot of trouble. This was a good win, though it seemed to show the decline of Phoenix more than anything.

Perhaps the worst scenario that could have welcomed the Sixers into Utah was the Jazz' best player, Al Jefferson, getting sidelined with an ankle injury just before tipoff. Perhaps it sent a false sense of security to coach Doug Collins' players, perhaps they slightly overlooked the then-winless Jazz as an already beaten opponent. Instead, the Sixers got beat up inside, particularly during a critical stretch in the second quarter when the Jazz erased a 13-point deficit and ultimately pulled out a three-point win.

But it was the next night in Oakland that Collins thought he had gotten a feeling of what his team is about. With many variables going against his team, such as it being the second of back-to-back games, a long plane ride home awaiting his players and a tough loss the night before, Collins was fearful.

A brunch meeting with the team proved to be a difference-maker in being 1-3 or 2-2. And with the shortened schedule being as grueling as it will be all season, that might become the norm.

"After [Monday's practice], our next contact practice will be after the All-Star break," Collins said after his team prepared for tonight's game in New Orleans against the 2-3 Hornets. "We're not going to be able to get out here and practice. What we did in Golden State the other days is what we're going to have to do all year long. We're going to have to be able to go into a brunch and talk about, 'This is what we're going to have to do better today,' and have to translate onto the floor without having to go over it in a practice. Because I've got to save their legs, I really do. I think this is going to be a brutal stretch coming up."

Starting with tonight's game, the Sixers will play eight games in 11 days, including Friday's long-awaited home opener with the Detroit Pistons. They are the last team in the league to play a game at home. Following that, they will play 10 games in just 15 days. But the good news in that stretch is that most of those contests will be at the Wells Fargo Center. In fact, beginning with Friday's home opener, the Sixers will play 18 of their next 22 at home, and they will have to get on a plane only twice during that time. The drawback is that during the stretch, they will play five sets of back-to-back games and will play three in a row next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Such is life in a 66-game, 122-day NBA season which is certain to include many ups and downs.

"After the [Golden State] game, we were satisfied, but we figure we could have had either that Utah game or maybe that Portland game, too," said Elton Brand. "We're still a work-in-progress. It will be good to be home [for a long period], but we're looking at the schedule and it's brutal - back-to-backs, leaving and coming back, three in a row. But to be home in front of our fans is going to bode well for our confidence and hopefully we can string a few wins together."

New Orleans guard Eric Gordon, acquired from the Clippers in the trade that sent Chris Paul to Los Angeles, has missed four straight games with a bruised right knee. He is listed as questionable for tonight . . . Former Sixer Jason Smith had 16 points in the Hornets' loss to Utah on Monday.