John Smallwood: Small things cause big results for Sixers

OK, I'M SOLD.

When the Sixers returned home with a 3-2 record after starting the season on a five-game road trip, I said I was thisclose to completely buying into everything they said about what type of team they wanted to be and how it would translate into success.

They were right.

A group of players and coaches working on the same page, with the same vision, the same work ethic, the same drive can achieve more than it would appear from its individual parts.

Through the first 12 games of this season, we had gotten used to coach Doug Collins tinkering with his lineup to find what in-game combinations would work at the appropriate time.

We had seen that the Sixers can legitimately go nine players deep without suffering a lapse in the fundamental way they want to do things.

But in yesterday's 94-82 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, Collins came up with a combination that had to make all of the 17,281 in attendance at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee do a double take.

With Evan Turner sitting out with a bruised right quadriceps, Collins was going to have to change things a bit.

Still, who would have thought that when the Sixers came out to start the second quarter, two of the players would be deep reserve Tony Battie and even deeper reserve Andres Nocioni?

What was even more surprising was how well the Sixers performed with the veteran duo on the floor.

In a 3 1/2-minute span, Battie and Nocioni combined for four points and three rebounds as the Sixers extended a six-point lead to 13.

They never lost control again.

That was just about the extent of the contributions from those two, but the fact these two veterans, who have been counted on mainly to make sure younger players benefit from professional challenges during practices, could contribute at a crucial time was further evidence of the special quality of this Sixers team.

"You need to be prepared, especially in my situation," said Nocioni, who finished with two points and three rebounds in 6 minutes. "You want to be able to help when you have your opportunity.

"It's about being professional, nothing else. You practice hard each day, try to stay in playing shape, lifting, shooting. Someday, you'll get an opportunity to play, and you have to be ready."

That's the kind of attitude that makes the Sixers' stellar 10-3 start more than an aberration. Last season, the Sixers didn't get their 10th win until their 25th game.

Battie knew his role as the fifth player in the frontcourt rotation wasn't going to equate to consistent minutes.

But with the Sixers facing 7-foot, 260-pound center Andrew Bogut, Collins had a "gut feeling" that Battie would be more effective than rookie Nik Vucevic subbing for starting center Spencer Hawes.

"I thought it would be a Tony Battie kind of day," Collins said.

Battie had two points, three rebounds and two assists in 12 1/2 minutes. But he also played some tough defense against Bogut.

"All you can do is stay ready," Battie said. "I think today, coach threw me in there because he didn't want to see the rookie go up against Bogut, who is big and physical.

"I was able to do some positive things out there."

Clearly, this game was won primarily on the combined 73 points, 23 rebounds and 17 assists of Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holiday, Lou Williams and Hawes.

But this team's success has been defined by the little things that all of the players are willing to do to contribute to the total effort.

With about 6 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter, the Bucks were trying to make a run. Bogut, who finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, was trying to post up Battie on the right baseline. Battie held his ground, poked the ball away from Bogut and then knocked the ball off him out of bounds.

A few moments later, Williams had the Sixers back in control by draining a long three-pointer.

"For most of the big parts of the game, they were throwing the ball in to Bogut," said Battie, who got a high-five from Collins when he came off the court after that sequence. "He was doing a great job of either scoring or finding cutters. He had gotten comfortable doing the same thing.

"This time, when he brought the ball to his waist, I just gave it a smack. Coach knows the game. He knows that a lot of things that don't show up on the stat sheet can mean a lot."

An entire roster of players willing to do the little things makes the Sixers a formidable opponent.

"One of the things we said we came in to try and change this team is that if we play as a team, if we're well-conditioned, if we compete every night, we'll win games," Collins said, "because some teams just don't want to play every night."