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Marcus Hayes: A new era begins for Collins, Sixers

DOUG COLLINS was hired 2 years ago. The Doug Collins era began Wednesday. The Sixers this offseason handed Collins the reins, tossed him the keys, sent him the combination to the safe; whatever metaphor fits total commitment, they did that.

Sixers coach Doug Collins. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
Sixers coach Doug Collins. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

DOUG COLLINS was hired 2 years ago.

The Doug Collins era began Wednesday.

The Sixers this offseason handed Collins the reins, tossed him the keys, sent him the combination to the safe; whatever metaphor fits total commitment, they did that.

They remade their front office.

They gutted a team that came within a win of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.

They did so with the guidance of their 61-year-old head coach.

"I'm thrilled that the team believes in me and wants me to be here," Collins said. "I feel very good about my position here in Philadelphia."

He should.

Faithful Sixers soldier Tony DiLeo was promoted from assistant general manager to GM in September, with Collins' full blessing, said owner Josh Harris.

The Sixers traded away All-Star swingman Andre Iguodala to Denver just as he was about to win an Olympic gold medal. They let leading scorer Lou Williams walk, along with starting shooting guard Jodie Meeks. They made Elton Brand their amnesty project and ate his salary.

They acquired eight new players, chief among them Andrew Bynum, a center with a history of knee problems - knee problems that sidelined him Wednesday, and will sideline him for the foreseeable future. They added shooters Jason Richardson, Nick Young and intriguing, unclassifiable Dorell Wright.

They transformed from a defensive team that struggled to score to a shooting team that might not be able to defend.

Fearlessly.

"If you're going to be in this business, whether you're owning, or GM, or player, or whatever, you better have courage," Collins said.

"If you're scared, get a dog."

Said Harris: "I thought we had peaked out. I thought we had to move forward. There's always risk."

Team Dougie beat the Nuggets in the season opener Wednesday, 84-75. It was sloppy, and it was inconsistent.

The opener underlined the considerable risk of abandoning the familiar.

The Nuggets cut a 14-point lead to one with 4 minutes, 41 seconds to play. It was holdovers Jrue Holiday and Spencer Hawes who spurred the Sixers back to a seven-point lead in the next 62 seconds.

In a dark suit and orange shoes, Bynum watched.

The Sixers banked on Bynum's health, short-term - he can be a free agent after the season - and long-term, since Harris has committed to signing Bynum to a max deal whenever Bynum wants to uncap his favorite pen.

Collins has been in and around the NBA as a player and coach for nearly 40 years. He has never seen a team as successful as his last team rebuilt like his new team.

Nuggets coach George Karl, whose team opened the season in Philadelphia, hasn't seen such a thing, either. He credited "Trickster" team president Rod Thorn with engineering the Iguodala deal, but he acknowledged that Collins' fingerprints stained the exhaustive retooling - especially given the sometimes-awkward relationship between Iguodala and Collins, who was his sixth coach in 8 years.

"The whole idea with the Iguodala situation was, 'Maybe it's time,' " Karl said. "To get a Bynum, even more, you think it's time. To get the shooters they got was probably a Doug Collins thought process - get more shooters around a big center.

"The personality's different. And, from what I see, I think they're better than last year. They've got shooters all over the floor. Jrue Holiday is becoming an All-Star-caliber type player. And their bench is deeper. More confident and stronger than last year."

Wright came off the bench and scored 12 in the first half, 14 in the game, including the clincher with 28.9 seconds to play. Hawes, playing behind Lavoy Allen, scored 16 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots.

Coincidence brought Iguodala back to Philadelphia, where, for one night, his misplays silenced whatever minority that criticized the trade.

The team he left played with a decent level of effectiveness, an acceptable level of hustle . . . and a strange sense of comfort.

They played hard, and they played like a team.

With just over 3 minutes left in the third period Wright, not known for his defensive commitment or expertise, busted back and stripped Corey Brewer. Holiday, trailing closely, threw it off another Nugget to win the Sixers an extra possession.

"Plays like that, that happen in the third quarter, make it so when they make that run and cut it to one, they don't go ahead," Wright said. "Those are the little things."

Nothing would mean more to Collins than, after having been fired by three teams and exiled after each dismissal, to prove himself again; in, of all places, Philadelphia, where his playing career was cut short by injury.

Before his latest return to coaching in 2010, Collins became a premier TV analyst, an expert with the best seat in the house but with no stake in the game.

Now, the Sixers have staked everything on him.

"They know I'm a very hard-working guy. I'm very committed and loyal to this organization. It goes back to 9-73, when I first came here," Collins said. "I hope they've leaned on my past experience, in terms of being with teams and getting a good feel whether the team has a great upside or if it's sort of peaked out and needs to be changed.

"Sometimes you've got to move some really talented players. There's a risk factor that goes along with that. It doesn't always work. But I think they trust my feel for the game. The kind of ball I think you have to play to win over a long period of time."

For a short period of time, Collins' kind of ball should produce excellent results, with or without Bynum. The Sixers face just 11 playoff teams in their first 40 games.

Team Dougie effectively could put itself in the playoffs before midseason, and the unprecedented reconstruction could look brilliant.

"We'll see if it's going to work," Collins said. "I think we're a franchise heading in the right direction."

It was Wednesday night.