Inside the Sixers: Sixers should give Arnett Moultrie a shot

One of the reasons coaches choose their profession is that they are imbued with a tenacity that won't allow them to give up.

That doggedness earned 76ers coach Doug Collins coach-of-the-year votes after he resurrected the Sixers from a 3-13 start to finish the 2010-11 regular season 41-41 before Miami eliminated them in the first round of the playoffs.

That same tenacity was on display last season when the Sixers, following a 20-9 start, sputtered home, 15-22, the rest of the way. They reached the playoffs and eventually the second round only because they won four straight road games at the end of the season.

But the same fire in the belly that pushes coaches such as Collins often makes it hard for them to see when it is time to look beyond the next game, the next possible win streak, and to begin the process of laying the foundation for future years.

The Sixers were 12 games below .500 after a season-high seventh loss in a row against Chicago on Thursday, and the players are finding it almost impossible to score points during crucial stretches of the games. Since the Sixers will be finishing the season with 12 of their final 16 games on the road, they must accept that the 2012-13 season is not salvageable.

Sixers owner Joshua Harris has often spoken of adding "assets" to the team he purchased in 2011. That is exactly what you'd expect to hear from someone who comes from a private equity background and has become a billionaire by turning around distressed companies.

With this roster in the state that it is, the one "asset" that needs to be most closely analyzed for the betterment of the product is rookie forward/center Arnett Moultrie.

The Sixers traded for Moultrie - they gave up the 45th pick in the draft and a future first-rounder - after he was drafted by Miami with the 27th pick. They considered him superior to Tyler Zeller, John Henson, Perry Jones, and Andrew Nicholson, all selected among the top 20 picks last June.

With that in mind, it is now time for Collins, who has a well-known aversion to playing younger players (see Nik Vucevic), to show some flexibility and get Moultrie quality minutes and the valuable experience that comes with that.

With the inconsistency the Sixers have received from Lavoy Allen and Spencer Hawes, particularly when faced with more physical and athletic players, the Sixers have to be willing to get Moultrie on the floor so that he is ready to battle for a starting position next season.

Moultrie was relatively pedestrian during a seven-game stint in the D-League in which he averaged 9.7 points on 47 percent shooting and 9.7 rebounds. But that can't be held against him. Before Saturday, Moultrie had appeared in 22 games and averaged 2.4 points and 2.2 rebounds.

They are paltry numbers, but no one can deny that Moultrie has demonstrated that he can make a contribution when given some playing time.

And that's the key. He has averaged just 8.3 minutes per game this season.

On a team that finds itself desperately looking for players who can contribute in future seasons - seasons that matter - the Sixers must find out just what type of asset they have in Moultrie.