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Inside the Sixers: Task is to stay together through tough times

The 76ers are about to embark on another dreaded season of 60-plus losses. They'll be heckled on the road and play in front of sparse crowds at home.

Sixers point guard Michael Carter-Williams and head coach Brett Brown. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
Sixers point guard Michael Carter-Williams and head coach Brett Brown. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

The 76ers are about to embark on another dreaded season of 60-plus losses.

They'll be heckled on the road and play in front of sparse crowds at home.

There's no denying that this might be the toughest season these players will go through on the court. And that's saying a lot, considering last season's 19-63 record.

For coach Brett Brown and his staff, keeping a happy locker room is one of the tougher responsibilities. With motivation bleeding out after every blowout loss, it will be up to them - and the team leaders, of course - to see the players through.

The outsider perspective is that they'll give in. The expected embarrassing setbacks will create a wave-the-white-flag situation or, even worse, resentment among teammates.

That's an obvious assumption from folks watching from the couch. But the Sixers are banking on built-in goals to keep the team together.

They know what this season is all about: sacrificing wins in order to secure a high pick next June in the NBA draft. They also realize this season, like the previous one, is all about evaluating talent that might fit in the Sixers' future.

"I don't think it's tough at all to stay together," Tony Wroten said. "We've got a great group of guys and a great bond. We are not thinking about last year. Last year doesn't control what happens this year."

But what happens when most games end in humbling double-digit setbacks? What happens when the players garner national media coverage for their shortcomings? What happens when they become the laughingstock of the league for the second consecutive season?

Unlike last season, the Sixers won't have veterans like Thaddeus Young, Spencer Hawes, and Evan Turner to lean on for leadership. A lot of their leadership will have to come from second-year point guard Michael Carter-Williams, rookie power forward Nerlens Noel, and injured veteran Jason Richardson.

Carter-Williams and Noel may have the makings of solid team leaders in a few seasons. Right now, however, it's hard to ask them to help teammates cope during what is expected to be a dismal season.

Noel has yet to play in an NBA regular-season game and never experienced what he's about to go through.

Some will point to Carter-Williams, last season's rookie of the year. While that's a positive, he has still played in only 70 career games, which were mostly losses, so it will be hard for him to motivate teammates when almost all he's experienced are humbling setbacks.

Publicly, the Sixers will probably say that they're unfazed by losses. That's what they did last season during their 26-game skid that matched the record for consecutive losses by a U.S. professional team.

Looking for positives, Brown might say his players are doing everything he has asked them to do. He could mention that they're improving, individually, and they don't talk about losing.

That looks as if it will be hard to do considering some of the already visibly disappointed faces after meaningless preseason losses.

One can only imagine how they'll look come Jan. 5, when LeBron James leads the Cleveland Cavaliers into the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers will be coming off what could be a confidence-killing, seven-game road trip against the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, and Los Angeles Clippers.

"At the end of the day, we are all playing basketball," Hollis Thompson said about remaining motivated despite being constantly overmatched. "It doesn't matter who's on the court. [When] we come out, we want to win.

"So I think we start focusing on defense and figure out a way to consistently get stops. Everything else will fall into place."

It's easy to sound positive in October when regular-season losses have yet to mount.

It will be interesting to see if the Sixers can continue to motivate players in creative ways and keep them together throughout the season.

@PompeyOnSixers

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