Culture of corrosion in the Sixers' organization

THERE IS a serious conflict going on in the 76ers organization and it's not between management and coach, coach and player or player and player. No, the biggest clash right now is a cultural one. It is a fight between the culture that the coach wants his young club to develop and the toxic one that management has created with this mostly non-NBA roster.

The Plan is known, there isn't any hiding it. Lose now, accumulate high draft picks. Collect all of the second-round assets you can and live for the future, a future that Sam Hinkie and company are betting on being a rich one with eventual newcomers Joel Embiid, Dario Saric and whomever may be selected with those coming draft picks.

In the meantime, coach Brett Brown is burdened with the responsibility of keeping the few quality pieces the team possesses - Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, Tony Wroten, K.J. McDaniels - focused on believing the building of a winning culture is doable.

But the question is this: How do you do that when you are mired in what could be the worst losing environment in the history of professional sports?

There was the NBA-tying record of 26 consecutive losses last season. There have been the 11 losses, and counting, to start this one. The team has won four of its past 47 games. Nerlens Noel has never won a game as a professional. The NBA record for futility in a season is in serious jeopardy.

I hear it all the time from the patient Sixers fans who litter the city: "What difference does it make if they lose now. It's part of the plan. If it gets you high draft picks, what does it matter?"

It matters a ton. Maybe even more than that.

While dismissing a couple, or maybe even three, predominantly losing seasons is easy to do from afar, it is gut-wrenching and energy-sapping when you're in its grasp.

The signs have been so obvious already. Noel is simply lost right now, not knowing how his game fits into this league. With every loss his confidence is drained a little more, like a gas tank slowly approaching empty. A good individual performance could boost the needle a little bit, but that doesn't seem to be coming any time soon. A win would certainly enhance morale, but that may realistically not come until, well, who knows?

Carter-Williams, in his first game back after offseason shoulder surgery, showed a blatant sign of disgust in a 53-point loss to Dallas. As much trouble as he is having with his shot and his turnovers, he is having more problems masking his frustration. At least for two-thirds of his rookie season he was surrounded by some legitimate NBA talent. When he made a move past a defender and had to throw a pass, he could have found a decent finisher in Thaddeus Young or a reliable shooter in Spencer Hawes. Now? Most of his passes land in the hands of players who won't be in the league after this season.

The model of what the team wants to become was an opponent earlier in the week when the Sixers played in San Antonio. When Tim Duncan is summoned into a game after a break, he purposefully sprints to the scorer's table. When he is on the bench and a timeout is called, he is the first one to each player coming off the floor for a hand slap. Players run to help teammates off the floor. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili put arms around youngsters to teach them the Spurs way. There is no drooping of heads, questioning of hustle or dissension in the ranks. There is a common goal, led by future Hall of Famers who aren't bashful to be all in for the organization. Sure they've endured crazy success. But it didn't just come about because of their talent. And it has remained long past the expected time-frame, mainly because of knowing what it takes to create a winning culture.

"Doesn't that sum up what culture can do, when people feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves where they trust the people that are around them and the people around them care," Brown said of his former team.

Do Carter-Williams, Noel and the rest feel any good about the current culture? Day after day they are faced with mounting losses, most times in embarrassing fashion. The questions the players face from the media are stale; the practices a little more mundane and the lessons emptier until they get the ultimate reward - a win. And even then, when another long losing streak is almost sure to follow, the ugly stench of losing begins to grow again. Probably the biggest story to come out of last season was the way Brown was able to keep the players working hard and staying positive while largely ignoring the losing.

He can't be expected to do that again this year, though he is one of the few men in the business who may be able to pull it off with his endless positivity. But the cracks are starting to show.

Said Brown after Wednesday's loss to Boston: "We have to keep our guys believing that if they don't cheat days, and if they really come in, and if they invest in what we're selling, then we believe we have a chance of finding some wins, of keeping the group together to continue to develop our young players."

Brown knows winning culture. It was a part of his DNA for the 12 years he spent in San Antonio while winning four titles. He knows all the surrounding parts that need to be involved. Problem is, not much is in place here.

Hinkie has built a roster that isn't on an even playing field with any team in the league, so two of his prized acquisitions - MCW and Noel - will have to endure a blizzard of losing. Is that a good thing? Think if you had to go through it every day for two full seasons and maybe more. Can the two really get anything positive out of this season? Is their improvement going to stall - or worse, regress - during all this losing?

"Just give it time. This is part of the plan," say the emailers.

Sixers fans better hope the pieces of the future, the ones enduring all the beatdowns, can be as patient.

Who: Phoenix Suns at Sixers

When: Tonight, 7 o'clock

Where: Wells Fargo Center

TV/Radio: Comcast SportsNet/The Fanatic (97.5 FM)

Game stuff: There may be some added fire for the Sixers to break their losing streak. Phoenix guard Eric Bledsoe said recently that if this year's team at Kentucky, where he attended, played the Sixers in a seven-game series, the Sixers "would probably get maybe one game." He wears No. 2, Sixers fans.

Who: Sixers at New York Knicks

When: Tomorrow, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Madison Square Garden

TV/Radio: Comcast SportsNet/The Fanatic (97.5 FM)

Game stuff: The good news for the Sixers is that the Knicks are one of the worst teams in the league at defending the three-point shot. The bad news for the Sixers is that they are one of the worst in the league at shooting three-pointers. The Knicks could have Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani back from injury.

Who: Portland Trail Blazers at Sixers

When: Monday, 7 o'clock

Where: Wells Fargo Center

TV/Radio: Comcast SportsNet/The Fanatic (97.5 FM)

Game stuff: The Blazers are the comeback kids of the early season as they rallied from 23 points down to beat Charlotte last week and on Monday erased a 16-point, second-half deficit to defeat visiting New Orleans.

Who: Brooklyn Nets at Sixers

When: Wednesday, 7 o'clock

Where: Wells Fargo Center

TV/Radio: Comcast SportsNet/The Fanatic (97.5 FM)

Game stuff: The Nets have gotten old pretty quickly, but Deron Williams and Joe Johnson are among the league leaders in minutes played. The Nets are among the better shooting teams in the league, owning a 46.6 percentage from the floor after 11 games.

4: That's how many NBA teams in history have started the season with at least 10 consecutive losses.

6: That's how many times in the first 11 games the Sixers have shot under 40 percent.

7: That's how many more losses the Sixers need to tie the season-opening record of 18 losses by the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets.