Dario Saric is hustling to end the season on a positive note
I really want to help the team, the forward said. He is battling both injury and fatigue.
Dario Saric is battered and fatigued.
The 76ers power forward has played in 157 games of organized basketball in the last 17 months. Not only is he fatigued, it was revealed Tuesday that the rookie has been hampered by plantar fasciitis.
Those are the reasons the Sixers on Sunday instituted a 24-minute per game restriction on him for the rest of the season.
"I'm tired a little bit mentally, physically," Saric said. "But I try to push myself to what is possible in this part of the season, in this kind of minute restriction. Of course, I have pain in the foot. But I really want to play. I really want to help the team."
That's hard to do in 24 minutes for a Sixers squad (28-51) with a five-game losing streak. That's why Saric, who turns 23 Saturday, has been playing with a sense of urgency.
A prime example was Sunday's 113-105 loss to the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. Saric scored 14 of his 16 points after intermission, 10 coming in the third quarter.
"It's like somebody just gorging at a buffet," Sixers coach Brett Brown said of Saric's push to score.
Brown acknowledged that dealing with the playing time restriction is hard for Saric, who averaged 31.7 minutes in March.
"When you're judging it, I think there is a disappointment, a frustration that I completely respect," Brown said. "I'm with him. I understand."
Father knows best?
Bob Brown was a successful high school and college coach, and he was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. With a winter home in Florida, Brown leaves his son, Brett, alone when it comes to coaching the Sixers. Right?
"He goes the complete other way of leaving me alone," Brett Brown said Thursday.
"For instance, 'Dario has got to get more air on his shot. He's got to get more legs. He's got to push the ball up. He's shooting darts. It's too flat,' " Brett Brown said of his father's viewpoints.
Afterward, Brett Brown said his father will be remorseful about chiming in. That's because Bob Brown really wants to let his son coach on his own.
"But I feel like when he has something, it's usually spot on," Brett Brown said.
Chamberlain honored
The Sixers will unveil a sculpture of Wilt Chamberlain on Saturday afternoon at their practice facility in Camden. Chamberlain's likeness will be placed next to the pieces depicting Billy Cunningham and Hal Greer the team unveiled earlier this season. The three were teammates on the Sixers' 1966-67 NBA championship team.
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