Sixers Insider by John McMullen

There is a little bit of a running joke around the Phan offices about my perceived affection for the Sixers’ journeyman point guard Kevin Ollie. But, in my mind, Larry Brown gave Billy King a roadmap to build a successful team around Allen Iverson and it included acquiring tough, hard-nosed defenders who wouldn’t sulk or lose interest in the game if they didn’t get consistent looks at the basket (I’m looking at you John Salmons).

Well King got off exit 1A, probably to find the closest mirror, and evidently has no GPS system to help him get back on Larry’s carefully designed track. Think about it -- Brown’s Eastern Conference championship club had numerous players that fit the above definition (Eric Snow, Tyrone Hill, George Lynch, Aaron McKie, Dikembe Mutombo, Raja Bell....etc.). This Sixers team had one --- Ollie.

With yesterday’s win, the Sixers are now 7-4 when Ollie is in the starting lineup with Iverson. Those numbers may not sound impressive but this is a 32-35 team we are talking about. Project that 7-4 record out to 67 games and it looks pretty good.

Maybe now you will realize why I like seeing Ollie in the lineup.

A.I. Overrated?

Not that A.I. !

I know what you are saying -- Isn’t Andre Iguodala a hard-nosed defender? No -- not on a consistent basis.

I might be the first in town to broach this subject but Iguodala is overrated. His physical skills are beyond reproach but they have yet to translate to the floor on a nightly basis. Despite his athletic gifts, Iguodala has trouble finishing in traffic and fails to give an effort on defense some nights. Iguodala should be pattering his game after Scottie Pippen. He should be stuffing the stat sheet like an Andrei Kirilenko.

Consider this: With all the leaping ability, Iguodala has managed just 18 blocks in 2,501 minutes. Kyle Korver has 22 swats in 2,117 minutes.

Something is very wrong there.

Third Scorer:

Speaking of Iguodala and Korver, the one sure-fire guarantee to get a Sixers’ win is when one of these guys are hot on the offensive end. The Sixers are 7-0 when three players score 20-plus points in a game. Problem is, Iguodala, Korver and even Chris Webber are way too inconsistent for Mo Cheeks to count on that kind of offensive effort..

Overheard:

The Sixers woefully underachieving $64 million dollar man, Samuel Dalembert, is upset about being demoted and no longer has any desire to play under Maurice Cheeks.

Harvey Pollack:

Legendary Sixers stat man Harvey Pollack is on his way to history. The 84-year old Pollack has worn a t-shirt as his attire for 998 straight days and will be hitting No. 1000 on Friday. Pollack, the godfather of the NBA stats manual, hopes the Guinness Book of World Records will note his accomplishment. For the record, No. 998 was a Lou Bega Mambo No. 5 tee but Pollack is being tight-lipped on what number 1,000 will be. “It’s a surprise,” Pollack said.