Doug Collins calls out 76ers' effort

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins is losing patience with his under-achieving and slumping team, and his frustrations came out in a postgame press conference on Tuesday night after the Sixers lost at home to a Magic team that had been just 3-28 in their last 31 games.

"Well I sure didn't see this effort coming," Collins started the press conference by saying. He went on to quote legendary Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt, hinting that a coach can only control execution, not the energy and effort of the players.

One of the more bizarre soundbites from Collins was his exclamation that "If everybody looked inside themselves as much as I did, this world would be a CAT scan."

Collins also referenced his own effort as a player for the 76ers in 1970's, stating "I gave my body to this franchise. I was never booed as a player. Never. I ran through my sneakers." Later he added "I'm incredibly hard on myself. I love it when the fans start yelling at me...I'm not playing. You didn't yell at me when I played. Why are you yelling at me when I'm coaching?"

When reporters were told that only a couple more questions could be directed at the coach, Collins interjected, saying "Hey, I'm having fun. I feel like I'm at the State of the Union."

Perhaps the most intriguing comments, however, came in reference to Andrew Bynum, who hasn't suited up yet for Philadelphia due to knee issues after the team acquired him in a blockbuster trade in the summer. "I think there's a part of this group wondering, 'Are you gonna play? Aren't you gonna play?' And it's been a tough year."

Collins later added "We made a huge deal and we have nobody playing a part of that deal. How many teams can give up Andre Iguodala, Moe Harkless and Nikola Vucevic and have nothing in return playing? That’s tough to overcome," before pointing out that Vucevic had 19 rebounds against his former team on Tuesday while 76ers big men Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen had just one and two, respectively.

When asked if the home loss to Orlando was the team bottoming out, Collins didn't sound optimistic that Philadelphia had hit rock bottom yet, proclaiming "I sure hope it can’t get any worse than this, but I mean, if you look at our schedule, 12 of our last 14 are on the road and look at the home games we’re playing: Atlanta, Golden State. Every one of them is a playoff team."

The 76ers currently sit 10th in the Eastern Conference at 22-33, five games behind the eighth place Bucks.