<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> NEW YORK -- The 76ers can try to convince themselves that it?s only the preseason, but there?s only so much consolation they can find in that attitude. After losing to the New York Knicks, 113-102, Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, the suspicion that real doubts might be creeping in became all too real. "We can?t just go turn it on November 1," Chris Webber said. "It?s my 14th year. I?m very concerned. I have no reason to play other than to win." Tonight the Sixers get one final kick at the preseason can when the New Jersey Nets come into the Wachovia Center for a 7 p.m. tip. The Sixers (2-4) fell behind the Knicks (4-1) early and never caught up. After all, it?s hard to close a gap when an opposing team is shooting 68 percent, as the Knicks did in the second quarter. For a club that has made defense its primary emphasis this preseason, the fact that teams seem to score with impunity has to be worrisome. "It?s not gonna happen overnight. We understand that," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "But our progress has to be a bit quicker." The Sixers allowed the Knicks to shoot 55 percent overall in the game while shooting 52 percent themselves. And though they were without Allen Iverson (sore left hand) and Samuel Dalembert (hamstring), they can?t afford to use that as an excuse. "We were just lethargic," Kyle Korver said. "We were a step slow, we weren?t communicating, we weren?t getting to our spots fast enough. I was the biggest culprit of all. I did not play well in the first half at all. "This is a long preseason but we can?t use that as an excuse. We have to keep getting better. We?re not thought of as a very good team right now and we have to try to prove people wrong. "And we have to start doing it now."</div> Source
the time for talk is over, and the time to start playing some D and not acting like a highschool player is now. these guys are in the NBA. they should all know what to do on defense. its a fundamental of the game. Cheeks needs to get tougher and make sure only the players who want to play Defense and buy into this new system are on the floor.
