But Brown also knew his team was whipped heading into last night's game against Denver. Not to take anything away from the Orlando Magic or New Jersey Nets, but the Sixers' two consecutive losses were as much a function of them wearing out late as anything else. Not that any of his players were going to acknowledge it.
Players never say they are tired.
Players never voluntarily give up minutes. So it was going to be up to Brown to change his mindset. Last night, he did. Perhaps it was because the Sixers' already-depleted bench was short yet another player when reserve guard Kevin Ollie drove home to Hartford, Conn., to be with his wife as she went into labor. Then again, Brown might just have realized that if he didn't give some of his key performers a little break, they might have passed out from exhaustion.