(Associated Press)

The 76ers are too predictable.

It's not as though Sixers coach Doug Collins came out Friday and said as much. But he understands that, without Andrew Bynum, his team's offensive gameplan revolves around taking outside looks.

It doesn't have to be, however, Collins said.

Collins said it'll take a concerted effort on the parts of Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner, the Sixers' primary ballhandlers, to keep the bigs involved.

And that doesn't even necessarily involve scoring. Collins said he wants his post players to get touches. Lobbing the ball into the paint, to guys like Thad Young, Lavoy Allen, Kwame Brown and Spencer Hawes, gives the illusion that the inside-out game is still in play. It creates open looks on the perimeter and improves the Sixers' play in the post at the same time.

"Our big guys haven't been touching the ball," Collins said Friday, after practice at PCOM. "That doesn't mean necessarily touch to score, but they have to feel the ball to make a play -- either out of the post or we've got to start threatening, rather than just being a perimeter team that runs East to West and just makes long jumpshots all day. We talked about that. Let's have the big guys touch the ball some. That'll encourage them to do the grunt work we're asking them to do."

Even though Collins wasn't directly referring to touching the ball in order to produce offense, I took the liberty of looking up some of the offensive numbers for the Sixers' bigs. They're not good:

Brown is shooting 5-for-8 at the rim and 0-for-4 from 3-to-9 feet. Allen is 12-for-18 at the rim, 4-for-18 from 3-to-9 feet. Hawes is 16-for-26 at the rim, 2-for-12 from 3-to-9 feet. Young is 41-for-59 at the rim, 14-for-37 from 3-to-9 feet.

From those spots on the floor, post players should dominate. Instead the Sixers are foundering. Those four are shooting a collective 74-for-111 at the rim (.667 field-goal percentage), and an abysmal 20-for-71 from 3-to-9 feet (.282 percentage).

"Big guys get discouraged. It's human nature," Collins said. "We had a great practice today. Our bigs were active, the best they've been. I hope that carries over (to Saturday against visiting Oklahoma City). We've got to make a conscious effort that they've got to be a part of what we're doing."