Blogs > Sixers Dish

A Philadelphia 76ers blog, hosted by Christopher A. Vito

Monday, February 3, 2014

Arnett Moultrie says he's "just sick of all the excuses" related to why he's not on the floor


(USA Today)

NEW YORK – The 76ers’ Arnett Moultrie sounded off Monday about the delayed debut to his sophomore season.

Moultrie missed all of training camp and the first two months of the regular season due to rehab related to a surgically repaired right ankle, which he injured in offseason workouts. He first practiced with the Sixers Dec. 31, and has been a participant in on-court activities ever since.

Moultrie rebuffed the reason that’s been given by Sixers coach Brett Brown, who has said the second-year forward remains inactive while getting into basketball shape.

“It’s not my ankle. It’s not my conditioning,” Moultrie said, before the Sixers played the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. “But at this point, I really don’t care. I’m just sick of all the excuses. If it ain’t one thing, it’s another thing.”

When pressed for the specific reason he’s been given for why he’s yet to play, Moultrie declined.

“I’d rather not say,” he said.

The 6-10, 240-pound Moultrie, who was inactive against the Nets, has missed the season’s first 48 games, after averaging 3.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 47 games as a rookie. The Mississippi State product, who works out in pregame with assistant coach Lloyd Pierce, returned to the locker room Monday with heavy sweat rings around his shirt.

“I’ve been good for the last month,” Moultrie said.

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Thursday, October 10, 2013

Brett Brown invites dribble-drive innovator Vance Walberg to Sixers' practice

(AP)


The 76ers have yet to announce – by way of an official press release – the members of coach Brett Brown’s staff, even though Lloyd Pierce, Chad Iske, Billy Lange, Greg Foster and Curtis Sumpter have been visible figures ever since training camp.

So when a reporter asked Brown after Thursday’s practice for the identity of the guy under the far basket, wearing a Sixers T-shirt, working with Spencer Hawes, it was somewhat surprising that Brown revealed who he was.

“That’s Vance Walberg,” Brown said.

Walberg, who most recently was on George Karl’s staff last season with the Denver Nuggets, is regarded for developing the dribble-drive motion offense. A California-based high school coach from 1978-2002, Walberg was the head coach at Fresno City College from 2002-2006 and Pepperdine from 2006-08, worked as an assistant at UMass from 2008-11 before joining the Nuggets last year.

“If you looked on Google, you would see Sports Illustrated articles and other articles on him,” Brown said of Walberg. “He’s very renowned and researched in the dribble-drive game. That’s his claim to fame. Many articles declared him to be one of the most innovative coaches in all of basketball. Coach (John) Calipari has implemented his system at Kentucky. For me, I’m interested in that attack game, that drive-and-dish game, that proactive game. The combination of that and pick-and-roll is the future of the game, and I want to learn more. So he’s been with us and he’s been fantastic."

One of these days, the Sixers will unveil who is serving on Brown's bench. It's yet to be determined if Walberg is one of them.

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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Report: Sixers add NBA exec Brandon Williams to Sam Hinkie's front office



A few weeks away from training camp, the 76ers continue to take shape. Tuesday, they added Brandon Williams to their front office.

Williams, 38, arrives to the Sixers after having served as the NBA’s Vice President of Basketball Operations. He will work under Sixers general manager/president of basketball ops Sam Hinkie, according to a report from Zach Lowe, of Grantland.com, though no job description or title was made known.

This is the first such front office addition made by Hinkie, who was hired in May to take over for deposed GM Tony DiLeo. Hinkie brought in Brett Brown in August as his head coach and Brown has hired a pair of assistant coaches (Lloyd Pierce and Chad Iske) in the weeks since.

A 6-6 forward, Williams spent parts of three seasons in the NBA, most recently with Atlanta during the 2002-03 campaign. He won a ring in the 1998-99 campaign, spreading four minutes of playing time across three appearances for San Antonio. Williams also played for Golden State in 1997-98, while extending his career internationally with teams in seven other countries.

Williams starred at Davidson College, where he scored 1,505 points and grabbed 591 rebounds in four seasons from 1992-96. He graduated from Rutgers School of Law earlier this year.

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Saturday, August 31, 2013

Report: Sixers add Chad Iske to staff

(Getty)


The 76ers have agreed to terms with assistant coach Chad Iske, according to a report by Yahoo! Sports, adding a second assistant to Brett Brown’s staff.

Iske, who previously coached with the Denver Nuggets, is regarded as a player-development coach who also lends a hand in game-to-game preparation. He’s Brown’s latest coaching-staff addition, joining Memphis assistant Lloyd Pierce, who the Sixers hired Aug. 25.

Hired as the Sixers’ coach Aug. 14, Brown had said he’d like to have his coaching staff in place before the start of September.

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Sunday, August 25, 2013

Sixers add Lloyd Pierce to Brett Brown's coaching staff

(AP)
76ers first-year coach Brett Brown has added personnel to his staff.

The Sixers agreed to terms Sunday with Memphis assistant coach Lloyd Pierce, a league source told the Daily Times. The agreement with Pierce was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.

Pierce becomes the first member of Brown’s coaching staff. Earlier this summer, Pierce’s name was bandied about as one of the Sixers’ targeted candidates to fill their head coaching vacancy. Those reports never really panned out, and Pierce’s name faded out of the rumor mill, though it’s apparent the Sixers had their eyes on Pierce all along.

Brown was hired Aug. 21 by Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie. A day later, he cleaned house and dismissed the holdovers from previous coach Doug Collins’ regime, including associate head coach Michael Curry. At his introductory press conference, Brown said he hoped to have a complimentary coaching staff in place before the end of the month. Hiring Pierce would be a step toward reaching that goal.

Pierce, regarded around the league as an assistant coach on the rise, worked with the Grizzlies from 2011-13. Prior to joining Memphis, he was an assistant at Golden State for one season and a player-development coordinator with Cleveland for three seasons before that.

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