(Associated Press)

After Sunday's game – a meaningless 91-77 victory over Cleveland – it happened.

Right there beside the scorer's table, after a handshake and an embrace with Cavaliers coach Byron Scott, but not before the confetti cannons could spew their contents, Doug Collins smiled. Those expressions of joy have been few and far between this season.

With two games remaining, and two wins required to match last season's win total, the Sixers are at a crossroads. They're benching veterans (like Royal Ivey and Nick Young) with expiring contracts, playing rookies (like Justin Holiday and Arnett Moultrie) for 20-plus minutes and looking to next year – whether that involves Collins or not.

So … what did the Sixers learn about their postseason-less campaign?

“That nothing is guaranteed,” Jrue Holiday said. “Even though the two years before that, we did a good job making it to the first round and then the second round, and even this year, when everybody thought we had a really good chance with Andrew (Bynum) probably making it pretty deep in the playoffs – nothing is guaranteed.”

The Sixers have plenty to improve upon before the playoffs become a reality for next season. They have an important offseason, a lottery selection, a Bynum decision, possibly a coach search and who knows what else.

Though he wasn't referring to the upcoming summer offseason, Holiday's words about turning around the Sixers seem to apply.

“Take it one game at a time,” he said, “and don't let time get away.”

(Associated Press)

MILWAUKEE --- At his locker, Royal Ivey had barely slung a shirt over his shoulder when he was asked for a moment to talk. Ivey knew what the inquiry was out, responding to a question that didn't need asking.

“I definitely should've called timeout,” Ivey said, after the 76ers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 94-92, Wednesday night.

With five seconds to go, in a two-point game, the Sixers' Jrue Holiday won a jumpball against Milwaukee's Luc Mbah a Moute – “I got up on that,” Holiday said – and the tip went to Ivey. Unsure what to do with it, Ivey said he tried to make a play.

Instead, Moute batted away the errant pass, chased it into Milwaukee territory and kept it inbounds long enough to allow time to expire.

“We had two timeouts left,” Sixers coach Doug Collins said sternly.

Here's how Ivey summed up those final seconds: “Honestly, we knew throughout the game, we had said we had three previously. Nobody was thinking call a timeout in that situation. The onus is on us in that situation to make that call. I got the ball. I definitely should've called timeout. I wasn't thinking that. I was thinking make a play, get somebody an open shot.”

By “somebody,” he meant Nick Young, Spencer Hawes, Evan Turner and Holiday. Those were the other guys on the floor at the time

Rather than burn one of the Sixers' remaining timeouts, allowing Collins to sub Ivey off the floor in favor of a more-offensive option – maybe Jeremy Pargo or Dorell Wright, both of whom can shoot the 3-ball – Ivey kept the play alive, but killed the Sixers' rally.

“I got the ball and they made a play on the ball,” said Ivey, an eight-year vet. “I was trying to get the ball to Spencer, and Luc shot the gap and got a hand on the ball, knocked it loose. That was it.”

Young referred to this one as “just one of those situations you wish you could have back.” That's a safe bet, considering where it left the Sixers (22-29) – four games back of eighth-place Milwaukee (26-25) for the final playoff spot in the East, heading into All-Star weekend.

(Associated Press)

Statistically speaking, Doug Collins has one of the best benches in the NBA. But that's not stock he's willing to buy.

A couple factors have contributed to Collins' struggling to find the right mix, night to night. Who comes off the bench first? Who goes in what role? Who's a scoring source? Who can provide lock-down defense?

 “Teams are trying to find who their bench is," Collins said Monday, after practice at PCOM. "Last year, our bench was Lou (Williams), Thad (Young), Lavoy (Allen) and Evan (Turner) – three starters now and a guy who’s not on our team. And so we’re trying to create something that, maybe, was our greatest strength last year. We’re trying to find out."

The Sixers, who rank fourth in the NBA with 38.8 points per game from their reserves, trail only Denver, San Antonio and Dallas in bench points. Still, plenty of uncertainty surrounds the Sixers' bench, with Collins citing a sense of belonging among his non-starters. Saturday, Collins went to his bench for only 49 minutes of a possible 240 in a loss at Chicago.

"What we have to do with that is know who you are, know what you bring and bring that every night so I can count on that," Collins said, of what he tells his bench players. "The thing that we have is we don’t have a lot of separation. What happens if I need Royal Ivey, but not Maalik (Wayns)? Now Maalik goes, ‘I don’t know what my role is because I didn’t play tonight.’ Or Royal gets a couple DNPs and goes, ‘I haven’t been in the rotation.’ Or Kwame (Brown) gets eight minutes in Charlotte, then doesn’t play the other night, but I need him big tomorrow night against (Minnesota's Nikola) Pekovic. So that’s what you’re up against. Just be consistent with who you are and your role will be there."

One of those reserves from whom the Sixers need more is Spencer Hawes (pictured), whose production has dipped tremendously since posting a double-double and eliciting 'M-V-P' chants from a sold-out Wells Fargo Center Oct. 31 in the season opener.

And Hawes knows it.

“I’ve always been harder on myself than anyone else," Hawes said.

More on Hawes Tuesday, so check back then.

(Associated Press)

Last night, Royal Ivey gave the Sixers 18 minutes off the bench, with five points, three rebounds and an assist. More importantly, Ivey gave them something that didn't show up in the box score.

Sixers coach Doug Collins turned to Ivey in the second half, hoping he'd help slow down Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings. There really wasn't any hindering Jennings' game, which took the form of a 33-point display in the Bucks' victory.

"I was reaching in the grab bag, trying to find anything I could to get us back in the game," Collins said.

“In the second half, we held them to 43 points. We picked up our defense. I think part of that was I put Royal Ivey in the game. And in a game like tonight, he has to play with his speed and quickness because he’s one of the few guys on our team that can guard somebody like a Jennings or a Monta Ellis because they’re just so fast"

In the preseason, it seemed as though rookie Maalik Wayns would run the Sixers' second-team offense. But Wayns struggled out of the gate and, ever since, his minutes have waned. So Collins has turned to Ivey off the bench, for sure-handed play and occasional scoring from a veteran. That's been especially desirable of late, with Jrue Holiday turning the ball over with regularity.

In any case, and in any role, Ivey wants to play...even if it means being tasked with slowing down a speedster like Jennings.

"Man, he’s a tough guard," Ivey said, "but that’s what I live for – trying to stop one of the better guards, one of the better perimeter players, one of the better point guards in the league. I look forward to those challenges. Hopefully I get another shot and hopefully I succeed. I’m looking forward to the next one."

(Associated Press)

When 76ers coach Doug Collins throws out his lineups each day at practice, it offers a good chance to see who is pitted against whom.

An interesting pairing lately has been Evan Turner (pictured) and Jrue Holiday working with the first-teamers, and Maalik Wayns and Royal Ivey operating with the second unit.

Because Collins envisions Turner as the secondary ballhandler, when Holiday either fatigues or incurs foul trouble, Ivey and Wayns have been tasked with turning up the pressure on both members of the Sixers' starting backcourt. And they've been playing well. Wayns has been getting to the rim with ease in transition opportunities, and both he and Ivey have done a good job hampering Holiday and Turner on the defensive side.

Turner and Collins continue to laud the competition level at Sixers' camp, which closed Monday and returned to practice mode Tuesday. Turner said the heat of the competition in preseason will make for better play in the regular season.

“It’s going to make the game easier," Turner said. "Royal is a great vet where he just wants to push you and make you better. He’s all about making you better. He told me that when I first met him. He said, ‘I’m going to try to get the best out of you so you can be better when the game starts.’ 

"And you know, Maalik, he’s a humble, young kid. He wants to keep getting better. He’s always about competing and that’s what he’s doing."

The Sixers open their preseason schedule Thursday in Orlando.

(AP)

It's the first Tuesday in October, the first day of training camp ... and we're already talking about rotations?

The topic came up following the 76ers' morning session at Saint Joseph's University, where coach Doug Collins offered his preliminary take on how his team shakes out.

First, Collins said, his rotation always stays around nine players with a 10th being "a specialist." (More on that in a moment.) Here's Collins' take:

Five on the perimeter

• Jrue Holiday 
• Evan Turner (pictured)
• Jason Richardson 
• Dorell Wright 
• Nick Young 

Four bigs, when healthy:

• Andrew Bynum 
• Spencer Hawes
• Thad Young
• Lavoy Allen

The wild-cards in all this, or the guys vying for that 10th spot in the rotation, would be: Maalik Wayns, Royal Ivey and Kwame Brown. More on that from Collins:

“Your 10th guy becomes a specialist," Collins said. "It might be Kwame one night for post defense. It might be Royal Ivey one night because we need to put him out on a point guard for six or eight minutes and guard the heck out of the ball. It might be Maalik where we say, ‘Maalik, the game is stagnant. Get the tempo going.’

Collins continued, saying a guy like Nick Young might play in that capacity at some point, too:

"Against the Knicks, I might let (Young) play a quarter against Carmelo Anthony or against the Celtics let’s see what he does on Paul Pierce. Now I have to find out what we can do."

So that's where everything stands after one session of training camp. And there's no possible way that could possibly change between now and Oct. 31, right?