It's getting harder to believe in these Sixers

THERE'S NO REASON to believe in the 76ers. Not when they're 27-28 with 27 games to play. Not when they follow up a blowout loss to Orlando by coughing up a nine-point fourth-quarter lead last night in an 88-83 loss to Portland.

Not when with two-thirds of the season gone, the coach and star player talk about guys' not knowing the plays at crucial moments in a game. Faith is a big thing to ask for, and based on their performance, the Sixers don't deserve much.

Still, the question remains: Is it officially time to write off the Sixers for the 2001-02 season? How many more nails before the coffin is sealed for good? I guess the real question is: Are the Sixers a basketball team playing badly or really just a bad basketball team?

That's an important point of semantics because the perspective from which you look will determine whether there's anything positive to cling to during the final third of the season. If the Sixers are simply a bad team, and most of the tangible evidence leans that way, then this season is pretty much over.

Tinkerbell isn't floating around the First Union Center sprinkling fairy dust, so there is no magical cure to be found. A team capable of turning things around wouldn't have lost last night to the Trail Blazers - not when it led, 71-62, in the fourth quarter.

A team capable of pulling things together in time to become a viable factor in the playoffs doesn't get outscored, 26-14, in the fourth quarter of a game it desperately needed to win to position itself for a credible push down the stretch.

"I don't know," Sixers coach Larry Brown responded when asked what is a reasonable expectation for his team.

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Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers

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Blazers have Mo-mentum

Wasn't he too quiet, too reserved? Was he really sure he wanted to be an NBA head coach? Hadn't he simply found his comfort zone in seven seasons as an assistant with the 76ers? Maurice Cheeks was surrounded by questions about coaching the way he once was surrounded by stars as the Sixers' point guard for 11 seasons. He had the answers then, and - in his head-coaching debut with the Portland Trail Blazers - he has them now.

Witness a 31-24 record, including 18 victories in the last 24 games. Witness his resolute willingness to confront problems, to establish his modus operandi, to establish who is directing the team.

"I think his personality as a player was misperceived,'' said Blazers assistant Jim Lynam, a former head coach, assistant and general manager with the Sixers, tonight's opponents. "Yes, he was quiet, but he directed all those Sixers shows as the proverbial coach on the floor.

"The moment now that he steps in the gym, there's a 180-degree difference from that. To borrow an expression, it might still say 'Cheeks' on his jersey, but that's where the resemblance ends.''

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Portland Trail Blazers, Philadelphia 76ers

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League suspends Kemp

The Associated Press reports that Portland Trail Blazers forward Shawn Kemp was suspended indefinitely without pay by the NBA yesterday for violating terms of the league's anti-drug agreement.

The NBA said the suspension will continue until he has resumed full compliance with his treatment program. Kemp, who also has battled weight problems, left the Blazers late last season for treatment of cocaine abuse.

"Obviously we're very sadly disappointed, but we're very supportive of Shawn and his efforts in his personal life. We're pulling for Shawn," Blazers president and general manager Bob Whitsitt said.

"I talked to Shawn a little while ago," Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "He's a little sad, a little disappointed in himself. He says he's going to come back, he's going to do everything he has to do to get back."

Last season, Kemp took a leave of absence from the team with eight games left in the regular season. Three days later, the Blazers said he would enter a substance abuse program.

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Portland Trail Blazers

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