Although Elton Brand is no longer injured, he's on the sideline nearly as much as if he were.
Expecting him to complain, publicly, about such a thing is a lot like asking him to miss a box out: He's spent a career trying not to.
But there are hints. Frustration exists.
You'd be crazy to think it didn't.
Listening to Brand talk about this season - and listening to 76ers coach Eddie Jordan talk about his lineup - is a lesson in reading between the lines.
Through seven games this season, in which the Sixers are 3-4, Brand is playing 27.6 minutes a game. He's fifth on the team in scoring with a 10.1 average, shooting 45.2 percent.
"Of course there's a level of frustration creeping in, being 3-4," Brand said after yesterday's practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. "We're close to being 5-2 and it's all smiles around here, but being 3-4, it's frustrating, absolutely."
Tonight at 7:30, the Sixers play the winless New Jersey Nets at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.
Before signing a five-year, $80 million contract with the Sixers before last season, Brand, in nine NBA seasons, had never played a full NBA season averaging less than 37.0 minutes a game.
Two seasons ago, he missed all but eight games with a torn Achilles. Last season, he missed all but 29 games with a shoulder injury.
After averaging 20.3 points and 10.1 rebounds during his first nine NBA seasons, Brand is averaging 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds a game in 36 games with the Sixers.
Added up, all those numbers, spanning a decade, can be summarized with a few words: Things aren't going as planned.
Brand is sitting at the end of close games. He's become a very expensive fifth option. And Jordan seems less concerned with how to incorporate Brand and more concerned with Brand accepting the situation.
"I look at how you play in the game," Jordan said. "It's not all about stats; anybody can get stats and lose. There are a lot of good stat players on losing teams that when you put them on winning teams, they're not good players. Not to say I'm talking about our guys."
In his career, Brand has made only one playoff appearance, in 2006 with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Does Jordan see any indication of Brand becoming his pre-injury self?
"I see some of it, yeah," Jordan said. "But I don't see all of it."
Is Jordan worried about sitting Brand at the end of games?
