Then came a disciplinary running drill.
"We lost a little focus and made some critical mistakes there that I had to stop and talk about," said Collins, whose team won its fourth game on Saturday over the New Jersey Nets and will face the Portland Trail Blazers tonight at the Wells Fargo Center.
"We had to burn a timeout because a guy didn't come back and help [first team], and then we tried to score when the shot clock was turned off and we got a turnover [Speights].
"Just little things, and that's what I told our guys. I reiterated that we haven't won a game yet by single digits. Every game that we have won has been double-digits."
Collins then pointed out that the Nets won a two-point game on Sunday over Portland on a three-pointer by Devin Harris.
"That's eventually the kind of games that we're going to have to win," he said, "and that's why we're doing situational stuff here at the end of practice, to get guys aware of that shot clock and what it means."
Until then, the teaching continues.
Brackins to Springfield
Rookie forward Craig Brackins will go to the NBA Developmental League for five games and play with the Springfield Armor, whose leading scorer is former Villanova star Scottie Reynolds.
Brackins has mostly been deactivated this season. He has appeared in one game, and scored six points in 10 minutes Wednesday in Toronto. A good outside shooter, the 6-10 Brackins will look to improve areas that will enable him to start getting some playing time. Doug Collins said before the season that the organization was looking at this season as a "redshirt" year for Brackins.
"We think this will really help him," Collins said. "More than anything, like I tell him if he was to go back to Iowa State he'd be the most dominant player out there, but you don't see it right now because he's not getting that time here. We're hoping that maybe he can go get some game time and see how much he's improved."
Brackins took the news well.
"I'm excited about it," he said. "I'm going to work on a lot of stuff that I need to work on and get in shape. I don't care how many lines you run, basketball shape is different.
"It will be kind of like coming here, not knowing anybody. But you adjust. It's just playing basketball. Coach has been telling me to work on defense, work on rebounding because they know I can score. It's guarding the wing players because they said at some point they can see me playing some 'three' and then playing some 'four' men on defense. So it's low-post defense, wing defense and rebounding. Just doing stuff that I really don't get a chance to do."
Six shots
Forward Jason Kapono was back at practice after missing four games for personal reasons . . . In a rarity, the team had everyone available at practice.
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