Doug Collins

Twenty years ago, in the first season after divesting themselves of Charles Barkley, the 76ers scuffled through a long year with a starless roster and a coach who didn't see much point in getting too emotionally involved with the outcomes of the games. Doug Moe won more than 600 NBA games in his career, and he didn't do it with mirrors, but he also didn't do it with four centers named Andrew Lang, Manute Bol, Charles Shackleford, and Eddie Lee Wilkins taking up room on his roster.

IT WASN'T A GOOD couple of nights for the 76ers. Tuesday in Brooklyn, the Nets decided to fight the Sixers inside the lane and delivered haymaker after haymaker, destroying them in the physicality department on their way to a 21-point win. Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center, the Atlanta Hawks got to the basket a different way, using their speed and quickness to get out on the break, beat the Sixers down the floor and put on a virtual dunk...

Most fans of the 76ers never imagined that the 2012-13 edition of this team would be playing out a meaningless string of games in the final week of the season, but that's exactly what Wednesday's 124-101 loss to the Atlanta Hawks and the remaining four games have become. The expectations of a potentially deep playoff run that ignited when the team traded for Andrew Bynum have been muted now, and all that remains is a summer of uncertainty and questions about the direction and future of the franchise that could see its second 50-game loser in the last 15 seasons.

A LOOK AROUND the 76ers' locker room before their game against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday and every player on the roster was there. Some were receiving treatment in an adjoining room, but all 13 players were visible, which begged the question: Which of these players will be here next season? They have a roster splattered with expiring contracts, a player with $6.2 million left for next year and a qualifying offer for $6.6 million for 2014-15 who had major knee surgery a couple of months ago (Jason Richardson)

According to multiple league sources, the 76ers organization privately hopes that coach Doug Collins decides not to return for the 2013-14 season and, regardless of his decision, it does not intend to extend his contract - which has one year remaining. It will be an interesting game of cat-and-mouse when this season ends. Collins is unlikely to quit and leave $4.5 million on the table, but he is just as unlikely to agree to coach the lame-duck year of his contract. "I'm entirely focused on trying to win the games we have left," Collins said Wednesday night before the Sixers played Atlanta at the Wells Fargo Center.

Had the 76ers not been eliminated from the playoffs over the weekend, their reward would likely have been swift elimination in the first round, courtesy of the Miami Heat. They would also be looking at losing this year's first-round pick, which is lottery protected through 2015 as a result of last year's draft-day trade with the Heat that brought them Arnett Moultrie. Still, with six mostly meaningless games left in the regular season, Sixers coach Doug Collins said the Sixers will not try to lose games to improve the team's chances of acquiring more ping-pong balls in the lottery.

THE QUESTION has been answered, officially: There will be no playoffs for the 76ers this season. Saturday's 106-87 loss at Miami, combined with Milwaukee's home win over Toronto, sealed the deal. Now coming to the forefront: Questions about where this organization will go during the offseason. Do you seriously consider trying to re-sign Andrew Bynum? Where will you fall in the lottery and whom do you target for the June 27 draft? Who on this current roster is worthy of staying? Is there tweaking to the current roster or a massive overhaul?

MIAMI - So how will Doug Collins' third season as 76ers coach be evaluated when it mercifully draws its last breath 10 days from now in Indiana? Will Sixers owner Joshua Harris, a huge fan of Collins who extended the coach's contract through next season, see the team's backward step into the lottery after two playoff years as the by-product of poor coaching? Probably not. The loquacious Collins has become a lightning rod for criticism as this season has gone south. Andrew Bynum never played a minute for the Sixers, but Collins has absorbed the vitriol of the fans, some of it deserved but most of it not. But Harris isn't going to fire Collins, and here's why: Since starting last season 20-9, the Sixers were 46-66 in the regular season before Saturday's game at Miami.

After a stretch of three games in four nights, 76ers coach Doug Collins gave the Sixers Monday off. Despite a 106-87 loss in Miami on Saturday, the Sixers have won four of their last six games. At 31-45, Collins' team will visit playoff-bound Brooklyn on Tuesday night. The Sixers have six games remaining. They were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss to the Heat. "You keep going out there and giving effort and trying to win, trying to improve on things and get better," Sixers center Spencer Hawes said Saturday.

CHARLOTTE - There will be no more washing of a game jersey, at least not for a little while, for newest 76er Justin Holiday. The older brother of Sixers point guard Jrue Holiday, Justin was signed through the rest of the season earlier this week and suited up for his first game Wednesday against the Charlotte Bobcats. When he entered the game late in the first quarter, it was the first time in team history that brothers played in the same game. Justin, who went undrafted out of Washington in 2011, spent the year in the NBA Development League with the Idaho Stampede, averaging 17.3 points a game.