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**Coatesvillain** · 10-17-2004, 02:25 AM

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TORONTO - The numbers through the 76ers' first two exhibition games have not been kind to Willie Green, the projected starter at shooting guard once the regular season gets under way.

Green's 0-for-6 performance Friday night against the Toronto Raptors made his aggregate totals to date read as follows: 2-for-10 shooting, no three-point baskets, three rebounds, five assists and more turnovers (five) than points (four) in 31 minutes of play.

But Green, a second-year player, isn't bummed out by the numbers. More important, neither is coach Jim O'Brien, whose team raised its preseason record to 2-0 with a 99-97 victory.

"The tendency is to look at the stat sheet and see 0 for 6," O'Brien said yesterday after the Sixers worked out at the Raptors' practice facility at the Air Canada Centre.

"But I thought Willie played a heck of a basketball game. I was very impressed with his effort, the things he did defensively, his aggressiveness offensively. I thought he had a very strong game."

Green said he's not worried about the shooting, feeling that he's using the preseason to get the rust off. He just wants his all-around game to be solid.

"You always notice that you didn't score or you didn't shoot as well as you want to," he said. "But you realize you still had a solid game and that those things are going to come. Offense comes and goes but your defense and your presence on the floor is really what helps the team."

The adjustment from rookie year to second season is a huge one for the 6-foot-4 Green, a second-round draft pick in 2003 out of Detroit Mercy.

He is expected to team in the backcourt with point guard Allen Iverson, and will see some time at the point when Iverson is resting. He is learning an entirely new offensive and defensive system from O'Brien, the first-year coach.

He is working on his ballhandling and his floor leadership, and he also seeks to tighten his defense when he comes up against strong opposition, as he did Friday night against the Raptors' Vince Carter.

"I'm trying to improve on every aspect of my game," he said. "When the veterans aren't in the game, I want to come in and be the floor leader. When I'm in with all the young guys, I try to be sound with my game and try not to make mistakes that cost you in the end."

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Hello, London. The Sixers will show some different looks when they visit the John Labatt Centre, a facility managed by Global Spectrum, a subsidiary of Comcast-Specator, the Sixers' parent company.

O'Brien said he will sit out Glenn Robinson, who has soreness in his surgically repaired right elbow and "needs two days to kick back and get rejuvenated."

Iverson (strained right hip flexor) and backup center Brian Skinner (sprained right ankle) sat out yesterday's practice. Iverson was listed as probable, O'Brien said, and Skinner will be a game-time decision.

Marc Jackson (strained right hip flexor), who sat out Friday's game, is likely to play today.

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Tersk · 10-17-2004, 02:27 AM

Man, I am imagining O'Brien saying "Don't share ice boys, you might catch a strained right hip flexor"

**RoyWilliams** · 10-18-2004, 09:04 AM

I dont mind them sitting out, i want them healthy when the season starts.

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