After the Philadelphia Sixers went to the NBA Finals last season before being beaten four games to one by the Champion Los Angeles Lakers they dismantled their team.  Starters Tyrone Hill was sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers and George Lynch was sent to the Charlotte Hornets, the Sixers receiving Matt Harpring and Derrick Coleman in return.

To say this season has not gone to plan is an understatement, the Sixers starting out missing their top three players to injury and never truly recovering.  And now as campaign 2002 continues to roll it might be three and out in the opening round for the reigning Eastern Conference Champs, the team facing a 0-2 deficit at the hands of the Boston Celtics.

Not surprisingly the Allen Iverson-Larry Brown love relationship has once again derailed, Brown saying to reporters "I think their star players are thinking about winning the game and not dominating the game" after the Game 2 loss Thursday.  It was a clear dig at Iverson, who was 11 for 30 in the game finishing with 29 points.  He is shooting 15 of 45 in the series with 49 points.

When asked about Brown's comment yesterday Iverson replied: "You have to ask him. I don't know why he would want to think that I don't want to win. I want to be dominant and I want to win. You should've asked him, did he feel like I want to win? Because he'll tell you I want to do both. And if he doesn't tell you I want to do both, then obviously the time he's been around me I didn't show him that. And I don't think that's the case."

"I think I'd rather have him say he wants to win and then dominate," responded Brown. "I have no problem with Allen. He got a problem with me, that's his problem."

The two met after practice in an attempt to smooth things over, but not before Iverson have his longest interview of the season to the media and clearly sounded frustrated.  Iverson told reporters that he didn?t feel as though he was a franchise player then sounded off about the negative focus of news these days.

"I'm just not," he said. "I know I'm not. . .I've felt like this for a long time. It doesn't have anything to do even with this season. I know I'm not a franchise player on this squad. My teammates look at me that way, definitely, and probably the fans in Philadelphia feel the same way, but I don't care about being a franchise player or anything like that. I want to be a basketball player and just contribute to this team and just do what I can, do the best that I can. And that's the only thing I can ask out of myself, is just try to do the best I can. If it works, then that's good. If it doesn't, then I still can look in the mirror and say I tried."

"It's not about me, it's not about just me," Iverson said. "It's about my team as a whole. It's about the whole organization. It doesn't have anything to do with just me, so don't blow everything up because I make one comment and then try to keep feeding off that one thing. I said it and it's over with. I just feel like [I'm not a franchise player]. It's no big thing. . .?

"I'm not bleeped off with the organization, I'm not bleeped off with my teammates or anybody. It's no big deal. I made a comment and that's that. Don't keep trying to go with something that doesn't mean anything.?

"One little comment about a franchise player, or Allen said this or Coach said that, it makes the whole world and the whole Philadelphia think there is some turmoil within this organization. Negativity is the thing that sells."

"You know, that's why this world is messed up. That's why people fly airplanes into buildings, rape women and child molest little kids. The world is so negative. Instead of talking about something good, you would rather put the bad stuff in there.?

"It's a negative world. You just try to fight off the negativity as much as you can. I've been here six years and these people been crushing me as long as I've been here. But every time I fall down, I get right back up."