76ers coach Doug Collins spent some time with Andre Iguodala on Thursday afternoon in hopes of easing the young player's concerns.

"I told Andre he's very important to our team," Collins said. "He's a little down right now, playing 6 years with so many different coaches, just going through a season in which the team was 12-29 at home. I told him I want the joy back in his game."

Collins is Iguodala's fifth NBA coach.

"I told him, 'I've got your back. I want you on the floor.' I've always found that the best players are the hardest workers. I said, 'If you work like that, I'll help you in any situation I possibly can.' Then we've got to get other guys on board, showing the same dedication. After a while, the guys who don't do it suddenly stand out. We'll sort through things, see who can be there, who might have to move on.

"I told him he hasn't scratched the surface of the player he can become, but we have to tighten up his game. He can't live on long jump shots. I've coached wing players like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Grant Hill, Jerry Stackhouse, Rip Hamilton and Allan Houston, and they've all played well. That's exactly what I want to do with Andre. He can become a first-team All-Defense guy, a very good all-around player. If he plays to his strengths, it can make the game easy for him."