Martelli didn’t root against Shockers

ichita State won its first game, its second, its 15th, its 23rd and its 31st, every one on its basketball schedule, the perfect season. And, no, Phil Martelli wasn’t holding a vigil with a bottle of champagne, waiting for the Shockers to lose and for a celebratory parade to break out along 54th Street.

“Nah,” he said. “I just think college basketball is a game that should be enjoyed and experienced. A part of me even wanted to see Syracuse and Wichita State both stay undefeated, then play on that Monday night in April. That would have been some scene, almost like Bird and Magic in their final game. There is just part of me that I do like, quote-unquote, special events. So there was a little part of me that was rooting for Wichita State.”

Why not? With every Wichita State stride closer to a perfect regular season, there was another mention of the last one. That was in 2004 when Saint Joseph’s finished a 27-0 with an 82-50 victory over St. Bonaventure that made the Fieldhouse the center of college basketball. That was the year Martelli had three pros — Jameer Nelson, Delonte West and Dwayne Jones — and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That was the year that Billy Packer thought the Hawks were overvalued, forgetting that Martelli had too much Southwest Philly and Delaware County in him not to shout back.

But the Hawks were in the Atlantic 10, a high-major conference, traditionally a multi-bid handful, and had to negotiate the necessary inconvenience that is the Big 5, with its burning passions. Who knows how Wichita would have handled that, and not the Missouri Valley Conference, which this season played at a onebid, mid-major pace?

“But a lot has changed, too,” Martelli said, willing to consider all angles. “And I say this out of respect. It was different for them. When we played, there wasn’t the texting, the tweeting, the blogging. There wasn’t the 24-hour rumor-chasing that we all have to deal with now. It was hectic, but it was enjoyable, different than it is now.”

Different seasons, different pressures. Besides, Wichita State was in the last Final Four, smothering any suggestion that its 2013-2014 excellence was a backdoor, trick play. That’s why Martelli is content to remember his undefeated team, not worry about the latest edition.

“I always felt our team carried the banner of a team, that it set a standard of what a team should be with the way it handled the attention and the experience,” the Hawks’ coach said. “And 10 years later, I felt like it happened just yesterday. That team was unique, and the one word I always use is that it was a joy to coach.”

JACK MCCAFFERY

PHILADELPHIA — Allen Iverson raised his No. 3 to the rafters and had Sixers’ fans raising the roof. For one night in Philadelphia, the spirit of a big game was back, from the fourfigure ticket prices on the secondary market to the packed house that roared for legends Julius Erving and Moses Malone, and chanted “MVP!” when Iverson thanked the fans.

The crowd was electric — then the Sixers pulled the plug. By the fourth quarter, most of the 20,856 fans fled the Wells Fargo Center, the memories of Iverson’s homecoming trumping the idea of sticking around to watch the home team limp toward another loss. The few that remained only cheered when the Sixers scored 100 points, netting them some free fast food.

Coach Brett Brown loved Saturday’s atmosphere that was pulled straight from 2001.

“You think, `What can happen if we ever get this right?”’ he said.

The Sixers (15-45) have been every bit as bad as their preseason billing, and have lost 14 straight games following back-to-back defeats last weekend to Washington and Orlando. They’ve lost 12 straight at home and are freefalling their way toward catching Milwaukee (11-47) for the worst record in the NBA. They had allowed 100-plus points in 13 straight games before Sunday, their longest single-season streak since 1989.

Iverson, one of the 76ers’ all-time greats, has tuned out the Sixers as if they were a coach talking about practice.

“It’s hard for me to watch Sixers basketball games,” Iverson said, “so I don’t.”

NBA

Toss out rookie Michael-Carter Williams, injured rookie Nerlens Noel, and veteran Thaddeus Young and the Sixers are left with a roster more fitting for the D-League. Henry Sims? Jarvis Varnado? Byron Mullens?

Brown was blunt after the Sixers’ 13th straight loss when asked if he wondered if the Sixers would win another game.

“All the time,” he said, “I tell them that.”

The Sixers are closing in on the longest singleseason losing streak in team history, per STATS LLC.

— 20 straight; Jan. 9, 1973-Feb. 11, 1973.

— 15 straight; Feb. 9, 1994-March 11, 1994

— 14 straight; Dec. 7, 1972-Jan. 6, 1973

— 14 straight; Jan. 31, 2014-present.

Up next, Tuesday night at Western Conferenceleading Oklahoma City. Does anyone hear 15? Of course, the plan set all along this season by ownership and general manager Sam Hinkie was to gut the roster until the uncompetitive franchise was pointed straight toward the No. 1 draft pick. The Sixers traded former No. 2 overall pick Evan Turner, forward Lavoy Allen and center Spencer Hawes at the deadline to dump salary, create roster space, and gobble draft picks in hopes of building a championship contender down the road.

“We’re trying to acquire things that will help us move forward,” Hinkie said.

The Sixers could also have a second lottery pick (based on different scenarios) after acquiring New Orleans’ first-round pick in a 2013 draft night trade that also landed them Noel.

Sure, the next lottery pick just might produce AI-type numbers, and the Sixers can sign a free agent or two and become Eastern Conference con-