Rod Thorn is taking his time in evaluating the 76ers' roster since taking over as team president Aug. 12. He appears to have a lot of work to do.

Thorn wasn't afraid to make some big trades in his 10 years running the Nets, remaking New Jersey by dealing Stephon Marbury for Jason Kidd and acquiring first-round picks Richard Jefferson and Jason Collins for Eddie Griffin. The Nets reached back-to-back NBA Finals (2002 and 2003) with Thorn running the show.

"You have to make decisions," he said. "If you think something (is worthwhile), you have to go try to do it."

Thorn will need to be bold to help get the Sixers back on track after a disappointing 27-55 season under the since-fired Eddie Jordan.

There are too many people who buy into the concept of the dumb athlete. As a matter of personal opinion, many of these stereotypes may be true, but I think there is some underlying jealousy amongst people in the world of academia about the money that people in the world of sports make. People are going to pay for what they want to pay for and if they shell out a bunch of money to go to a ball game while complaining about their taxes, that is their prerogative.

Quin Snyder was in a basketball nowhere land. He rode the bus on those three-movie road trips on the NBDL circuit where everyone in a uniform believed they were one big break away from a look at the big time. He was several years and 800 miles removed from his days as the next bona fide coaching wonderboy at Missouri.

Philadelphia 76ers forward Andres Nocioni will miss the FIBA World Championship with a left-ankle injury. The Associated Press reports the Sixers, who traded for Nocioni in June, advised him to skip the tournament. "Dr. [Jack] McPhilemy didn't like what he saw, and felt Andres should not play or put a lot of impact on the ankle," Sixers president Rod Thorn told the Philadelphia Daily News . "Andres wants to play and feels very close to his country, but, in this case, it's just not prudent for him to play." Nocioni, who was...

Philadelphia 76ers forward Andres Nocioni won't play for Argentina at the world championships because of a left ankle injury.

Argentina forward Andres Nocioni will miss the basketball World Championship because of a left-ankle injury. The Philadelphia 76ers advised Nocioni to skip the tournament that starts Saturday, and Nocioni confirmed Thursday he won't play. Nocioni told reporters the NBA team "exercised an option in my contract that when I get injured during national team activities they can prevent me from...