PHILADELPHIA -- In his most imaginative moments, John Lucas can envision a reconditioned house in the heart of the city. Three or four bedrooms, a living room, dining area, perhaps a den, definitely a full-service kitchen.
It would be a place 76ers rookies and new, young players at least temporarily could call home.
"That's one of the things I'd like to do: to have a house like that as a transitional place for young players," the Sixers' coach and general manager said.
"Instead of kids being drafted out of college and, in some cases, living on their own for the first time in a new city, they would have someplace to go until they became accustomed to their surroundings.
"Instead of always eating hot dogs, fast food and candy bars they'd get the right nutrition because I'd include a cook in my plan. They'd have a schedule; they'd know what time dinner was being served. And they'd have responsibilities.
"It would be an environment for those who need it. They could get comfortable before looking for their own apartments or houses."
THE CONCEPT IS PURE LUCAS, a free-thinking, forward-looking approach, similar to the corporate housing provided for new employees by major businesses.
But would it have helped, say, Sixers rookie Jerry Stackhouse wend his way through training camp, the preseason and the early part of the regular season?
"I'm more independent than that," said Stackhouse, the No. 3 pick in last June's NBA draft.
"I might have wanted a system of wake-up calls or maybe someone to cook for me for a while, but that's all. My feeling is: to be a man, to become part of the league, you have to start with your independence."
But even Stackhouse quickly realized that his schedule was going to make it difficult to provide himself with high-quality evening meals. For a while, he interviewed prospective cooks but was bothered by the cost.
"One person wanted $400 to cook four dinners a week, and I had to buy the food," he said. "I said I had a salary cap."
BUT STACKHOUSE KNOWS the area's basketball constituency is watching him carefully. He hears the people chirping as he walks through the city, offering encouragement, all but pleading for a winner. If they knew him better, they would understand that he likes the team's dreadful start (10 losses in the first 12 games) less than they do.
"I like to be out there, to hear them," Stackhouse said. "I lived alone (last year), off campus, as a sophomore at North Carolina. I experienced a lot of the transition as a senior at Oak Hill Academy (in Virginia), where I had to fend for myself a lot. I understand Luke's concept, and I think it would be good for a lot of players, but for me it would be a big step back."
What Lucas wants is for the Sixers to take some major steps forward, to climb out of the quicksand in which they've been mired for several seasons. In the three previous seasons, they averaged 25 victories. To use one of the coach's favorite expressions: That's unacceptable.
That's part of why Lucas and owner Harold Katz pulled the trigger on a blockbuster trade, sending center Shawn Bradley, guard Greg Graham and forward Tim Perry to New Jersey for forward Derrick Coleman, guard-forward Sean Higgins and guard Rex Walters. It is also why Lucas signed guards Greg Grant and Trevor Ruffin after the start of the season, and why Lucas says he is not through changing the roster.
The biggest change, though, came when the Sixers drafted the 6-5 1/2 Stackhouse, establishing him in a backcourt with the controversial Vernon Maxwell. For now, Maxwell is the primary point guard, Stackhouse the shooting guard. But as Lucas fits together the pieces of the puzzle, Maxwell will eventually be used mostly at his natural shooting guard position and Stackhouse will see increased time as a small forward.
YES, LUCAS KNEW HE was starting the season without a traditional point guard and that Stackhouse had played much of his last season in college as a power forward. But the initial concern was to raise the talent level of the team and increase its depth and emotional pitch.
It's a fragile human puzzle that includes Richard Dumas as a small forward, who was added despite a substance abuse background. The presence of Dumas, though, allowed burly Clarence Weatherspoon to switch from small forward to a more comfortable power forward role. With the recent addition of Coleman, Spoon can be used at both spots.
Once it became clear that the 7-6 Bradley had regressed rather than developed in his third season, Lucas made second-year man Sharone Wright the starting center. Lucas had desperately hoped that Bradley would remain the effective defensive presence he had been in the final month of last season, but that never materialized. When Bradley went without a rebound in a game against Detroit, then followed with a scoreless game against Golden State and a four-point, four-rebound, six-turnover game against Atlanta, the Sixers knew they had to do something.
But even with Coleman, who was the 1990-91 Rookie Of The Year, has appeared in an All-Star Game and was a member of Dream Team II, Stackhouse is this team's eventual fulcrum. Weatherspoon has already shown that he does not need the spotlight to succeed, and Coleman could thrive in a similar atmosphere.
STACKHOUSE IS HARDLY reluctant to accept the challenge, an uncommon characteristic of even the most highly trumpeted rookies. He played all through the preseason with a small cast protecting a hairline fracture just above the ring finger of his left hand. He shed the cast opening night and has worked mightily to learn the nuances of the backcourt. He is not yet nearly where he wants to be and has struggled with turnovers but remains a legitimate rookie of the year candidate.
"Right now, I'm just trying to relax and put everything else aside," Stackhouse said. "I had been putting pressure on myself, starting to think about things I shouldn't be thinking about."
Case in point: He shot just 34.9 percent from the floor during the preseason, averaging 17.9 points. But he felt the cast on his left hand was affecting his ability to naturally guide the ball on his jump shot. Then he realized none of the coaches had said a word about his shooting.
"If they're not saying anything, I don't know what I was thinking about," he said sheepishly.
He is a stable, mature athlete with fierce competitive instincts. He understands that he is being challenged, that he is being viewed as the centerpiece of what has been a troubled franchise.
It is time to find out just how quickly the Sixers' home court, the CoreStates Spectrum, can become Stack's House.
Hersey Hawkins, who spent the past two seasons with Charlotte before being traded to Seattle, was puzzled by the Hornets sending Alonzo Mourning to Miami. "They let something unique slip through their fingers,'' Hawkins said. "Who is to say (they) could have won it, but I think they were on the verge, maybe one or two players away. You could build from there. You go get the other players to meet specific roles, you don't tear things apart." ...
When Minnesota hit one of 19 three-point attempts against Orlando, Timberwolves VP Kevin McHale said: "If I'm playing golf and I hit 18 drives in the woods, I probably put my driver in the bag." ...
Former Chicago star Bob Love and fiancee Rachel Dixon are planning to be married during halftime of a Bulls game, with owner Jerry Reinsdorf consenting to serve as Love's best man. Love is the team's director of community relations.
In addition to writing this exclusive column for SportsLine USA, Phil Jasner covers the NBA for the Philadelphia Daily News.
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