Sixers Coach Doug Collins speaks highly of Jodie Meeks

Jodie Meeks hit half of his shots against the Philadelphia 76ers, including a highlight reverse dunk, for a total of seven points.

Meeks is a steady part of Coach Mike D’Antoni’s rotation which went just eight deep on Tuesday in the Lakers’ 103-99 loss to the Sixers.

Coach Doug Collins had nothing but positive things to say about Meeks, whom he coached in Philadelphia.

“He’s one of the best teammates you can ever have,” said Collins. “He never puts himself above the team.... He’s one of my favorite guys.”

Meeks is averaging 8.3 points a game on 38.5% shooting while hitting 37% from three.

“We miss him,” Collins said. “We miss his speed. We miss his professionalism. We miss all the things he brings.”

Both D’Antoni and Collins say the same of Meeks’ effort and energy on the court.

“Jodie’s Jodie,” D’Antoni said a number of days earlier. “He’s going to play as hard as he can play and sometimes it’s a train wreck and sometimes it’s really good. I think it’s going to be more good than bad.”

Meeks had dropped out of Mike Brown’s rotation when he was coaching the team, but D’Antoni uses him for his young legs and willingness to work hard on both offense and defense.

The Lakers are still searching for the right combination of players to win games, but D’Antoni has relied on Meeks to be part of the solution more often than not.

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Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.