+Philadelphia 76ers
Overall Win/Loss Record (as of November 30th): 6-11, third place Atlantic Division |
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This Month:
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SDH’s Worst of the Month: ???
 Even on the best teams in the league, there is always that one player who can be used as cannon fodder for critics to trash on; however, this is probably the first time ever where there is virtually no one to bash on this team. With four of the teams best players performing way above expectations and one of them looking like a shoe in for rookie of the year, there is very little fault to be found. Both Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes have been posting their best numbers in their career with Turner finally showing fans why Philly picked him second overall in the 2010 NBA Draft and Hawes disproving those who had already giving up on him being anything more than a mediocre big man. Even the discarded +Tony Wroten, who came off a rather disappointing rookie campaign, have come of to have a breakout season as well far surpassing his numbers last season to become a front runner for both the Most Improved and Sixth Man of the Year awards. In spite of the team's 6-11 record, the Sixers have player rather surprisingly cohesive and consistent basketball not giving anything up on each other or against their opponents thus making the entire roster untouchable of reproach--well, at least for now. |
SDH’s First of the Month: Brett Brown
 Arriving as the Sixers new head coach, Brett Brown was given virtually nothing in term of his roster, any chance of competing, and any expectations whatsoever; however, despite what little he was given, he manage to turn a team that was expected to fall flat on its face to one of the most talked about stories in sports. Upon stepping out on the court on opening tip off, Brown's team shattered any allusion that it would simply lay down and let their opponents have their way with them. Instead, the Sixers came out fighting and players who had been once considered as hopeless causes now look as if they have been injected with a new breath of life while at the same time giving its fans something to cheer for in this supposedly difficult transition period. All the credit for this has to be given to coach Brown who despite being surrounded around every turn by naysayers and doubters not only in the press and the media, but even within the organization itself. With this in mind, perhaps the Sixers should try and rein their spark plug of a coach a bit considering that their plans to play bad enough to get a shot at receiving the number one pick in next years draft might be in jeopardy if Brown continues to boost the confidence of his players. |
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The opening of the regular season for the Philadelphia 76ers came with the anticipation one would have for a root canal or some other painful medical procedure as the team along with its fans, press and media had prepared themselves for the worst case scenario. There were no delusions or fabrications on what was going to happen as everyone involved had all accepted their fates that this would possibly be one of the worst seasons in Philadelphia 76ers history. The Sixers would not even garner any mention or any venom from even the most hateful sports critics because many probably considered it wrong or even cruel to step on a team that would probably experience more much pain and humiliation than it can possibly take. The first game against the +Miami HEAT was met by Sixers fans with a sense of peace that the loved ones of a person who is one his death bed--they simply wanted their team's end to be a quick one with limited suffering or further anguish. Then all of sudden, it happened and instead of the meaningless slaughter that they expected to witness in their team's first game of the season, they would be treated to one of the most enlightening and spectacular showings that could have ever been witnessed in 2013/2014 NBA regular season. It was as if all of a sudden Sixers fans were suddenly transported to an alternate universe where the fabric of space and time had been altered when they saw their team actually competing toe to toe against the NBA champions matching them shot for shot. Not only did they witness a performance that was worthy as being one of the greatest games in its recent memory, but they also saw the emergence of a player than many had not even bothered to pay attention to in the team's rookie, Michael Carter-Williams. Carter-Williams would put on a show in his rookie debut that had never captured the imagination of Sixers fans since that of superstars such as Allen Iverson and the good doctor himself, Julius Irving as he posted a near QUADRUPLE DOUBLE--something that was thought of to be a myth or legend. From that point on, the basketball viewing populaces' view of the Sixers immediately changed as Philly would win four of its first eight games and even took hold of first place of the Atlantic division for a short period of time. And even when Philly started to slide approaching the end of November, they manage to do so in style as the Sixers put up phenomenal scoring numbers hitting the hundred point mark in half of the team's games, and only went below the 90 point mark just twice in that month--not bad for a team that no one expected to put up such high number, let alone be anywhere close to relevant this season. Nonetheless, in spite of Philly's losing eight of their last ten games to finish the month, they still managed to keep within striking distance of the Atlantic Division crown and still close enough to stay in playoff contention as well. That was primarily due the rather disappointing start of the Eastern Conference, which was supposed to have greatly improved during the off season thanks to big trades and a few Western Conference defections; however, all of that failed to materialize as come November's end, only three teams would sport winning records--namely the +Miami HEAT, +Indiana Pacers and most surprisingly, the +Atlanta Hawks. Two of the teams who were expected to control the Atlantic Division--the +New York Knicks and +Brooklyn Nets--fell well below expectations have even worse records than Philly while at the same time, three teams who were expected to take the league by storm have yet to come out of the gates. Both the +Cleveland Cavaliers and the +Detroit Pistons made huge waves during the off season with their big name free agent signings and Cleveland winning the first overall pick in the draft for the second time in three years. Unfortunately, neither team have benefited from their off season acquisitions as the both rest in the same boat as the Sixers and as for the Cavs number one pick . . . let's say that he has yet to live up to the stature of being the first overall selection of the NBA Draft. So far the Sixers are nestled in the middle of the pack in the East as the entire conference seems to be in flux at the moment thus giving Philly adequate camouflage to not be noticed as it treads through what looks to be a very long season; yet one would not think think so with the way that they have been playing. Philly certainly does not look like a team that plans to tank the season in order to secure the number one pick on the draft; instead, the Sixers actually look like a team who plans to compete through the season and let the chips fall where they may. With the emergence of Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner coupled with an already solid performer in +Thaddeus Young and a rookie of the year candidate in Carter-Williams, Philly has the makings of a solid young foundation in which to build a winning franchise from. Tony Wroten, a former first round pick who had fell out of favor with his previous team, looks to be a potential candidate for the Most Improved Player of the year award coming of the bench to give the Sixers a solid 13 to 15 points per game. With such a solid foundation of young talent to build upon, instead of looking to tear down the whole team in hope of rebuilding through the draft, the 76ers look as if they are just a player or two away from actually becoming a true playoff contender. Regardless, despite its impressive start to the season, there still remains the consensus that the Philadelphia 76ers will still finish in the lottery because even the high scoring and exciting play cannot hide the fact that there is still plenty of week to be needed unit the team is even remotely playoff ready. For starters, although their offense is ranked among the best in the league in terms of scoring, their ball management is terribly poor as they ranked second to last in the league in the number of turnovers per game. Fortunately, their problems of protecting the ball on offense is offset rather well by the the team's ability to force their opponents to turn over the ball at almost the same rate ranking among the top ten in that category; however, their ability to pressure the ball on defense has not stopped the 76ers from allowing a league high 109 points per game which shows a greater weakness in terms of protecting the rim. Nonetheless, Philly still attempts to offset their defensive flaws by trying to out shoot their opponents and it has been rather entertaining to watch them attempt to do so as they rank among the top ten teams in the league in points per game while losing by a six point average margin. Unfortunately, unless they can improve on their defense and protecting the ball, the 76ers, although being one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2014 regular season will simply remain a fast and flashy team that is headed nowhere. |
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Sunday, January 5, 2014
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for November: 22. Philadelphia 76ers
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