The Philadelphia 76ers

[dovate]

Dear Tom,
I'm an excited but confused Philadelphian. Are the 76ers really this good, or will they just hurt me like all Philly teams do? Thanks in advance.

[Greggulator]

I am not Tom but I will answer.

The Sixers are a very good team. But there has only been one team in about the past 20 years of the NBA to win a title without a true superstar, and that's Detroit from the early 00s. Teams need a guy who can take over a game, especially in the playoffs, and the Sixers don't have that.

That being said, this season's completely nuts because of the short schedule. Depth means a lot more than it usually does. There might not be a ton of superstars in the playoffs because of injuries.

[Tom Scharpling]

The Greggulator has it right!

The Sixers are good and fun to watch so enjoy that.

But without a superstar  - a guy to take the shots down the stretch and to strap the whole thing on his back - I don't think they can go too far.

And the season is a travesty schedule-wise. Older teams are being punished.

They should do whatever it takes to get Dwight Howard. Imagine him as the centerpiece to a team this exciting and confident!

Tom.

[dave from knoxville]

I'm no expert, but I respectfully disagree. I am afraid the Sixers are cruising on one of the three easiest schedules (to date), and that they will not make the playoffs. But I am wrong all the time!

[Pregnant Pause]

I'm no expert, but I respectfully disagree. I am afraid the Sixers are cruising on one of the three easiest schedules (to date), and that they will not make the playoffs. But I am wrong all the time!

It'll be pretty difficult for them to miss the playoffs, considering the 8 seed right now is an 8-11 Cleveland.  The bottom of the East is bad, at least one team below .500 will make the playoffs. The Sixers need to go 19-27 to finish .500. 

We'll see this week, they've got home dates against Orlando, Chicago and Miami, with an off day between each.  Play em tough young 6ers.

[AllSussedOut]

Funny - I'd been thinking of making a thread just like this.  But my question for Tom and/or the Greggulator would be whether Jrue can be that superstar.  Do you think he's capable of being that player for the Sixers? 

I'm not a basketball superfan by any means, but a few friends of mine who are seem to REALLY like his potential, and believe that he can make the leap that Simmons is always talking about.

[Greggulator]

If Jrue was going to make the leap, he would have done it/be doing it already. He's very good but I can't see him being someone like Rose or even Westbrook.

His main problem is he doesn't get to the free throw line at all. He should look to take the ball to the rim a bit more than he does. It's not a bad thing since it means he's looking to facilitate the offense, but he's athletic enough to score inside and get to the FT line.

He could certainly become an All-Star caliber player. I think he's a pretty good defender -- the Sixers entire team are all really good defensively, which is why they should go for Dwight Howard, because they'd be the best defensive team in the league (depending on who they'd give up). But he's not going to become first team All-NBA or anything like that.

[JON IN PHL]

I agree with Greggulator, Holiday is probably close to his ceiling at this point. And that's not a bad thing. I'd say he is All-Star worthy this year and likely could be for years to come.

However, I respectfully disagree with dave from knoxville's respectful disagreement. I think the Sixers are for real. And by for real I mean not nearly on the same level as the Bulls or the Heat, but firmly positioned at the top of the 2nd tier in the East along with the Pacers and Hawks.

It's true, they have had a fairly soft schedule at this point, but they also played 38 - 28 ball over their final 66 last year.  Beating bad teams isn't always an indicator of quality, but the Sixers are doing what good teams do...they are blowing the crummy teams out.  They currently lead the NBA in point differential and I think it's safe to say at this point that their team defense is among the tops in the league. As long as their D stays at the current level I pick them to win the Atlantic pretty comfortably.

I'm curious to see if the front office looks to move some pieces before the deadline. I, for one, would love to see how far they can run with the squad as is.

[nec13]

I'm no expert, but I respectfully disagree. I am afraid the Sixers are cruising on one of the three easiest schedules (to date), and that they will not make the playoffs. But I am wrong all the time!

After last night's impressive performance against the Bulls, I think that it's safe to say that the Sixers are indeed for real. While it's true that they don't have any real "stars," they make up for that deficiency with strong, unselfish team basketball. Combine that with the outstanding coaching of Doug Collins and you have the makings of something great.

A Dwight Howard trade is an interesting proposition. There's no question that he'd make the Sixers better, however, would it be worth the enormous acquisition cost? At minimum, the Magic would probably want Holiday and Turner, and perhaps Iguodala. Who replaces those guys? Moreover, would they want to disrupt a team that obviously has tremendous chemistry? And even if they do get Howard, there's no guarantee that he re-signs with the Sixers. If he walks, then they'll have traded several valuable assets and walked away with nothing. I don't know if I'd be comfortable with taking that kind of risk.

If I'm Rod Thorn, I see how far I can get with this group this year. Then in the offseason, IF Howard is an FA, I make a strong play for him.

[Pregnant Pause]

Bill Simmons floated Evan Turner, Nocioni, Elton Brand, Spencer Hawes + picks for Howard and the terrible contracts of Hedo and Duhon.  I don't think Orlando does that.

If I'm Dwight Howard, I don't know why I'd want to go to the Nets over Philadelphia.  Same weather, the Nets owner seems to have checked out, the Sixers have a much better and younger supporting cast, Philadelphia might not be NYC for media market, but we support winners.

[Greggulator]

Dwight should come here just because Philly's the best city in the world!

In all honesty, the Sixers are a distant fourth in our consciousness here. But Philly is a big hoops town. If the Sixers aren't good, there are six D1 college teams in the region (my beloved La Salle, St. Joe's, Temple, UPenn, Drexel and Villanova) and usually two or three make the tournament every year. A decent amount of the intercity games (called The Big 5, Drexel's excluded for some reason) are held at The Palestra, which is UPenn's arena and was built in 1920. Every person in Philly and/or basketball fan (even if you don't like college hoops) needs to see a Big 5 game there. It's just absolute electricity and magic. I'm going to La Salle vs. St. Joe's on Saturday -- it's going to be completely bonkers.

No one who didn't live here during 2000-01 believes me when I tell them that the Sixers OWNED the city. But it's true. That Finals team was so incredibly beloved.

Dwight should also look at the Phillies. Ryan Howard has a big endorsement deal with Subway. And you really can't get more national publicity than their pitching staff. They sell out every game and probably will for the next five years. That could be him.

[AllSussedOut]

Dwight should come here just because Philly's the best city in the world!

In all honesty, the Sixers are a distant fourth in our consciousness here. But Philly is a big hoops town. If the Sixers aren't good, there are six D1 college teams in the region (my beloved La Salle, St. Joe's, Temple, UPenn, Drexel and Villanova) and usually two or three make the tournament every year. A decent amount of the intercity games (called The Big 5, Drexel's excluded for some reason) are held at The Palestra, which is UPenn's arena and was built in 1920. Every person in Philly and/or basketball fan (even if you don't like college hoops) needs to see a Big 5 game there. It's just absolute electricity and magic. I'm going to La Salle vs. St. Joe's on Saturday -- it's going to be completely bonkers.

No one who didn't live here during 2000-01 believes me when I tell them that the Sixers OWNED the city. But it's true. That Finals team was so incredibly beloved.

Dwight should also look at the Phillies. Ryan Howard has a big endorsement deal with Subway. And you really can't get more national publicity than their pitching staff. They sell out every game and probably will for the next five years. That could be him.

Not an on-court related question, but is it possible they simply need an influx of personality to jump to the city's #3 or #2 seed?  After all, the players that have brought them the most attention in recent years not only had the most game, but arguably the biggest (best?) mouths - AI and the Chuckster.  I honestly believe that 95% of the city wouldn't recognize Andre Iguodala or Elton Brand if they ran into them on the street - Doug Collins is still the only face on that team to the casual fan.

Sadly.

[Drew D]

Nice shout out to the Palestra Greggulator...I saw so many games there as a kid, and no venue in basketball yet has even come close to that experience for me.  Sixers are really exciting this year...love that boxscore form the Bulls win, everyone was in on the action, and they were missing a few pieces and played an adjusted rotation...

[Tom Scharpling]

Sixers fans need to get a little realistic. The Bulls are not that good with Luol Deng, and they played without him vs. Philadelphia. This same Bulls team barely beat a truly horrible Knicks team the next night. The Bulls have 1 1/2 great players right now.

I like the Sixers and hope they keep building and getting better. But we're one month into a bizarre season. Remember what happened to the Nuggets last year - another team that was stocked with good players - but no star - playing team solid team basketball. And when push came to shove, nobody took over. Nobody strapped the team to their back. And they were shown the door by Durant and Westbrook.

They're getting there! Doug Collins is a great coach and there are good guys on the team and they're playing hard. But they've got a ways to go before they're real, unless "real" means making the playoffs.

Don't let the Philly Way - proclaiming the Eagles "Superbowl Bound" as soon as they're 2-0 - compromise what is a fun journey. Don't expect TOO much from them because they're just not there yet.

Tom.

[Drew D]

Tom, don't you think missing Spencer Hawes is a fair trade for missing Deng? (just kidding).

That is depressing about the Bulls, they are so stretched thin anytime they are missing someone...they need to get healthy for the playoffs to take on the Heat!

-It is promising that Collins is doing well in Philly, with all the ego problems in the front office. To quote K Dwyer, "there were too many cooks in that terrible kitchen".