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The Sixers have quit on city, team
It is pretty much a forgone conclusion that Eddie Jordan will not be welcomed back next season as the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Hopefully, half the roster is shown the door with him.
The Sixers do not have the least talent in the NBA. Their roster includes a former All-star at power forward (Elton Brand); a talented, if overpaid guard (Andre Iguodala); a $12 million center (Samuel Dalembert); a young guard scoring 14.9 PPG (Lou Williams); and a young forward with big upside (Thaddeus Young).
Yet they play like the Washington Generals.
The Sixers aren’t just losing, they are failing to show up. In nine of the most recent 10 losses the team has suffered, the Sixers have been defeated by double digits.
Some of these losses can be explained. Losing by double figures to the Lakers, Magic, Hawks, Suns and Celtics can at least be partially accepted for a team that was not expected to be a contender when the season started.
However, big losses to the Heat, Bulls, Raptors, Pacers and most recently the Bobcats can not. There simply is no excuse for the team’s lack of competitive spirit.
It’s not like tanking the season will do the Sixers any good, as the Nets (seven wins) and Timberwolves (14 wins) already have the top two in the lottery locked up. Being the third-worst team in the NBA won’t give the Sixers enough ping pong balls to really make a difference from being the sixth worst team.
It is clear that this team doesn’t care. They have a bunch of veteran players who got fat contracts for mediocre production. They do have some promising youth in Young and Jrue Holiday, but they have not been around long enough to make their opinions heard in the locker room.
The Sixers have no identity and that’s a problem that must be fixed soon. Does anyone know the plan for this team? I certainly haven’t heard one.
This city is not going to tolerate quitters. This year’s group of Sixers fits under that billing. The attendance has reflected that
It’s time to blow the whole thing up, from GM Ed Stefanski, to Jordan, to a large bulk of the roster. This team is going nowhere. It’s time the front office and roster does.
Half the man he used to be
Well, recently The Answer was quoted as saying that his Sixers still held a chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
I have been trying to reserve judgement on everything about the Iverson trade this year, but Allen, as we all know, makes it hard to ignore him. I do have to note that he has been far less of a disruptive force since his return, and until his recent comment about the team’s performance, he seemed to be focusing on keeping his mouth shut and just playing basketball.
But really, after some thought, I have to make an observation here. The simple truth of the matter is, were Iverson the player he was in the late 90’s through 2006 with this team, they MIGHT have had a chance at going to the playoffs this year. They would not have gotten very far had they made it, but at least they could have suited up.
Allen’s style of play really doesn’t work with this team. Allen’s style of play has rarely worked with any team. Allen is a force unto himself, and earlier in his career he was quite amazing to watch, but was always best when the coaching staff just let him run wild and dominate the game.
But now, Iverson is simply NOT The Answer.
Right now the Sixers are on a one way track to Nowheresville USA. And by not making a significant trade last week, they have compounded their futility. Hey, at least they are not the Nets !!
Iquodala has had a decent, workman like year. Dalembert is good in center. Brand is a disappointment. Thaddeus Young shows promise, but he is young yet. Same can be said for Lou Williams. But the saddest thing is all five of the above mentioned players are better than the current Iverson.
When he re-signed for a nominal salary that should have told people what he had to offer. We knew it would not be leadership, as he was never a leader. And now he is barely a player.
Look at the numbers, they don’t lie.
This year in 25 games he is averaging: 31.9 minutes per game, 13.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and .72 steals.
That goes against his previous 13 seasons of: 41.4 minutes, 27.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.2 steals.
Dont get me wrong, I am not an Iverson hater. Far from it. I respect the little guy. At his small size, being a four time scoring champion, 11 time All Star and 2 time MVP shows he once was as good as just about anyone. Even today he ranks 6th all time in points scored per game. But as the above comparison shows, all those figures are from a time which has passed him by. And it really might be time for him to hang it up for good, and remember how good he was his first time around with the team, instead of predicting a playoff spot in 2010 when the Sixers are 21-34 which is patently ridiculous.
Allen Iverson is not the first player to go from nearly unstoppable to barely average in the twilight of his career, yet continue to play as if trying to hold on to those glory days. Nor is he the best. (See MJ’s Wizard stats at nearly ten points below his career average with the Bulls !) But for some reason, from the time he signed as a brash, young, hardly tattooed, cornrowed, air apparant to the greatest that ever played, I always envisioned a more fitting end to his career.
I will continue to remember Iverson as that guy who would throw up 40 shots a game, and take over the game, simply because he believed he was going to score, no matter what the odds, and he frequently did.
As a post script, I would like to add that I DOUBLY respect him for taking time off right now to be with his family and his ailing daughter. I wish him and his family all my blessings and will keep his 4 year old daughter, Messiah, foremost in my thoughts. This action does NOT diminish him as a player or leader for this struggling team, rather it magnifies his presence as a MAN and shows us all how unimportant the game is compared to the life we must lead outside of it.
Thank you AI for years of exciting plays and memories I will cherish always, even after you retire !
Sixers put it all together … at least for one night
Andre Iguodala looked like a player worthy of his max contract.
Thaddeus Young looked like an emerging, young forward who could provide all the intangibles.
Willie Green looked capable of being an NBA player.
When it all came together it gave the Sixers just enough to defeat the Chicago Bulls, 106, 103 in overtime.
I’m not sure what should be the bigger news: The fact that the Sixers finally played as they are capable of, or that on a night when so may things went right they still needed overtime at home to beat the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference?
The optimists can cling to Brand’s 26-point performance and Iguodala’s 25 point, eight rebound, 8 assist effort as a reason to keep this team together past the trading deadline. There is talent on the team and when it all comes together victories can be achieved. As bad as the Sixers have been (16-30), Wednesday’s win brought them to within 6 ½ games of the No. 8 seed in the East. A minor winning streak and the team could make the final months of the season almost watchable.
Yes the bottom of the East is that bad.
The rest of us can do nothing more than scratch our heads. How can Brand be so good one night and so mediocre the next? How come Iguodala doesn’t bring the full package every night? What could this team accomplish if it had a coach that that found a lineup and stuck with it.
It’s no secret that the Sixers have more questions than answers. That could change – at least a little – in two weeks when the NBA’s trade deadline passes. The front office has to do something to try to give this team an identity. Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert have value, but their contracts make them hard to deal (though performances like Iguodala’s on Wednesday help). If the Sixers can find a trade partner willing to take on either contract they should jump on it. This would help speed up the inevitable rebuilding process.
At the very least, it will be interesting to see what this team does over the next two weeks.
And that’s the first time that could be said about the Sixers in a long time.
Sixers win 2nd of the week, without The Answer
The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics by a point tonight, 98-97 in a game played without newly acquired Allen Iverson. Elton Brand had a strong game off the bench, scoring 23 points on 7-12 shooting; Iguodala, Speights and Green all scored in double figures as well.
Such is the NBA, where a 7-19 team that just broke a 12 game losing streak, playing without it’s newly acquired catalyst can defeat a 20-5 team riding an 11 game winning streak at home.
I believe this victory reveals the flaw in resigning Iverson to play with this team, when they so obviously perform better overall as a unit without him. I love Allen, don’t get me wrong, but this current 76er’s team is vastly different from the one he was drafted onto in the 90’s and his playing style simply doesn’t fit in with the program.
Iverson has hardly been setting the basketball world on fire since his return to the east, playing in 5 games, averaging 34 minutes and scoring 15.6 points per game on 41% shooting. More importantly, he has only dished out 21 assists and had 4 steals in his return, evidence that The Answer has lost a step, and is really not at home playing in an environment where his job is not to take the ball to the hoop every time he touches it.
Bottom line, 41% shooting just does not cut it in the NBA, and while his short return to the team has not been long enough to provide a true analysis, it is fitting that the team responded to the coach resting him after having his left knee drained twice this week in an effort to relieve arthritis with their first win over a winning team.
It also probably was significant that the Celtics played a large part of the game without Rasheed Wallace, who was perfectly healthy for the game, but who drew two technicals and then had a minor meltdown, having to be restrained by assistant coach Tom Thibadeau before before being ejected from the game. This was Wallace’s 30th career early exit, the most for any player since 1992, and the two technicals give him 10 for the season, with 16 resulting in an automatic suspension.
That series of events may have marked a turning point for the Sixers, although they continued to trail until later in the game when they cut it to a one point game with 8:27 to play.
Bottom line, the Sixers WEREN”T terrible, for the second time in a week. That is more than could have been said of them any time previously this season, so we will take that as an improvement, but I still see the 30 win plateau as a stretch for the current roster of players that in my opinion are grossly overpaid and underproductive. The Answer, doesnt answer any of the current problems except to briefly put a couple more butts in the seats. Now that the buzz from Iverson’s signing has worn off, that doesnt seem to be happening either.
Iverson’s return to Denver unlike Vick’s triumph in Atlanta
Vick returned to Atlanta with the Eagles and helped secure a 34-7 victory, contributing 2 scores, one passing and one rushing to the cause. Tonight it was Iverson returning to Philadelphia, the team that originally drafted him, and trying to beat the Nuggets, the team he was traded to in 2006 after falling out of favor with the 76ers. Careerwise, Iverson was “The Answer” in Philadelphia during his 10+ seasons with the team, holding the team’s top spots for average points per game scored, ranking second in overall scoring and steals, and 3rd all time in assists.
This is not a team that has not had it’s share of superstar contributors over the years, with the likes of Chamberlain, Irving and Barkley leading the team prior to Iverson ever shooting the ball in the NBA. Allen led the team to the 2001 NBA finals but failed to bring the championship home to a city who for years was starved for success on a national level. Last year the Phillies finally broke “the curse” and offered fans of this generation the chance to celebrate a national championship for a major sports franchise.
“Wilt the Stilt” and “The Dr” both brought championships to Philadelphia, then “Sir Charles” led the team to several finals but never won After Barkley the team hit the dark ages from 1991-1996 where they were just awful. The one bright spot was their getting the top pick in the lottery and picking “The Answer”. Iverson too took the team to the finals in his fifth season but failed to get the championship which I believe was a large part of why he eventually left in disgrace. This is a team that, at this point has not won a championship since 1983, and currently looks to be one of the five teams in the league LEAST likely to contend for a title with their current ensemble.
All that being said, the fact that Allen holds the spots he does in the 76ers record books against other players of the caliber mentioned above shows simply how good a player overall he is. The 192 games he has played in some other team’s uniform in no way compare to his tenure here, when he averaged better than 30 points a game for 5 full seasons and 28.5 points throughout his Sixers career. Even after his last few lackluster years, Iverson still ranks 3rd all time in points scored per game played, behind only Micheal Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Iverson is also 13th on the all time steals list.
The problem is, Iverson is a pure scorer. He can dish out assists at times, but not consistently, and he can rebound very well for his small size, but simply put, he is not a good fit to the current 76ers team. And the team has way too much invested in Brand and Dalembert to put a lot of time to an aging superstar who’s claim to fame is his ability to ignore the offensive scheme and relentless aim for the basket, possession after possession, sometimes shooting as many as 30 balls a game, even when his timing is off.
Early on tonight, the Sixers had a 4-8 point lead and Iverson played a fair amount of time, with minimal contribution. The more he pressed as the game wore on, the more the Sixers fell off their game and by the second half, the lead they had enjoyed became a deficit. Granted, the Sixers rode a 9 game losing streak into the second Iverson debut appearance, but one has to feel the signing was more to do about selling tickets than winning basketball games.
It certainly appears Iverson will not be “The Answer” to this team’s problems, made more obvious by the Phillies repeat appearance in the World Series, the Eagles near perennial contention in the NFC East and the Flyers prospects of finally winning another Stanley Cup. The Eagles have the longest current championship drought, but the Sixers have the least chance of bringing a championship to the city right now compared to the other major sports franchises in town.
The Sixers ended up losing by ten to run their losing streak to ten games, and Iverson finished with the following line. 4-11 3-4 5 6 1 11. That’s right, under 40 percent shooting, 5 assists, 1 steal, 11 points, in 38 minutes, an average night for a decidedly under average team.
Iverson back with Sixers, but will he practice?
The smell is undeniable. Nothing lingers in the air quite the same as the smell of desperation.
The Sixers are ready to party like its 1999 or 2001 or something like that.
As expected Allen Iverson has agreed to come out of his “retirement” to join a Sixers team that is a horrible fit for him. The Sixers are clearly making the move to sell tickets, because on the surface it makes no sense. Here are a few reasons why:
1: Eddie Jordan has installed the Princeton offense in Philadelphia. The only offense Iverson runs is the “I” offense – as in I dribble, dribble some more and I shoot. Does anyone really see Iverson cutting and setting picks? Didn’t think so.
2: Iverson has lost a step. He may still be able to average 20 points for the Sixers, but no longer has that explosion to drop 40 on an opponent, something that made him an exciting ticket. I don’t think you will be seeing Iverson fool Lebron with a crossover anytime soon.
3: Youth will be put on the shelf. The days of Thaddeus Young and Jru Holiday getting a lot of shots are officially over. There are only so many shots to go around and with Iverson on the court, these guys drop further on the shot chart.
4: What happens when Lou Williams returns? Williams was starting to show promises prior to his jaw injury, giving the team 17.4 ppg. Are we expected to believe that once Williams returns, Iverson will be OK with coming off the bench? Now that’s a funny one. Iverson will stay on the court and Williams will keep the pine warm, losing a chance at developing for the sake of Ed Stefanski selling a couple of tickets.
At the end of the day, Iverson should help the team win a few more games and put a few more people in the seats – though not nearly as many as the Sixers think. However, if this move fizzles, we may be seeing the end of Stefanski’s short tenure with the team. When you put your only eggs in the baskets of the not-who-they-once-were duo of Elton Brand and Allen Iverson, you are putting your career in jeopardy.
The Sixers were bad before Iverson and will continue to be bad with him. On a scale of 1-10, all they did today was push their entertainment value from a one to a two. WooHoo!
Time for Elton Brand to prove himself
Attention Elton Brand: Yes you sir, with the giant 5-year $80 million contract. Mr. Brand, it is time to prove yourself, prove that you can still be the type of dominating low post player the Sixers thought they got when they signed you last year.
It is time to wake up Mr. Brand. Your team needs you.
With the news that second-year forward Marreese Speights will miss 6-8 weeks with a knee injury, Brand’s role with the Sixers has become a lot larger. He will now see the 4th quarter minutes that he has been denied for most of the year. Word is that he may even play a little center with the second unit in the coming weeks.
Over the next two months the Sixers will find out if they will get anything from their investment or if they will be saddled with a bad contract for the next four years.
Brand was supposed to be the best power forward to play in town since Sir Charles. It was supposed to be 20 points and 10 rebounds a night, every night. After all, those were his career averages before coming to Philly. Instead, the Sixers have gotten a rotational player who is averaging 9.8 ppg and 5 boards. Brand is shooting .425 percent from the floor — not terrible, but not nearly good enough.
Speights, meanwhile, has put in 13 points a game and has looked better on the defensive end. But that is in the past now.
In fairness, Brand’s struggles are not all his fault. The Sixers want to be a running team and Brand is a half-court player. Maybe Ed Stefanski should have thought about that before he handed over all those millions to a player who looks out of his element.
Brand continually says that that he likes the pressure that was put on him when he came to the Sixers and that it’s the case of a young team just trying to fit all of the pieces together.
Well it’s time to find out if Brand still has what it takes to be a big piece. Over the next 6-8 weeks Brand can change a lot of minds if he plays at or near his former All-star level. However if he fails to elevate his game, it will confirm what many already think: Elton Brand and his contract will set this team back for years to come.
An ugly win is better than no win, I guess
Playing without their top player in point guard Devin Harris, the New Jersey Nets should have stood no chance of winning when they walked into the Wachovia Center Friday night.
Instead, the Philadelphia Sixers gave them every chance to earn their first win of the season.
It turned out, the Nets didn’t want it.
The Sixers overcame a small fourth quarter deficit to pull out an uninspiring 97-94 win. The Nets came into the game as the worst team in the league at 0-5 and were without six injured players, leaving them with just four players on the bench. Still, they almost took down a Sixers team that looked lost at times on both ends of the court.
Elton Brand – who was signed last year to be the Sixers go-to player – was never in foul trouble, yet played just 18 minutes. He produced eight points and the team was -6 while he was on the court. Andre Iguodala made the biggest bucket of the night, a three pointer with two minutes left to give the Sixers a 95-92 lead.
After the game, Iguodala was quoted as saying. “I wish we could have played better. We’ll still take the win it counts.”
It does count, just not for much.
The Sixers are now 3-0 against Easter Conference bottom-feeders and 0-2 against top teams.
Expect that trend to continue all the way to the first round of the playoffs where the Sixers will exit with little fight. This team is stuck in a holding pattern and there seems to be no immediate way out of it.
Balanced Sixers net first win of season
The Sixers got their first win of the season Friday night, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks, 99-86, in their home-opener.
The Sixers recovered from a season-opening loss to the Magic to even their record at 1-1.
Though the sample size is just two games I think what we have seen out of the Sixers so far is what we can expect to see the rest of the way. Philly will do well when matchup up with the average-to-bottom teams that the Eastern Conference puts out but struggle against the top tier teams.
They don’t have enough talent to beat teams like the Magic, Cavs or Celtics, but have more than enough to take down squads like the Bucks, Nets and Bobcats.
It is kind of the way the Sixers have been since Allen Iverson was in town.
New head coach Eddie Jordan promised to implement a Princeton-style offense and the early results are indicating that the players re buying into it. The Princeton offense is one that spreads the ball around and tries to find the open man through a series of cuts and screens. Take a look at the scoring averages through two games and you can see that there is plenty of diversity.
Lou Williams 17.0
Marreese Speights 15.0
Andre Iguodala 13.0
Elton Brand 12.5
Jason Kapono 11.5
Thaddeus Young 10.5
Rodney Carney 10.0
Samuel Dalmbert 9.5
While I am not sure the Sixers will finish the season with six or seven guys in double figures, I do expect the balance to remain close to the same. That is the type of team Jordan wants. It won’t lead to many All-Stars, but it should lead to a playoff berth.
The Sixers should get their second-straight win tonight, when they travel to take on the New York Knicks.
Even in basketball it is a Philly-New York weekend.
Sixers open up to little fanfare
It is not often a season-opener goes unnoticed, but that’s exactly what is happening for the Sixers as they prepare for the start of the season today.
With the Phillies set to face the Yankees tonight, basketball is set deeply in the background Philly fans. There is also the notion that the Sixers will be nothing more than mediocre this season. The Phillies are a series away from bringing the city another championship, the Eagles are in the thick of things in the NFC East and the Flyers are one of the favorites to win the Cup. No one is picking the Sixers to go anywhere.
That wasn’t the case last year when many pendants predicted the Sixers to be a top four team in the Eastern Conference. But the Sixers struggled to fit Elton Brand into their offense, playing much of the season bellow .500. An injury erased the second half of Brands season and the Sixers actually got better during that time, grabbing the sixth playoff spot in a top-heavy Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia returns mostly the same team, minus point guard Andre Miller. Lou Williams will slide into a starting role with Andre Iguodala starting as the team’s shooting guard. Third year player Thaddeus Young will team with Brand in the front-court, with Samuel Dalembert. The bench is also solid with outside threat Jason Kapono expected go get big minutes and Willie Green, Rodney Carney and Marreesse Speights resuming the roles their same roles from last year.
The Sixers are still a young team and taking with another year of experience under the players’ belts the team should finish a little better than their 41-41 mark last season.
The problem is, then what? Likely the Sixers make the playoffs and get knocked out by the Celtics, Magic, or Cavaliers.
The NBA has become a star-driven league and the Sixers don’t have stars. They have good players, not great. Iguodala is the leader of the team and he has never been an All-Star.
This team could be fun to watch this year, but they hardly have the chance to captivate the city like the other three major sports teams can.
The Sixers will be mediocre – and they have been there for too long.
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