Early in the season, the Sixers were sitting at 5-13 staring down the barrell of a Top 3, 4, or 5 lottery pick, ready to fire Mo Cheeks, and the city of Philadelphia ready to leave them for dead. Something happened on the road to basketball Hades, but I'm not quite sure what. The Allen Iverson trade happened middle of the season last year, and while the team played better without him, they were still overmatched against good teams. Since, they added Thaddeus Young and Jason Smith in the draft, picked up Louis Williams as a back-up tweener guard, and traded Kyle Korver, their best perimeter shooter, away. However, since that 5-13 record, the Sixers have played 32-22 ball, and lately have beaten both the Celts and Pistons on the road, Denver, Orlando -- they just pummelled Chicago tonight, and they're beating the bad teams soundly. This is a team brimming with confidence, ready to overtake Washington for 5th overall in the East, and with an outside shot at catching Cleveland for 4th and home court advantage against those same Cavs. So what happened? The Sixers have no All-Stars. AI2 (Andre Iguodala) is the closest player they've got. They run out a line-up that looks like this: Samuel Dalembert -C Reggie Evans- PF Thaddeus Young - SF Andre Iguodala - SG Andre Miller - PG and have these contributing back-ups Louis Williams - G Willie Green- SG Rodney Carney - SF Jason Smith - C Not a single All-Star. No one averages 20 points (altough AI2 is close at 19.9). Two of their main cogs, a starter and a bench player, are rookies. Miller doesn't have a specialty as a PG. Carney's been a disappointment, all-in-all. What kind of smoke and mirrors are the Sixers using to win? Sure, Cheeks has stressed defense, and they've gotten better defensively. But which Sixer are you going to at stretch time or the end of a game? There isn't one. Who can guard big PFs or Cs in the post. Dalembert doesn't have the bulk, and Evans doesn't have the height. The Sixers really have no true post presence. Miller is certainly the glue that holds everything together, but I don't understand -- aside from the fact they've actually won the games -- that this team is in the playoff hunt. Looking at the parts, the sum shouldn't get there. So can someone explain it? With something more than, "Well, in the East, everyone's in it," because that's not true. Anyways, I'd love to see a Cleveland / Philly series in Round One. And I just might.
Andre Miller is a really underrated PG imo. He's had a nice season. Miller/Iguodala and Dalembert isnt a bad core for the east.
I agree. Andre Miller is definitely an underrated point guard, although I don't view him as one who can succeed in any and every system. He's not the all-star caliber PG he was hailed to be when he left LAC, but he's still a pretty solid one. Philadelphia may have a bright future ahead, but they're still not "playoff caliber" Eastern Conference is an embarrassment. Obviously this would never happen, but I wish there was a way for the committee to vote for or against Denver and/or Portland joining the East for the playoffs this year. Damn shame that Atlanta, New Jersey, or Chicago will make the playoffs while those two teams (hell, maybe even Dallas instead of Denver with Dirk out) won't. 16 seeded Tourny bracket wouldn't be a bad idea for the NBA. I once considered the route of shortening the playoff teams, but that wouldn't be fair with how overloaded the West is. I mean, a team like Boston gets to run through Atlanta while NO/LAL has to put up with Golden State. Incredible.........*rolls eyes*
What sucks is that the top of the lottery is going to be dominated with WC teams. (aside from Miami and New York)
Well, I guess we can all point at the East - and it's true that the East is pathetic. But starting the year and last year, Philly was pathetic in this same East. They were just one of the worst teams in basketball. AI2 has grown into a legitimate player at both sides of the court, and if the Sixers do indeed make the playoffs, I think he'll be an All-Star for the East next year. He deserves to be. And Miller has found a bit of a different level, and he does something different each night, it seems, to help the team win. Two games ago, he scored 20+ and had around 6 assists. Last night, only 9 points, but 18 assists, which is remarkable as I've never really thought of him as a huge assist type of PG. He does board for a PG, which I like. And the other thing is I think - as I view only Iguodala and Young as untouchables - is he's their only player with real trade value. Maybe Carney, but probably not. And as Miller ages, Philly's FO has to keep that in mind. Just as they've earned their way to the playoffs in the weak East, I could just as easily see them not making the playoffs next year. Chicago's an example of a team that looked good coming into the year, and then has totally faded. That could be Philly next year. While Philly's core is okay - I think below average - teams like Toronto and Washington, now below them, have legitimate stars in Bosh and Arenas (who has been hurt some). Plus, making the playoffs might stick a mediocre team like Philly in no man's lands as far as improving the team long-term. Not much to draft from where they'll be. I don't know. They'll have to think outside the box to get to the next level. They cannot do it with the players they have now. I just don't see it. And really, all that's been said, I still don't know how they're doing it. But I do think Mo Cheeks has gone from almost surely being fired to a coach of the year candidate. How could he not?
Philly is a not a good team, theyre just not as bad as some other teams like the Heat, Bobcats, whatever. Theyre just fourtante enough to play in a rediculously waterdowned east. Can you name more than maybe three teams in the east that are going to the playoffs that are going to deserve to be there?
what I find humorous about the whole thing is how much better they seem to be without "the answer". Steven A. Smith said that A.I. was right up there with Wilt in top players of all time. I find that laughable. He's good, heck he might even be great, but he's not one of the best ever. He cant win, no matter where he goes, he cant get over that hump. He got to the finals once.
