Im not coming into this claiming to know everything about the Sixers or trying to convince you that my opinions or projections are always correct, I just want to spark a voice for the Philadelphia 76ers that I think they have been lacking ever since the mid 2000's. I want to excite people about the Sixers and have everyone get trust back in the Sixers through this blog since there are so few of us die hard Sixers fans out there these days.
First I want to confess the opinions I have been wrong about in the past..
1. I thought that Eddie Jordan was a good hire as a head coach last year. It was no secret that the Sixers were lacking 3pt shooting and offensive tempo, Jordan had been known to have some success offensively in his career. He also preached more defense which was a main point that the Sixers needed to address. As we know now he was a terrible hire on Stefanski's part and just did nothing for the team they regressed about 17 games from the year be4 with virtually the same team minus Andre Miller.
2. I thought Elton Brand was a good signing. No one can lie about this everyone was excited about this signing, i was just another very dissapointed fan about this pickup, we are stuck with a huge contract and an older player who seems to have lost his passion for the game or testicles, not to mention he seems to get hurt almost as frequently as Greg Oden.
3. I thought the team could get it done this past year without Andre Miller, I was wrong about this, I had expected for Lou Williams to slip into the starter role very easily after learning the game for the past few years and displaying scoring promise and actually be a 17-20pt scorer but boy was I wrong, Lou seems to be lost on the defensive end nightly, takes very questionable shots, and has not displayed the point guard passing skills needed to be an impact point guard in the NBA.
Now that I have showed some of my non-finer moments in opinion history lets focus on the team as it is now. First off Doug Collins, im not going to lie i was VERY skeptical of this hire at first. Lets look at his credentials he has not coached in the NBA in 7 years, despite a pretty impressive career season record he has a losing record in the playoffs. I was pulling for Avery Johnson who has been an ultra successful NBA coach who was fired shortly after having one of the best records in the NBA by a trigger happy Mark Cuban who wouldnt know a good coach if he sat in his lap (*cough* Rick Carlise *cough* are you shitting me). Avery has the best winning percentage of any coach currently coaching in the NBA with a minimum of 250 games, he even beats out the mastermind Phil Jackson. All signs pointed to an easy decision for the Sixers but they instead decided to pursue Collins.
After watching all 3 parts of Doug Collins press conference i have full faith in him as a coach and I am pumped to have him here, as Grant Hill said he is a superior motivator and gets his players to play with passion and pride something the Sixers have been lacking (*cough* Elton Brand *cough* Samuel Dalembert). Hell i got motivated just listening to him in the press conference. He also preaches a defensive minded team and actually has good defensive numbers for each of the teams that he has coached. He also preaches being a 1st class teacher of basketball, and with a young nucleus of Holiday, Young, Speights, Iguodala, Meeks, Williams, and the soon to be #2 draft pick I think that he can easily teach them a thing or two and turn this team around and even should i dare say it make the playoffs next year?!?!
Draft
I truly believe that Evan Turner is an absolute beast and will be possibly better than John Wall in his NBA career, but I believe as others seem to not that the Sixers should go in another direction in the draft (shocking isnt it). There have been reports that the Minnesota Timberwolves have offered the Sixers there 4th and 16th pick for the Sixers #2 pick. Lets face it Evan Turner is as close to a complete player as anyone in this draft but has 3 main things that i see wrong with him 1. He cant shoot that well, he was playing PG in college and at 6'7" he had a serious advantage and that may have inflated his numbers, but he just flat out is not the shooter the Sixers need. 2. He isnt a great defender, the Sixers desperately need some scrappy defenders and Turner just flatout isnt one. 3. and finally i was very disappointed in Turners wingspan measurements at the draft combine he only measured about an inch i believe longer than his height which is below average for the NBA, and as it has been said he is not a superior athlete he is just average maybe slightly above which makes him succeptable to being blocked and giving him a disadvantage on the defensive end. Thats why I think the Sixers should trade their pick, sure he is a beast and will most likely be great in the future but he isnt what the Sixers need.
With the 4th and the 16th pick in the draft the Sixers could address 2 needs, a shooter/defending SG and a Center who isnt the most inconsistent player of all time aka Samuel Dalembert. With the 4th pick the Sixers could take Wesley Johnson from Syracuse who is an excellent defender/shooter and just all around beast who has shown that he can improve dramatically in 2 years a la his transfer from Iowa State to Syracuse and a candidate for national player of the year this year. He would give us possibly one of the best defending back-courts in the eastern conference with Holiday and Iggy. With the 16th pick Sixers could go for the little known Marshall 7footer Hassan Whiteside who has an upside the size of his wingspan (over 7'5"). He is a beast athlete who is becoming polished on the offnesive end, he brings something that Dalembert cannot and will not produce and thats blocks without fouls. Whiteside last year in college averaged 5.4blks a game while only committing 2.4fouls per game those are redic numbers.
All-in-all the Sixers have a great young group of guys and however they choose to go in the draft it will significantly improve them. I will be updating this blog frequently so check back for more as we approach the NBA draft on the 24th of June. Feel free to comment on this and voice ur opinions especially on the draft. I promise not many of my entrees will be this long, thanks for reading!
-Jack
Monday, May 24, 2010
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)