Last time we posted here at the PSP, the Sixers were a dismal 2-10 and I wrote how they only have two players worth keeping. Since that point the squad has played much better ball winning 11 of 21 since a November 17th loss to Toronto, and they are now on pace to finish just under .500 and they may even be a playoff team. The funny thing about the NBA is, however, that the team is now much worse off than if they had just continued their wretched start.
The NBA is a star driven league, to win the NBA title you must have a Hall of Fame level star and an All-Star sidekick, both playing at or very close to their prime. The only exception to this in the past 30 years is Detroit, which played 5 All-Stars and had a HOF coach in Larry Brown. The Sixers don’t even have an All-Star, let alone somebody who may end up being an MVP/HOF type impact player. Last time I wrote I advised on gaining cap space and draft picks in an attempt to land that #1 guy, but now I realize that the Sixers are never going to attract that top-level type free agent. Philly is not a destination city for NBA players. New York, Phoenix, LA, Brooklyn, OKC, Chicago, and the Texas and Florida teams are where players will choose to go, for either money/ weather/ women/ super-team considerations.
So now your options are to either trade for talent or acquire something through the draft. The Sixers recent surge towards the middle of a top heavy league leaves their chances of hitting it big in the draft at very slim, so now a trade seems like the team's only real option. The problem is that teams looking to trade centerpiece talent do it for three reasons, they don’t think they will ever stay healthy (think Yao, Roy, or Oden), they are about to walk via free agency and won’t resign (think Melo), or they are out of their damn mind (the player not the team, think Cousins or Beasley). Sounds promising doesn’t it?
Now it hasn’t been all bad since the PSP last posted, Thaddeus Young has emerged as a real threat off the bench. Last time we posted I said he was a man without a position, but I want to rethink that and say he is a man that gives you the versatility to play multiple lineups. Elsewhere on the roster there was improvement, improvement marred by terrible inconsistency, but improvement nonetheless. Spencer Hawes came out of retirement and had real nice two week run before teams started to target (ok, maybe ‘pay attention to’ is more appropriate) him and he regressed back to a non-factor. The big man did show he has skills and could be a valuable bench player on a good team. Tony Battie played some nice bench minutes and just might have turned himself into an asset, as rumors have him potentially heading to Orlando to serve as much needed size off the bench. Jodie Meeks went through the same two week arc as Hawes, playing inspired ball, and shooting lights-out after first being put into the starting lineup. Much like Hawes, as teams began to include Jodie in their game plan, Meeks’ scoring fell significantly.
This will be our last “State of the Union” type post for awhile since we know where we stand. The team is fun to watch but doesn’t have the players needed to take the next step. They should go out of their way to acquire as many picks and high-ceiling players as possible, even if it means high risk/high ceiling guys like Oden. For now I will check in daily to go over news and notes, game reviews and the like. I will watch every game and post here with thoughts, I think every game is important to the youth on this roster, and hope we can see more consistency from Young, Turner, Holiday, Meeks and Hawes. On off-days I will try to post on the league in general, starting Wednesday with a mock draft and analysis based on LeBron’s idea of contraction.
0 comments:
Post a Comment