New idea, every Monday I’m going to post Power Rankings for the Sixers roster. It will take the whole season into account, but recent play will be the most important factor.
1. Elton Brand- The vet has been the most productive and consistent player on the team. Brand is healthy (finally, I should probably go knock on wood) this season and his play has been tremendous. Brand has already posted 14 double doubles this season, something he only did 17 times the two injury-plagued seasons previous. Brand is playing so well, he may actually be tradable if the team decides to go in that direction. Although, if the team is serious about making a playoff push, trading Brand will probably derail your playoff hopes.
2. Lou Williams- Before this season I did not have a very high opinion of Lou Williams, but his play has been great so far this year. Lou’s game is built around scoring the basketball, and his per 36 minute averages of 20.4 points and 5.4 assists are tremendous. Lou is the most aggressive Sixer on offense by far, and somehow leads the team in free throw attempts despite only playing 22.5 minutes per game. Lou gets to the line by both attacking the rim, and with his uncanny ability to draws contact while taking jumpers. If he could teach our other guards to draw contact like he does he would be the team’s MVP. A little of Lou’s swagger is exactly what Jrue and ET need to advance their games.
3. Jrue Holiday- The youngest player on the 76ers might be their best by years end. Jrue’s numbers continue to rise, in six January games he has averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 assists. The only regret is that his turnovers are going up as well. Jrue needs to do a better job of taking care of the basketball before he or the team can get to the next level. It also would be nice to see Jrue take a page from Lou Williams and get to the line more often. I do realize that I just wrote that Jrue needs to be more careful and more aggressive in back-to-back sentences, but if Jrue will ever become a star in this league then that is the case.
4. Thad Young- I guess it explains why this team struggles so much when two of the teams’ four best players are coming off the bench. That’s not Thaddeus Young’s fault. Thad has been great so far this season, and he ranks 9th overall in FG%. Thad has some nice per 36 numbers, racking up 16.4 points and 7 rebounds. Thad and Lou both probably have earned more minutes with their play. While Lou’s can come at Jodie Meeks’ expense, with Iggy’s return from the DL Thad may actually be looking at less minutes.
5. Andre Iguodala- Iggy has missed significant playing with injury for the first time in his career this season, in fact this is only the second time in seven seasons that Dre won’t play and start all 82 games. Andre’s time on the DL is the only reason that he isn’t at the top of the list. Iggy is an all-world defender, a versatile offensive player, and the team’s emotional leader. Andre doesn’t fit the classic mold of a team’s best player, because he isn’t a high volume scorer, but he is, in fact, the 76ers best player.
6. (Tie) Mo Speights and Spencer Hawes- Both guys are good offensive players and weak defenders. That separation is much more exaggerated with Mo, who is a very nice offensive player. Speights however commits too many fouls, and doesn’t play quality man or help defense. Hawes is more balanced, but isn’t exactly Bill Russell on the defensive end. Combined they form a league average center, their combined numbers per game: 33 mins, 12.4 pts, 9 rebs, 2 asts, .4 stls, 1.1 blks, 2 to’s, 4.5 fls, with 48.2% shooting.
Those number would put our center combo in the top 10 of all the offensive categories among centers, and in the bottom half of all centers in the defensive columns.
8. Evan Turner- I like ET, despite his offensive struggles he has continued to plug away, and now is a part of the defensive rotation late in games. ET needs to continue to grow his offensive game, and the best way to consistently score would be to, like Jrue, get to the line more often.
9. Jodie Meeks- Jodie’s ability to shoot from the outside gave him, pardon the pun, a shot at joining the starting lineup. Since then, Jodie has taken the chance and done a nice job with it. Jodie is in a tough spot since he is the team’s 4th best guard, and probably doesn’t fit into the team’s long term plans, unless they dump Lou for some reason and he assumes the role of third guard.
10. Andres Nocioni- My son’s favorite player rounds out our top 10. Nocioni plays hard, defends with vigor, and will occasionally knock down a few threes for you. He is not a star, but a nice piece off the bench, even if Doug Collins seems to play him a bit too much for my tastes.
No need to go any further, Happy Martin Luther King day everybody, I’ll be back Tuesday with Sixers-Bobcats.
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