We all have seen the Wizard of Oz, a story about a young girl who is accompanied by three flawed companions on a journey to return to her home. Each of these flawed partners eventually learn that they really aren’t flawed, and what they needed all along was a slight change in their perceptions of themselves. We all know that the Sixers need a superstar to become a contender, maybe they already have one and don't know it. Maybe they already have three and just don‘t know it.
Let’s start with Thad Young. Thad doesn’t need a brain, he needs something just a basic however, MINUTES! When I talk about the Elton Brand signing, oftentimes I hear people bring up the fact that we were choosing between Brand and Josh Smith, and that we chose wrong. Some fans think we’d be better with Josh Smith, which is flawed thinking because… WE ALREADY HAVE JOSH SMITH!!!!! His name is Thaddeus Young, Thad is just as big, just as explosive, just as good defensively on the perimeter, can rebound just as well, and he is way more efficient offensively.
The Wiz: Their hearts are no bigger than your is Tinman, but they have one thing you haven’t got…. a testimonial!
The Sizzz: Josh Smith has no more talent than you do Thaddeus, but he has one thing you haven’t got…playing time!
Comparing numbers from Thaddeus’ second season when he started the entire year to Josh Smith‘s second campaign, Thad is equal to or ahead of Josh Smith in every category, aside from rebounds and blocks. Those stats are largely a matter of position however, as Josh plays strictly at PF, whereas Thad was a 3 back then and still spends half his minutes on the wing. Thaddeus obviously doesn’t have Smith’s shot blocking gene, but he does hold his own on that end of the floor. I believe that if Thad is given a chance to play extended minutes in a system that fits him, he will become an All-Star. More than the other two guys I’m going to talk about, the clock is ticking on Thad, he is a restricted free agent after the season, and it would be nice to know with a little more certainty who he is as a player before we make the type of financial commitment Thaddeus will command on the open market.
Next up we have Jrue, this young man simply needs a heart. Not to say he doesn’t have heart, he just needs to be told he is the heart and leader of this team. Body type leads me to look at Deron Williams as the ceiling for what Jrue Holiday can be. Looking back on Deron’s early work it makes me very bullish on what Jrue can become. Using the ever wonderful basketball-reference.com I compared their sophomore numbers, and they are pretty close. Jrue is ahead in all the defensive categories, and less than a point behind per 36 minutes. In fact, the only stat that Jrue is not ahead or close on is assists, and that’s not really fair given the system each man plays in. I mean, Jerry Sloan has spent the last 179 years teaching the pick and roll to point guards, and Sloan’s system generates a ton of assists. Jrue also turns the ball over far less often now then Deron did at this point in his career, which is a reason to be especially excited. Eliminating turnovers is what will jumpstart Jrue’s rise to the next level. Physically and statistically there is no reason Jrue can’t be a dominant superstar, but obviously the difference between Deron and Jrue really has nothing to do with stats or body types. Deron is a winner, he exudes confidence and is the defined leader of the Utah Jazz. It should be noted that playing for a franchise with that kind of stability, one that knows exactly what it wants to do not only night-to-night but season-to-season, is going to do wonders for your confidence. Jrue has been given the starting job, but he isn’t the leader of the team. Jrue is often playing second fiddle to Lou Williams when they play together. This is why Lou needs to go, the offense should run through Jrue, and only Jrue. A career backup like Kevin Ollie should get a handful of minutes, but really the minutes at point guard should go to ET when Jrue is on the bench. Maybe what the Sixers need here is not to get a heart but to have one removed, this has to be Jrue’s team unquestionably if he is going to emerge as a star.
Evan Turner, come over here and let me see what the Sizzz has in his sack for you… hey look, it’s a sack. Seriously, Evan needs courage. No more pussyfooting around with the ball wasting 5 to 8 seconds before passing to a guy not in scoring position. Get the ball and take it to the rack, get the ball and shoot the ball, get the ball and draw contact. Courage, decisiveness, balls, whatever you want to call it, Turner needs to man up and show it. ET can be a star, but he needs the courage to fail a few times before it starts to come together, and I’m not sure coach is giving him the support he needs to make that first step towards stardom. Turner can’t worry about getting benched for messing up as he learns the pro game. Eventually, I think ET ends up as a nice guard somewhere between Kevin Martin and Shane Battier. He’ll never be the shooter Martin is, nor will he probably ever be the bulldog Battier is, but a nice hybrid of the two would be pretty sweet if you ask me.
A team with a real foundation may actually already be in the city, we just can’t see it due to the concerning rotations of Doug Collins. The rotations are actually pretty good for a team trying to win as many games as possible, my concern is with the short-term goals of the franchise. Elton, Lou, and Iggy all need to be traded. Brand’s value has to be at an all-time high (Well, since he became Sixer I mean). Maybe Orlando, who is looking for bigmen, would do something like Brand, Lou, and Battie for Jason Richardson’s expiring contract (it works, I checked). Point is, however we shed our veterans isn’t important, its that we shed our veterans. If we are ever going to find out if our young stars can grow into veteran superstars, we’d better give them the playing time/responsibility/role/guidance they need to get there. Unfortunately, there isn’t a yellow brick road to lead management to these realizations, and they have to figure it out on their own.
The great and powerful Sizzz has spoken!
PS: as long as we're talking about Oz.....
Seinfeld in Oz
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