76ers - A Nice Start

It was a warm afternoon at the end of the 2010 summer. I stopped at Wawa in Conshohocken to grab some milk on my way home from work. I noticed a ridiculously tall slender man enter just in front of me. He was wearing sport sandals and high white socks. He had on basketball shorts and a 76ers t-shirt. As soon as I got a good look at his face, I realized immediately that it was 4th year Philadelphia 76ers forward Thaddeus Young. He entered the small convenience store and made a left towards the ATM. There was a line for the machine at the time and you had to stand in small corridor created by the aisles of the store. I did not need to get any money out at the time, but I decided it would not be a bad idea to get in line behind him to possibly have a chance to talk to him. I knew I had to break the ice with something that would grab his attention and identify me as a fan of the team.

“Have you talked to Andre at all?” I asked. At the time, Andre Iguodala was busy in Turkey helping the USA International team win a gold medal at the World Championships. He smiled and told me that he had spoken to him a little bit, but it was difficult because of the time difference. I then asked him how he liked the Sixers' new coach, Doug Collins. This was Thaddeus’s 4th coach in as many years in the league and he had to be getting pretty wary of the constant change. He smiled again, a little bigger this time.

“Man, he’s good. I guess he’s good. He’s texting me all the time. He’s got us running like crazy. I’m tired man.”

This had to be a good sign I thought. I then asked him how the available balance was looking on that ATM receipt. Just kidding, but if I were him I would tape that receipt to the screen before I left every time. Just for fun.

Thaddeus had a great second year in the league (15 ppg) when the Sixers challenged the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs. He regressed a bit in his third year, mainly due to the departure of crafty veteran point guard Andre Miller and the lack of experience of rookie point guard Jrue Holiday.

Sixers Coach Doug Collins rejuvenated Young and the rest of the 76ers en route to a terrific turnaround year. When you take a look up and down the Sixers roster there is not a lot of star power. Still, you can analyze each and every player on the team and argue that they had a better year this year, than they had the year before. In the cases of Young, Holiday, and Elton Brand that was evident. The Sixers best overall player, Andre Iguodala, changed his role on the team considerably this year. He became more of a point forward and looked to distribute and create more, rather than looking for his own shot. Considering Iguodala’s shaky jump shooting this was obviously the best move for him.

The 2010-11 season started about as bad as it possibly could for the Sixers. They were 3-13 before you could blink and were snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in seemingly every game they played. They lost twice to the Washington Wizards on buzzer beating threes. For some reason, they never wavered. You have to look at Collins and the leadership provided by Iguodala, Brand, and veteran combo-guard Lou Williams as the reason the Sixers continued to out hustle, out energize, and out score the majority of their opponents for the rest of the season.

Sophomore point guard Jrue Holiday grew up before our eyes. In his rookie season Holiday was just 19 years old, the youngest player in the NBA, and lived with his grandmother. This season he sent grams home and started to take control of this very young squad. The Sixers had been playing good ball for a bit over a month when the San Antonio Spurs came to town on a Friday night in February. The Spurs were rolling at the time and held the best record in the NBA by a solid margin. The Sixers, on the other hand, were beating some decent teams but still had not beaten an elite team in the league. I attended this game and watched as Holiday decimated the Spurs. He scored 27 points on only 14 field goal attempts and nailed a clutch three in the waning minutes to ensure the victory for the Sixers. He looked composed and confident for such a young unproven player. In fact, with Holiday being the primary ball handler for the entire season the Sixers led the NBA in fewest turnovers committed. I felt that our team was in good hands with Holiday.

After the 3-13 start, the Sixers finished the season with a 41-41 record and reeled off a .578 winning percentage during the last 66 games of the season (38-28). That record landed them in the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. This meant that the Sixers would be “taking their talents to South Beach” for a date with the Heatles. The Moheatos. The Big 3. Lebron (I quit on Cleveland during the Celtics series last year) James, Dwyane (That’s not a typo on my first name) Wade, and Chris (I should have stayed with the Raptors because I look like one) Bosh. The Sixers had the same chance of winning this series as Lloyd Christmas did winning over Mary Swanson. Nevertheless, the Sixers came roaring out of the gate in the first game and took a 31-19 advantage after the first quarter of game one. This proved to be a theme for the series as the Sixers got out to big leads in four of the five games. In every game the Heat came storming right back by the end of the first quarter or the beginning of the second quarter and the games would be back and forth for the duration. In games one and three the Sixers had no answer down the stretch for the combination of James and Wade. Not many teams do. They fell behind in the series 3-0 and had a date with a broom on Easter Sunday.

Game four will prove as invaluable experience for the young players on this Sixers team. After a very slow start and sporadic playing time in the regualr season, second overall pick Evan Turner had his best game as a pro. He recorded 17 points and 7 rebounds, collecting several of each in the pivotal fourth quarter. He showed the same sort of confidence Holiday showed all season long, which should mean good things for Turner next season. With the Heat leading 82-76, and Lebron’s sizeable shoe stepping on their collective necks, the Sixers went to work. Holiday hit an incredible step-back three pointer to trim the lead to one with just under a minute to play. After the Sixers got a stop on the defensive end, Lou Williams found himself with the ball and the game on the line. He received a pass from Turner in the middle of the floor near half court. He took a dribble towards the basket and he had Wade on his heels a bit as he moved closer. In the blink of an eye, Williams rose up from 25 feet and let it fly with Wade’s hand in his face. Buckets! With nine seconds left the Sixers took a two point lead, 84-82. The Heat went to James on their final possession. With Iguodala draped all over him, he drove right and studder-stepped in the lane. Brand came over from the weak side and altered the shot. Turner came down with the rebound and made both free throws to ice the game. The miss dropped their effort to hit a game-winning and/or tying shot in the final ten seconds of a game to 1 for 19 on the season.

Obviously, this was just one win and the Sixers lost to the Miami Heat 4-1 on Wednesday night. They did not go down without a fight in that game either. They trailed by one with under a minute to go in that game but could not stop Wade when it counted most.

This Sixers team is young, exciting, energetic, and tenacious. It does however, lack a go-to scorer at the end of games. It is basically the opposite of the Allen Iverson era. The 2011 Sixers have depth and plenty of guys who can score but not a guy who is going to pour in 25 on a nightly basis. The 2001 Sixers (the year they lost to the Lakers in the finals) had Iverson, who could drop 35 on a nightly basis and was a threat to score every time he touched the ball. The current team does not need a player of Iverson’s expertise, but they are going to need to find a more potent go-to scorer to make the next leap to winning playoff series and championships. Most of the pieces are there, but they are still missing a big one.

Phillies Update –

The Phils lost two out of three to the Arizona Diamondbacks to start the week. They took the last game of the series, 8-4, behind a strong pitching performance from Cole Hamels. The Phils are now 9-0 in day games in 2011. The offense seems to have finally awoken as well. They hit three home runs Victorino (3), Rollins (1), Howard (4), and got four hits from Placido Polanco who now leads the National League in batting average at .389. The Phils are 16-8 on the season and are ½ game up on the Florida Marlins.

Roy Oswalt struggled in his last outing. His mind may have been elsewhere as he left the team shortly after the game to be with his family in Mississippi. His home town was ravaged by the recent string of tornadoes in the South.

Carlos Ruiz exited yesterday’s game after his first at bat with back spasms. I would hope that an injury is the excuse for his recent streak at the plate. He has not recorded a hit in his last 20 at bats. A trip to the DL may be looming. Brian Schneider is a serviceable backup for the time being.

Backup closer Jose Contrares, 5 for 5 in save opportunities, has been sent to the disabled list to join number one closer Brad Lidge. Ryan Madson will assume the closer role. He pitched a scoreless 9th yesterday but it was not a save situation.

Domonic Brown went 2-4 with a HR in his first rehab game after breaking his hand.

Raul Ibanez is mired in a serious slump. He is 4 for his last 45 and has not gotten a hit in 26 straight plate appearances.

Chase Utley. Chase Utley. Chase Utley. Ummm… we need him back.

Despite all this seemingly bad news, apparently pitching still prevails. The Phils have the best record in baseball. Just wait until they get healthy…

Werth Watch –

Since our last update, Werth has raised his average to a paltry .233. He has homered twice in his last eight games to raise his total to four on the season. He has just six RBIs. The Nationals lost both games he homered in and have lost six of their last seven which includes two out of three to the Pirates and the first two of their current series with the Mets. The Nationals are now 10-13, ½ a game behind the Mets for the worst record in the NL East. They also guaranteed $126 million to Werth over the next seven years, in case you forgot. He now has 124 career home runs, so almost 1 million for every homer in his career.