With the football season underway, basketball fans know that the 2010-2011 NBA season awaits. With the Lakers taking the NBA title last year, and the Miami Heat stacking up with the Big 3 in LeBron, Wade, and Bosh over the past summer, this season is sure to be full of surprises. In the City of Brotherly love, the only way to go is up after a pitiful 27-55 season. Gone are Coach Eddie Jordan’s failed Princeton offense, and Sam Dalembert’s questionable attitude. In are the multi-talented Evan Turner (aka The Villain) the Sixers #2 draft pick from Ohio State, the hardnosed Andres Nocioni, a new young center in Spencer Hawes, a steady veteran presence in Tony Battie, but most of all a no-nonsense coach in Doug Collins.
One can argue that many of the Sixers troubles last year were due to a lack of discipline and chemistry. The inability to utilize the talent on the team consistently often hindered the Sixers chances of winning any games. Doug Collins will be sure to correct those issues. Collins expects the most out of his players and this is great sign because this year’s Sixers team does not lack talent. The amount of success the Sixers experience this year hinges on bounce back seasons from disappointing players and the growth of young players such as former UCLA Bruin Jrue Holiday. Holiday will almost certainly start at point guard to start the season, which leaves high scoring Lou Williams as the primary 6th man off the bench. Holiday showed flashes of greatness last year, producing one three-pointer and a steal per game in limited playing time. Holiday dropped 25-7 while shooting 10-12 from the field on April 3 in a game against the Toronto Raptors last season. The progression of Jrue Holiday this year with consistent playing time will serve as an indicator of whether he really was the steal of the draft in 2009. Starting at the 2 will most likely be rookie phenom Evan Turner, last year’s NCAA Division I Player of the Year. While a poor summer league tampered many expectations, it is hard to argue that Turner will finally be the solution to the SG problem that has been successfully and unsuccessfully manned by Andre Iguodala who will finally be allowed to man the 3. Stats have never been a problem for Iguodala who consistently averages around 17/5/5 (a stat only shared by a few NBA players in the league), but he has clearly shown the inability to be that #1 who takes over games in the 4th quarter. However, fresh off a US National Team appearance with heavy praise from Coach K, Iggy is ready to step in for the Sixers for a 7th year, with Turner taking some of the weight off his back. At PF, there is a bit of a logjam, but many believe the spot will ultimately go to Thaddeus Young. Tall, but lanky, Young is looking to improve on his disappointing 3rd year after his promising sophomore campaign in which he averaged 15.3 points per game. What Thad lacks the size, he makes up for athleticism, and Coach Collins will be looking for a steady improvement in Thad’s game this year as he enters his 4th season. That leaves either disappointing and expensive Elton Brand or the young Spencer Hawes to man the middle. Ultimately it appears that the Sixers will use Elton at the 5 rather than have his fat contract rot on the bench. Brand has been an absolute bust in his first two years with the Sixers after signing a lucrative 5 year contract back in the summer of 2008, averaging less than 14 ppg in each year while seeing a steady decrease in his rebound numbers. However, Doug Collins is determined to get Elton back to his old 20-10 form (although anything near 17-8 would be great), meeting with the former all-star over the offseason in an attempt to rejuvenate him. Brand should be able to see an increase in his numbers as Doug Collins implements less of a run n’ gun style and more of a set offense style, a style that suits Brand much better. In addition Elton Brand has failed to receive any consistent playing time in his Sixer career, so maybe this is the year Brand shows his true worth. Key bench players include the oh-so hated Willie Green, Marreese Speights, and a steadily improving sharpshooter Jodie Meeks.
Let’s be honest. The Sixers are NOT favorites to win the NBA finals. However, if the Sixers can begin the meshing as a team, and individual players begin to improve/bounce back from last season, then they have an awfully bright future with the amount of talent and versatility on this team.
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