When we think about the disaster that was the 8-8 campaign last year, we tend to think: Our linebacker core was far too weak, we couldn't get to the quarterback and we didn't have a tall guy that could make plays.

Done

Done

And Done

Fletcher Cox, Mychal Kendricks and Vinny Curry will all go after the quarterback strongly and they'll support a line that includes Cullen Jenkins, Jason Babin and Trent Cole. It's like we're running a legal bounty program with all of these guys that get after the QB :D Marvin McNutt was projected as fourth round talent that fell to us in the sixth round.

I know not many are hot on Foles(or rather, where he was picked) and I agree, more pressing needs were there. But I can see where Reid's going with this: His competitive streak, his size and accuracy with the football. He's a very high level project and I can see where they think the upside is. If they can make him reach that upside, it'll all be worth it.

Brandon Washington is another high-value pick at the sixth round, getting depth on the offensive line and another third-fourth round projected guy prior to the draft.

Filling as many needs as we have in the draft, only further solidifies the expectations even more so than last year: SB Bowl(Appearance at least) or bust.

On paper, we filled all of our weaknesses and improved our strengths. On paper, Desean Jackson is a contented man and Vick should be able to rebound from a poor year last year. On paper, this O-Line should still go strong even without Peters. And next year, with Peters it'll probably be even stronger.

The long and short-term health of this franchise, has never been theoretically better. This is it, this is the moment we've been waiting for. We've seen inferior Giants teams win it, twice! We've seen the Cowgirls continue to talk trash while being a third-rate franchise in the National Football League. This is our moment.

When we win the SB this year(and damn straight we will, after all we've been through), we should have an honorary ring for Brian Dawkins. No player has done more for the game and more for this city and team than Brian Dawkins. Infact, there should be honorary rings for all of them: Trotter, Runyan, McNabb, BWest36. They established football pedigree where football was once forgotten and shunned by the city after the era of Ron Jaworski and Randle Cunningham passed us by.

For the sake of the Eagles Dynasty of the past decade, and the new dynasty we've created for the next decade to come....

Fly Eagles Fly!

Knicks-Pistons hypothetical

Knicks trade:
F Carmelo Anthony

Pistons trade:
G Ben Gordan
F Tayshaun Prince
G Will Bynum

This trade fundamentamentally changes the Knicks franchise for the better,
Ben Gordan is a streaky SG but he has the will and the heart of a winner, having
been a National Champion at Uconn and being a part of those feared Baby Bulls
teams. He gives the Knicks a legitimate scoring threat at that SG position,
something JR Smith is not, he's akin to what Lou Williams is for the Sixers.

Tayshaun Prince on the other hand is what the doctor asked for in New York
in terms of defense, he's 6'7, long and athletic and he can still get those
easy buckets for you. The only downside is that he's at the later stages
of his prime(32) and under contract. But he's still a high-quality starting
Small Forward in this league and he's a better fit in D'Antoni's system.

Then there's Will Bynum, more of a scoring guard than a point but maybe he
can be the Knicks's Lindsey Hunter. Too much pressure is put on Jeremy Lin
because of the lack of production from the other "point" guards.

But most importantly, the Knicks return to Linsanity. Pick and rolls with the bigs
and shooting wings(Tayshaun Prince for his career is an average 3pt shooter)
Knicks fans were rightfully concerned that the 7-2 lineup wasn't really talented.
Now the starting lineup is equipped to play to the style of the 7-2 Knicks
and is talented enough to compete with other SL's in the NBA.

As for the Pistons, Stuckey-Knight is their future and Austin Daye has simply
flunked as the future SF. Melo can come in there and solidify that position for
them. With their high lottery pick, they can further add to their core.




Lineup:
Jeremy Lin-Ben Gordan-Tayshaun Prince-Amare Stoudemire-Tyson Chandler

Flashback: 97 draft( I was actually only five years old at the time, so it's not like I actually watched the draft per say) coming off the Shawn Bradley epic failure and the A.I/Stackhouse thing butting heads, the Sixers were looking for a complimentary player to add to their core. Enter in Larry Hughes, passed on was Dirk Nowitski and Paul Pierce.

Eventually, after a few years Hughes was deemed ineffective. A solid defensive wing who could be a non option, but really his need for the rock in his hands conflicted with Allen Iverson. And we believed(or had to believe) that Hughes could do more. Generally accepted as a bust, much in the way of John Salmons. I believe we either traded him or signed elsewhere. Hughes, like Salmons would go on to have a breakout year followed by coming back down to earth. Leading people to say "SEE!" but in the end, their career numbers far outlasted that one incredible season.

So why do I bring up Larry Hughes and his generally ineffective time in Philadelphia and in general as a solid sparkplug wing? Everyone here knows the answer: We drafted the same guy virtually in 2004 and he's treated like he's "the next Scottie Pippen".

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=1&p1=iguodan01&y1=2011&p2=hughela01&y2=2006

Both were mediocre free throw shooters, both had non existent outside games and both were slightly above average in AST/T.O Ratio. Both frankly were roleplayers in the NBA. But I don't remember Hughes getting all the fanfare that our current #9 gets. Is it because it's cute to stick for the beaten dog when he's down?

Some will point out that Iguodala edges out Hughes in OWS and WS in general, to this I don't understand since their basic statistics are more or less the same, with the exception of Iggy shooting 5% better. I'll be honest and say I don't have too many memories of Hughes, but was he the athlete Iguodala is? Iguodala's fast break transition game, one of the things I'll always contend is the few things he does at an ELITE and transcendent level.

Let me be clear: I have nothing against our rebounding/defensive small forward. I have everything against his non-efficient, non-team oriented, mediocre overall isolation game that's on par with Louis Williams. I hate his shot selection(or lack of it), I hate his lack of a dribble, post-up game, etc. If not for the fast break, what would Iguodala be in the National Basketball Association?

To me Iguodala has never developed as a wing man, in the Pistons series, his two main problems were an inability to shoot over the top of the defense, or to create space. He still has troubles doing that, and as a catch and shoot guy, Derek notes that he's above average. But that's just it: He's above average.

That's not good enough to win, and it certainly doesn't justify what he brings to the table. We play Hawes, Lou, Thad 60 MPG combined on a daily basis. Yes, Iguodala's a top flight defender/rebounder. I'm not convinced we can't get by with a solid spark plug defensive forward we don't need the BEST defender.

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/11/22/2581655/nba-lockout-2011-david-stern-players-union-disclaimer

I'll put my own disclaimer: If the Sixers manage to significantly win with this ragtag group of misfits, Doug Collins isn't just a great coach. He's a miracle worker!   And by significantly win, I don't mean 41-41.  The whole thing yes, was cute. But we forget under the Cheeks/Dileo era, we but missed .500 by maybe a game or two.   The goal, is to have an actual winning season. Either today or tomorrow(IE: The future)  but the goal is to break this Stream of Mediocrity.   

Rod Thorn is one of two vestiges of the previous administration left, the other being the great Doug Collins. Keeping Collins was obvious, as he probably is a better piece than maybe half of this roster(see what I mean by being a miracle worker).  Thorn, on the other hand I wished they let go.  Thorn, like his underman Stefanski, defines mediocrity.

http://www.netsdaily.com/2010/7/15/1568653/the-collected-works-of-rod-thorn

When one overlooks these collected works, what you see is two great deals(The Kidd and the Carter trades) and then a struggle to escape mediocrity.    What you see, is a more famous Ed Stefanski.(Although Ed, LOVING this flawed roster for god knows what reason was unwilling to break it up and therefore unable to make even a small deal let alone a big one). 

"Hey, you don't know how those moves pan out half of the time". You do when you hear names like Shareef Abdul Rahim, Jeff McInnis, etc.   Rahim was a good player maybe some 3-5 years  before the signing took place.   Thorn brought in below average-to-average at best players to support Jason Kidd, it didn't work.

What would have happened had there been no Rob Babcock to save his ass?  Perpetual Mediocrity followed by a decade of losing.   In short, the 80's Sixers.   We have, very simply the wrong guy to lead this ship.   We have someone who A) has been in the NBA and B) Hasn't done squat.   He performed maybe one legitimate transaction if we're not counting Babcock's generous gift(this is the same guy who let Iguodala fall to us)

Infact, if we're honest with ourselves even the Richard Jefferson trade was a hand-me out gift from Houston.     Hey,maybe Thorn can work that magic to rob people again and otherwise solidify what is a very mediocre GM resume(a good GM doesn't get buy on  ripping off his inept counterparts.)

To be fair, the Nets could've been alot better.    Had they  stuck with a talent in Jackson,  Stefanski saw the talent that was Michael Redd, Thorn passed.    The Nets had a chance at Gilbert Arenas, but for the same reasons as letting Jackson go later, they went with Brandon Armstrong.  Who wasn't all that terrible, thing is though: He could add nothing to your franchise. Arenas potentially could have.

Perhaps even more alarming than the relatively conservative draft/lack of free agency success  approach, is Thorn's love of veterans.    Now, here's a scary thought: We trade a Turner, let's say we get a Paul Pierce(or more accurately, Ray Allen. Can't see Boston trading the face of it's franchise).    Let's also say we bring in a solid banger to shore up our rotation.

There's that winning season I talked about!  Problem is, it won't last and it'll rob us of a great future asset and a long term player for the Philadelphia 76ers Franchise. If we were to go "all-in" like the Eagles, the goal is to win a title.   Because only by winning a title, or somehow extending the very short window of said flawed trade or Turner busting, we lost the trade.

See, Boston won the KG trade because it won a title.    It didn't matter that Boston now has to undergo a long rebuilding  process with Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green.    They won a title, which is actually ten times worth Al Jefferson and scrubs.   So they didn't just win the trade, they obliterated the trade. 

Now on paper, Ray Allen is an excellent fit for the Philadelphia 76ers.    Andre Iguodala moves into a complimentary role and his defense(as well as Jrue's) compensates in however Ray may be lacking on that end.    Even though Ray would amount to a second option, it's 16-18 PPG that's consistent and therefore is huge boost in the arm for the Sixers. 

Get a low post stopper after that, and yeah I'd be excited. I would support said moves, reluctantly.  Because it's such a small, small window.     If we win a title, I couldn't care less(okay, maybe I do) that Evan Turner burns up the league.   

Rod Thorn, at his best, is such a HUGE risk for this Sixers franchise.  It could set us back for yet another five years.   Given his resume, and given his lack of success with the LLE/MLE signings and draft.     

I'm a Sixer diehard, I want this team to succeed and I want it to succeed in the long haul.   And I don't have confidence in Thorn. You can say he made those trades in 2001,   but the guys he made the trades with are out of the league/also-ran guys.      And those trades didn't take into account the future, long-term, etc. Which is why he didn't get more out of Kidd than two finals appearances.  

If my fears come to past and we make a veteran move for an Allen(as great of a fit as Allen is), I'll still support the franchise and love it. Heck, it'll be by far the best team since the 2001-03 ERA Sixers.    But I'll be nervous about the next 3-5 years.

(Yes, it is a long post but I didn't mention Iguodala's name except twice and I did so in a positive light, so there :D)

The following post will be one that we all probably wish could really happen:

**After the 30-24 loss in Chicago,   the Eagles players dumbfounded   walk into the locker room, still with delusions of grandeur about how great of a team they are.   Desean Jackson still believes he's actually worth 10+ MM, when his size and lack of versatility suggests otherwise,   Jason Avant is still ripping Philadelphia fans,  despite the fact that he's already cost us a game and like most of the other birds has been a complete non factor.      The O-Linemen have had mixed results,   we've seen some good things out of Jason Kelce and Todd Herremans has been a constant as well as Jason Peters.     While Vick's taken alot of hits,  some of that has to be taken upon Vick who after one week realizing the value of quick passes,   made inaccurate throws tonight and kept the ball in his hands hoping to make "something happen".       Asomugha has become as soft as his character on the football field, far from an elite cornerback or a cover guy,  remember the intensity of an in-prime Brian Dawkins?     Asante Samuels is not a great cornerback, he is a system player.    And with the epic fail that is our Linebackers core,     we're just not in a position to succeed to quote Andy Reid.

Speaking of Andy Reid, this epic fail of a season is completely his fault.    It's his management team of yes men who for years now,   thinks of themselves as such football geniuses that they can draft players   in the late-round, guys with "high motor" that everyone other than themselves saw as little more than special teams players or more accurately they didn't see them as NFL players at all!  But the great Andy Reid did, and that's all that matters(sarcasm much).

Similarly,  the hiring of Jim Washburn and Howard Mudd was a great step moving forward,  and if you had no confidence that Sean could do the job fine, but Juan Castillo........really?    The guy, coming into the season hadn't coached on the defensive side of the ball since he saw teens breaking out in pimples and all of a sudden you expected him to be an anchor there defensively?  

So let me get this straight, with all the spending that you did on these marquee free agents, you couldn't bother yourself with a reputed defensive lines coach? Not even a yes man?    Hell, you knew cornerbacks were an issue and one that you planned to aggressively address.  Knowing that, even if you didn't know the results you had to have the expectation of at least getting better, so don't you think Sean deserved at least one more year?   After all, while the defense last year was matador, it had bright spots at times. 

**And so, we the fans marched into the lockerroom with these key points.   And first off, is the "great Jason Avant":

J.A.: So now you're here to kick us when we're down?

Philly Fans: Actually, no, we're here to kick your ass and give you guys a spark because our head coach isn't going to do it(god forbid he ever criticize a player.)  and the unfortunate thing is, there isn't a guy in the locker room capable of doing so!

J.A.: Hey, you guys don't know what's happening in the locker room!? **Getting defensive and uptight**

Philly Fans: Well, maybe we don't know the exact details but we do know what we see week in and week out on the field, especially in contrast to the Eagles teams from 2001-to-2004.   And we've also seen to our annoyance, every single week you guys speak out in the media about "reaching your potential" and particularly, your comments about us being bandwagoners. 

We dealt with this with Jayson Werth a few years ago and in all honesty we really don't miss him, so we're gonna lay down the law:  We're the most passionate fans on earth, for better or for worse. Sometimes we may go to the extremes,  but that's also in our love.      When our guys compete and when they try, even when they lose we like the fact that they're competitive.    But when you guys perform as disinterested as you are,  acting as if you're ALL that. 

And sometimes, you are all that. But here's the thing: You've gotta perform for sixty minutes.  We tied the second quarter and we dominated the third.  But we lost the first and the fourth quarters.  The beginning and the end, you didn't show up. That's the fact.  Wanna know what's also a fact?   This team has acted out of character off the field as well.

In the Andy Reid era,  we prepared week in and week out and there wasn't so much of a controversy, our birds were OUR birds.    When T.O disrupted our organization, we were quick to oust him out of here, because that's not the Eagles way, that's not the way of this blue collar city. 

The Eagles tried to trade Ronnie Brown, but in reality it's Vince Young, he who hasn't seen action since Week Two and hasn't been productive at all whatsoever who should be cut and made an example of.  

Vince Young: **distraught and in disbelief**   Me?  What did I do? 

Philly fans: Only the same nonsense you did in Tennessee, namely not following the game plan and not making the preparations needed to win week in and week out.     Oh,  and you're the one that came up with the whole "dream team" thing,  this isn't a gangster team. We're not the Oakland Raiders, and we don't have a Ryan on this team.  We just don't talk trash. Your comments are even more insulting, given the fact that you haven't been an Eagle, you haven't been in our culture.  You don't have the status to say anything at all, except what you should've said:

"I'm looking forward to coming into Philadelphia, getting a fresh start and finding a way to help this team win football games".   That may be cliche, but that was your situation coming into Philadelphia.   But now, you're not even worthy of being on our bench,    every day your in our locker room facility is a damn insult to the so-called "gold standard". 

Philly fans: And we'd be remiss if we didn't mention  you, Mr. Samuels.

Asante Samuels: I'm ready, bring on the heat.

Philly Fans: We will, look we understand that there's the business aspect to the sports world and we even understand that negotiations can get down and dirty, but when you said you weren't "wanted here" anymore,   that crossed the line. If you truly feel that way, how do we know that you're not giving your all every Sunday? 

Asante: Hey, I bust my tail off playing this sport!  I'm not gonna let my contract situation affect my team!

Philly Fans:  Really? Then why make it a public issue? When Donovan McNabb went to management respectfully, he got his raise/extension. Westbrook? Same deal.    Not only that,  but if you truly are an elite cover guy, why aren't you making the stops?  We can point at Castillo all we want, but at the end of the day you've gotta go in and execute and the same goes for Asomugha too.   And like with Avant, in saying you're not wanted here. Whether you meant it or not, that's an indirect shot at we the fans and we can categorically say, it's not true.   When you're competing, playing hard even if you don't succeed, we appreciate that.

Do we wanna win a SB? Sure,    but above all else and this is the same for all FOUR Philly sports teams is that if our guys are competitive, if they're playing hard, we like them.  We may not want certain players back(namely the LB core) because they've shown themselves incapable, but there's a difference between incapability and not trying.  

Eagles Players: And we're not trying?

Philly Fans: By your own admission, you're not trying. From the coaching staff downward, you have the belief that you're a top NFL team, that you gave these games away.  Well,    now it's time to actually WIN these games.   It's time to compete, it's time to get off your asses and try and it's time to stop thinking things are going to be handed to you on a silver platter!  It's time to wear Eagles Green for the first time this season, because for the first eight games of this season,  you've shown no pride or spirit.     

You've got the 2-6 Cardinals coming into town,  that is a must-win game, not just because of the improbable playoff chase, but even if not in the minds in management, in the minds of we the fans: Your job and your status as an Eagle is on the line. Every one of you, from Vick downard.  Yes Vick,  while circumstances may have been in your favor or not, those interceptions, including the pass into double coverage for your pick yesterday   ARE your fault.

The fans will no longer give you guys excuses, from top to bottom.    For these last eight games of the season, you've gotta show us that you're worthy of a roster spot.   If you still wanna quit, whine and bitch.  Then do us all a favor and just stop trying all together, even more than you are right now. Because then we get a high draft pick and then we can actually draft real  NFL talent that we can groom

And then we'll trade you sissies outta here, cuz you're not even birds...you're just lame ducks.  

(As a side note,  I'd like to apologize for the use of the words "ass" and "bitch"(in the final sentence). While I'd like to believe these words weren't used in an inappropriate manner, but rather as a perfect illustration of both our frustration and the State of the Eagles.   If a moderator would like to edit those words,  I'd be more than happy to accept that.   If I must be reprimanded, so be it.   But I had to get my feelings off of my chest.)

In the end, he really never could make a single basketball decision in his time as a Sixers General Manager.  And that's what led to him being kicked out the door and leaving me to wonder what the hell are the Raptors thinking in hiring this man?

http://www.csnphilly.com/basketball-philadelphia-sixers/news/Stefanski-hired-by-Raptors-as-executive-?blockID=583112&feedID=694

Everyone will famously remember the Elton Brand signing, but everyone here knows what I remember and crucify. News of the Iguodala signing broke out in 2008,    back then I was on RealGM as "Dedicated_76ers_fan" along a UCLA Bruins fan, we lambasted the move the minute it was signed.  For shortly after the playoff series, it was evident to anyone with half a brain that Iguodala could neither shoot over the defense  or drive into the defense.  It was evident to us that Iguodala would not be a top-3 option in the NBA.   No, not top-1 or top-2, I'm saying he's a non option. That's what we said in 2008.   

Yes, yes  Iguodala's defense/rebounding/assists are all valuable, but the cute thing is: None of those register on the scoreboard.    We might've actually been able to win a game against the Heat without needing a 30 foot 3-pointer from Lou Williams if Iguodala were a slasher, or heck a low post option as a wing man. 

So what was Stefanski's excuse for Iguodala?    In essence, that it was the Pistons and he expects Iguodala to improve, laughable if not for the fact he just pissed 82 million dollars down the drain. Thankfully, it's only a five year deal and not a six year one. But that's like saying thank god I have seizures and not a brain tumor.  

So what did Stefanski do after locking us in salary cap hell? Absolutely nothing,  the article linked above mentions  drafting Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner as a "notable move".    That should show Raptors fans what to expect moving forward. 

But hey,  we traded for Jason Kapono(who ended up being useless.) and Spencer Hawes!  Only, Hawes is a 10th-12th man and you removed about your only shotblocker from the lineup.  Worse yet, in Nocioni  you took on additional salary where we were trying to get out of cap hell. 

But things are now looking up for the Sixers.  Not only do we have new ownership but the guys who singlehandedly destroyed the Sixers are still in the Atlantic Division. Billy King(Nets)   and Ed Stefanski(Raptors) and the Celtics have broken down.

Since the Sixers are the champion of mediocrity,   they may very well be the champion of the Atlantic Division provided the decline of the Celtics continues.   But if new ownership/Thorn were smart, they'd bide their time and rebuild. To turn it into an Atlantic Division Dynasty.

I've argued that the success of the '010 season had as much to do with Iguodala,  as it had to do with a PG that was playing absolutely outstanding basketball and shown his talents by quickly adepting to playing off-the-ball in midseason Per Doug's demands to get the ball to his "playmaker" Iguodala.   As well as the oft-mentioned but underappreciated efforts of Elton Brand.    Had Brand been  a true "option", he easily would've averaged 20/10.    And the Sixers playoff efforts might've been better for it.  This, we noted plenty of times as our mediocre swings couldn't possibly penetrate the Heat defense. 

Well, the Sixers have new ownership and with this, comes the expectations or prayers that we will finally rid ourselves of the 5 year-82 million dollar mistake that was for absolutely no reason at all.(Chicago signed Deng, GSW signed Ellis and after the Clippers signed Baron Davis, no one had any cap left. Washington also went with Arenas/Jamison that year. So, who exactly could field an offer in Iguodala's price range?  Stefanski had all the leverage and he blew it. Of course, Iguodala could've signed the 1-year tender but do what, risk injury?) 

Jefu constantly goes on about how I don't use statistics to back up my argument.   Well,   as per his request. I'll throw a whole bunch of statistics at you.   The best way to put Andre Iguodala into proper perspective is to compare him to players who played his same position. Especially, seeing as the Sixer fanbase has lofty praise for Iguodala(IE: A Pippen-Esque player).

Last time I compared Pippen to Iguodala(on a fourm that essentially tried to knot the two together).   I noted that  Pippen actually excelled at several things Iguodala lacked(Post-up game, overall half-court abilities and with the same roster level wise as the 2010 Sixers, Pippen had a far better W-L record, in a historically accepted more competitive NBA.  In short,  I said Pippen's the far better player.).   Even though I had brought up statistics to the table, as well as(albeit limited) personal oberservations, my thesis on Pippen> Iguodala was rejected. 

So I'm not going to go to that angle again for my argument,  I've also since recognized that comparing Iguodala to Pippen for my argument is a cheap cop-out and doesn't exactly strengthen my position that the guy is heavily over-rated in the Sixers Community.  So instead, I thought the solution might lie in defending my previous arguments.

Well-stated due to the idea of my supposed "retardation",  everyone knows  that I said that Ariza/Iguodala were virtual clones of the other. This, after the failed '09 season where   Ariza/Iguodala both were the first options of non playoff teams.  I noted their similar EFG% and for a while, that pathetic EFG% matched their FG%.     And of course, the biggest tell-tale factor is both teams not making the post season.  So I thought, why not overlook their careers and see the similarities?

Let's see after the jump....

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=1&p1=iguodan01&y1=2011&p2=arizatr01&y2=2011

-Iguodala has the higher durability, higher FG%(3pt as well as overall), He's a better rebounder,  as well as slightly higher in steals.

One would conclude, if Iguodala has the higher numbers. He's a significantly better player! Hold on there, happy. While these numbers are higher, aren't they   too disgustingly similar? I mean, isn't Iguodala supposed to be heads and tails above the guy? They shouldn't look close, Iguodala shouldn't be "slightly better". 

Looking at it, beyond whose numbers are better. We can conclude that both have no business being on the free throw line when the game is on the line.   Nor are they perimeter shooters by any stretch of the imagination.

So what of the higher FG%, the higher steals and blocks, what's my "theory" to explaining that?

The one difference between Iguodala/Ariza=Iguodala's godly athleticism.     Iguodala has those long arms and he's very coordinated to go along with his fundamentally sound defense.   He's like the Asante Samuels of  basketball.  Everyone acknowledges Iguodala as a top-5 athlete in the game,   I'll acknowledge that as well.   That athleticism translates in the form of steals and even blocks on occasion.  

And what of the higher FG%? I recall an article by Derek Bodner on Iguodala's success rate on dunks and how it's on par with  LeBron James's.     Unfortunately, for all the advanced statistics there are, there isn't one that differs fast break buckets from half-court buckets.  Such a statistic would probably destroy the illusion that Iguodala is an efficent player.  

Iguodala is one of the most deadly players in the fast break, whereas Ariza is probably a tad behind him.   That's where the separation lies for these two players offensively.   Defensively,  if not for the athleticism, they probably are about even. 

Now, separation begins to show itself with the Wins shares, while the DWS is as expected. I have to seriously contest the OWS.  We've acknowledged that both players aren't exactly good from the perimeter to the mid-range(free throw) shot.    Are basketball statisticians really making the argument that the fast break aspect of the game has become such a dynamic?

Maybe in the regular season, where teams aren't exactly as concerned about putting out all the stops defensively in one single game.    Maybe the gimmick known as a fast break can succeed there.   But in the playoffs, it's only been proven to succeed with a top-10 athletic big man(Amare Stoudemire), a hybrid 3pt shooting big that can play defense(Shawn Marion) and a top-5 PG(Steve Nash) and even then, that core had no titles to show for it.

In addition,   if the fast break has become such a weapon, why was it so easily dismantled in two of the three playoff  trips for the Sixers?   Granted, the Pistons were a defensive beast unto themselves but the Heat merely had James/Wade and that was it!   I understand the effect they have in half-court defensive situations and I'll grant you that with their court speed it's easy for them to get back    But the theory is,  when you force a turnover.(A bad pass or stripping the ball from a player's hand),  it takes about a second or so for the offensive team to react and that's your advantage.  Hence,  why unforced turnovers are a sin to any coach.  As compared to the 24 violation or an out of bounds call.

Most likely, when the Sixers "athletic advantage" was gone against the Miami Heat, they had to engage in the half-court.   Where they were met with bigs just as good as theirs(and for shame if Joel Anthony wasn't as good as Spencer Hawes).    If the fast break can be negated simply by matching court speed, I would argue it shouldn't factor into Offensive Wins Shares, as it doesn't judge a player's offensive capability.

A fast break results in a turnover, and a turnover IMO is the rough equilvalent to the BABIP(This is when the ball hits into a slight gap that otherwise could've been caught by the player). 

All this goes back to what I said earlier, Advanced statisticians: Make a stat that differates fast break buckets to half-court buckets.    The fast break propels Iguodala's PER and OWS to levels where they shouldn't be at.  

For their careers in the playoffs,   where Iguodala's fast break advantage has historically been negated,  they are dead even in PER.  And Ariza has the overall higher win percentage. Go figure. 

My next comparison will be to Caron Butler, an all-star to be sure.  But if I ever said Butler=Iguodala, some of you would respond. "An improvement over Iguodala=Ariza, but not close".   

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=1&p1=iguodan01&y1=2011&p2=butleca01&y2=2010

The FG is closer.  Iguodala(46%) to Butler(44%), to the point where I must invoke the Fast Break rule again.    It can also be invoked because Butler is that much better of a free throw shooter. (85% to 74%)

Iguodala is the slightly higher 3pt shooter, but for this he takes nearly double the shots.  So I'd say it's a mirage than anything they both suck at the 3pter. 

My argument for Butler would be he has a much lower TOV% rate(of 2%) and  nearly 3 APG.  While Butler has the higher USAGE%, this makes me question how usage is calculated?   Is it calculated by the number of shots one takes?  If so, that isn't exactly an accurate description of plays run for a player.  Or how many times a guy touches the basketball. 

Butler, like Ariza gets punished for not having Iguodala's god like athleticism.  And we all can concur that Iguodala gets the ball on the top of the key very frequently,   IMO his usage rating if it were accurate would be a bit higher.  

I would like to think these statistics brought something to the table.   I'd like to think I made a successful statisical argument in claiming that not only is Iguodala not Pippen, but I don't believe he's at Butler's league(A 2nd option on offense).  To me, Iguodala is a guy that benefits greatly from the fast break and is a solid starter for a team. 

He should be getting Ariza's salary,  that would be proper compensation.    Designated as the primary playmaker,   his APG stats are inflated, as compared to a Butler/Ariza, who by definition  defer to guys like Dirk or Arenas/Jamison or Kobe/Paul. 

And with that, my final argument:  Putting more talent around Iguodala won't all of a sudden make him a better player. His APG won't go up, it'll go down.  As we noticed last year, it'll just make Iguodala look invisible.   It most certainly didn't do any good for Butler/Ariza's individual career's.   But hey, the titles and playoff advances were sure worth it! 

Normally, I get what Cohen is saying.   "Why mess with a good thing?"  And I'll acknowledge I'm no baseball expert, I'm a casual fan at best.    But I have a problem with the way Cohen and pals are preaching this message.  They're not saying  "Why mess with a good thing?"   They're saying "We're unbeatable, we are the best!" And ironically, in this way they're more casual than the casual fans they lambast. 

Ironically, they don't realize that the very same fans that are clamoring for trades, are the same ones repeating that line.  It's because of the perception of greatness, that they want it continue.   For my part?   I believe there's always ways to improve a team.   And I understand the cost value that comes with it.  You don't blow up your farm for rental players, especially when they're past their prime AKA Carlos Beltran.   

But I think for some of us, who do want a trade, we recognize this concept:  We have a window of opportunity, here and now.  And if we can get a couple of roleplayers,  we can fill those holes.  One post I read, referenced to an article that wasn't well written,  but it had the point that, not every minor leaguer flourishes to become a major leaguer.

We've had unprecedented success with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels and Chooch being homegrown.   But for every one of them, there's a Baez/Herndon who absolutely suck.   What's Kyle Drabek doing in Toronto? To be sure, he might bounce back. After all, the esteemed Roy Halladay hit a major turning point that defined his eventual HOF career.    But how often does that happen?   And Kyle wasn't the only prospect we traded,  what of the others?   The fact is, we barely remember them!  For to be sure, knowing this city if those other prospects  thrived, we would hear about it night and day. 

That's why the scouts are there,   they are the ones that determine whether or not it's worth it to trade a prospect or not.    These are the same guys that said "Keep Dominic Brown and the others are negoitable", these are the same guys that said to let go of JA. Happ and they all looked like kids who had a very bright future.

But let's say that there's an in-prime bat available, at a position we need.  Someone to fill Jayson Werth's role of hitting behind Howard to increase run production. Someone to give us more production against left-handed bats, rather than rely on Victorino's career year to continue all the way to the WS.   Frankly, let;s say there was someone who could extend our window another 3-5 years.

'In other words, that player would have a much higher chance of making the desired impact, than our "best prospects".   Obviously, the Phillies are an example of a great farm system.   But the best teams don't just have a great farm system, they have a good MLB roster too. 

That requires a balance, at times you trade to acquire an MLB player, and at times you trade to acquire prospects.  Now, is not that time where we trade to acquire prospects.    Nor should we trade for a rental player.  Or a player who wouldn't be an upgrade over what we already have. 

If we make a trade at the deadline, it should be to extend that window another 3-5 years, or to fill holes that otherwise are somewhat gapping.   What's wrong with making a move for another Sweeney/Stairs type?   I think we honestly miss that kind of power off the bench as a pinch hitter. 

Everyone knows me as the guy that constantly rags on Iguodala and laments his and ultimately the team's shortcomings from the wing position.     However, I've gotten a bit of a bad reputation in that    I'm repetitive and I only repeat one argument.    Well,  a short defense.  I'm not repetitive, I'm passionate.   I just feel as though no one(from the FO to the fans),  understands the true calamity of just how badly this team is built.       And so, they cling to the upside of this badly built team.  And I ask:  What upside? 

We were near(or at .500) during the Maurice Cheeks years, from the final vestiges of the A.I-Webber mess to the Dileo Sixers.       Eddie Jordan merely happened to be the most incompetent head coach in NBA history and if not for his connections to this dreaded front office, he never would've gotten  a job.    Made even more insulting was the NBA community at the time praising that incompetent man.     Given those circumstances, of course the team was doomed to take a hit. It's not like they were that great from the start. ANY coach could've propelled this team back to it's .500 state.

The only thing that makes what Collins did impressive,  is that he did it without a starting center.   Hawes is a 15-20 MPG 6 fouls type of big.   He performed that role anyway as he nearly averaged 3 fouls in 20 minutes!  

For as much as I like Vucecic, the fact that he has the same makeup as a Hawes is undeniable.    And so, in a draft of bigs, we were unable to get even a project.     Before I begin lamenting the front-court,  I want to give an idea of what I like in a front-court.

I believe in hybrid bigs like a Thaddeus Young or a Shawn Marion type, but if you're going to go that route, then you need a defensive center(ALA, Dalembert or Howard those types).    In the ideal world however,   I'm an old schooler.

POUND THE PAINT!  If not one dominate big, then two scoring bigs.   Being able to attack the C/PF  position and get another team's bigs in foul trouble opens up driving lanes,   collaspes opposing defenses and gets high field goal percentage shots.  

To this end, we signed Elton Brand and to be fair,  the EB signing isn't what crippled this franchise(this goes back to the wing man argument, which I rehashed).    Brand's more of a mid-range/high post kind of guy than a banger

but he gives us some size and muscle down there.   However, Brand's 32. And the Speezy draft was stupid from the onset and it's stupid now.   You know you have a center that's a malcontent and you know your targetting Brand.    Why do you need to draft a jump shooting  big?   A big with question marks about work ethic no less?  

Now, between Vucecic,  Speezy,  Brackins, Hawes we have the most untalented front-court in....quite some time.  There are no shot blockers.   Though Vucecic looks like a  solid NBA-rebounder(10 RPG in the Pac-10. Not as good of a conference as it used to be but alas)  . 

The front-court is another reason we should BLOW it up(It being a 7-man rotation). Our best big is a flawed hybrid forward(Young), who unless he improves his rebounding and shooting won't give us a major advantage.  Hybrid bigs attract attention. Young's just a very good scorer, plus even if Young attracts attention his lack of passing ability means we would rather him score anyway.

It's a gigantic mess and in more ways than one.  I'm sorry for overly focusing on the wings.  But our bigs as awful

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Kyle-Korver-saved-a-dying-snapping-turtle?urn=nba-wp5952

I was one of those fans who truly loved Kyle Korver, not only because his ability to shoot 3's is a need for most teams and we had him,   but because of his excellent team defense showing his commitment to trying. Sure, one-on-one the guy may be a vulnerability but he was willing to leave his body out there.    And it leaves me speechless when I think back.

Kyle Korver wasn't(or shouldn't have been) taking Thaddeus Young's minutes, so not even that is an excuse for the worthless trade that shaved off effectively the MLE(4.5 million dollars in cap).   We effectively got absolutely nothing for Iverson. Nothing(Miller walked after trapping us in mediocrity, thanks). The guy was 31 and was a scoring champion, an MVP, a difference maker for a team that would wanna go all the way.  You mean, we couldn't get anything at all?(I know, we got Reggie Evans and two late picks but for god sakes. REALLY? REALLY?)

Peeps would say what's done is done, and I agree.   It is history, but it's not so far in the past that we should forget about it.    One of the major reasons the Sixers rebuilding effort failed to translate was the horrible Iverson trade and the Miller non-trade that should've  occured.  We should've at least tried a S/T with Portland.   

The Miller/Iverson fiasco is probably right up there with the misguided Brand signing.    But the Miller/Brand decisions were impacted(just as the current view of the roster by fellow Liberty Ballers) is impacted by a naieve opinion that our core is so freaking awesome!

1) We don't have a core,  2) Our "core" is Jrue Holiday, who yes is an awesome player. But we need MOAR awesome players.

At the very least,  had we kept Korver/Evans, you add in Meeks and Thad and that's a pretty good bench. 

If our FO was a little creative and a little less sure of it's so-called master plan,  we could've made something out of nothing. Now, we're stuck with nothing(and in the middle of a lockout) pooie :(

After calming down and looking at Vuvecic's workouts and seeing the guy's fairly coordinated,  aggressive in the low block and actually has good jumpshooting form and isn't just "a big that can shoot" ,   I thought about our second round pick, Lavoy Allen.  I lamented on draft night that's he a tweener. I mean unless the guy bulks up(he reportedly weighs 220) then he's no center.   And he's more of a big man, so it's not like he's a SF.  He's an undersized PF.(At least in terms of weigh and bulk.   Both could use improvement.) . But then I remember a post made by a SB Philly Writer talking about how Vuvecic's slow feet would make him another vulnerable big man in Pick N Roll defensive situations.    And then I looked at Lavoy Allen, if there was a player in this draft that could complement Nik and his defensive shortcomings,  maybe it was Allen.  

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Lavoy-Allen-5781/

Lavoy appears to be a guy that can mix it up inside, with strength and understanding of body positioning to get position in the post.    He was much more of a finese guy though and that's something to watch. To see if he can balance both.  Defensively, Lavoy doesn't have great lateral quickness but as I thought he appears to  have just enough and his long length.  The reason the Sixers liked Lavoy was his synergy with Nik.   Lavoy will give us a big that can actually cover(although not ideally most likely) the pick and roll. 

Most scouts feel as though Lavoy has first round talent,  but Lavoy hasn't taken the assertiveness because of his wanting to be a part of the team.   And that might be good to start off, but I hope the kid learns that the game of basketball is about being assertive.

That's what Turner learned, as during his first 3 months of the season he wasn't very effective because of his timidness and often wanting to cop-out and just be a jumpshooter. But as Turner became more aggressive, we started to see the light. 

Lavoy to me, if he puts it all together could be a Chuck Hayes kind of guy.   Someone that's a good defender, somewhat of a shooter and can score easy buckets for a team.     Lavoy could definately make this team and judging by his willingness to work out  2 times, he really wanted this opportunity.   That want will start to turn into a desire and we'll get the real Lavoy.

And we maybe wouldn't have gotten that Lavoy had we just signed him.   

Just as the title states, why the hate on Thaddeus Young?    Thad had a very impressive campaign last year, a strong rebound from last year where although his statistics were similar, his percentages were well below his norms.   He got back to that, attacking the rim with aggressiveness and he showed much better defensive awareness and better rebounding.    Overall,    NJ Nets head coach Avery Johnson pointed out that Thad is the reason we were 41-41 last year.    

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Thaddeus-Young-450/   Thad will reach his potential eventually, the wing span, the vertical and the court speed suggests that he simply must.  Dude's an athletic freak, with natural basketball skills.    Let's be honest with ourselves: Did we expect Thad to be where he is, right now?

He was highly regarded as a project in the 2007 draft, and that was a weak draft let there be no mistake about that but he's developed into a top 5-7 or so pick in that draft. Certainly, he's better than Mike Conley.     A Lakers fan once posted that Thad would be a top 3-5 pick in yesterday's draft.

I said it before, that the 76ers didn't have so much of a "bench", as they had two players: Thad and Lou, and Lou wishes he could smell Thad's jock.        

Yes,  Thad unfortunately hasn't developed his jumper and yes his handles are undeveloped as well, that's partly management's fault IMO.  They've had Thad at PF for 3/4ths of the guy's career. When he was  a SF,  Thad  excelled with that corner three and was a  15/5 guy. 

But at 23, whose to say that Thad couldn't improve those intangibles?    Doug spoke proudly of Thad and how much of a hard worker he is and how much he improved this past season. 

If Thad were 28 or 29,   I wouldn't be making this argument and I would be on the side of everyone else and say: Let him walk. But he's 23, and he's made strides.    Sure, it wasn't the big jump from his rookie to sophomore year.  But nevertheless, he's improved.  And if he can only take little strides forward, to being a respectable shooter and respectable ball handler.  With his athletic gifts, that's probably enough to be a beast. 

The guy's easily worth 8-10 million per,   he was our Lamar Odom-esque guy.  Giving us playmaking(albeit scoring playmaking but still, he made plays) and just being productive.     Hopefully, Nocioni retires or something so we can be off the hook for his contract.   Should've just orchestrated a 3-way and sent Nocioni elsewhere.   The Lakers would've been a good spot.

Give Thad what he's worth and what he'll command on the open market.   If we can overpay the Nocioni's and Lou's of the world, we can give Thad his proper value.  

Jordan Sams did excellent pieces on new Sixer Nikola Vucacic, so check those out.   This fanpost isn't going to go about using statistics or scouting reports,   because I frankly am not qualified to understand those.   If I ever attempted to do so,  I'm sure SOMEONE will ridicule my attempts.    So instead, with the information we do have, I'll give my take on why I absolutely   HATE these two picks and our "lack" of action. But first, check out this tidbit from Stefanski:

"We were thinking about and we were trying to move up and get our guy"

 

Not an exact quote(but virtually, the same quote from a CSNPhilly article).  Can you imagine the horror had we traded ANY kind of asset for Nikola Vucacic?      As bad as this draft was/is for the 76ers, it would've been worse if we actually traded anything for this guy.      Stefanski acted as though some top-15 team would be interested in the 1.0 Hawes  

Like Jordan said,  Vucacic does fill a need. As does Lavoy Allen.    Lavoy Allen from what I read seems to be a rebounder and a defensive specialist as a big.     Reminds me of another pick, Bobby Jones(the guy that didn't make it in the league. Not the all-star) 

If Allen translates, he fills a need too.    However, as I said: They don't get it.

When I came into this draft, I and I think everyone else was focused on building around Jrue Holiday/Evan Turner. And the reality of the matter is,    Andre Iguodala simply doesn't fit.   He's 28, coming off major injury and an even worse year than last year and he doesn't have Eddie Jordan to blame this time.  Even if they couldn't nail the trigger on an Iguodala deal, the picks should've been used to build around Holiday/Turner.

Chris Singleton  would've been a good Sixer to have.    At first, I shot down Singleton because like Iguodala, he held weaknesses in his game as  a wing that weren't acceptable. But when I saw Singleton's back to the basket game and his strong perimeter and post defense.   I saw loads of potential if Singleton could improve his shot, think Shawn Marion.

Jordan Hamilton is another guy I shot down, because of his terrible shot selection and it turns out that many GM'S felt the same. You can't build around that.  However, as a complementary piece to Holiday/Turner, he's just what we needed.   So I would've been fine with the pick. So long as he's a off-the-ball scoring wing man in half court situations.

And even in the second round, there were some guys left that could've rounded out into some pretty solid players.   Lavoy Allen is the definition of role player and normally, we say if you can get that in the second round, good.

But to be honest, Vucacic is a power forward, not a center. His lack of speed or athleticism of any kind means he'll just be foul prone if we try to make him a center.     Lavoy Allen is another undersized forward.      We would've been better off if we selected Greg Smith.  

I don't know what feeds Stefanski and Thorn's(and Collins's) egos, but we need to take it away from them. This team is borderline mediocre  and they had the potential to make the future brighter and blew it and for what? The chance to win 1 or two more games next season?   I'm making a huge assumption in saying that Vucacic and Allen will actually be positives for our W/L campaign next year. 

They say that it's hard to part with a superstar, because it's hard to rebuild.      So escaping from the mediocrity that King built while Iverson was declining was indeed difficult.   But we all agree Iguodala is no superstar. And this is no good team.

So why exactly is it difficult for those numbskulls to do something for the team's future?

But then again, if they believed so much in this core they would've done something during the deadline last year!  So I firmly believe they're in the middle: It's not that they believe or disbelieve, they simply don't give two craps.

That might be me trying to make it better for us all,   but maybe it's true: Maybe they really don't care about this franchise.

Dear  Ed Stefanski,  Rod Thorn and Doug Collins,

While we do appreciate the hard work you've put in in trying to make this Sixers roster
the best it can possibly be,  I feel it's necessary that we clear things up about the
city's fanbase.

Why is it that we're not coming to the games?  Is it because of the other
competitive sports teams? Not really,  we Philadelphians love our sports teams equally.
Whether it's the Phillies or Flyers or Eagles or yes, the 76ers we will root them on.

We will root them on, because sports is a part of our tradition, and the 76ers
are the cogs of that tradition.  The very name "Seventy-Sixers" refers to the
Declaration of Independence and our freedom and liberty.    The Eagles don't
have that kind of claim to fame, or any of the other sports teams.

The 76ers have been in Philadelphia since Wilt Chamberlain, that's a long time.  

But if the 76ers are a part of tradition, why is it that the majority of fans have
simply given up on the Sixers?  Is it because we miss a "big name"?

Actually, this is an insult. That's saying that we as a fanbase don't understand
the game at all and we just watch for the acrobatic plays of a Dwyane Wade or LBJ, etc.

And those acrobatic plays are all good and well, but we don't watch it just for that.
Or you would've had good attendance with all of the athleticism and fast break style of
play of the past four seasons.        And it's not just scoring, I don't speak for
myself when I say I despise Lou Williams,    no single player has regressed more in
one season than Lou Williams did, and Doug Collins amplified it  by overusing him. 

We watch the Sixers, as well as the Phillies, Flyers and Eagles when they win:
period!   And in case you haven't noticed, that's not a .500 record.   .500 in
baseball would be a lottery team.    Similarly in Hockey, and it's not a sure thing if
the Eagles would win the Wild card.   The Sixers have been very fortunate to be
in the Eastern Conference.  We've failed to take advantage of this good fortune.

Jayson Werth notably called us "fairweather fans", but he's dead wrong.  Sure,
we want to see our teams competitive all the time, but even when our teams are
on a losing streak or having a hard time we're there in support.  Both comfortingly,
and even if we have to get in their skin, because we KNOW and believe they can do better.
 
We, as fans simply cannot and we REFUSE to accept mediocrity.    Over the past four
seasons, management has touted mediocrity as some kind of accomplishment and
for many of us, we haven't forgotten the 01' Sixers and the fact of the matter
is the 01' Sixers would sweep the '010 Sixers no contest.

Why? For the simple fact that the 01' Sixers had a game plan, they had an identity
on which they leaned on.    The '010 Sixers amounted to  "We have a bunch of average/
below average guys,  let's hope ONE of em pulls something out  of their ass so we
can steal a game." 

Mr. Thorn, MR. Stefanski, Mr.Collins:  What's this team's strength? It's not
inside scoring.  Ironically, it isn't even mid-range shooting.   Young's
become a inside scoring tweener and really the only capable mid-range shooters
are Brand, Holiday and Meeks. 

It's not outside shooting, though we did have two 3pt shooters last year(Holiday/Meeks)
Meeks's weakness of not having a muliti-dimensional impact meant he was a weak link
if his shot wasn't falling.  

Defense?  Yes, we have enough defenders(Holiday/Brand/Iguodala) and enough
guys understanding a team concept that they could support each other on the defensive
end.

You might be wondering, what's the difference between the 04-07 Pistons
and the Sixers of the past four years?    Here's the answer: While the Pistons
might not have been setting the world on fire offensively, between Billups,
Hamilton, Prince, Sheed.  They could create offensive opportunities.

Can we create offensive opportunities?  To be honest, we can't. In the Heat
series, it wasn't defense that was the problem. On the contrary, we held
Wade/James below their season averages and if you told us the series would've
played out that way   defensively we would've all jumped for joy. 

But these Sixers simply cannot generate offense, namely in the half-court. In fact,
the fast break is our life support.  But we're not the Suns. We don't have a Marion or
a  Fyre.   We're not the Magic of Rashard Lewis or of Ryan Anderson.

So even our fast break, is incredibly flawed!  We don't have a single strength or to
elaborate further: There's not a single area of the game in which this team is even
AVERAGE at, other than defense.

Fans recognize this for what it is,  we fully understand this team can't go any farther
and it's about time that you did as well.  God send for the group trying to buy the
Sixers. If not for them, you would be singing the motto that in reality, we're
really super good and all we need is a "tweak". 

We the fans, are here to tell you the opposite, and we've tried through your checkbooks
but it seems all that's doing is making you even more determined on a flawed path.

We the fans, don't want to make the playoffs as one of those dead-end teams. The
only time it's ever actually good to be a 7th-8th seed is if the team is relatively
young and we can expect upside and don't you dare call Marresse Speights, Craig
Brackins, Lou Williams and Spencer Hawes youth!  They are likely never to improve
from where they are, wake up and smell the coffee.

You've no youth movement or no plan.   Oh, I know, the game has become "internationalized"
and so we need mediocre jump shooters who can't rebound, right?(or defend at all,
in the case of Paws)

I'm sorry if I seem offensive, but pleading with you guys hasn't done us the trick. 
Nor has hitting your checkbooks.  So the only place left to hit you is your pride:

You say that you will only make "basketball decisions."   Honestly,  you guys haven't
been making smart basketball decisions.  If Jrue Holiday didn't fall to us,
we would've had to select Eric Maynor, whose a solid enough guard. But has absolutely
no upside.  

We have no center? How about year after year of drafting small forwards!? In fact,
if I were the ESPN draft crew, I would expect the Sixers to select a wing man.
It's become common practice.   Thaddeus Young, Rodney Carney,  Derrick Byars.
Need I go on? 

The Brand Signing was 50/50. And while you overpaid Iguodala, more important matters would be

did Lou Williams REALLY earn that 5 YR/25 Million dollar contract?  To be more precise, the likes of
Andres Nocioni and his 6 M dollar contract on the bench!

That's 11 million dollars that could go towards for example Tyson Chandler
my fellow Libertyballers.

If you're going to overpay your starters, your role players need to be paid
properly. You managed to somehow both overpay your starters and your roleplayers.

We may not share your viewpoint,  but you've made the decisions and we both know
damn well where they've led us: In the middle of nowhere. So listen to us for a change :)

There's one other circumstance besides winning that will bring Philadelphia fans to
the seats:  Hope,  hope for the future Those 90 teams were bad, AWFUL. 
But that kid Iverson was something, we knew he'd be a heckuva player. Then there's
that Aaron Mckie player,  what a pro.     Eric Snow, a pure point guard. Ratliff?
The definition of a center.   We knew it'd come together, some day.   

Now, it's Jrue Holiday's turn. We know he's gonna be a bonafide point guard,
we just don't know how bondafide the kid's gonna be.     Evan Turner has a bunch
of untapped potential and he has the desire to reach it, we're incredibly excited
for Turner. 

Pull the trigger on Iguodala for #2.  And watch fans begin to buy tickets in doves,
not to watch whoever we would end up picking.   But we would buy tickets to watch a core
of talented young Sixers develop and bring it together.

Just as they did from 95-'98 leading up to the 01 Finals run.

What a concept, build this team from the ground up. I beg of you, we didn't
rebuild. We retooled.  Please, rebuild this time. 

Sixers trade:
F Andre Iguodala

Raptors trade:
G-F Demar DeRozen
 C Solomon Alabi
#5th overall pick in 2011 NBA Draft
CB4 Trade exception(worth 9 million).

This deal works excellently for both teams.  With the news that Dwane Casey
has officially been hired for the Raptors,   this means they're focused on the
defensive end of the court.  They also have a need at SF(they've tried plugging
the hole with Marion and Turkoglu and both came up short for them).

Not only does Iguodala fit a need in terms of being a SF and being a great defensive
wing. But just as in the Thunder situation,  Iguodala would co-exist brilliantly
with Baragani off the pick and roll.  

As for us,   new ownership would love to shed salary and they do so here(9 millions worth).
But in the light of what the fans here at Liberty Ballers would want, I'll argue
this is a strong package for Iguodala.

Derozen had a very strong campaign last year, having averaged 17 PPG on 46% shooting.
Mind you, as a three he might need a little work. We'll miss the rebounding Iguodala
provides(Derozen's 3.8 boards leaves a bit to be desired), nor does DeRozen
have Iguodala's playmaking.    But Derozen does have a good mid-range jump shot and
he is a good slasher,  so as far as half-court offense is concerned Derozen would
be a major plus to the team.

Defense, is a concern, but Derozen's a budding kid(21 years old) and Doug Collins would
be in his ear.     Nothing's a guarantee, especially in rebuilding but I'll place
my bets on Derozen becoming a excellent starting 3 with Collins's tutoring.

Furthermore, even if Derozen never develops a 3 or passing abilities,  that's fine.

As I argued before,   We don't need Iguodala's playmaking abilities anymore. Evan
Turner can take on those responsibilities.    With Jrue Holiday/Evan Turner in the
back-court, DeRozen can be the killer mid-range shooter/slasher that'll just open
things up for us. 

Next is Alabi, and not much can be said. Except that he's young, 7 foot and under
contract.     In my mind,   we couldn't lose anything from acquiring the kid.   

Finally, the 5th pick.   We should treat Alabi as a third stringer untill otherwise
confirmed(IE: Training Camp).  Now that we have our future wing set of Holiday/
Turner/Derozen.   We have a new(or rather, a more focused approach) on our
dilemna of bigs.

Speights is hopeless,   Brackins is probably Thad's replacement at best.      We don't
have a future starting four.     Hawes is clearly a back-up and we need a starting five.

There are two players that are highly touted that we could select at #5 that would
fill those very important needs: Jonas Valanciunas and Bismack Biyambo

The two bigs are polar opposites,  Jonas is more known for his ability on the pick
and roll and ability to finish underneath the basket.  Though draftexpress
states "Andris Biedrins meets Joakim Noah",it appears that's more due to his
quickness and arm length then any actual results.   Hence, we should look at Jonas
as a four.  A four that with his great screening and finishing ability, would
be a great asset to the Holiday/Turner/Derozen hypothetical trio.  

Also, Jonas's excellent FT shooting rate also suggests range out to the mid-range area.
If Jonas can develop and become the type of perimeter oriented four we know from European
style of play in the past,along with his inside scoring potential he'd be too good
to pass up for us. 

On the flipside, there's also Bismack Biyombo.     The kid's got swagger(he reportedly
stated he'd lead the league in rebounds and blocked shots)  and he's definately
done that in Africa.     At a young age, Bismack has been a rebounding and defensive
force and he's freakish athletically and at 18-19(or whatever age he is), he still
has room to grow.

If we take Biyombo, all the more reason for a scoring four. Since his offensive
game is utterly undeveloped and given the type of player he is(IE: A defensive big),
we're better off not hoping from anything on that end.

I'll take Biyombo #5 overall, Jonas might be more polished with just as
much potential as Biyombo, but Biyambo is a specialist at a field(rebounding/blocking)
that we sorely miss.  

#5-Bismack Biyombo

So at #16, we're going PF.  But who?  Dontas Motiejunas.   The Sixers brass is high on
him, I was too when he was projected as a lottery pick and honestly I don't care why
he's fallen.    Dontas can be our Jrue Holiday(IE: Special player falling due to
retarded reason).

Dontas has sweet touch around the mid-range/potentially 3pt bomb range as well.    He's
crafty around the basket. Basically, Dontas is the international hybrid four that
Collins believes is the prototype of the new NBA. 

The problem? Like all of these hybrids, Dontas doesn't have great body strength
and won't exactly be able to give us post production.      And it's questionable
to whether he'll be able to set good solid screens for a pick and pop jumper.  
Basically, like all projects for every area a project's good in, he has one or two
really bad areas that are crucial to his position.

That said, Dontas has major upside and if he falls to us at #16,  we're stupid if
we don't take the guy

#16-Dontas Motiejunas

Roster:
C:Spencer Hawes/Bismack Biyombo/Solomon Alabi
PF:Elton Brand/Dontas Motiejunas/Craig Brackins
SF:DeMar Derozen/Thaddeus Young(resigned)/Andres Nocioni
SG:Evan Turner/Jodie Meeks
PG:Jrue Holiday/Lou Williams/Evan Turner  

Take note: Only reason Hawes is starting, is because of "experience", Brand
because he's immovable and he has pride. You know he's gonna want to elevate his game
in order to avoid being benched.

I imagine Collins will start Biyombo around mid-season, when he's more accumulated
to NBA games and experience.     Biyombo may very well start some pre-season
games for that kind of experience as well.

But Biyombo/Motiejunas/Derozen/Turner/Holiday is what I'm confident in banking
on.  Turner/Holiday are excellent playnmakers. Derozen an excellent slasher/mid-range
guy.  Motie can step up and hopefully be a weapon in pick and roll situations and
Biyombo is the defensive C. 

In life, we all face difficult hurdles and lord knows we're facing them everyday.   The economy, the wars, etc.     But we can overcome them, we know we can because we've done it before.   With that evidence in mind, we can keep on pushing.   That's when you continue to fight, you don't throw in the towel just because it's difficult.

When do you throw in the towel?   You throw in the towel, when in effect you've beaten yourself against the brick wall for the zillionith time and absolutely nothing has changed.   For a real life example, whether it's bailouts or quantative easing,  we know that neither works and that both of them are in effect giving money to the fearmongers who wasted the money they had to begin with.    The only reason you would re-engage in that process is if you actually liked getting raped or you've some deal with  Wall Street. 

Now, to tie this to our beloved Sixers.    We finished 41-41,   right around where we finished in 2008 and 2009, and we weren't that far behind in 2007.    We're now in 2011, and effectively entering in the fourth year of the Iguodala ERA. 

We can no longer say "give them a training camp",  this will effectively be the third training camp this group's been together. We can no longer call this a young core.  Well, it has young players but if we're gonna be freaking realistic with ourselves Mo Speights, Craig Brackins and Spencer Hawes  aren't mainstay rotation guys anytime soon.

This group is what it is.....500 and short of  a Thaddeus Young or Jrue Holiday level prospect once again falling to us, we're more than likely to get another Speights or another Carney.   And to be sure, we'll be excited: The guy in question can run and jump,  maybe he's a good finisher around the rim!  But alas, he lacks every other fundamental  in the game and the chances he ever rounds out are extremely slim.  And so, we're back where we started.

We've been here before: After 2003, we've been in a constant state of mediocrity as we tried(and failed miserably) to build around Iverson.  That's why we traded Iverson,  to rebuild and in effect get out of the bondage of mediocrity, even if it meant sucking once and a while. We threw in the towel for a chance to fight another day.

Actually, disgustingly we didn't exactly rebuild.  We re-tooled around Iguodala, then we signed Brand hoping for him to be that low-post presence.  But actually, Brand's a guy who hangs around the mid-range area and bangs only on occasion.   That's not to say Brand couldn't open up shots for his team-mates but alas....To this day, our perimeter core is so pathetic you can cry over it.

We only have one two-dimensional perimeter player on this team: Jrue Holiday.   And he's just a 20 year old kid.   Meeks, equally is a Raja Bell type and is a guy you give spot minutes(15-20) ALA Korver, because if his shot isn't falling he's not offering anything else.   Remember those games where we'd pray for Turner because Meeks couldn't hit the right side of a barn that night?

It doesn't matter how many low-post threats you have, or mid-range shooting bigs, if you don't have perimeter players who can take advantage.     Brand, unfortunately is 32.  Young is NOT a replacement.   I still hold hope he can round into a SF.     A big lanky SF that can abuse his men on the low-block and on the drive(Thad has a deadly first step).  We also have no center, and I think we can all concur that Meeks is a bench player.

Throw in the towel,   the roster demands we throw in the towel. There's nothing to build on, sure yes Brand's game isn't predicated on injuries but how many years at a high enough level?  2-4?  Can we get the defensive anchor center and all-around shooting guard by then?   Are we really going to put the franchise's fate on a kid who didn't exactly have a strong year(Turner?)

And I've all the confidence and fate in Turner.    For the sake of Turner's development and this team's future, it's time we threw in the freaking towel.  

We're not going to magically become a 50+ win team with some mediocre scorer or big man  from a mediocre draft.  Or if we trade for Ellis and open up a huge hole at SF and leave us with absolutely no perimeter shooters whatsoever in the linreup. 

Throw in the towel and take your lumps like a man,   the Celtics won an NBA title, the Thunder seemed primed to rule the Western Conference.     We, who wanted to so heroically "compete", have gotten absolutely no where. 

Karmic, isn't it?

Recently today, the idea came to me that if I could, one day I'd like to be the owner of the Orlando Magic. The Marc Cuban thang ain't so bad,    spend money like a hawk, win a title and be a popular sports figure.    And so, wanting to live out my fantasies a bit more I imagined what would happen if I were the Owner/GM right now in the Howard Situation.    I'm actually quite a bit impressed with myself and I thought I'd share.    You Decide if this would be a good off-season for the Magic or not :)

**Magic Buyout Gilbert Arenas** 
**Magic resign Earl Clark 3 Years-4 Million**

Trade #1:
Magic S/T   G Jason Richardson to a 4 Year-40  Million dollar contract extension

Minnesota sends:
#2 overall pick in the draft

Trade #2:
Magic trade:
#2nd overall pick in the draft

76ers trade:
F Andre Iguodala

Trade #3:

Magic trade:
G Jameer Nelson.
*trade exception from the gortat trade*
F Daniel Orton

Pistons trade:
G Will Bynum
G Ben Gordan.

Trade #4:
Magic send:
F Hedo Turkoglu

Thunder send:
G-F Thabo Sefolosha
G   Nate Robinson
C Cole Aldrich.

Final roster:
PG: Will Bynum/Chris Duhon/Nate Robinson
SG: Ben Gordan/J.J Redick/Thabo Sefolosha
SF:Andre Iguodala/Thabo Sefolosha/Earl Clark
PF:Ryan Anderson/Brandon Bass /Earl Clark
C: Dwight Howard/Cole Aldrich

If you'll notice, the starting five has a lot more balance now.  2 outstanding
defenders(Howard/Iguodala),  two 3pt shooters(Gordan/Anderson) and one pure
point guard(Bynum).

I was struggling between whether to start Bass or Anderson, but I thought
for offensive purposes, Anderson had better be the starter. Otherwise,
I'm recreating the Sixers.  Bass can add his size and rebounding
to a defensive bench. Only Redick and Nate are offensive sources
from the bench.

It's no signing James/Bosh, or acquiring Melo. But IMO this would be one heck
of an off-season for Magic fans. The  questions about this roster
are would Will Bynum live up to expectations as the starter?  Can he be
the pure point guard for 36 minutes that he looks like in 18-24 minutes?

 The scoring from the bench: Is it enough?

Magic fans have seen Bass more than I have, so you guys can determine if
Bass is enough of an offensive big  that he, Redick and some spot Nate would
be enough. 

Actually, there is a third question: I'm putting a big onus on Cole Aldrich,
can he make the jump from seeing little action to being the defensive rebounding
big man he was that made him such a draft worthy prospect?

All that said though, this defensive oriented and offensive efficient Magic
team IMO can potentially be at Dallas level.  

76ers get:

2nd overall pick in the draft

F Martell Webster

F/C Nikola Perovic

Warriors get:

F Andre Iguodala

Wolves get:

G Monta Ellis

Why for us:

Obviously, the main prize is the 2nd overall pick in the draft(Enes Kanter).  Outside of that,    I love what Webster brings off the bench. Size and shooting.    Nikola Perovic is a nice, young looking project who we can take a look at.

Why for GSW:

Warriors need a top-flight SF and a defensive player,  Iggy's their man. And maybe a healthy Biedrins/Udoh and their 11th pick and they might be onto something. 

Why for Wolves: They don't need another PF/SF. They need a pure SG and that's what Monta Ellis will bring. Explosiveness and slashing ability that few wings have in today's game.

Picks:

2nd-Enes Kanter

16th-Tobias Harris.

Harris is a 6'8 wing with a 6'11  wing span that's known in college for his defense but also for his crafty moves inside the interior   Kind of an opposite Thaddeus Young.   Like Young/Iguodala,   his jump shot will need development but if we really are that opposed to an offensive wing man, Harris is our man. 

C-Enes Kanter/Spencer Hawes/Pekovic

PF-Elton Brand/Thaddeus Young/Brackins/Speezy

SF-Thaddeus Young(?)/Tobias Harris/Webster

SG-Evan Turner/Jodie Meeks

PG-Jrue Holiday/Lou Williams

With any luck, Kanter is the real deal and Hawes/Peko provides size, rebounding(when Hawes ain't fouling  that is but in limited MPG. The foul thing shouldn't effect him) and our C position for the first time in a long time really looks good.

Holiday-Turner is also the theme of this team's future.   With  guys like Meeks/Lou off the bench for instant scoring.  

If Holiday/Turner develop into a one-two punch offensively, our overall depth should make us a pretty good offensive team and it should defensively satisfactory as well.

Klay represents the perfect example of why I want a second first round pick: Yes, we need a legit big man to develop but we also need a  wingman that can actually play the position.    A wing man, I've clarified is a shooter or a slasher or both.   Thompson, a JR out of Washington has shown that with his shooting touch, he's become a prolific scorer.   On and off the ball,  he can create space and shoot contested jumpers as well. That's the difference between a guy like this and Jodie Meeks.  

That being said, the ability to have a guy like this and Meeks on the same team  Not only to have two excellent 3pt shooting threats, but also to have a high percentage FT shooter means you'll be able to win close games. You know, the close games we've been losing since 2001?

There are concerns about Thompson and his lack of athletic ability. Offensively, it means he has a tough time creating shots on his own.  And defensively, it means he doesn't have the strength or foot speed to keep up with his man.    However,   as we saw with a team manning Spencer Hawes and Jodie Meeks, it doesn't matter about your indvidual defense, but your team defense.    If Thompson can buy into  Coach Collins's system as well as use the gifts he does have(Solid court speed,   wingspan and size for the position)  Thompson can be a solid team defender and fit in just fine.

Also, Thompson would have perfect synergy with  Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner.    Particularly,   Thompson has shown good passing ability.  Which would make it easier for Holiday/Turner to play off the ball.   In addition, it's my belief that you need at least two good shooters in the lineup, we know Holiday's a good shooter.    Thompson would be that secondary shooter.   And if Turner can get back to his mid-range prowness from his OSU days,  that would be one deadly trio in the half-court.

Collins talked about how the game is more internationalized  and how the 3pt shot has become a major weapon.   If Collins wants to make the Sixers that type of dangerous half-court team, Thompson would be an ideal fit.  

Now, we also need a big.    I haven't forgotten this team's needs.   But can you imagine just how well  Thompson would fit into what we wanna do?   I can imagine it.   And I can imagine how well Holiday/Turner/Thompson would play together.     Meeks/Williams off the bench.     More than enough play making and excellent FT shooting.    In a few years, that core could be something.

Hawes is an excellent back-up center, provided he doesn't foul and actually rebounds.    If we can get a legitimate project that could round out to be a starter, we might have some hope.

Upside....Upside....Upside. We are rebuilding,  a Marikeff Morris and a Kenneth Faried is like saying "Let's keep the core the same and this role player is gonna give us a boost".     Dontas has the upside of being able to hit the mid-range jumper, he has post moves and he has size.    One of our problems last year was the fact that outside Elton Brand,   we had NO ONE we could actually pass the ball to inside the paint.  Most of our points in the paint, in the past came from fast break opportunities.   The title contenders are almost always able to    dump the ball down low. And most teams have a skilled big man or even two. 

Dontas's problem seems to be with toughness,  and we just happen to have the toughest, most spirited coach around.    His upside and his potential fit perfectly in Philadelphia and the system we have here seem to fit perfectly for him.   

When you think about it, there are no real C's where we're picking.   And if we move up to the area of a Thompson-like prospect, I'm sorry but Biyombo simply is not worth it. Let some other team take that gamble, remember Michael Olowkandi? These two prospects fill the majority of our needs and make us a better team. 

People might say: How do we move up(or rather, get that second draft pick), if you know me, you already know my answer.  This isn't a trade thread but you know who I wanna trade. We are rebuilding, this semi-contending period has gotten us absolutely no where. In fact, you could even say it's set the franchise back to Pre-Iverson trade.

Here's where you start to understand the MLB season is long, really long.......We're some 35+ ish games in, and I still have to say we have a "small sample size." 35 games is like two NFL seasons,   it's pretty much up to the NBA trading deadline. Here, it's like 1/4th of a season.  But yet,   evidence of a reliever controversy does look like it's brewing.

With the injury to Brad Lidge(A strained rotator cuff), we turned to journeyman Jose Contreras, whose delivered nothing but spectacular results: 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/5373/jose-contreras

8 Games, 8 innings.  And about half the hits(4),  guys simply weren't connecting to the tune of nine strikeouts and a ERA of 0.00. The most impressive stat?   Five Saves-0 blown ones.       Eight games is a real small sample size, but judging by his performance with the iron pigs, it looks like he's coming back with the same zip on his pitches.  It's projected he'll be the set-up guy to  the other  "OMFG, where'd he come from" pitcher: Ryan Madson.

There's a story with Madson, with his sometimes 100 MPH clocked fastball, we tried to make him a starter.  Failed epically, we also tried once making him a closer. Also quite unsuccessfully, that same 100 MPH fastball didn't have the control or velocity,   people could actually hit it despite the fact few human trained eyes could actually see a ball that fast. 

Finally, we found a home for Madson as the set-up man(8th inning), it seemed like the perfect non-pressure situation to   take advantage of his talents while not bringing out his weaknesses.      The Madson-Lidge combo led us to a title in '08(as well as a plethora of other great relievers) and in '10, this same combo led us to the best record in all of baseball.  

So when Contreras went down, forcing Madson into the closer role, I'll assume that most here in The Good Phight moaned and groaned, for very good reason. But then, we saw quite a different Ryan Madson than the Madson of the past.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/5382/ryan-madson

Nine saves, 23 strikeouts and while it's no 0.00, 0.47 is nothing to sneeze at either.   Between the both of them, they've saved 14 games while virtually blanketing the opponent.      14 games is a small sample size, but it appears with Brad Lidge on the shelf, they'll get more opportunities and perhaps more to buff on their resume this season.

But of course,  in sports and in life, it's a "what have you done for me lately"? and what Madson/Contreras has done thus far in a small sample size, has to have everyone from the fans to management extremely excited. 

But what happens when Brad Lidge returns?   Will Manuel just force Lidge into the closers role, leaving Madson/Contreras to be virtually forgotten?       Or what if, the non-conventionalist that he is,   shocks us all by sticking with one of Madson/Contreras in the closer role?   Then, of course the question will be "Just how effective will Lidge be?"

This question of course, is coming off the disasterous '09 campaign, where Lidge blew 10 games and had an ERA over 7.   Since that campaign, arguably one of the worst   for a closer, the Philly faithful have lost their faith in Lidge.    Even while Lidge was having very silently a very strong '10 campaign, at best there was skepticism and at worst, we were waiting for another implosion. After all, he did blow five saves(Out of the 42 opportunities....)

My argument would be, look over the scale of Lidge's career to truly see what his value is as a closer. 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/5102/brad-lidge

If we look over the course of Lidge's career, his '10 numbers are more consistent with the majority of his work in Houston than his '09 numbers. 

Just as 48-48(INCL. Postseason) was a fluke and would probably not happen again(in  general, not just for Lidge) so was the '09 season a fluke, and not within the norms.   In other words, the guy hit  his highest high and lowest low consectuively.     Guess who also had a similar stretch? Cole Hamels, but I'd like to think most have regained their trust in the Californian Ace

So what do I think?    I think Lidge would come in and be a very effective reliever for our bullpen.    Will he be that same pitcher he was in '08?  Well considering '08 was historic in many perspectives it'd be unfair to expect it again.   And is he as healthy as say a Contreras or a Madson? Probably not.

But as I wrote this article and thought about it, we won '08 due to a great bullpen.   Not only Lidge-Madson.  But if you remember, J.C. Romero was very effective that year. And while we hate to bring up Chad Durbin's name(but that IMO was more Manuel's fault than Durbin's,   Manuel was slow reacting to the situation on the field. It was clear Durbin didn't have his best stuff in game 5), he was also effective in that '08 season.

Could Contreras-Madson-Lidge be our '08?   Very surprisingly,  the bullpen looks much stronger now than say it did at the end of last season.  Of course, I must put the disclaimer "Small sample size" and of course that's projecting that Lidge doesn't have any nagging problems from his injury and can contribute to the bullpen at a very high level.

One advantage that we have now that we didn't have in '08, is our starting pitching.    These guys can carry us deep into games and if Lidge can compliment these two guys(and if they can continue to pitch the way they've pitched), it's safe to say we'll be putting a lot of zeroes on the board and in fact we have. 

So I guess the real question is, will our bats wake up so we can complete this potential three-headed monster trio of: Good offense, great starting pitching and a killer bullpen? Last time it happened, we were dancing down Broad Street.

Here's how it's gonna work,  I'm going to preview our positions one-through five and see whether or not what moves we need to make if any moves.  Firstly, starting with the PG.  Ironically, I believe we're starting with our strongest position.   With the 20 year old Jrue Holiday.    When we mention Jrue's age, it's for merit.   Few 20 year olds are in the league today or heck in NBA  history with Jrue's skillset.   Jrue can slash to the bucket,  hit the jumper all the way out from 3.  He can draw contact when he wants(has to get better at doing it more often). But even more amazing, when the ball's in Holiday's hands, the offense just runs that much better.   Jrue can create shots in the open or in the half-court.    I think we're treated to at least every 3/5 games of Jrue making some spectacular pass, where it's like(note I said like) Jason Kidd-ish: WTF just happened? 

Therefore, I believe it's completely immature to say Jrue Holiday has a ceiling,   a top-5 talent fell down to us at #17, so we should have the same evaulating prospective with Holiday as we do with Turner.   Whereas we've kind of slimmered our expectations of Holiday, sort of as if it's a safe-guard.    We don't have to do that, you do that with projects. You can do that with Thaddeus Young. But Holiday's proven, he had a strong playoffs.

I say this, in light of Doug Collins calling Holiday a Chanucey Billups and saying that's his upside.   For once, I disagree with Doug.  That's Jrue's base.  That's where Jrue is right now.(Minus the post game).     Where can Jrue go?   Deron Williams.    Jrue is a compact guard, much in the same way of a Billups/Williams. But I see more Deron in Jrue than Chanucey. I see Deron-level potential court vision and handles.    Like Deron, Jrue is a 3pt threat.   Jrue wiill take the next step in learning how to use his body to post-up and draw contact.   

Whereas Chauncey IMO is more of a 2nd-3rd option(IE: The more shots he takes,  the less effective he is)  I believe the more involved Jrue is with the game, the better he plays.  Again, like a Deron Williams.

But even though I'm technically giving Jrue Holiday the "upside" of Deron Williams,  that isn't to say I've limited in my mind Jrue's potential.  The kid can become just Jrue Holiday. He can revolutionize the PG position.     And for us, he already has. 

But even with such a stud locked up in a Sixers uniform,   does the PG position need improvement?: Yes. Jrue doesn't have a back-up.    As Doug said "think 82 games, 35 minutes".   And heck, even the 13-ish minute rest was/is risky because of he-who-cannot-be-named. 

DA  BOSS.   He's not a point guard, and he's not even a scorer IMO.   He's a chucker, who like all chuckers before and after him suck just as much if not more than when he's "on".     Whenever Lou is in, the offense deteroriates into  "dribble, dribble 30+ foot 3pt shot!"  Chucking shots up isn't what I call scoring,  but rather taking high percentage shots and playing within the flow of the offense.

What would you rather have? Ty Lawson or Lou Williams?  It's unanimous,  even though they are both spark plugs, Ty understands the game a lot better and plays within the flow of the game a lot better.   And heck, Ty played for UNC and George Karl. So I assure you,  as far as the coaching is concerned, Ty wasn't in some half-court system.  Ty had to disicipline himself. Lou cannot and probably never will.

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/4000/ty-lawson  and then, there's Lou...

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2799/lou-williams

But then, I'm not entirely being fair to Lou.   The year before last, Lou showed potential at being that Jason Terry/Manu Ginobili-ish esque scorer and not a chucker. At 45% shooting, I thought he chose his spots.  Chose his shots, and he was really effective.  And true, he'll never be a PG but at least he was making an effort towards it.    Hence last year, I felt this position was strong because I thought not only of Jrue, but Lou as a very effective combo guard.

However,  with Lou's play last year under Doug Collins, in contrast to his play under Eddie Jordan tells me that Lou would thrive in a more open-court, freedom style environment., When Doug told him to be a scorer, he took that literally and ironically in the process, became a less effective scorer. 

If Doug's our future coach, we need to tailor our personel to fit his game.  Hence, Lou Williams's days as a Sixer are all but over IMO.  Atlanta could use a guard,  and maybe that's what Lou needs to jump start his career.   To be one of the guys for his home town team. To be the guy that pushes them over the hump.

Overall, what we need is a second first round pick.    So we can get more front-court help. I believe Lou can command a mid-to-early 20's first round pick.    Lou is one of our assets to be traded, And equally,  in the late-rounds there seems to be some prospective guards that can be that defense-first guard to actually be able to give Jrue a breather. 

Rating(out of 10): 7.5; the back-up PG isn't as important, but it's a need.    To be able to keep the offense stable and get a guy that can also put people in position to score is invaluable.   So let's address our back-up PG spot this off-season.

Hawes may have had one stretch in December-January of good basketball...that's it.   When I first   heard of the Samuel Dalembert for Hawes trade, while on RealGM I was optimistic like a blind squirrel who thinks he found a nut to crack!  Looking at his BPG numbers(Which at the time was 1.3), I assumed Hawes was at least, a weak side defender and while not a Daly he wouldn't hurt us either.  Boy, was I wrong, dead wrong....

The only argument people give around here, is Per36.   This is the argument that if Hawes actually plays 36 minutes, he would average so, so or so stat.   Let's test it out with the playoffs 

http://www.nba.com/games/20110427/PHIMIA/gameinfo.html    36-24 is 12 minutes, or virtually one quarter of basketball. They are assuming if Hawes plays 12 minutes of basketball, he'll get 4 rebounds.  To simplify it further, they're assuming he'll get one rebound every four minutes.

Unfortunately for them, in the time Hawes did get(25 minutes too many), he pulled down a wait for it...4 rebounds.  He pulled down 4 rebounds in double the minutes, he would need to in the perfect  hypothetical quarter.   So what do we do? We divide.  Basically, in 12 minutes he would probably pull, wait for it....2 rebounds.

Hawes in reality, would  have averaged around 6 rebounds in 36 minutes....That's a laughing shame!  I don't think there's a center/forward that averages 6 rebounds in 36 minutes that's a legitimate starter for any of these playoff teams. 

And since everyone and their mama here has claimed Hawes to be a back-up, they can't really use the per36 argument anyway since they themselves concluded that Hawes has no right playing thirty six minutes.  

Looking further at the series with the Heat, you really DON'T want me to bring up the numbers.   In games 1-2-5, Hawes was literally useless.   Boarding a total of FIVE rebounds in three games...FIVE!

If not for Games 3-4, Hawes's series would've been catastrophically awful.   

Okay, so Hawes had a horrible playoffs to say the least and was responsible for the most part for our 4-1 loss but what about the regular season?

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/spencer_hawes/index.html?nav=page

But here's where Per36 comes into play. Hawes, on average averages about 22 minutes a game.   And for 22 or so minutes, I'll profess that getting 5.8 RPG is pretty impressive.   Unfortunately, Per36 can't play a part in any debate if Hawes can't stay out of foul trouble:

Last 3 years average:

3.2 FPG

2.7 FPG

2.5 FPG

And remember, he's only playing roughly 20 minutes.  Let's add 12 or so minutes and I'll be fair and say he commits one more personal foul.

4.2 FPG

3.7 FPG

3.5 FPG 

He's a defensive liability, he doesn't go strong for the boards.  He doesn't grab with two hands very often, he's not a shot blocker. Offensively,   the "Peyton Manning" at the center position averaged 1.5, or 0.7 APG less than last year.   I must say, pretty lame.

The career 66-68% FT shooter took a big dip....all the way down to 53%

He was, on all ends and facets of the court a liability!   

What is Hawes and was he worth it?

Hawes is a banger...that's it. On the occasion that he can stay on the court, he may very well be able to hit the glass. 

But only on those occasions(see: January-December).  Hawes's game as a banger is 50-50.  If the refs don't call it, his wide and heavy  frame allows him to get rebounds he otherwise wouldn't get because Hawes in no way, shape or form actually boxes people out. Re-watch that game 5, and count how many times Hawes was a FOOT behind his man while trying to "box out" for the board.

Dalembert, for all of his flaws, was able to understand what he could do with his gifts: Swat shots.

Hawes, with  his gifts if he hit the strength room. Yes, he doesn't need to get any wider, he needs to get stronger!  And he could use some lessons from Moses Malone about a basic concept called "positioning". If he does that, he   could be a monster rebounder and a strong inside force.    

Would someone take a flyer on Hawes? Maybe, 7 footers don't grow on trees and there's no denying that there's some talent inside Hawes.   If I gorge out my hatred for what he doesn't bring and look at what he does bring, I'd say yeah I'd take a flyer on him.  

Just not for four million.   More like the LLE (Low Level Exception), I'm talking in the realm of 1-2 million bucks.   Now, one could argue that the difference between 4-to-2 million is insignificant and normally I'd agree.    However, the likelihood that Hawes bulks up and starts to develop the concept of a natural big man is very small.

And if you combine his salary with that of Andres Nocioni, assuming we get a "true starter", we'd be paying 10 million in bench players that would probably be 9-12th men.

Some things never change...The Sixers Front Office, and you ridicule me.    How do you feel about 9-12th men being paid roughly that of Andre Iguodala.(10 million to 13.5 million)?

If not for HORRIBLE management skills, Iggy's contract wouldn't be as half bad as it looks to be.  

**Ed Snider and Peter Lukko were sitting to the right, and to their left was a teenage caucasian male, drinking some spring water.  As the reporters gathered around them, Ed Snider looked nervous at what would be a controversal hire. He began by explaining**

"LeQuan Glover is a basketball genius,   few men of his young age know the game like he does.  While I was golfing, he happened to be on the golf course, he knew what I looked like and we spoke sports. Then he turned his attention to this franchise and told me what we'll need to do to get over that hump and what we'd have to come to realize about this team.  And he has me sold on what he intends to build.  He wants to build  a team that's like this city: Blue-Collar, values every possession and yet dominate.  He talks about how Philadelphia is a premier sports market and how he intends to build the Sixers in that way.   And well, with further ado. Here's the new GM/President of Basketball Operations, LeQuan Glover".

There was some clapping but also some skepticism, LeQuan took the microphone "First off let me thank Mr.Snider and Mr.Lukko for providing this opportunity to me. Secondly, let me lay out my background.  I've been a fan of this silly team for ten years. I've seen the 01 Finals team, I've seen our gradual decline. The Shaq/Kobe Lakers, the Webber Kings, the Nash Mavericks, the Pistons/Spurs, I've saw the LeBron Cavs of 07'.    I've basically seen it all. So I know what works and what doesn't, and what we've been doing doesn't work and  will never work no matter 

how many pretty phrases we put on it."

Reporter: "Could you, in a nutshell describe the problem for the Sixers?"

LeQuan: "Outside of Jrue and Brand, we don't have  a single two dimensional player on this team.  Evan Turner can/should and will be featured but god damn.  What I mean by two dimensional is offensive/defensive.

Too few of our wing men have any offensive capabilities whatsoever and the one that DOES(Young), has not been developed by this front office.   And he's below average defensively. 

The bigs are worse, we knew the Dalembert trade was retarded but we didn't think it was THIS bad.  Spencer Hawes(5.8 RPG) averages as many rebounds as Iguodala!  And fans wonder why we can't keep Miami off the glass?  Also, between Hawes and Speights you have the worst defensive duo possibly in NBA history."

Reporter: "What about Iguodala, isn't he multi-dimensional?"

LeQuan: "Simply put, he is if you're a basic fan that looks at numbers. But as a GM, Statistics is or should be about 10% of our work. The other 90% involves watching the games. Larry Brown/Pat Croce were obsessed with the Sixers.  Hence, they actually built something unlike the clowns I just replaced." 

"Iguodala is multi dimensional in that he's a good rebounder,  he's  a solid open court passer.  And he's an excellent defender. But Iguodala is  a WING MAN in the NBA. I'd damn well say the only skill he's good at that's required for his position is defense."   "You can't post-up Iguodala,  he's not a spot-up shooter.   He's not a slasher, he doesn't have great handles just average at best. Hence, you can't isolate him. Do you realize I named just about every way to score in the half-court?"

Reporter: "Yeah"   

LeQuan: "So with all due respect to Doug Collins, but when your wing man may be one of the worst half-court scorers in the league, that might just be a little problem."  

"But hey, every casual and die hard Sixer fan whether they admit it or not, acknowledges this problem .  The problem is, go on Trade Checker and find every worthwhile wing man. Then find out if we can acquire that wing and/or would they fit.  The answer, most obviously is no."

Reporter: "So that means....?"

LeQuan: "First off, I'll tell you all what I told Stefanski/co: "Reality Check!  If the playoffs were seeded like the NCAA Tournament, we'd be the 14th seed in the tournament. That is, we're the 3rd worst team among the top-16 teams."  

"We're 3-to-5 years away from winning anything! So keeping these long-term contracts is just incredibly retarded, no matter how versatile and how special they are.  And since we're only the fourteenth seed, we're not that special.  To put it bluntly, we wouldn't make the playoffs if we were in the West!"

Reporter: "So, your plan.."

LeQuan: "Just watch".  

Trade #1:

Sixers send:

SF Andre Iguodala 

Kings send:

#5 overall in the draft

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=3dkkasc 

Sacramento has struggled with it's SF position since Ron Artest left. They've some 26 million in cap-space according to ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports.  This is NOT a Charlotte-esque situation for Sacramento. The Bobcats had relatively no talent whatsoever on their roster with their best player being Gerald Wallace.  

The Kings, with Evans/Cousins need  a glue guy that can lead their team forward.  Iguodala's that guy.   And since they're still very close to MAX space at 13.5 million after the trade, they can still add another crucial piece.   

What about us?  What can we get with a top-5 pick in this weak draft? And who replaces Iguodala?

I'll answer the second question first: Evan Turner. I know earlier, I said I'd prefer him at 2 guard due to what I see as a lack of athleticism and that might be exposed at the forward spot.  But hey, Hedo Turkoglu was a psuedo-all star for the Orlando Magic and no one would confuse him for Tracy McGrady.  

Secondly, Meeks is a bench player and I'm about tired of seeing us getting owned at the guard spot.  Furthermore, the bigs taken at the top of this projected class would normally be mid-round picks. As such, I can draft a big in the mid-rounds.   

Round 1, pick 5: Brandon Knight, PG/SG Kentucky

Brandon Knight at 6'3, 180 is compared by many to be a Jrue Holiday clone.   However,  I'll take a page from David Khan's book.   Knight, unlike  Flynn however can actually be the compact guard a Joe Dumars was.  I'm drafting the real thing, Knight would be an instant upgrade in the back-court as not only can he be a guy to hit shots for us but he can also be  a great perimeter defender.  With Holiday/Knight, we could shut down other teams wing men.  

Trade #2: Lou Williams for #25(Boston)  

As far as we're concerned, Lou Williams has maxed out his POT.  But that's fine with Boston. They need bench production, from anywhere :D  Lou will give them exactly that, let's just not mention what else he'll bring.  

Round 1, Pick 16: Kenneth Faried(Morehead ST.)

Reach?  Well,  I want big men depth. We NEED it. And at the mid-rounds, the term "reach" no longer exists in my mind. They're all relatively the same: Players with upside but also with huge question marks.  Kenneth Faried's a rebounder, we need rebounding help.   Perfect fit for the Sixers? Yeah ;) 

Round 1, Pick 25: Bismack Biyombo(Congo)

I know, I know. Not another project!  But he's  a major shot blocker with a huge wing span. At least that alone should translate.  And if nothing else,  we have some young energetic bigs off of our bench.  Done are the days of Jason Smith,  Marresse Speights and Spencer Hawes.  

Round 2, Pick 50: Chris Wright(Dayton)

Raw, but athletic. I see him as a Trevor Ariza.    Actually, I'll admit that I'm unfair and that all of these athletic wings are rated very poorly by me. You'll see that I avoided a wing man in that formula in the first round.   They very RARELY translate and if they do, it's a few years down the line. But hey, it's a second round pick.  

We have some cap-space, space that I'm hesitant to use. If Wright does translate,  then he'd be stuck behind a resigned Young and Turner.   Besides, the way I see it, we're now in position for Dwight Howard.  

I'll resign Young,  Young's a talent and talent is something we lack.  I'll argue that Young's salary shouldn't accelerate.  Most I'll pay is 45-50 million(That's 9-10 million annually for 5 years).   He'll have financial security, as well as the security that he doesn't have to go move to an unknown city.  He'll be with a coaching staff that's excellent and management that's finally committed to at least TRYING to put a winning formula on the court. 

Since we're resigning Young, I'm letting Hawes walk. It's also Speights's last chance to prove he's worth something. 

PG:Jrue Holiday/Brandon Knight 

SG:Brandon Knight/Jodie Meeks/Chris Wright 

SF:Evan Turner/Thaddeus Young/Chris Wright 

PF:Elton Brand/Thaddeus Young/Kenneth Faried/M-16

C:Bismack Biyombo/M-16 

One of the things you'll notice with this squad is that in Holiday/Knight/Turner/Young/Meeks(heck even Brand) is that they're all two-dimensional. And the guys like Biyombo and Faried are players whose skillset we lack.  

This roster is certainly potent, but it's a few years away at the same time.  I'll openly admit I don't care whether or not we make the post season(though I believe with the prowness of Holiday/Knight/Turner it's possible.)  

The next phase is a Howard signing, Biyombo is basically a Brendan Haywood clone if we're lucky.  

If we do get the top-5 pick next year, it'll obviously be that of a PF as Brand expires.   It'll allow Howard to seam in perfectly at center,  and this roster will be complete.  

Many people will say that my hypothesis relies on a Howard signing.   Not so, for all we know Biyombo could develop to be a perfect starter. And/or, it can be addressed via future drafts.  I'm patient, I'm willing to wait.  

The core is Holiday, Knight, Turner, Young. With Biyombo/Faried as very sexy looking role players, it's only a matter of time.   

Now then,  my hope is that Turner becomes the mainstay starter at two guard, with Meeks as our Aaron Mckie-esque guard.   In addition to that,  I'd like to swap Iguodala/Young's roles.    For Holiday/Turner to mesh, they need an off-the-ball player in the lineup and Iguodala simply isn't that.   If Young ever gets around to developing a three point shot outside of that corner area,  we could be looking real sexy. 

I'd also like to draft a back-up PG.

  Lou's not a point guard in any capacity, the fact that players like him and Jamal Crawford are deemed important to a team should show you just how badly we miss bigs in today's NBA.Meeks will be our Lou, much more efficient at it though.   For this purpose, I'd try my hand at Boston's Avery Bradley.   Scouted to have a strong defensive game, but lacks an offensive punch.       We can round him out and he'd be the perfect guy to spot Holiday for minutes.  Something like Speights and a future second and cash considerations should get it done.

 Who would you pick in the draft?

 The answer's obviously Kenneth Faried.   In a draft full of questions, Faried's rebounding, shotblocking ,long arms and hustle are the surest thing you can get.   Adding Faried to our front court with Brand  would be great. 

 Somewhere around 15 million is the NBA MAX, right?   In 2013, Howard is a free agent.  Our core at this point is complete for title contension, all we need is Howard to sign the dotted line. And he will, once Miami falls, he'll realize it takes more than superfriends to win.  In short, I leave you with this:

Holiday/Turner/Young/Brand/Howard

Bradley/Meeks/Iguodala/Faried/Hawes

It's an excellent mix of offense and defense in both lineups, especially if Meeks continues to show development in his driving game.   I'd like a third shooter if I'm to be honest, and this  team is only gonna go as far as Turner takes it.  But the concept is there. 

We're a Dwight Howard away liberty Ballers

This isn't blasting the current unit, I'll give them all the praise required for reaching the .500 mark: Congratulations.    However, we played similar level basketball in 2008 and 2009, falling to the Pistons and Magic in both six game series.    The same is likely to occur this year.

What exactly is the point of all this? I'd understand if we have a bunch of young players with upside,   we have half of that.  We have a bunch of young players, but Paws(Hawes), Speights, Lou don't look like guys with upside. TK76 gives Thad the excellent comparison of sixth man for the Lakers James Worthy for Thad. I could live with that, I just want to hold onto hope that Thad's a SF.   He'd be so much more dangerous there.   But whatever role he takes, whether it's as the improved rebounder Dweebs talks about, or that future 3. I'd love to have him here.  There's no such thing as overpaying, unless the lot of your money is going towards mediocre talent but this isn't a thread for that.  

Jrue/ET is obvious, so obvious the question is why is it that Lou/Jodie are getting the bulk of the minutes? Obviously for the aforementioned playoff push  but that goes back to the question stated on the headline: What's so good about .500?

This isn't a team that hasn't been to the playoffs in YEARS.   This team is merely Post-Jordan, you could've hired a clown and gotten a better team than  Eddie Jordan. This isn't disrespecting Doug Collins or slighting him in anyway, far before Dei Lynam and ESPN and the whole crew. Say like 12 games into the season, I called for Doug's COY to be gift wrapped and handed to him.  The team understood things like trusting the pass, they understood floor spacing. They took excellent shots.

That's actually  quite a difference from the teams in the past. So why can't I enjoy it? Because although  the play on the court has changed, the think tank has not changed whatsoever.   The notion now is to just wait until Brand, etc expire and then take another swing at free agency.

That's not how it works. San Antonio built through the draft, so did the Thunder(it also helped that their team was more than willing to trade assets to acquire assets. Hence, is what a trade means).   The Lakers never imagined that they could get Pao Gasol, but alas.

Kapono and Nocioni  are 10M in expirings, this isn't seen as assets but rather, as savings for comcast. Especially with the oh-so-feared "new CBA". The fear is overhyped.   The Players are gonna get tired of sitting on their behinds, the owner and the commish are going to get tired of getting flat out broke via no games and come to an agreement that ironically in the end would suit everyone just fine and it would've been an agreement they could've come to much earlier.  

That's how negotiations play out, oh 90% of the time.    I wouldn't fear the new CBA if I'm  a GM, quite the contrary. I'm acting under the psychological expectations that there'll be NBA basketball in 2011 and beyond.  Or at worst, 2012. 

But what good is .500?  If you're a young team, under the cap I understand. Then I'm excited,    we're some 10-12 million over the salary cap however and we're not young. Brand will be 33 or so next year, Iguodala 28-29.  

And Jrue/ET/Young aside, the rest of the team is too meaningless to even mention.   So again, why .500?

Winning? This core knows winning.  Jrue, playing under Ben Howland(did I get his last name right?) in UCLA, knows how to win.  ET knows all about winning and heart and hustle.  Guy came back quicker than scheduled from a broken back or something to that extent. 

If you want Jrue/ET to win, here's a hint: Build around them. The Thunder built around Durant.  The Spurs built around Duncan.     The Sixers need to build around our 20, and 22 year old guards. Both of whom are excellent playmakers.   Both of whom are gradually learning how to play off the ball and play a two man game.

Their learning process might go quicker if they're given the bulk of the shots and minutes.  Does that mean sacrificing .500? Yes it does,  Comcast you might lose some meager profits. Actually, no, I prefer to call it an investment.   You're going to invest a few thousand dollars and eventually you might just build a damn good core around Jrue/ET.

And instead of hovering around the .500 mark, this team might actually be a significantly over .500 team.

What a concept!

The deadline's 3 days away and unless you like .500 records then you'll enjoy my paintjob on the Sixers. I know I will

Trade #1:

Sixers trade:

G Lou Williams(BOSS!)

Lakers trade:

5 Million dollar Trade Exception

F Derrick Caracter 

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=4mosx5h 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=32008

Derrick Caracter had/has his issues, which is why he fell to the 2nd round but the past is the past.  But Caracter is the Anti-Speights.  Caracter can finish around the rim, rebound the basketball(at least, according to his collegiate career. I'll profess we don't have the slightest amount of data to "project" his career.)

But we get rid of the BOSS and don't really take any salary hits, mission accomplished.

Why do the Lakers do this?  Lou gives them a Jason Terry-esque/Manu weapon off the bench.  Sort of a big 3 for benchies,  Odom/Lou/Shannon.   Jerry Buss has complained about the Lakers lacking a punch, here's a punch.   Just be warned Lakers fans, at times Lou ain't exactly a system player.  

Trade #2:

Sixers trade:

PF Elton Brand

Nets trade:

PF Derrick Favors

G Jordan Farmar 

"C" Johan Petro

F Kris Humpries 

This doesn't accomplish the ideal, which would be wiping off Brand's contract but it accomplishes that other thing. Namely, we wanted the 19 year old Favors just as much as we did Turner.    And not only that, but Farmar's been a pretty decent PG.  He's been a champion with the Lakers, he's won at UCLA.    Adding him to this now young locker-room is a big bonus.   And Humpries isn't that bad(and himself, an expiring).  

As for the Nets, nets fans might cry foul but Avery Johnson hasn't been quite pleased with Favors, who has also had translation issues.  Namely, he can't stay out of foul trouble. He's averaging 3.3 FPG in 20 MPG.     And while Farmar has been a find, you can find a Farmar in the draft and not at 3 or so million.    You'll live, or at worst we'll take Outlaw's contract.  Enjoying Billy King?

Elton Brand's overpaid, there's no denying that. But no offense, he's ten times better than  Petro/Farmar. He's been a  constant dbl-dbl(15/8 this year) And as much as I love Jrue,Devin Harris is more mature and attracts more attention, freeing up EB42 even more.  

Normally, Brand's contract would prohibit teams from making a move  but NJ  still has a situation where they can get a guy this off-season(though with Melo off the market, the market got thinner).  

If you can turn that cap-space into a third weapon(maybe Gallinari?),  the Nets can be legitimately competitive along with their draft picks.

This makes the Nets significantly  better, but our future got a lot brighter Sixers fans.  

Trade #3:

Grizzlies trade:

G OJ Mayo

F Demarre Carroll 

Sixers trade:

F Andres Nocioni 

I'm sorry Noceone,  but Nocioni just isn't getting time here.    And the Mayo-Memphis saga has been told and again. This is an opportunity to rob a team of an asset.  With Mayo/Meeks, the SG position is looking good in terms of offense.   

Trade #4:

Sixers trade:

F Mo Speezy

F Thad Young

Blazers send:

C Joel Pryzbilla

2012 First round pick

Neither Speezy/Young fit into our future, but a future first sure does.   That, and the cap-space.

When it's all said and done, we will lose 25 MILLION(with an M) in salary, and keep Andre Iguodala. Not only that, but we'll have upgraded the guards and the forwards spots for the foreseeable future 

So, let's look at the new roster:

PG: Jrue Holiday/Jordan Farmar/Evan Turner

SG: Jodie Meeks/OJ Mayo/Evan Turner 

SF:Andre Iguodala/Evan Turner/Evan Turner 

PF:Derrick Caracter/Kris Humpries/Craig Brackins

C:Derrick Favors/Spencer Hawes

*Krapono, Pryzbilla and Songaila are expirings, so really they don't count* 

We'd need to hope that  one of Caracter/Brackins can mature into a starter at PF, since Favors looks more like a  C.

We can also sign a PF if need be.    But with Farmar/Mayo coming off our bench, Meeks.  I think we have enough shooting. 

We've put ourselves in a position again to contend a couple of years down the road.

Alot of people, I included, when we drafted #2 pick Evan Turner, was stoked.    Turner had an NBA-Ready game,  the jumper, the handles,  the Andre Miller-esque speed in half-court situations to get to the rim.    Turner was a weird combination of shooting guard skills with Point Guard skills.   Truth be told, there have been very few 2 guards of  Turner's projected caliber. Thinking of a SG that has a pure  mid-range shot, can handle the ball and make players better, Brandon Roy has been the oft-comparison and we may yet see that side of Turner(We've seen glimpses, including Opening night against Miami and 27 VS PHX).   Another SG that comes to mind is Kobe Bryant, and truth be told the comparison isn't that far off either.   Like Kobe, Turner has a fire about him that just wants to win as he transformed Ohio State into a contending NCAA team.   But unlike the Kobe/AI era, Turner understands what it means to win. Whereas AI never got it and Kobe needed to butt heads with Phil Jackson and experience Smush Parker and Luke Walton before getting it. 

A part of that, is being coached by Doug Collins, a basketball guru, having played against and coached some of the greats and having traveled around the world as an Olympian, Turner has been able to read a bible of knowledge that very few young players can get exposed to.       In the midst of all of these little factors that could build up to  a great, great NBA player however, was an Evan Turner mostly struggling to find his place.   A Turner that doesn't yet understand that being off the ball doesn't mean your not a part of the offense.  To those of us who were expecting Turner to translate, this sight was unbearable.

It was even more unbearable, knowing there was a 19 year old that albeit raw, could block shots, alter the game and is a young big.   You win with bigs, Favors might not have translated right away, but Favors didn't show anything that suggested otherwise. We knew it'd be a 2-3 year waiting period with Favors.   I'm not going to say Favors is the next Howard, because Howard translated  right away. Can Favors be a healthier Bynum? I think so, and that's a starting 5/4 in the league, neither of which 3-5 years from now, we have.  

So I want to first start off by saying,  yeah, the calls for Favors aren't totally absurd.  A potential game-changer when Jrue's in his prime, and we get cap space.  It shouldn't have to be either Favors or Turner.  We should have used Daly's expiring+ a guy like Iggy not for Spencer freaking Hawes, but for the chance to get Favors. 

Now, NJ took Favors at 3 but Avery Johnson is a win-now coach and you can be sure he was involved in that process even if he wasn't the coach. You don't think he doesn't take Iggy/Daly?    In a heartbeat he takes that(and the Nets would have a much better season and an actual foundation on which to build on).

However, I'd have to say that we Turner Translaters were a bit shortsighted.     We were of the opinion that a top-pick should result in a player that translates immediately to the game, that helps you in some capacity. Throughout most of the season, that hadn't been the case. Hence, the calls of BUST. 

Evan Turner has redefined the draft, into what it should be regardless of what draft status you were:   The draft is to get players, who can come into the league and contribute.     The Evan Turner we have right now is pretty special, what he's averaging like 8/4?   That might not be #2 overall-worthy if we look at it from the age-old perspective of high picks=highly productive players.  But if we look at it as  "Who can best contribute to the game", how well is John Wall contributing in Washington?

Let's be honest, Deron Williams and CP3 Led their teams(which weren't exactly talented) back into contention year by year.  LeBron James inherited the worst franchise in NBA history and turned them into back-to-back 60 winners.  

John Wall might have the stats of a #1 overall pick, but he doesn't have the results.  He hasn't as Saunders foolishly stated "transformed the PG position" or made Washington any better of a team.   Once again, the Wizards must pin their hopes on the lottery, when no Wizards fan probably wanted to see themselves back there. 

Our Sixers might be stranded on an island, but not many of us thought they'd remain on the island to begin with. We thought the island was breaking and they'd sink to the bottom of the sea, continuing with the analogy we hoped they sank to the bottom of the sea, in the hopes of finding the legendary city Atlantis(a  top draft pick).  So whose kept us ontop of the island? It's not Iguodala, sure his shot selection is better, but he lost his free throw shooting and  hence hasn't made as big of an impact as one would hope.  Brand without a doubt, and Thad rebounding from last yr helped as well.  

But did we have a secondary playmaker off the bench? Lou played well last yr, but that Lou is very very absent this year.  I haven't the doubt that if not for Turner, we wouldn't be averaging the most bench points in the league.     Turner makes things go with his playmaking skills.  When Turner's aggressive, even if it's only for 10-12 minutes you can bet those 12 minutes changed the game from a Sixers L to a W.  

What we would like to see is for those 10-12 minutes to turn into 48 minutes, but then everybody would like to see that.   If we have to wait for a year, so be it.

Pumper will probably call this an apologist post, but it isn't  I'm still very upset, I consider off the ball basketball to be very elementary.   When your cutting the corners, and when you cut them hard and fast, you find yourself at the rim with the ball.  Or, you can find yourself open for the mid-range shot, which he patented over the years in College.  

The difference is, I can wait now.  I can wait for Turner to discover the meaning of off the ball basketball. I can wait for him to understand that he can take the initative and post-up the smaller guard that would hopelessly be un able to guard him, instead of sparing him by waving his arms for the ball. 

And I can wait because he's shown me something. Maybe not #2 worthy in the old days, but in today's game with  the obvious lack of talent in the league, if Turner has translated into an NBA-ready player and he has, that's worthy of a top pick.

We could have Darko Milicic instead ;). 

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/1/30/1964462/pacers-fire-jim-obrien

And my question to the Pacers front office is two-fold    A:  Who better is going to coach Indiana and B: Now that you've fired him, will you now make actual commitments to your roster?

Sans for a somewhat decent starting center,   Granger and newly acquired Darren Collison, the Pacers have little in the way of talent. More importantly, versatile(ie: defensive) talent.    O'Brien is a seasoned veteran playoff coach who happens to be the last head coach of the 76ers to take  a team very arguably worse than this one to a winning record(43-39). That team was the debut of the massive chucking fest between Webber and Iverson, followed up by a 20-21 yr old Iguodala and the likes of Korver/Josh Davis getting spot minutes.

And King actually believed we were at a good place, like Stefanski and no doubt Bird feels about their teams now.  

If I had to say I model my coaching ideals after anyone, it is O'Brien as I enjoyed those 76ers. Taking shots early into the shot clock, aggressively playing defense and ideally, with the right talent you'll dominate opponents. Just as those Celtics did.

Neither the 76ers/Pacers had front offices commited to bringing any talent, hence a good man was fired from his job. 

We've just learned(albeit, rumorly but hey we all knew pretty much) that this franchise wants to stay put with the Brand/Iguodala combo. At least, for now. But if it wants to keep this core and try to win, then the first thing they need to do is actually do that: try to win.   This core isn't enough, something needs to be added to it. Particularly, a good big but those are rare to come around. So we go with the next best thing:  Talent, period.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=6ycbzu2 

Sixers deal: 

Lou Williams

Mo Speezy 

Pistons deal:

Rip Hamilton.

Hamilton's deal isn't that bad anymore, especially considering our next time of cap-space is 2013(where he'll expire).    Rip has been settled to the end of the Pistons bench, for the likes of Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum.  Why? Because they've "won" with this lineup, much like the 76ers have "won".     Lou and Speezy are similarly fated to be bench players, and Doug's giving them too many minutes.

Rip can still  run off screens and hit the 15 footer, and he can create his offense.  He'd  force Meeks to come off the bench and overall he makes us a better team.    Imagine, playing with a true PG like Jrue Holiday?

Iguodala for all intents and purposes is our back-up PG, because Lou doesn't qualify. This is a move where we lose nothing, and gain a former all-star  2 guard that's quite frankly in the middle of his prime,  his situation is a replica of the hell hole that is Detroit.  

We lose a "big", but Speights has been so underwhelming that in this his 3rd yr we're still celebrating the things he's done in his rookie/sopho year. In short, he hasn't grown whatsoever as a player.   We get much better with this trade. 

As we all know, David Stern had another basketball fart, or at the very least a misguided approach to a possible problem.       David Stern wanted to crack down on the  complaining in the NBA, so what did the commish do? Simply hand more power to the referees.   Now, if you even so much as argue a call, you may be subject to a technical foul.   Orlando's Dwight Howard is the golden  child of our problems, he already has 12 technical fouls and averages a technical for every 91 minutes on the court!

This rule may have simmered down complaining, but it has not made the NBA a more friendly environment Mr.Stern. It has just given the refs inexcusably more power, but that's no surprise. That's been your only approach to this  long problem in sports.   God forbid you make comments about them in the media, what's next are fans also going to get a fine?    And the real question is, has this rule brought about a more entertaining NBA?   To quote Shaquille O'Neal, we pay to watch these stars play.

Yes, we pay to watch our beloved 76ers franchise(and the same is true for fans of the other 29 NBA Squads)  but we pay most importantly to see our star players do well. Turner, Howard, etc.    We don't wanna see these stars thrown out of the game, just because you don't like a little tounge lashing.

And to be honest with you? It's just deserved.  I'm not sure how many "charges" calls I've seen missed this season as a 76ers fan. How many players have not had their feet set, who were still moving and yet the charge was still called.   I'll even be fair to Suns fans and I thought their team was considerably on the short end of the stick. I'm willing to admit that Jrue Holiday deflected that crucial turnover out of bounds and it should've remained Suns ball.

Missed calls are a part of the game,   fans know it, coaches know it and yes Stern whether you believe it or not players know that too.   But they at least want  honesty, if they make a mistake they'll make the correct call the next time it comes up. But by giving the Officials more power, you eliminate this need for honesty.

Why should they be honest and why should they put more effort into refereeing?   If the players don't like our slop job, then we can just hit them with a technical.    16 is a very, very short number. How about 30?    I mean, if we're going to give refs more power then let's give the players a safe guard to keep the playing field even .

Because with that short number, and with the refs ability to just slap a technical whenever they feel like, honesty and good officiating have been eliminated.

All you've done, Mr. Stern is make the game worse.    

I'll put the disclaimer that these are merely my  opinions and with the exception of Howard's amazing 12 technicals  I didn't use any statistics nor did I bring any up.  The reason being is that I tried to look for technical foul leaders(used google) and I couldn't get crap.    Also in that,  I believe logical reasoning would lead to the same conclusions I've came to. This is for the worst, not better.