76ers Win and Lose At The Same Time (Dec 9)

  Hey welcome home Allen. And boy was it nice to see a packed house!

But in the end Denver schooled the Sixers to a 93 to 83 tune. Yeah they schooled them. You know coming into the season I thought this team could be better then a borderline playoff team. But they stink.

Yeah on paper some of the names scream "talent". But they fail the eye test. Andre Iguodala is a borderline All -Star with star talent. But he is not being used to his strengths and he has not improved in his weaknesses. Which neither is the end of the world. However something has to give. I would like to think that all Pros would like to improve but a Coaches job is to put players in position to succeed. Iguodala is a receiver and finisher.

Elton Brand is a brand name who has past his sale expiration date. We can only hope he just needs more time to come back from previous injuries. In the meantime? IF he could just help in the low post on both ends that would help.

Sammy D? He has skills and I thought with Brand, Dalembert would blossom as a solid center. He doesn't rebound enough and his defense is suspect at times. He is still somewhat young but he better grow up fast.

Thad Young is a legit star on the rise. I am not worried about him but he is the lone no brainer. I mean even Iguodala has been living on potential more than proven performance. Young has consistently improved and will continue.

Lou Williams is another one living on potential. In all fairness he has just been given a true opportunity. And he was improving and getting comfortable. But he still was only averaging 5 assists a game. Iverson had 6 in his first game with the 76ers. A team he has never played with.

The bench is nothing to brag about per say but is not without hope:

NOTE: An NBA Bench is really a reserve chair isn't it?

• Jrue Holiday is a strong Rookie who looks like he will be a solid player.
• Jason Kapono was brought in for bench perimeter shooting. He has the skills but 6 points per game I don't think is cutting it. But he is new to the team so .......?
• Marreese Speights is a player I believe is going to spell the way out for Dalembert. Sad to because the 2 could make a nice combo. Speights is getting better and getting better fast.
• Jason Smith I thought was on his way to becoming a possible starter but a definite strong back up center. But since some injury troubles he has not shown me anything.
• Rodney Carney was supposed to be a bench defender. He used to be just that. What happened to that guy? Young enough to not be counted out.
• Wille Green? Been there done that.
• Primo Brezec? I don't know I have ever seen him play. He's 7 ft tall so he will have a job somewhere in the NBA.
• Royal Ivey? I don't know what they want out of him. And it's hard to say what he does from my chair.

This brings us back to Allen Iverson. Monday was not a fair example of where he is at. Clearly his legs are not there as demonstrated by the ease of how Ty Lawson and Chauncy Billups blew by him like he was a opening the door for them. And his 11 points came mainly from easy jumpers that did not require NBA ready legs.

He did show he can dish the rock enough with 6 assists. If he can give you 7 assists or more that would be awesome for everyone. Iguodala would be better, because he needs a QB. Brand, Dalembert, Speights, Young, and even Holiday will benefit from an in shape Iverson.

But the great part is I don't see it translating into wins. Because I now realize this team is over rated to begin with. And there in lies the win/win scenario. Everyone will have a chance to get better and prove their value while the ping pong balls pile up for the 2010 NBA Draft!

Although the NCAA crop hasn't been that overwhelmingly impressive. The recent classes of draft picks has been mediocre at best overall. However Andre Iguodala said on Wednesday (Dec 9) that the team is better than their record.

We will talk about the lame draft picks of recent years in future articles.

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