Fixing the Sixers
THIS ISN'T AS bad as 9-73, because the 76ers have 40-plus games still in front of them, but they might not get to the 38 victories I predicted at the beginning.
THIS ISN'T AS bad as 9-73, because the 76ers have 40-plus games still in front of them, but they might not get to the 38 victories I predicted at the beginning.
This isn't as bad as the two seasons of the John Lucas era, because the roster doesn't include any reclamation projects. (I can remember two instances when a guy walked in off the street, said he was better than what they had and was awarded a contract.)
This isn't as bad as Allen Iverson's rookie season, but at least Iverson represented hope for the future. (That was the year one of the assistant coaches asked whether the practice site at the time had a loading dock. Why? Because, he said, "It's time to back up the truck.")
This isn't as bad as when Larry Brown took over, because it eventually became clear that Brown would keep shuffling bodies until he found a combination that would work.
These Sixers haven't found anything remotely close to that. Eddie Jordan, the coach, says his rotations aren't as "quirky and quacky" as observers seem to think, but he has, in recent games, stopped trying to play everybody every night.
The "Princeton," the pass-and-cut, decision-making offensive system Jordan prefers, is apparently being held at an undisclosed site somewhere in Trenton or Lawrenceville, where technicians are working feverishly to revive it.
Ed Stefanski, the president/general manager, offered a ministate of the union to reporters late last week, but it was more like a state of disrepair and discontent. I appreciate Stefanski accepting accountability and responsibility, but Stefanski fell short of saying Jordan's job was not in jeopardy, and Comcast-Spectacor COO Peter Luukko fell equally short of saying Stefanski's position was secure.
And this is a team that says it is searching for consistency?
We all know that something has to change, but you can only move the roster pieces around so many times before it becomes apparent there are some pieces that just don't fit. From there, it becomes equally apparent that a trade could help. But whom to trade, whom to acquire and how to make any of it happen remain a puzzle. And since the trade deadline isn't until Feb. 18, it's unlikely that anything of significance will come into focus for at least a few weeks.
But, make no mistake: This is bad. Worse than I anticipated.
The Sixers I expected to see never have emerged. I thought they'd take a small step back from last season's 41 victories because Jordan's offense would be difficult for them. I thought Jordan would need a season, or most of it, to figure out what he had and what he needed. At 12-25 entering tonight's game against the New York Knicks, the Sixers are on pace to finish 27-55.
I thought Elton Brand would have more immediate explosiveness in his legs; I never thought I'd see him as a backup, especially on this team, but I respect the grace with which he has handled it and the ever-improving production he has been providing. I foolishly, but only for a moment, bought into the idea that, with the Princeton, a two-guard front with a somewhat designated point guard would make up for the lack of a true point.
I thought management and the coaches were right when they said Andre Miller's defense had fallen off, and that they wouldn't want to pay him for more than one additional season. But I didn't think the dropoff would be as significant as it has been. One thought was, even if Miller had a great season, it wouldn't translate to more than five more wins. Maybe it's tunnel vision, but I'd take those five wins right about now. (He got more money and more years from Portland, where he was last seen arguing with coach Nate McMillan. I never heard him raise his voice here, other than to help direct his teammates.)
I thought I'd see a bunch of plays run to get Jason Kapono open for threes. Instead, I've hardly seen the guy.
I thought Rodney Carney was better now than he was when he was last here, and that his superior athleticism, filling a fastbreak lane, would help. But he seems to be in the rotation one night, out the next.
I thought if Samuel Dalembert played effectively (and he has been significantly better since the arrival of Allen Iverson), they might perhaps convince some team somewhere to look past his bloated salary and trade kicker and make a deal. Clearly, I was dreaming. As a source told me months ago, Stefanski has gone "0-for-29" on that one.
You can make the argument that they're better with Andre Iguodala at small forward and Thaddeus Young at power forward, playing at breakneck speed. That, of course, leaves Brand serving as the backup center. I'm not sure that's where you want your $79.8 million centerpiece investment to end up.
Going back to the Princeton, I always thought that system required patience, passers, cutters, screeners and shooters. I'm not seeing a lot of those characteristics on the roster. And somewhere in the deep recesses of my hoops memories, I remember being taught that the best coaches devise a system that best fits their players.
I believe these Sixers are at their best when they run. With Lou Williams as a scoring point guard and Marreese Speights knocking down shots, I wish they'd run more. So why do I still feel Williams would be even better as the first guard off the bench, the guy to change the pace, to inject the energy to help provide those points? Why does it seem Speights has recently taken a step back?
Granted, this roster is somewhat different from the two previous seasons, but it occurs to me that the guys played better for Tony DiLeo the second half of last season, or have you forgotten that they had climbed to an imposing 40-35 before their late-season collapse? And you could make a case that they played better for Maurice Cheeks, who found almost mystically inspirational messages that they accepted. In fairness, DiLeo didn't want to continue as a coach, and Cheeks faded badly toward the end of his run.
Maybe I lack patience. Maybe I'm wishing and hoping rather than being necessarily analytical. Maybe Jordan believes he has to break it all down before he can build it back up. (Try selling that to the ticket-buying public.)
Over the three previous seasons, I didn't always see a whole lot to encourage me, but - at some point in each instance - I saw resiliency. I saw a group that believed in what it was trying to do. I hope I see that this season. I did see an impressive 3-2 Western swing, but all of a sudden that seems like a distant memory.
So, yes, I've seen worse. But that doesn't mean it's much fun seeing what I'm seeing now, the Saturday victory over reeling Detroit and the Monday win over New Orleans notwithstanding. It's not as bad as 9-73, or the Lucas years, or Iverson's rookie season. But, again, it is bad.
Worse than it should be.
I'll admit, I don't know how to fix it. But, sadly, it appears that neither do they.
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