Cooney: Expectations aside, improvement an acceptable goal for Sixers

IMAGINATION and reality may have never battled each other more in the Philadelphia sports landscape than it has over the past couple of seasons when it comes to the 76ers.

The battle continues as the start of training camp at the end of September draws near. As the days pass until then and no word leaks of injury, the imagination grows of what may be this season, one year after the Sixers posted only 10 wins.

The most common question I get asked from fans is this: How many wins will they get this season? The second most common is: Will they make the playoffs?

My answer to the first isn't how many of their 82 games will they win, but instead what type of improvement will they make over last season? So look at it this way: Would you be happy with 15 to 17 more wins for an NBA team than in the previous season? Or maybe 20? The answer would have to be yes. So that would put the Sixers win total for this season somewhere between 25 and 30. That's reality.

Playoffs? That is pure imagination. Consider this. Over the past five seasons when a full schedule has been played out (2011-12 was a shortened season because of a lockout), the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference won 44, 38, 38, 38 and 37 games respectively, an average of 39 wins. For the Sixers to do that, they would have to improve upon last season's win total by 29 games. That would be only 18 games fewer than they've won the last three years combined. It also would put them among teams with the greatest turnarounds in NBA history. The 1979-80 Celtics improved by 32 games (fifth most in league history) over the previous season when Larry Bird joined the team. The eighth seed in the Eastern Conference this past season was the Detroit Pistons, who won 44 games. If the Sixers were to get to that total, the 34-win improvement would rank fourth all-time. The 2007-08 Celtics added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to Paul Pierce to improve by 42 games from the previous season. San Antonio gained 36 more wins in 1997-98 thanks to drafting Tim Duncan and getting David Robinson back from injury and in 1989-90 the Spurs got 35 more wins from the previous year after David Robinson joined the team.

That's just the reality. It's certainly not as much fun as the imagination, so let's take a look at that, too.

With each passing day that we receive no word of a Joel Embiid setback, the mind wanders as to what type of force he might be. Videos have surfaced of him showing a plethora of impressive low-post moves (albeit against a stand-still, 5-10 defender), with the footwork reminding many of Hakeem Olajuwon and the power that a 7-2, 280-pounder possesses. His shooting touch is soft, his athleticism seemingly unchartable.

Ben Simmons gave everything, and more, to fans during his playing stints at the Utah and Las Vegas summer leagues with an overall feel for the game usually displayed by veterans and a passing ability that could be rarely matched for a player his size. Another Magic Johnson? One of the most elite passers the game will ever see?

And when Dario Saric, playing for Croatia, put behind a subpar outing and a leg injury to block a last- second shot by Spain's Pau Gasol to preserve a win Olympic play on Sunday, Sixers fans couldn't tweet fast enough about the game-saving play by their perceived future star.

It's all so much fun to envision Embiid, Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel somehow fitting together, while Simmons and Saric figure out NBA life and other newcomers excel in their new roles.

That's what makes sports so much fun, the ability to imagine the improbable. Like thinking you were going to become a professional athlete when you were a child. That's not to say that the hopes can't be reached, but it just probably won't happen, and definitely not this season.

If you're a fan, don't let the reality get in the way of imagination. But also don't get disappointed if your hopes aren't reached this season. Most likely, Embiid will struggle simply because he hasn't played for 2 1/2 years. His progress will be slowed by the team's caution with his recovery, which will limit his minutes for the first couple of months of the season or so. Saric will be a fan favorite because of his toughness and energy, but he could very well struggle adapting to his new league. And despite his jaw-dropping abilities in some areas, Simmons will struggle in other parts of the game.

This will be a season of progression, both as individuals and as a team. Coach Brett Brown will be able to transform his "vanilla" offense into one that can feature players with true NBA talent. It will be way more fun to witness than the past three seasons, even if the win total won't approach a playoff total.

That's just the reality of it all. But don't let the imagination stop wandering. That's the beauty of sports, after all.

The team sent out a statement last week about changes to the coaching staff, which included the additions of Jim O'Brien and Kevin Young as assistant coaches. The release made no mention of assistants Lloyd Pierce or Billy Lange, who coached the team's squad in Utah and Las Vegas in last month's summer leagues. Pierce and Lange, along with O'Brien, will all be front-of-bench assistants to Brett Brown . . . The NBA schedule is set to be later this week.

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog