Or, are they better than that?
They do seem to have become a much more conistent team when it comes to playing defense. They aren't allways successful, but the Sixers continue to work hard, and at least once in a while it pays off.
The team is 5-1 since the break, defeating several teams that had beaten them handilly in the past, indicating that the Sixers are improving, or that all those other teams have regressed.
Igoudala is certainly upping his game since the break. His dominance in the rookie, sophmore game and the rip-off in the slam dunk seem to have given him the confidence to be more agressive. He has had games of 17 and 20 pts since the break providing that third option to keep the team scoring.
Iverson has been a monster since the Olympic snub. He has been quoted as saying that is was an honor to have been considered, and that he wasn't angry at all. Maybe not, but he is taking it out on the Sixers opponenent, with 6 games of 29 pts or higher and the last two over 40.
Webber has also been very strong, also perhaps motivated by his all star snub. He definitly did a good job last night against Washington's big men. Chris played a lot of minutes at Center, and saud he actually liked playing against the big centers like Yao. He said he thought it gave him an advantage on the offensive end working against players like that.
Chris has been playing very tough in the last few minutes of the game when things get tight. He is making a lot of critical plays at the end to help the team get over the top. Last night he put up 30pts. 10 rebounds and 8 assists to go along with AI's 47 pts. and 12 assists.
When your top three scorers put up 94 pts., there aren't too many teams that will be able to stay with you.
Of course, Houston, Washington, Chicago, Cleveland, and Milwoukee aren't the tought teams in the NBA. IMO, they should be able to beat teams like that consistently. If they continue to play that way, they should be able to get up to a .600 winning percentage, even if they do loose a couple of games to teams like the Mavericks as the season goes on.