Are the Sixers really just a .500 club?

[Rickortreat]

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.

 

[guest-koast]

How nice is it to have that 3rd consistant scorer now?  Having a slasher like Andre able to drop 15-20 a game means alot and I hope he can continue to have success.  94 points between the 3 of them could go both ways though Rick.  Either it means that between the 3 they can outscore most basketball teams (based on avg) or it means that if they all don't get on the ball and score that this team is going to seriously be hurting.

Regardless of who they beat 5 wins in the last 32 games is making a good push in the right direction.  I find myself gearing up for playoff mode when I am watching the 6,7,8s in both conference.  Just can't help but think of every game as very important.

IMO the Sixers are one good post defender away from jumping up to the next level.  If Philly was to grab guys like they use to have (Ratliff/Mutumbo)  I think that would be the missing piece.  Andre and AI can guard 1 on 1 and jump in passing lanes on the perimeter but if they get beat no real shot blocker is there to help them out.

[Derek Bodner]

dude, we had Webber and AI combine for 57 points and 20 assists, along with Iguodala dropping 19 and Korver 10.  Ollie went perfect from the field, scoring 8 points on only 4 shots, and we held them to 43% shooting.

and we STILL almost lost a game.  At home.

Consistent?  I think not.

Iguodala's recent offensive outputs have just become more maddening to me.  after going for 25 pts, 13 pts and 20 pts, he follows it up with 5 pts and 6 pts before going for 19 again.  In only 1 of the last 6 games has he taken double digits shots.

While Iguodala stepping up and being consistent (which he's not) might allow us to maybe challenge for the 3rd seed, we're still suffering from the same problems we have all season.

[Guest_Randy]

Unfortunately, the Sixers have made the same mistakes as the Lakers -- overpaying for post players who can't help your team really improve.  This puts you in the place where you have to depend on the draft or trades to improve -- and who wants to trade for overpaid post players? (okay, other than NY)  So you aren't really going to entice a trade unless you give away young talent -- and outside of a player (i.e. Iggy, Parker) or two -- you really don't have young talent that really draws great interest.  Neither team can bring in Free Agents because they are over the cap so it pretty much leaves the draft -- unfortunately, you don't want to build from draft players because your stars are getting older.  That makes things pretty tough!

[rickortreat]

dude, we had Webber and AI combine for 57 points and 20 assists, along with Iguodala dropping 19 and Korver 10. Ollie went perfect from the field, scoring 8 points on only 4 shots, and we held them to 43% shooting.

and we STILL almost lost a game. At home.

That is the point Dabods. Earlier in the season we would have lost that game.  No one on the Sixers would have stepped up and we would have lost.  Washington had every chance to win that game, but they choked at the end, while the Sixers stayed tough.  That's the difference in consistency.  They work hard on both ends of the floor for 48 minutes, believing they can win.

The difference in talent between the Wizards and Sixers is small, whichever team has an edge in talent over the other isn't enough to make a difference.  What makes the difference between winning and loosing for teams like this is the ability to put forth effort when the game is tight.

The Sixers are learning how to close teams out and not give up when things are tough at the end.  Eventually a team that keeps doing that will discover it's potential.  I'm not saying their a championship team, just better than a .500 club.

Yes, they have deficiencies, but they're learning to win with them.

If the can beat Indiana that would really give their confidence a boost, and get them closer to taking the division away from New Jersey.

Also, Willie Green is getting closer to comming back.  Kevin Ollie has been doing a good job for us, but if Willie can come back as good as he was last season, he will give the team a big boost.