Glad to see some input from others around here as the season starts up.
Thad and Igoudala are definitely in the top 10 at their positions or better. USA basketball had them in camp this summer. Those invites go to the best of the best as perceived by the Olympic staff. You figure the top 2 or 3 make the team, and the ones in back of them are the other invitees.
Considering how poor the coaching has been the past two seasons, it is a wonder that Thad has developed as well as he has. Thad needs to be given the ball to be effective, and with a poor coach and a lazy Andre Miller at the point, Thad only got the ball on the fast break or as an afterthought on offense. With Eddie Jordan's offense he'll get touches AS PART OF THE OFFENSE!
Brand should be able to regain his form and be close to what he was. Most NBA power forwards aren't complete players, able to rebound, defend, block shots and score. Before his injury, Brand was all those things. Coming back from a separated shoulder and a torn achilles tendon does take time, and Brand is not a back-to the basket post up type of player. He needs to get the ball where he can work, and with Jordan he will get his looks, a strategy beyond the capacity of Cheeks or DiLeo. In other words Eddie will integrate Brand into the Sixers offense.
Lou Williams is a big question mark, but lets not forget who he's replacing. Andre Miller is the only player on the Blazer's roster to fail the opening of training camp up and down the floor run. He was a major reason why the Sixers got off to a slow start last season, he never comes into camp in shape, and he never plays defense. He's not known as a great passer either. All Miller did well was post up his man and draw fouls.
I can't say for certain if Lou can be effective as a point, but I do think he has the tools. A good handle, better speed and quickness, and he also learned the one good thing that Andre Miller did, drawing fouls. I think by the end of the season he'll be a top 10 Point guard. Jason Kidd is done, was two seasons ago. Nash is also at the end of his career. Williams is a better player than Derek Fisher. He's not a head case like Barron Davis, or an uncoachable like Rondo. He's not an egomaniac like Nate Robinson or a useless joke like Jason Williams. I'll grant that Derron Williams, Chris Paul and Jameer Nelson are better points, along with Tony Parker- although Tony isn't that great of a passer. And, I'll also agree that Billups and Rose and Arenas are better. Maybe Tyreke Evans will establish himself as better too, but I'd point out that Lou was picked out of high school, unlike all these others he's being compared to, and last season would have been his first had he gone to college. He has a lot more upside than most of you seem to think, and although I am very optimistic now at the begging of the season, he has shown the ability to disrupt another team's defense, which IMO is the most important ability to have as a point.
The Sixers have a much better bench than last season, getting rid of Reggie Evans and Donyell Marshall and Kareem Rush. Speights addeded pounds of muscle to his frame and won't get pushed off the block so easilly. Jason Smith is apparently back and ready to play. Even if Sam Dalembert doesn't come through, we won't have to play Brand at Center. Rodney Carney and Jason Kapono are better replacements that who they had. Jrue Holiday was a steal in the draft and has apparently shown some ability in camp.
The Sixers were a .500 team last season without Brand, and with Thad Young missing the last few weeks of the season, and most of you are picking them to be the same or worse, based on the idea that Lou Williams can't play the point as well as Andre Miller, and the assumption that Brand isn't going to contribute much to the team. I think both of those ideas are false and that it is far more likely that Lou, Thad and Iguodala will all be better players than they were last season, and Brand will make a positive difference in their offense.
Cheeks was a terrible coach, no discipline, (if the ex players are to be believed) no plan on offense, no structure. DiLeo was better but almost as bad. Jordan actually has a structured offense where players know where they're supposed to be, and if there not, they're going to hear it. This is a new thing for the Sixers and it should work wonders.
Without a good coach they are a .500 ball club based on their superior athleticism. With a good coach and the ability to score in the half court against the Boston's and Cleveland's puts them above .500 and gets Iguodala an All Star slot.
The fact that they get no respect from the media doesn't bother me, they keep picking Portland to do something in spite of Odom not doing anything and ignoring that the Sixers beat them everytime they face them! Why should they look hard at the Sixers when they didn't do anything last season and lost one of their top scorers? It would take real effort to recognize that the Sixers did a lot this summer to retool and to build on and add to what they achieved. That's a lot to ask from a national sportswriter, as though their predictions ever turn out right!
