The events of the past month or so have worn me down. My usual optimism for this team is virtually gone. There have been ever-so-brief flashes of the potential that I know exists under the surface, but for the most part it's been one disappointment after another. Here's the crazy thing, though, it's not too late to turn it around, and turn it around in a big way.
Call me crazy, but I firmly believe this would be a top five or six 10-man rotation in the Eastern Conference:
- PG: Iverson
- SG: Iguodala
- SF: Thad Young
- PF: Elton Brand
- C: Sam Dalembert
- 1st Big Off Bench: Marreese Speights
- 1st Guard Off Bench: Lou Williams
- 2nd Guard Off Bench: Jrue Holiday
- Situational Offense: Jason Kapono
- Situational Defense: Rodney Carney
- Extra Big: Jason Smith
The teams clearly better, one through 10: Orlando, Cleveland, Boston. Atlanta and Miami are both debatable.
Is that a perfect rotation? Obviously not. They need another defensive big off the bench who can clean the glass, definitely. You'd like to see more shooters mixed in, but overall, that's a solid squad. You've got excellent offense off the bench in Speights and Lou. A lockdown defender in Jrue. A zone buster and an energy guy on the wings, and even a big who can come in and stretch the floor.
Granted they'll be without Speights and Lou for some time, but even without those guys, there's absolutely enough talent here to beat the alsorans. These are all winable games between now and when Lou should return: Charlotte, Detroit, Golden State, LA Clippers, Washington, Sacramento, Clippers again, Washington, Toronto, Detroit, New Orleans, New York, Sacramento, Minnesota, Indiana, Indiana, Milwaukee. This roster should be capable of a 12-5 record, if not better against those teams. It wouldn't be out of the question that the Sixers could stand at 19-26 when they were back to full strength toward the end of January.
With 37 games remaining, they could easily make a push for the playoffs at that point, and once they got there, I think they'd have a legitimate shot at advancing past the first round if they got the right matchup.
There is a caveat, obviously. None of this will happen as long as Eddie Jordan is their head coach. The ten-man rotation I listed out above will be completely ignored, instead we'll see way too many minutes for Willie Green, not enough minutes for Elton Brand. The big lineup, which can actually defend and rebound, will almost never see the floor. Jrue Holiday will most likely fall to the end of the rotation, again.
I'm almost beyond rage, I'm feeling more despondent at this point. Think about it for a second, what would happen if Eddie Jordan got fired tomorrow and a coach who had even half a clue took over? Brand would immediately go back into the starting lineup, Green would go to the end of the bench. The athletes would be allowed to play a sane defensive system. The rotations wouldn't continually put the team at a disadvantage on the glass. You'd have three plus defenders in your starting lineup and someone would have a stern talk with Thad Young about his personal responsibility to stick with his man, turning him into at least an average defender at the position. Iverson would still be a minus on the defensive end, but unlike Willie, he could actually make up for it on offense and a smarter defensive system could mask his weakness at the point-of-attack without using four players to over-rotate.
The team could get back to the defend and run philosophy in a big way. Their bench could open up leads, rather than dwindle them away. I look at this roster, even with the AI mistake having been made, and I seriously see a playoff team, possibly a top-four team considering the cliff the Hawks have fallen off recently and the fact that Quintin Richardson plays 30 minutes a night for the paper-thin Heat.
Thousands of casual Sixers fans are looking to AI to be the savior, it's not going to happen. What I want more people to start realizing is that this roster is only one move away from respectability, and that move has nothing to do with a player. That move is for our General Manager or perhaps even the owner to admit their biggest mistake and correct it, immediately. It's not too late for this team to turn things around if they get out from under Eddie Jordan's vindictive, asinine coaching system and decisions. I just wish one of the higher-ups would have the gumption to pull the trigger. If it's a financial thing, just imagine what the Wach will be like in the playoffs if you have Iverson on the floor and a legitimate shot of winning a series. Sellouts, that's what we'd see. If you really want to capitalize on the Iverson bump at the turnstiles, you have to put wins on the board. Give those casual fans not only a good show, but a legitimate shot at something to believe in. Firing Eddie Jordan would pay for itself before this season ends, I guarantee it.
This is my first post here and it may be my last. The perversity of this organization has become too much for me. I agree that this team has talent. I read the words 'asinine' and 'moronic' in reference to Jordan. But I haven't heard anyone say what seems obvious to me: the man has a mental illness. Your hopefulness isn't crazy, the head coach is and very much so. It's crazy to start Willie Green over Brand. It defies all reason. It's crazy to play Kapono at PF when there's more than 15 seconds on the clock. It's insane the number of games Ivey had 10+ minutes and Jrue 0. And that's just the rotations. Anyone who watches a couple minutes of a Sixers game could continue this list ad nauseum. Maybe Jordan has a neurological disorder like those people who are only aware of one side of their plate. I'm not trying to be hateful and negative. I respect alternative points of view. But Jordan's decisions and his comments to the press are too bizarre for me to grasp hold of. Am I alone in this assessment?
Sorry to offer nothing more than these ad hominem attacks. Glad to have discovered this blog, as it has been disturbing to read the Inq and DN sixers coverage and not find any comments about the strange coaching.
Believe me, you are not the only one. Everybody on this blog(most everybody...) feels the same
I started a petition.
Sign in!
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/firejordan
I am an optimist and if you told me L.Will. and Elton would play like this and Jrue would contribute right away I would of said 45 to 50 wins, but the worst possible FIT was hired, E.S. this is on you!!!! You didn!t even give Thibadeax or Turner a shot!!1
Mo or DiLeo could coach this roster to 45 wins. And I think they are limited coaches.
"Mr. Stefanski? The meeting with Mr. Holmgren is finished...Mr. Snider will see you now..."
There is no question in my minbd that this is the most talented Sixers team that Iverson has ever played on. If they do not have success, it will because of one thing - Eddie Jordan.
All we can hope is that Snider and the Roberts boys will get hooked on the increased crowds that AI brings like a crack whore and they do the right thing and blow the clown out of here.
I had been thinking the same thing about this being better than the roster AI played with in 2001, but their record cannot be totally overlooked.Perhaps we are deceiving ourselves. I'd like to place 90% of the blame on the coach. He took a better than average defensive team and made them a joke on defense. Given this team's limitations offensively, the best chance this team has to be successful is to emphasize defense. If they can hold teams to about 85 points, they have a chance. They cannot score 105 points night in and night out even with AI. I've always been an optimist, but I'm really a Depressed Fan with this coach.
I agree with everything said in this post. Jordan could never take advantage of the players given to him. The part that sucks is, if they do start winning, no thanks to the PO, Jordan might be keeping his job for much loner than we all want him to.
For the season record thus far:
I think in terms of blame goes - 5% on the players (I can blame willy green for taking stupid, contested jumpers while other players are open, but I can't give him much blame for starting. That wasn't his decision)
95% blame goes to the coach.
With that said and done, I still think they can pull off a win against the bobcats.
I posted this at reclinergm. It's what I think is the heart of the problem with ES and the organization:
I do think ES is a bright basketball guy. I have agreed with some of his decisions, but he has made one pervasive mistake. the same one that was made at the AI trade…
You can’t have it both ways. You are either young and rebuilding or you are trying to win now. This overlaps from BK right into ES. I don’t know where the blame for one starts and the other ends.
Flashback to the AI trade and look at the decisions:
-At time of AI trade, worst record in the NBA: BUILD FOR FUTURE
-Acquire 2 #1’s for AI: BUILD FOR FUTURE
-Acquire and rely heavily on Andre Miller and Joe Smith: WIN NOW
-Let Joe Smith walk for nothing: BUILD FOR FUTURE/MONEY?
-draft Thad Young, 19 years old, supposedly raw and years away: BUILD FOR FUTURE
-Sell #1 pick and trade out of 2nd round picks: WHO KNOWS/MONEY?
-Draft supposedly raw Speights: BUILD FOR FUTURE
-Sign 30 year old Brand to Philly Max: WIN NOW
-Sign 24 year old AI9 and 21 year old Lou Williams to long term deals: BUILD FOR FUTURE
-Extend Mo: BUILD FOR FUTURE?
-Fire Mo: Win Now?
-Interim coach DiLeo: WHO KNOWS/MONEY?
-Hold onto Miller’s expiring at deadline: WIN NOW/MONEY?
-Let Miller Walk for nothing: BUILD FOR FUTURE/MONEY?
-Hire EJ:WHO KNOWS/MONEY (Wash paying part of his contract)
-Sign AI: WIN NOW?/MONEY?
Good post. Wasn't Brand 28 when they signed him, though? I think you could see that move as win now and accelerate their window. Coming off a playoff berth, it wasn't out of the question to think he had at least 3 solid years in him, and the rest of the roster would mature significantly in those three years.
For me, the EJ decision has just snowballed out of control, each decision made since then (except drafting Jrue) has been worse and worse.
I understand what ES was trying to do, and it was nice to try and both win now and build a even better winner down the road. Also, this approach started before ES got here.
The problem is the margin of error is less. If you go full on rebuilding you typically have financial flexibility. You don't have the ticking clock of Brands escalating contract and age. Really, aside from Brand, the rest of the line-up is well suited for building towards a good team in 2-3 years. they have lots of potential assets to trade if the right superstar hits the market.
As I alway said, you build defense around Iverson. That was seen in 2001, that was a all defensive team. And for the last 3 years the sixers been quitely in the top 10 of almost every defensive category. That of course was before Eddie Jordan. With that being said if we could get rid of EJ we could get back to our defensive pedigree and be dangerous in the east. EJ could coach the Boston Celtics into a bad defensive team. The reason we lost to Boston this year, even with all the injuries, is because EJ left Willie Green in and Rondo went off for like 8 straight 4th quarter points and penetrations. I know Ed. Stefanski is a smart basketball guy he has to see this poor excuse for a coach. I had high hopes for this guy and the princton offense. I just didn't know that was the only thing he knew how to coach, this guy is like golem from Lord of the rings. the PO is all he cares about. I mean we were one of the best rebounding teams in the league the previous years but now were close to the worst and it's all because of EJ.
Great post Brian, and great comments all. I'm a newbie here, trying to escape the Brand-hating preteens of the Philly.com board. This post says everything I've been saying to anyone who would listen.
I lived in Washington during Eddie's tenure with the Wizards, and I knew this kind of crap is exactly what would happen. He picked a fight, for no reason, with Brand, just like he did in DC with Brendan Haywood. EJ would rather lose and win his fights with players than lose his alpha-dog status and win.
Stefanski needs to fire EJ today or be fired along with him. This team has the talent, it's amazing how much a talent-laden team can be held out by a coach as incompetent as ours.
Great, intelligent comments. I hope 76ers management reads these comments. Please name me one good move ES has made. Drafting, Speights? Yes. That's the only move I could think of. He signs Brand and then does not put shooters around him. I hated the EJ signing as coach when it happened and the guy has shown me even less than I expected, and my expecations were low. He was brought in for the Princeton offense, and yet the team will not run it now that Iverson signed. So we'll see one-on-one play and no Princeton Offense. So why keep Jordan? Likely because the team is still paying for Checks and maybe O'Brien and ES doesn't want to admit he made another mistake.
I'm currently in Hong Kong...but i remember there was a post (this was ages ago) where ed and like a coach had conference calls with a few of the sixers bloggers?
I'm not sure this would lead anywhere but have you (brian) thought about writing a letter to anyone in the front office? Like i know how this sounds, suits of an franchise listening to some internet blogger...but in the end how man people read your blog? or anyother blog? we are the fans, the people who pay to see the games...and your posts certainly influence our decision (influenced mine) and it's actually based on stats and logic (as opposed to Eddie Jordan's coaching). At the end of the day if we ain't winning and there's something that can be done or put forward, they should know.
just my 2 cents.