 Perspective On the Sixers
I've seen it written and heard it said loud and clear that the Sixers recent string of wins doesn't amount to much because of the quality of opponents they've played. Granted, the Sixers have played plenty of teams with bad records and missing parts, but how about some perspective for once.
Let's take a look at the Sixers last 11 wins, here are the teams they beat, and where:
It's easy for NBA writers to discount the achievements of this team because "they aren't playing anyone good," but honestly, when you look at the Sixers roster should you expect them to beat these teams? On paper, they might not be better than any of them. These are the same writers who predicted 21 wins for the Sixers and a last-place finish in the East almost unanimously. Of course, these are also the same writers who deemed the Eastern Conference, much improved after an offseason which supposedly went a long way toward balancing the power in the NBA. How did that turn out? The fact of the matter is that almost every single night the Sixers take the floor, they should lose, according to conventional wisdom. They're out-manned on paper against about 28 teams in this league. When Billy Beane accomplished something similar to this in baseball, Michael Lewis wrote a book about him and he was deemed a genius. The Sixers have a very good shot at making the playoffs this season, and someone needs to take notice. The Sixers now have something so many teams, even successful teams in this league lack, an identity. They're a young, aggressive, running team who isn't afraid to play defense. Maybe that identity is more important than the big names. Maybe team chemistry and work ethic is more important than endorsement deals. Maybe this is the beginning of a new era in Philadelphia basketball. Who knows? I do know this, however. I'd rather have a faceless franchise who goes out there to win every night than a petulant superstar eating up 1/3 of my cap space and worrying about nothing but his own numbers. I hope Ed Stefanski shares this point of view with me and keeps building this team on the foundation Mo Cheeks has laid over the past season and a half. 
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Great post. I think that for an NBA GM to put together a team in his vision of "Moneyball" is quite a bit harder than a baseball team. With less players on the floor and roster, you have to hit with every player.
If not Josh Smith or Elton Brand, who joins this team this summer? Who or what kind of player would you like to see the 76ers draft this year?
One kind of stems from the other. If Brand opts out, I think the Sixers probably go after him really, really hard. At this point, he's the prize for the organization, from all accounts. Personally, I might prefer Smith, but I'm in the minority.
As for who else is available, I don't really know. They need a power forward. I don't want any part of Antawn Jamison. Maybe they don't get one via trade or free agency. In the draft I'd love to see them get Kevin Love, if he drops that far. He needs to get in shape, but he's got the low post game they need. He might drop to mid first round. Otherwise I like both of the guys from Arizona, but I don't know how far they'll drop. The two needs are a low post scorer and a shooter. They can use the cap space or draft to address either or both, I guess. I just don't want to see another combo guard who can't light it up from deep.
Ummm, I dog Iguodala, but he's better than Jason Richardson or Corey Maggette or Antawn Jamison or Emeka Okafor. They're better scorers (or in the case of Okafor, better rebounders), but Andre brings a lot more to the table. Just not enough for me to want to keep him on the team.
This may be a first, but I agree with you about Richardson, Maggette, Jamison and Okafor, although I'm not sure everyone would. Even if you take those guys out of the equation, each team still has more of a superstar than Iguodala. The logic holds.
So that means you take Kaman and Gerald Wallace over Iguodala (each team has a bette player)? They're a little iffy too. Wallace vs. Iguodala is an agonizingly close call - I guess you'd give Andre the edge in passing, Wallace might be... is he really a better scorer? Kaman piled on some great numbers early in the season, but don't you get the sense that he's a lot worse than he may look in the boxscore?
I don't take either of those guys over Iguodala. But I probably overvalue him. I'm just saying you would get an argument out of a lot of people that all of the guys on this list are bigger stars/better players than he is.
My list would be much shorter, probably Wade, Nowitzki, Bosh and then Butler, Josh Howard and Marion would be debatable.
you and me both know Iggy is better than Randolph lol. If his 20 and 10 were so great, he woulda been asked for at the deadline. just throwin my 2 cents in lol
I'd take Iggy, but I bet if you ask 100 people who follow the sport and aren't Sixers or Knicks fans, the results would probably lean toward Randolph.