2011-12 Philadelphia 76ers Overview
Under head coach Doug Collins, the Philadelphia Sixers made huge strides in his first year. Behind Doug Collins defensive-minded charge, he transformed a squad that came fourth in the Atlantic division at 27-55 in the 2009-2010 season to a squad that went 41-41 last season. Philadelphia made the postseason as the 7th seed but couldn’t get past the Heat in the opening round. They were able to play a rather more competitive game in the series, but at last managed just one victory.
While there are a considerable number of glorious players on this team, this team is suffering from having many great role players but no one megastar to be the leader of this team. Without a true superstar, it will be hard to actually call this team as a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference. So far they have not done anything in free agency and trades; they managed to re-sign their young players in C Spencer Hawes and SF Thaddeus Young though. Philadelphia tried to address their need to add front court depth by drafting C Nikola Vucevic with the 16th pick in the 1st round. Nikola Vucevic has the potential be a solid player in the NBA, but he is still a little raw to contribute right away.
Third year PG Jrue Holiday and second year SG Evan Turner need to raise their contributions on the offensive end for Philly to have an opportunity to take the next step in the suddenly competitive Eastern Conference. Holiday made huge strides last season as the starting point guard when he contributed 14 points and 6.5 dimes per night. He contributed just 8 points and 3.8 dimes his first year two seasons back, but saw his contributions increase in almost all stats last season. Turner wishes to show similar advances in his sophomore year. Turner contributed just 7.2 points and 3.9 boards as a rookie last season. He is predicted to start ahead of Jodie Meeks this year and the hope in the organization is that Turner can spin it round and supply better numbers in his sophomore season.
The Sixers have one of the more finished players in the league at SF in Andre Iguadala. He put up 14.1 points, 6.3 assists and 4.9 boards a contest last season. Iguadala is also a superb perimeter defender and his only knock is that his offensive production has steadily declined after posting a career high 19.9 points during the 2007-08 season.
Vet PF Elton Brand is the actual question mark for Sixers coming in to this years season. While he led the Sixers in scoring with 15 points/game and rebounding with 8.3 last year, he’s clearly headed to a steep decline and his health is also a concern moving forward. Though he started 81 of 82 games last season, he has struggled staying healthy in the past. He just started in 86 games the previous 3 seasons.
Hawes is a pretty solid big inside but he does not provide much of an offense after only averaging 7.2 points/game last year. Their depth inside is so used that their only other big is rookie Vucevic and no-one actually knows the production the rookie can provide. Iguadala can play PF if required, but he is clearly small at that position.
What they lack in depth up front, they clearly make up for it with solid reserves in the back court and small forward spots. Thaddeus Young, Jodie Meeks and backup point guard Lou Williams are all serviceable scorers. Williams averaged 13.7 points and 3.3 dimes, Young chipped in 12.7 points and 5.3 boards while Meeks averaged a solid 10.5 points. Also in their bench is active forward Andres Nocioni.
Pick: 3rd Eastern Conference Atlantic Division – This team is clearly a young team on the rise. They will make the postseason this year and will improve with time but unless they add some post man depth, they will not be well placed to compete with the truly elite groups in the Eastern Conference. They are going to have difficulty come playoff time and they are going to be 1 or 2 notches below Boston and New York in the Atlantic.
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