Scouting the Competition - Philadelphia 76ers

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Aug 13, 2007 12:00 AM EDT in Feature Stories

The first "Scouting the Competition" piece resulted in a lively debate over the best "big three" currently in the NBA and until this season gets underway, or for that matter wraps up, it is hard to tell. The argument did solidify the point that the Atlantic divisions teams are no longer guaranteed wins, or close to it and we can all agree that the KG-Bosh match-up is one to loom forward to.

When KG was dealt, Minnesota now finds themselves in a similar situation to that of the Philadelphia 76ers. Having dealt their big-draw in Allen Iverson, the 76ers are rebuilding and are focused on developing their young talent, and their young stars.

Looking at the 76ers roster, young is definitely the optimal word and they have only added to it this off-season. In fact, they currently list only three guys born before 1981 (Alan Henderson, Andre Miller and Kevin Ollie) while their number one pick Thaddeus Young was born in 1988. That makes this author feel very OLD.

The center piece for this squad is again someone with the initials AI. Raps fans have always looked at Andre Iguodala and thought about what could have been. It’s become harder and harder for Raps fans as Iggy has taken the departure of Iverson and made the most of it. The 6'6" SG/SF put up some ridiculous numbers last season averaging 18.3 ppg, 5.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2 steals while shooting solid percentages from the floor, the line and beyond the arc. He really is becoming the complete package and with his athleticism there really is no ceiling.

The 76ers bench has oodles of talent outside of AI as well. Young guys like new Canadian National Team member Sam Dalembert, Rodney Carney, Willie Green, Kyle Korver along with the aforementioned Young and fellow rookie Jason Smith help give Sixers fans hope for the future. Of course just because they are young doesn’t mean there are no expectations. This team went on a little bit of a roll, going 15 and 9 over the last two months of the season and there is hope that this team could really surprise. Many people have debated whether this team is as good as they showed late last season. Was it teams looking past them? Schedule? Or maybe guys just playing a little harder now that AI was gone?

The question is really whether they can capture lightening in a bottle and start this season off much like they ended last. Much like Colangelo, Billy King didn’t spend a lot of time making big changes. Like the Raps, the talent is there. Given time to grow, this team could develop into a solid squad in the East. Although arguably a year or maybe even two behind the Raps in terms of development, King is allowing the young guys to grow and play together and you have to like the blueprint he is using. The reason why I believe this rebuilding plan in Philadelphia will be more successful than say what is happening in Atlanta, and prior to the KG trade Boston, really boils down to one player...Andre Miller.

Even when teams are rebuilding they need a veteran presence. Veterans are important both on and off the court. Not only can they help the young guys get accustomed to life not only on the road, but they can simply help them adjust to being an NBA player. On the court veterans can also provide a steady hand and can help teach. Andre Miller is the perfect guy for that role, in particular in a situation where so much of the young talent is on the wing and in the paint.

Although in a rebuilding stage Miller has never expressed any desire to leave the 76ers. This is a breath of fresh air in light of this new found craze that seems to have overtaken professional sport being that all players at a certain stage have a RIGHT to a championship rather than a right to EARN a championship. Miller is a great floor general, a pass first PG and arguably the perfect PG for a team that has shooters, slashers and finishers. His veteran presence at the 1 will be the main reason why the rebuilding project in 76er land has a much higher probability of success then in those cities who currently rely on guys like Tyronn Lue, Sebastian Telfair, Anthony Johnson and others to lead their young guns.

So what does it mean for the Raps? In the short term the Raps should be able to chalk-up more wins than losses against this team. Long term it looks like Billy King may actually be putting something together. Perhaps the biggest thing for the Raps will be not looking past this Atlantic Division rival. Very little has been said about this squad and outside the City of Brotherly Love there is little pressure to succeed. That being said many times it is the teams that are under the radar that can cause the biggest problems.

If the 76ers do gel as a unit their athleticism could give a lot of teams trouble. Fortunately for the Raps they not only have the athleticism to match, but as a team I would argue they have a much higher basketball IQ simply as a result of playing time and experience. Much like the Celtics, the biggest difficulty for the Raps will be finding someone to guard the three position and in this case AI. As we continue the "Scouting the Competition" series it is becoming more and more apparent how essential it is for someone on the current Raps roster to step-up at the SF position.

On paper the biggest advantage the Raps have over the 76ers is up front. Save for Dalembert, this team is rail thin and shy of anything even close to resembling a "banger". That’s not to say the Raps are loaded up front with big tough guys, but guys like Humphries, Garbo (who now looks ready to play at the European Championships) and even Rasho should be able to help the Raps dominate that part of the game. What works in theory may not work in practice though as the 76ers out-rebounded the Raps in 3 of 4 contests last season. If the Raps can dominate this part of the game there is no reason why the Dinos cannot improve on last season's record (3-1) against this divisional rival.

HOWLAND

Update** In case you have not noticed we are taking the off-season to help update the site and although much of the work is going on in the "back-end" many of you will have seen small new features including an RSS feed. Take the time to click on the feedburner link on the right hand side where you can subscribe for RapsHQ email updates or add the HQ to your RSS reader. When we post something new (obviously more frequently than during the off-season) you will get an email update telling you what’s been added. Lots more coming and we appreciate you guys sticking with us during the dog days of summer!

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Comments

The one area that BC has not addressed, rebounding, is apparent when the Sixers outrebound you 3-1. In the games against the Raps, Dalembert looked like Chamberlain on the boards. He didn't look so good in games against other opponents. I hope Bargnani is ready to grab more boards or at least box out effectively this year. We are in trouble on the glass.

by EaseMyPain on Aug 13, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Hey Howland a huge thanks to you guys.

I think Philly will have a long year. Not that talented and not that deep, many a years away from being a player in the east. They finish dead last in the division.

by Blake on Aug 13, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I would like to forget about Hoffa @ 8th over Iggy @ 9th so let's please not mention it anymore. But then again, Hoffa's suckitude coupled with the Carter "trade" got BabCOCK dumped and BC brought in, so in the grand scheme of things I'm glad it happened even though Iggy may well end up a Top 5 SF in the league (sad to say). Great underappreciated fantasy player too, like Marion was until Nash came on-board.

I think Philly has a somewhat promising future, with Webber and McKie's contracts off the books next year they'll have a fair bit of cap room, even with Iggy's soon-to-be-signed extension kicking in:

http://www.hoopshype.com/salaries/philadelphia.htm

However, as currently constituted, after their "Big 3" (Miller, Iggy, Dalembert) there team is about as thin and unproven as Boston's. And Howland, Andre might be acting with magnanimity now but surprisingly I just looked up his profile and he turned *31* in March, so when Iggy, Thad Young, etc. are in their prime he will be declining and Philly will need to find another pass-first point guard, and they don't grow on trees.

by jjdynomite on Aug 13, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

A young team that should not be in the playoff picture.
Glad to see Jorge ready to compete - am looking forward to watching the Euro's, hope RapTV got it covered

by Tinman on Aug 13, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Hmmmm..
I heard, through the Grape-vine ofcourse...
..That, Sammy D. had one condition; if those pesky canadians wanted him to play for the national squad, they had to adhere to his demand of fixing his immigrant landing status...(in shambles)
And made away with a canadain passport.....
Ahhh..
Gatta luv dem grapes
Peas&Luv

by Keon Clark on Aug 14, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Rantings of a madman...

Philly is in rebuilding mode, like so many other teams. If you are going to rely on sucking really bad, and drafting really well to get out of rebuilding mode; you have to somehow end up with a star. The raps got lucky ages ago with Carter and less so with Bosh (it was the probable choice at 4) and hopefully we'll see Bargnani develop into the new age center. I just don't think Philly has drafted that one stand out start yet. They have pretty good youth at most positions, but no potential even for elite at their positions (no disrespect to Iggy, but he'll never be a Kobe/Carter level of elite). Hopefully they will do well, because to do so they will have to really play the team ball that come along with all the metaphors. The problem is, elite level teams play that team style ball, with elite level players! Yeah, glad not to be a philly fan for a while...

by Robert Archibald on Aug 15, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Watching the reruns on raptor tv I can see why BC wanted to give JG another shot. When He is good He is very good but again He does not always show up Hopefully this year will be different

by Davl on Aug 16, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I know we are talking about the Sixers but two things I saw in the news today relate to the Raptors and their immediate future.
The first was the All Futures team on SI. Bosh is on the bench behind Amare. On the surface this is a huge boost to Raps fan as ovbiously the writer feels Bosh is a future Superstar in this league. Then I stopped and thought about it. Isn't this kind of an insult? Is Stoudemire really better than Bosh is at this stage or does he think that Amare will be better than Bosh in the future?
This really got me thinking about the situation. Is Stoudemire really better than Bosh or does he just look better with Nash chucking him the ball every night? One could argue the latter except for the second piece of news which really had my worried.
Bosh has dropped out of the USA basketball team due to a foot injury. Again on the surfuce there isn't anything wrong with that but my immediate thought was "USA is allowing him to save face" by leaving on his own terms (foot injury) rather than being cut. I shook this thought off until I continued into the article and saw team USA needs to cut 3 more players and the author of the article stated the very same thing. That they would probably beg off with injury rather than be humiliated with a cut. Hmmmmmmmmm. The final worrisome thing is that Amare will no doubt be on team USA.
All of this got me thinking about the idea of trading Bosh. The idea has been kicked around and there were even some rumours about the possibility over the years. If Bosh has plateaued and last season was as good as he is ever going to get (within a point or two and rebound or two per game), is it enough? 20p and 10/ game is nothing to sneeze at but isn't that what Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry give? Would anyone consider them Superstars or just stars? And if all that is true (Bosh is no better than Curry or Randolph from a futures perspective) then should the Raps trade him before other teams catch on to this?

On a personal note I think I have way too much time on my hands to think about these things. Someone needs to start the football season really soon.

by McGateway on Aug 16, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

McGateway - It is kinda fun to get really wrapped up in the details. Is Bosh better than Amare? I think if you ask most fans who is better they would say Amare, the Freak. You make a good arguement about who is feeding him. You didn't bring up Amare's injury situation and the fact the young man is already working on reconstructed knees, that might more than cancel out CB4's plantar facilitis. The bigger picture reveals that they are both awesome and we are lucky to have one of them. WHoever the edge goes to doesn't really matter!

Staying with the bigger picture, I HOPE Bosh is just saving face by calling it an injury. The alternative is that he really is injured with a nagging injury that won't go away.

Lastly, Bosh does not in any way equal Randolph or Currie. I think that Randolph might actually be the better player between those two, but neither are equal to Bosh. The thing that stands out to me when comparing these two to CB4 surprised me. I would suggest that what makes Chris Bosh better than Randolph or Currie is that regardless of personal stats, Bosh makes his teammates better AND his team better. This is high praise and something that we rarely hear about Chris Bosh, but if we compare him to other athletes his age we see how special he is. Bosh is more than a 20/10 guy, he is a foundation guy. We want rookies to come in and follow Bosh's example; that is who you want your star to be - not Vince, and certainly NOT Zambo or Currie. All that said, I might still consider trading Bosh, but only if Barg's turns out to be something special AND only if we got something AMAZING in return. You certainly don't trade your star, at his peak- because you are scared he might be at his peak. Bosh is a solid PF for the next 10 years easy, all star most of those years. Why trade him? Why worry if there is someone else better? We're okay - go Eagles!

by Robert Archibald on Aug 16, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Amare is a freak of nature and easily edges bosh on an individual basis. But bosh is carrying a franchise on his "lesser athleticism" and still growing and improving every year. That, to me is more important than being the ultimate player. Maybe amare could have pulled if off too, but he's not in that position. I didn't expect bosh to improve like this - how many young stars have done this? Most can't take the pressure.

by axl on Aug 16, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

going back to what jjdynomite said, I think Babcock, sorta got the short end of the stick, sure some of his draft picks didn't work out, but draft picks are really crap shoots anyways (example, how many 1st overalls have been busts? exactly) further more he only had 2 seasons to work with before being canned... not exactly very long to excute a plan, i'm not saying that he would have done better if given more time, i just think people are unfairly dissing him

by gottywhat on Aug 16, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions