The Sixers unveiled their new/old uniforms yesterday, and I think most of us are a little disappointed. We thought that the bringing back of the old logo of the 82-83 era meant the same unis as well. Instead, we are handed a more simplistic, modernized version with shiny blue trim and taped on numbers and letters reminiscent of my JCC Maccabi league days. However, anything beats a meteorball leaving a rainbow trail, barreling towards the planet Mediocrity, right? I’ll take it. Perhaps Elton Brand will feel more comfortable in a Clippers-esque jersey.
And on that note, let’s talk about that particular $80 million dollar man. The Sixers owned the summer of 2008 prying away the most coveted available free agent from the Clips. You have to hand it to Stefanski for pulling this off. Golden State was offering more money and Brand still chose us. There was then a dichotomy among basketball analysts about what was to come. Some immediately put us into the Eastern Conference powerhouse category, and others said we would never live up to the hype. Nobody saw what would actually come to be.
The integration of Brand into the Sixers was ugly, like watching a bunch of gazelles stand around a bull, except the bull is missing a leg and the gazelles can’t hit a jumpshot. Mo Cheeks looked clueless, only to be relieved of command and have Brand go down with a dislocated shoulder a few weeks later. Nobody felt good about seeing Cheeks go, and you have to figure that if Brand got hurt before Cheeks was fired, Mo would still be this team’s coach. Unlike Brand, the Sixer point guard great landed on his feet and will be an assistant coach in OKC this year. Banner year for Westbrook?
Insert Eddie Jordan, an apparent offensive wiz, and a supposedly healthy Brand, and you still have a team with questionable jumpshooting ability. We can only hope that the new Princeton offense creates better looks for Lou, Iggy, and Thad, but the success of the Sixers this season rests entirely on Elton Brand’s shoulder(s). We will go as far as he goes. Can he stay healthy for 82 games and produce 18 and 10?
Can he carry the team on those shoulders? Let's hope so.
The other big question for this team surrounds the PG position. Andre Miller left a gaping hole at the 1 spot. He was never part of the Sixers’ future plans, and Stefanski says that no trade deadline or sign-and-trade deals made sense for our team, so I guess we just have to take his word for it. Frankly, I couldn’t take another season of no 3-point shooting from my point guard. I was always for handing Lou Will the keys to the car, responding to cynics of his distributing abilities that it was never his role to set up his teammates and strictly be an off-the-bench scorer, 6th man type. Also, the Princeton offense does not depend on a traditional point guard, but rather, 2 guards. Iguodala has already proven his ability to create for his teammates. The Sixer execs seem to be gushing over our draft steal Jrue Holiday, so we’ll see what he can bring, but I don’t expect much other then some perimeter defense from the 19 year-old.
Speaking of young, the one thing that gets me more excited than anything this year is the guarantee that I will get to watch my favorite Sixer, Thaddeus Young. This kid has Talent. If one honor goes to a Sixer this season, I would rather it be Most Improved Player to Young than an All Star selection for Iguodala. The main reason being I want to see Young get the touches necessary to garner this recognition, and have it reflect in his stats.
Unfortunately, I don’t feel that will be the case given Brand’s stature and Iguodala’s need for the ball, which I love about him, but also feel that it holds back Young from truly establishing himself. I guarantee there will be a part of the season, for about a month, when the team will realize, “Oh yea. Thad is awesome, and probably our most efficient scorer. We should get him the ball.” For that month, Thad will average 22ppg and score a career high 37 on some middling team. That will be a short-lived revelation when Iguodala starts to see his numbers dip. He won’t want to be outshone.
There are a myriad of question marks surrounding this team. The addition of Kapono will help address our 3 point shooting woes, but certainly not solve them. As much as I loved Reggie Evans “lunchpailing”, I couldn’t bear another season of missed layups. The additional loss of Theo Ratliff surely arouses questions of our interior defense. Are Speights and Smith tough enough? How many bigs that shoot free throw jumpers do we need?
Primoz Brezec! That oughta do it.
- DNA
