Record 5-6

In the midst of yet another disappointing showing, the brightest light that we’ve seen this season has been temporarily extinguished.  Speights left limping in the 4^th against the Bulls, and the Sixers will be without his services for possibly the next 2 months, which just sucks.  Aside from Iguodala, Speights has been the only other player to show a genuine improvement in his game, and our best bench scorer by far.

If the 2^nd year Florida product had not gone down, his continued production for the next 8 weeks would have made him a serious candidate for Most Improved Player.  In the forthcoming rotations, we will most likely see an increase in minutes for Jason Smith, the activation of Primoz Brezec, and a smaller lineup with Thad returning to the 4.

Mainly though, it’s just sad to see a player go down just when he is just beginning to flourish.

Speights was on his way to having an outstanding sophomore year.

The team’s play has been very inconsistent, but consistent enough that they seem to start first and third quarters very well, and let the game slip the rest of the time.  Thad’s play is coming along slowly since he is reverting back to this driving game and taking less jumpshots.  Holiday hasn’t shown much since his outburst in the Suns game.  Our offense continues to struggle against zone defenses.

Brand made it public knowledge that he has not been happy about his limited minutes after being benched for several fourth quarters.  Eddie Jordan stated that his rotations are based on productivity and are without preference for contract size or starter status, subliminally meaning that if Elton was playing the way he is being paid to, he’d be in the games at crunch time.

Is it not Elton’s fault?  Does he just not fit into the Princeton Offense?  Do we simply not have the right talent around him?

What happened to Eddie Jordan's Princeton offense? I think this guy ate it. (taken at Sixers/Bobcats game)

It’s Elton’s fault.

In the Bulls game, he looked like he had something to prove, and showed flashes of being a great player, but also continued to brick open shots, get his shot blocked, and get easily trapped under the rim with the basketball.  Right now it seems that any “rust shaking” will only yield slightly more results.

*Note from Magnum – I was at the Bobcats game, and Elton had a 19-11 game…perhaps the rust is shaking off. Well, hope springs eternal, right?

This season has had limited expectations, illustrated perfectly by the fact that this team is dead last in the NBA in attendance.  People can say, “Oh.  Philly isn’t a basketball town.”

Guess what?  Towns change.  The Sixers are last in attendance because the people recognize a substandard product.  I guess those same people can argue that Philly is a football town, but somehow after the last two World Series the city seems to have undergone a radical metamorphosis.

Does this make us bandwagoners?  Perhaps, but isn’t that human nature?  People love to root for a winner.  It just so happens that the Bulls are #1 in attendance, and it might have something to do with 6 championships, and oh yeah, that Jordan guy.

-DNA