You might have noticed that I've been taking my very sweet time in approaching the Sixers' current ummmmm, (is there a noun that communicates a sense of depressingly inevitable doom that follows a few months of feeling a sense of joyous renewal, now crushed under the feet of a reality that is here for the forseeable future? Anyone? Bueller?) season of folly and futility. It's quite a mouthful. I have opted not to touch said disappointing season until now out of a sense of unwillingness to pass negative judgment on a thing that is more sad than anything else. The Sixers, now, are in a bad spot, and I see few ways to get out of it anytime soon. Merry Christmas, happy holidays, you heard it here for the umpteenth time. I am aware that the above observations are in no way revelatory. A blind man could see how badly-off the Sixers are, but he might be the only one who could, since no one who can see their hands in front of their faces and has the sense they were born with could stand to look at the Sixers for prolonged periods at the moment. It's just gotten that bad.
It isn't even like there's some mysterious ailment beguiling the team. After their surprising and much-ballyhooed run last year, we all knew that the Sixers were an athletic young team that ran the floor admirably, with vigor and flair, that played tenacious D, that at times got out-muscled on the boards and in the paint, whose biggest wakness was the lack of a truly dynamic playmaker in the half-court offense. It was a promising young team with some big holes, but with money to burn, too. An upgrade at the 2 and 4 positions should be able to solve those problems, one might think.
The new GM, Ed Stefanski, knew this and, by signing Elton Brand and sliding Igoudala to the 2-guard position, allowing the promising Thaddeus Young to start at the 3, seemed to address both positions, giving rise to much in the way of rejoicing expectation throughout the Delaware Valley. If only life and basketball were so simple. More so than any sport I can think of, basketball demands a tremendously high degree of chemistry and compatibility from successful teams.
Like anything else in life, basketball is a game that is played best by teams whose players are given defined roles that complement one another, and which allow each player to perform at a position, and in a role, that is suited to their talents and abilities. When this system is set up correctly, the parts should be able to play hard, each individual doing what they do best to the best of their abilities, without falling all over each other's feet in the process. Alas, this idea has failed to manifest itself in this current set of Sixers, though well do I remember the time a man of mercury, a man who was the answer took a posse of guys who couldn't carry his jock but who knew, accepted and excelled in their roles nearly all the way. You could almost touch it, it was this close. The Answer, indeed.
The
soul of this team has been its athleticism and its ability to use its youth and young manhood to crate havoc and overwhelm the discipline of their opponents, a sort of
purposeful entropy that damn near sent the Pistons out on their ass last spring. Alas, the great Detroit Bailout involved more Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton than Arlen Specter and Bob Casey. But it was close. You had to think that it was a style of play, perhaps even a philosophy of play, to pursue. It was exciting. It was also unpredictable and erratic, true, but gosh it was exciting. Now, having signed Brand and his lead feet, what was a sprint now looks like a ragged and inglorious, flopping jog while holding one's pants up all the way down the floor.
In hindsight, might it have made sense to deal Andre Miller, Thaddeus Young and picks for a more athletic and speedier power forward, then use the cap money on Baron Davis? Could the Sixers have been made in the same mold as the late-90s Kings and the more-recent Suns and Warriors? I don't really know. It's a moot point now, of course. The team is committed to Igoudala and Brand as the centerpieces for a number of years. They must build around them or dump them for garbage.
The thing is, Brand and Igoudala are not bad players. They are very good players who excel in relatively narrow basketball roles.
Brand is a banger, and
Igloo Dolla' is an athletic swingman, pure and simple. They are simply struggling with the awkwardness of a team/scheme that is using them badly. Elton is slow, and Igoudala struggles with his jumper. These are very important things to keep in mind as the team moves forward. NOTE: the team could move backwards, or sideways, just so long as it
moves from this intolerable and distastefully ill-considered traveshamockery (could someone get that Ferrell bit on youtube ASAP? Thanks.) of an NBA team. Whatever happens, Brand and Igoudala are the chips we have to play with.
I am aware that Brand and Igoudala are the most overtly struggling Sixers, but this fact, along with their contracts, are what makes them indispensable. Right now, no one is going to want them for an expiring contract, draft picks or a lawn chair set. Straight up, we cannot move them constructively, so we must reconstruct around them. We have some salable assets. While Igoudala has been playing shooting guard, he is clearly exposed for not having a good handle or a decent jumpshot, which happen to be the two most important skills that a 2-guard must possess. When he is moved back to his once and future position, Thaddeus Young is squeezed out. Young is a fine young player, which is just the reason he must go. There is no room for Young and Igoudala, and Young will have several suitors. He must go, for a draft pick, or a point guard, or a shooting guard, whatever. He's not a playmaker, and we need a playmaker. Write this down.
The Sixers, yesterday, made the first step to acknowledge that there is indeed a problem. That much is good. But the firing of Mo Cheeks was really a shame. Cheeks can no more
go out to mid-court, hold Igoudala's hand and show him how to nail jumpers than you or I can. Sure, I think he's been overly stubborn about putting Igoudala at shooting guard, he hasn't been able to control his players' frustration, and his team has underachieved, but the core problem of the team, the incompatibility of the roster, is on Ed Stefanski. I'm sure Mo Cheeks at the very least signed off on the Brand signing, but the ultimate responsibility lies with the man who built the roster. It's Stefanski's job to go out and get the tools, but I doubt that John Wooten could get much from this toolbox. At the very least, this is a shabby way to treat a class act, and a member of
the last championship team that this franchise has ever had.
Firing Cheeks is the easy thing. In the world of professional sports today, it was the predictable thing. It is an acknowledgment that change is needed, but a denial of the responsibility to supply that change. A shame, through and through. This team will limp, noticeably, for a while, aimlessly, like a leper, parts falling off, not replaced, years in the wilderness with no end in sight. It will get truly ugly. I wish I could write something different, but the truth will set you free. Wait 'till next year. Then, keep waiting.
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