Much has changed in Sixertown since last they have been discussed here. When last we spoke of them, the Sixers were a deeply dysfunctional rabble whose marquee free-agent had the unfortunate effect of pushing everyone else out of their accustomed roles, a team whose very identity was in question, a team that, in firing a coach who was a class act and a gentleman, seemed to be dodging essential questions about how to play the game as a unit. Were they a running team who, in the most significant free agency acquisition since Moses Malone, maxed out on a lumbering free agent mistake? Or had they simply not figured out how to run the offense with a big, brawny bear clogging the lane?

It was at this juncture, with these questions very much up in the air, that Cheeks was shown the door. I wrote at the time that this was a shame, that the classy thing to do would have been to give Cheeks a slightly longer leash, to show him some more faith. I was very unsold on the idea of giving the reins to some dude named DeLillo, who seemed to have some serious Randy Ayers potential, and I fretted that the only thing there was to do was to trade Young, and hope for the best. And then the Sixers all read my column, got all pissed off, and went out and started playing excellent basketball. Well, I feel like a jackass, thanks for asking. But, as we all know, the truth is never that simple.

There might, in some alternate universe, be some thread of reality where Brand stayed healthy, the Sixers gelled under their new coach, and this recent run of incredibly good play came with no elephants in the room. This is not that universe, and the elephant in question is named Elton.

No one seems to know quite what to make of the imminent return of Elton Brand. The reasons for this uncertainty abound. In this recent run of good basketball, the team has played with a new sense of purpose and tenacity, with real abandon. Watching the team clobber the Spurs, I found myself feeling that watching the team, a chore such a little time ago, had become a joyous exercise of being delighted by successive tough defense, well-run fast breaks, heads-up plays, and the dramatically improved and more dynamic half-court offense. The Sixers looked complete, looked like they did not need any more weapons.

In Brand's absence, several things have gone right. Igoudala, sprung from his unnatural prison at the 2, has been more free to do what he does best, playing heads-up, hard-nosed defense, and finding great opportunities in entropy. Speights, whose minutes have increased dramatically, has really looked good. Lou Williams has improved. The reason for this is that Brand, like any other low-post banger, must be fed the ball consistently to be effective, which has the converse effect of changing the rhythm of the game to a slower, more deliberate game, which for a team with such raw athleticism as the Sixers possess, is not necessarily a good thing. Remember the play in the third quarter when Igoudala spun around Bowen, narrowly missing the giant fork sticking out of Bruce's back, on the way to a reverse jam? With Brand on the court, there would not have been the space, within either the defense or the halfcourt offense, to do that.

Right now, the ball moves around like a pinball, the offense move like water down a mountain, swallowing and circumventing everything in its path, inexhorable; they are shooting the lights out, and the buckets are coming in bunches. It's been very fun to watch. When Igoudala sank the ball from behind half court tonight, it almost seemed like par for the course, the Sixers were in such a groove.

Interviewed after the Blazers' game, Andre Miller asserted that the team was not yet "around the corner." He was right. The Sixers did not yet have a statement victory. While they took care of that order of business tonight, the Sixers need to continue this stretch, need to prove that they can win without nailing nearly every shot they take, need to prove that they can battle a tough team and win in a close game when they are not at their best. They have not yet proven themselves as a playoff team. But for the first time in a while, maybe the first time since Iverson was here, they look good. They really look good.

Reports are that the Sixers will ease Brand back, that they don't want him to test his shoulder before he's really ready. In other news, Bush is leaving the White House because of a moving letter written by El Paso second grader Ellen Mifflin, which explained to him, in terms he could understand, that his presidency has been "kind of like poop." I mean, it make all the sense in the world not to test Brand's most-recent near death experience any more than is absolutely necessary, since he is at this point an investment on par with Bank of America's recent acquisition of Merrill Lynch, but this explanation smells more than a little bit. Given that the Sixers are now as hot as hot can be, and integrating Brand into the offense has already proven to be a problem, does it not make sense to hold Brand out until Doctors Ross, Green, House, James Andrews and of course Doctor J, have all been convinces that he is shipshape and seaworthy? Of course it does. You're with me or you're against me.

I think that Brand will be healthy when he comes back, for the simple reason that the Sixers have the luxury of easing him back in, holding off until he's fully ready. This is a good thing, a cushion wrought by the Sixers' recent good play. Whether he will ever be a part of a lean, mean, halfcourt machine is another question entirely, one that I am afraid to answer. Let me just mention that in a recent game of 2K against my bestest buddy Andyroo, I went with a Phoenix Suns lineup of Nash, Barbosa, Hill, Diaw and Stoudamire, effectively pretending that the Shaq trade never took place, since I wish ever so much that it had not. But alas. 

It's tough to integrate a guy like that, since it effectively changes the offensive dynamic of a team. The only successful running teams with a lumbering big man that I can think of are those Chris Webber Sacramento teams. With all due respect to Andre Miller, he's no Mike Bibby, and the Sixers haven't got a Peja either. Well. At a point, this is all academic. Brand will be back. The Sixers must find a way to integrate him. He is, let us not forget, a fabulous player. Time will tell, but I think that, with the Sixers on a roll, confident, sure of themselves, Brand is arriving under very good circumstances, with the team having proven that it can be successful independent of him. We must hope for the best.

Comments

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I have mixed feelings about the Brand thing, too. I don't know if he's a good enough passer to be the first choice post option (a la the Duncans and Yao's of the universe). Similar to the way the sixers have been playing, the timberwolves have become an exciting team recently by finding paths around their super big guy, Al Jefferson, a bit of a roadblock himself. 20 and 10 doesn't equal team success. sidenote: The sixers also don't have nearly enough shooters to be an inside-out team.