Low Field Goal Percentage Plagues Philadelphia 76ers

    The Philadelphia 76ers is having a disappointing season. The team is playing badly with a record of 7 wins and 10 losses. Expectations were high going into the season especially with the acquisition of Elton Brand this past summer. But, the team is not playing well together. Their shooting is one of the main problems and has been all season.

Jan. 9/08 - Raptors vs 76ers (via RaptorsTalk.com)

The Philadelphia 76ers shooting woes have plagued them all season. The 76ers as a team are shooting an unimpressive .43 FG percentage. They are currently ranked 24th at field goal percentage in the NBA.  This is one of the main reasons why the team is not winning alot of games this year. Most of the best teams in the NBA have an excellent shooting percentage such as the Cleveland Cavs, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns and LA Lakers. All of these winning teams are in the top ten in the NBA in FG percentage. Shooting percentage is extremely important if you want to win alot of games.

There are several players on the 76ers that have bad shooting percentages. Louis Williams and Andre Iguodala have horrendous shooting numbers for the season. For example, Andre Iguodala’s FG% is .398 and Lou Williams’s FG% is .342. Both Williams and Iguodala are struggling even more at three point shooting. To illustrate, Andre Iguodala’s 3P% is .256 and Lou Williams’s 3P% is .205. If their numbers don't improve they will keep losing close games and if will be tough for the team to improve.

There are a few ways the 76ers could improve their shooting. They could improve their shot selection and force shots less because that is part of the problem. For instance, Andre Iguodala still seems to be loss in the offense and he can't seem to find good shots within the flow of the offense.  The 76ers could also add a excellent shooter to the team and that could help with their shooting woes. There are alot of good shooters the 76ers could go after like Ben Gordon, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, Jason Kapano, JJ Redick or Anthony Parker.

If the 76ers can figure out how to improve through shooting the team will improve tremendously. They would rise from a mediocre team to one of the best in the NBA. This won't be a easy problem to solve. But once it is solved I think the 76ers will then finally play to their true potential. And if this problem isn't solved this will be a long season because the 76ers low field goal percentage is really hurting them.

80372927FM044_RAPTORS_MAGIC (via RaptorsTalk.com)