Sixers are becoming national media darlings
by Derek Bodner on Jan 10, 2012 10:00 AM PST
in Philadelphia 76ers Links
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PrintThe Sixers, it seems, have become national media darlings overnight, getting coverage from outlets that rarely paid attention to them in the past. Some of the best in the NBA blogosphere have been giving the Sixers credit, a result of their 6-2 start, the best in 11 years for the franchise.
Yesterday, Henry Abbott, Chad Ford, Tom Haberstroh, and Brian Windhorst had the Sixers in their top-5 teams list on ESPN's 5-on-5 roundtable, although this was tempered with "I don't expect them to be on this list forever" from Henry Abbott.
John Schuhmann, from NBA.com's Hangtime blog, had a long and well-researched post about the Sixers reserves, including a gem of a quote from Doug Collins about Thaddeus Young getting All-Defensive Team consideration.
Zach Lowe from SI's Point Forward blog then came in with a slightly different perspective (and one Mike and I generally agree on) to wait until the Sixers have played a tougher schedule before putting them in the elite class. Not that they're not a playoff team, not that they shouldn't be a good and enjoyable team to watch all year, not that they couldn't even win the Atlantic. They're just saying that it may be easy to slightly overrate the Sixers based on the bump they've received from little roster turnover (which shouldn't be as big of an advantage come playoff time) and by a relatively easy schedule.
Kevin Pelton over at Basketball Prospectus has a a piece on the Sixers fast start. It's subscription based, but well worth the read if you're a hoops geek. And let's be honest, aren't we all?
Then, there's the Sixers rise in power rankings, with ESPN (7th), NBA.com (7th), SBNation (6th), and Chris Sheridan (5th) all having very lofty rankings for the Sixers. Since then, Matt Moore of CBS Sports has the Sixers in the 5th spot, all the way up from 11th a week ago and 15th to start the season. Also, John Hollinger just released his formula-based ranking, which has the Sixers up at the top spot. Queue up Queen? Probably a little premature.
Regardless of whether the Sixers are legit or not, it's nice for them to be at least relevant. Except at the Wells Fargo Center, of course, where even with drastically slashed prices the team only drew slightly over 8,000 last night.
UPDATE (Levin) - And now John Hollinger has ingested some sort of acid/arsenic combination and lists the Philadelphia 76ers of Pennsylvania, United States, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Universe, Booker T, Matter as NUMBER ONE in his power rankings. Granted it's formulaic-based rather than subjectively, but it's still rather absurd. In honor of that, we'll be selling #1 foam fingers with Spencer's face on them for you to poke your siblings with.
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Liberty BallPESSMISTICers, am I right?!
by Michael Levin on Jan 10, 2012 11:14 AM PST up reply actions
Indeed, I am waiting to see how they fair against really good teams. Pacers, Pistons, Raptors, Suns, Warriors, and Hornets are all teams they should be beating. And barely any of those teams look to be a real lock for playoffs. I’m very happy with the quick start. Vucevic has been good, better than I thought. But the schedule needs to get though and Sixers have to do well in that tough span before I say they have taken a next step.
Dante Nelson-Staff Writer at "The Sixer Sense" and "Hardcourt Mayhem"
Follow on Twitter @Dantewrites
And minutes after you publish this, Hollinger publishes his latest power rankings.
Editor at SB Nation's Philadelphia Union blog, The Brotherly Game. Follow me on Twitter.
No human intervention, #1! Hard to argue with it. Let’s hope they smash the Kings tonight and stay there.
by clintdelicious22 on Jan 10, 2012 10:17 AM PST up reply actions
This makes no sense.
"They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds." - Wilt Chamberlain
Follow @Sohil_Doshi
It’s because Hollinger’s rankings are based on team stats so far – and Sixers lead the league in defense and point differential (because we’ve blown out bad teams). Time will tell if we stay there.
Lol yeah I know.
But the realist in me is getting prepared for a tough stretch that will bring them back down to Earth. All of this sudden attention, I feel, is setting them up for failure.
"They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds." - Wilt Chamberlain
Follow @Sohil_Doshi
I mean, I don’t expect them to win the NBA championship this year – but Doug’s rotation combined with the style they play means the ball almost always finds the guys who are playing well. At the very least it’s really fun to watch, and it probably means that we’ll be alright even if key players go through tough stretches (i.e. Jrue lately).
No doubt. I am 100% behind the excitement in this team. It started last year where even during the 3-13 start, our team was still playing hard and were actually in the games. Last year was a breath of fresh air from what seemed like a decade of “He-who-must-not-be-named”. This year we wanted to see improvement upon the last and what consistent coaching actually meant.
However, we’ll see what this team is actually made of moving forward. I’m still in the camp that this team is still in the mediocrity level, albeit on the highest level of mediocrity. While we are winning, the glaring weaknesses are there. We can’t really match physicality and we are thin in the front court. This spells bad for the long-run or playoffs if you look in the short-term. The problem is, acquiring stronger pieces often requires money and appeal, two things that we currently don’t have. Will our young guys keep developing and stars emerge? I don’t know. But, being a realist about it all shouldn’t mean that we are being pessimistic (not that you or anyone in particular is saying it). Cautiously optimistic is where I’m really at.
"They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds." - Wilt Chamberlain
Follow @Sohil_Doshi
One minor problem
Not many teams are deep in the front court. Indiana is actually quite deep for today’s NBA standards and we seemed to handle that ok. There are like 10 beastly big men in this league. I get tired of hearing that excuse as to why we will eventually lose.
Not that it’s a prerequisite but championship contending teams typically have some type of force in the paint. I don’t know if we can match this when it comes time to face that type of team (say the Bulls or Heat)
"They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds." - Wilt Chamberlain
Follow @Sohil_Doshi
Appeal?
While I think it’s a bit far off, if the sixers put together a very respectable finish (i.e. Atlantic Division champions, top 4 seed, playoff round win, and very competitive versus future NBA Champion team, taking them to 6-7 games in a playoff series loss) what’s to say that a superstar wouldn’t sign here with the belief that he could take the 76ers over the top and into NBA Finals contention.
I really do believe that Jrue is going to establish himself as an All-Star PG, ET will emerge as a solid contributor (all-star in 2013) and we will need a stud big man to come here and solve our front court problems. It’s a pipe-dream, but it’s not a distant possibility if the Sixers keep playing this well.
fair enough.
"They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds." - Wilt Chamberlain
Follow @Sohil_Doshi
Well, he did warn us...
Hollinger Leaps on the Sixers Bandwagon…
I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, there will be no trade for Monta!
HEY EVERYBODY, HOP ON THE BANDWAGON! THE WATER’S FINE!
by Michael Levin on Jan 10, 2012 11:33 AM PST up reply actions
for those with insider
here’s the explanation
by ColeStevens on Jan 10, 2012 11:45 AM PST up reply actions
can’t paste full excerpt, but basically he says the he expects the Sixers to regress to the mean, not a threat to miami/chicago, but a legit top 4 seed in the east.
Derek Bodner
SBN Philly || LibertyBallers || DraftExpress || NBAPlaybook.com
derek.bodner@draftexpress.com
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by Derek Bodner on Jan 10, 2012 11:53 AM PST up reply actions
If only some people commenting on his power rankings could read and reason. Everyone is freaking out because the Sixers were number one without thinking about how he reaches his rankings and small sample size.
Some guy at PSU Hershey Med Center just discovered a virus that eats cancer. Where were the CNN trucks for that? THON will probably break $10 mil this year. Put that on "Outside the Lines".
I want to see this team play Chicago
If I’m not mistaken we beat them twice late in the year and llooked like a bad matchup.
Flattered
LibertyBallers.com is the first fansite in history ever to argue the national media and stats are overrating their team. (Kevin Pelton, Basketball Prospectus)
Derek Bodner
SBN Philly || LibertyBallers || DraftExpress || NBAPlaybook.com
derek.bodner@draftexpress.com
Follow @derekbodner
by Derek Bodner on Jan 10, 2012 12:05 PM PST reply actions 6 recs
We're pretty awesome.
"They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds." - Wilt Chamberlain
Follow @Sohil_Doshi
If we weren’t blowing these teams out I would buy the weak schedule talk but since we are I’m not buying we’re just getting a break with our schedule
The Legend
so you think we’re a top 5 team in the league?
Derek Bodner
SBN Philly || LibertyBallers || DraftExpress || NBAPlaybook.com
derek.bodner@draftexpress.com
Follow @derekbodner
by Derek Bodner on Jan 10, 2012 3:14 PM PST up reply actions
Damn...
The fairweather fans we were worrying about last night? I think this news will bring them out in full force. I hope this doesn’t get out of hand. But if the Sixers are doing good, I can tolerate them.
Two points
1) I was at the game last night and the Sixers were seriously warming up to Imma Boss…clearly, this is the difference maker.
2) I was annoyed at the lack of respect the Sixers were getting over the last couple of days, but now I’m just mortified by what I’ve seen today (and not just from ESPN).
To add even more fun...
Nikola Vucevic officially has the highest PER in the NBA. Rejoice!!!
Amusing...
…that David Thorpe has Young Nik as the 38th best rookie in the NBA, one place ahead of Lavoy Allen.
I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, there will be no trade for Monta!
76ers Facebook page has a poll
What is the reason for the Sixers successful start this season?
Option 2, garnering 18 votes so far, is Allen Iverson. Did I miss something?
There’s always money in the banana stand Allen Iverson.
by Michael Levin on Jan 10, 2012 2:12 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
I agree with the majority of people of this fansite, it’s too early to celebrate and we have to wait until the schedule gets tougher. However we must admit that (although not with top class opponents) the sixers showed stretches of well played bb, which is always a good sign. Happy to see many fans having such a developed sense of critical thinking. Well done.
......
u better not be joking about those foam fingers….
by Tj Singh on Jan 10, 2012 2:19 PM PST via mobile reply actions
It started as a joke but now I’m thinking…..hard……
by Michael Levin on Jan 10, 2012 2:26 PM PST up reply actions
Too early...
thanks for jinxing us… national media.
I think everyone should be bilateral coordinated.
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