Another week, another 1-3 record. With losses to the Mavericks, Raptors, and the Indiana Pacers, the Sixers have now fallen to 6-9 on the season.
But in comparison to other teams around the league, well, that ain't half bad. If the season ended today, the Sixers would hold the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. With that in mind, the rankings shouldn't be too bad, right?
See for yourself.
Nineteen was a popular number for the Sixers this week, as both ESPN's Marc Stein and Yahoo's Marc Spears placed them just inside the top 20. Both writers also opted to drop them three spots, down from their rank of 16 the week prior.
Stein had this to say:
You keep saying that there's no way Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes can sustain this production-of-a-lifetime they've been giving Philly. Tony Wroten and James Anderson have predictably returned to Earth, but Turner and Hawes? Still producing. And so is MCW now that he's back from that foot ailment.
The fact that Tony Wroten and James Anderson were both at one point considered outside the stratosphere of the Earth is something in itself. Turner may still be producing, but has shown clear regression towards "normal Evan" since his hot start to the year. If anyone can sustain their high level of play, it's Hawes, but he typically seems to get hurt around this time. Sell em' high, Samuel.
USA Today and John Schuhmann of NBA.com shared a similar sentiment this week as well, placing Philadelphia at twenty. The Sixers were the biggest drop in USA Today's rankings, falling all the way from 15, while Schuhmann had them at 17 last week.
From USA Today:
Michael Carter-Williams might be as good as most of the top picks in the 2014 draft, anyway.
I'd take that as a compliment, I think.
Who showed the most love: Matt Moore of CBSSports
Moore placed them at 18 this week.
Still feisty, but starting to understand who they are. Ignorance was bliss.
Taking Indiana down to the wire with just nine healthy players certainly deservedly earns them the title of feisty. Show me "fierce", Hollis Thompson.
Who was the biggest hater: Jason Patt of SBNation
Patt appallingly placed the Sixers at 24 this week, down four spots from being 21st last week. Patt even placed the 4-9 Orlando Magic and the 5-8 Washington Wizards in front of Philadelphia, a sign of pure disrespect.
His thoughts:
Just to hammer home how terrible the East is, the Sixers currently hold the No. 7 seed despite having a -5.7 average point differential. That mark would be second-worst in the West.
So two teams in the East with worse records deserve a higher ranking than the Sixers? Highly debatable.