Since this blog came into existence, the Sixers have gone from decent to mediocre to terrible to mediocre again. The 2012 Lockout-shortened version of this team, no different on its surface from last year's squad, seemed destined to follow in its footsteps. Despite a young club with a number of very appealing high-upside players, optimism wasn't running rampant around these parts for any chunk of time.

"Dark have been my dreams of late." Now, at long last, that has come to an end.

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"Andre Iguodala thinks he's Kobe Bryant!"

"I'd like Iguodala if he'd accept his role offensively."

These are some of the claims you'll hear if you turn on talk radio, or even visit some 76ers blogs or message boards.

Let's step back and think about that rationally. This is a guy who this year is averaging 10.1 field goal attempts per game in over 34 minutes. He averaged 11.3 attempts last year in nearly 37 minutes.

Not only is he not even remotely close to Kobe Bryant's field goal attempts (24.2 per game in 38.4 minutes) or usage rate (38.2 to Iguodala's 18.9), he's not even close to the team leader in either categories. He ranks 10th on the team in field goal attempts per minute and 7th on the team in usage percentage.

Kobe Bryant indeed.

Here's the rub, as I can already hear detractors complain about paying Iguodala $13 million per year to take 10 field goals per game: Even with limited touches, he's 3rd on the team in PER and 1st in Win Shares. Iguodala is quietly having the most productive season of his career.

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The landscape of the "Trade Iguodala" debate changes with each jump shot. To my knowledge, no player of Andre Iguodala's caliber has ever been the subject of as many never-ending trade rumors from season to season. He's been hated on unfairly, much like Philadelphians Ryan Howard (for contractual reasons), Donovan McNabb (for smiling reasons) before him, and Eric Lindros (for concussioning reasons) but none of those guys were talked about as trade targets for three, going on four straight seasons.

This year, with the Sixers sitting at 10-4, there is absolutely no chance in hell that Iguodala gets moved. Read on.

[ed. note: Moved up because we know you love talking Andre.]

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With Spencer Hawes sidelined with an iffy back, the Sixers frontcourt is extremely thin. Look no further than last night when TONY BATTIE MacGyver'd himself into the starting lineup. Doug Collins isn't ready to hand over significant time to rookie Nikola Vucevic, and with Marreese Speights currently traded for 64 cents, there aren't many in-house options left (excluding barrel-scraping Lavoy Allen and Craig Brackins). Though Hawes hasn't been as integral to the offense as some have believed, they'll need to explore the market for a backup big man to come in with Vuce and Thaddeus Young on the Night Shift.

This has the potential to go either two ways: passably decent or nauseatingly terrible. There's not going to be a huge win come out of a minor trade or FA signing like this one but there could be an idiotic one, so let's hope for passable. People had guessed that after the Speezy trade, a roster spot would have opened up for Xavier Silas, but that does not seem likely now, though the backup point guard role is still mysteriously void of actual point guards.

Consider that the Sixers don't have much in the way of assets (Andres Nocioni's expiring, ehhh Brackins, Mo's trade exception and draft picks), the options aren't enviable. Here are some purely speculative veteran-y candidates the Sixers could target. I left out Drew Gooden purely for my own health.

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DeMarcus Cousins has been deemed a headcase since before his first game as a Kentucky Wildcat. He was "difficult". Under John Calipari, he averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds per game on 56% shooting in less than 24 minutes per game. He was the most dominant collegiate big man the nation has seen since, arguably, Shaquille O'Neal. But because he sparred with Calipari and came with a questionable level of maturity, he fell to the fifth pick in the 2011 NBA Draft behind at least three players who are less talented than he, including Evan Turner. Million dollar arm, ten cent head.

The Sacramento Kings gambled on him because, well, they haven't been good since Rick Adelman left five years prior and the roster was lacking in talent. As expected, he had a mixed bag of a rookie campaign. The talent was there but the shot selection was questionable and his head only occasionally stopped by. Now, only a few games into the Lockout-shortened season, he has either demanded a trade or not demanded a trade depending on who you ask. It seems like, despite reports that they won't, the Kings are going to have to bite the bullet and trade him, probably for less of a return than they deserve.

The Sixers will not be one of the teams putting their hat in the DMC ring, because of a host of reasons you already know (Collins and chemistry being the main ones) but I'm of the opinion that they should. Here's why.

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The Philadelphia 76ers are coming off a season in which they went 41-41, made the playoffs, and barely evaded a sweep at the hands of eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat. With a new coach in Doug Collins left to clean up the mess that Eddie Jordan left, expectations were low enough that a 14-win improvement and a first round playoff exit got the organization excited at the young team they're putting out there. Now here we are a few months later, having narrowly avoided a lost season, with almost the exact same team as the quirky hustlers that went .500 in 2010-11 and a new ownership that wants to continue the same trajectory.

Earlier this morning, Jordan ran an article outlining his optimism at the Sixers shortened season ahead of us. In keeping with my Grinch-like qualities, I'll be playing Devil's Advocate, Mr. Scrooge, Salazar Slytherin, Miss Trunchbull, Jaime Lannister, that muscle-y guy from Avatar, ccancer, and the Soup Nazi to his rose-colored glasses he can't seem to take off. Brace yourself for a harsh dose of realism and neverending depression after the jump. Happy Christmas, Harry's and Ron's.

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The season is a day away, Merry Christmas! The lockout ruined our swag and normal routine when it comes to previewing the Sixers, so we're kind of doing it on the fly. Rather than the typical preview I decided to ask myself five questions regarding the upcoming season, then give two versions of the answer – the short and long. If you're pressed for time (It is Christmas!) just read the short answers. If you're baffled by one the answers, read the method to my madness in the long-winded version. I'm normally optimistic about the Sixers, but this year I'm really sipping the Kool-Aid. Unzip your Jrue Happy Holiday onesie, put down your Fruity Pebbles and wake up from your top 10 nap, it's time to preview the Sixers 2011-2012 season! You know the drill, make the jump.

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One of the major concerns on Nikola Vucevic coming out of college was his questionable ability to defend the pick and roll game that is so prevalent in the NBA.

While we're only two (exhibition) games into the season, the second game against the Wizards did provide a glimpse of the problems Vucevic will face. After the jump I'm going to take a look at his technique defending the pick and roll, and how (if at all) he can overcome his athletic limitations.

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