With all the talk of excitement lately, I've come to the realization that the Sixers will probably be a more exciting team to watch this season. Running the Princeton Offense means higher scoring games, and winning games 120-115 is usually more exciting than grind-it-out 91-87 wins. But will the Sixers be a better team?
New coach Eddie Jordan brings along his fancy Princeton Offense which made All-Stars out of Gilbert Arenas, Antwan Jamison and Caron Butler in Washington. He also brought out the best in offensively challenged players like DeShawn Stevenson and Brendan Haywood. EJ could very well come into Philly and make first time All-Stars out of Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young. Heck, maybe even Lou Williams. But is that necessarily a good thing?
What makes an All-Star? I'd say the two "S"s: Stats and Success. In order to be an All-Star in the NBA you have to put up good numbers and be on a semi-successful team at the break. Arenas, Jamison and Butler all fell under this category. Defense doesn't factor into the equation -- unless of course you have outrageous stats to back it up. Has Shane Battier ever made an All-Star team? No. Is he a better basketball player than some of the guys who do make it? Yes.
My question is: would you rather see the Sixers roll with EJ's high octane offense, become "All-Stars" and play in more exciting games, or continue to play solid defense and win grind-it-out games? Now, there's a good chance they can accomplish both. After all, they weren't exactly world-beaters defensively, especially against the three. My only fear is, the Princeton Offense will turn Andre Iguodala into an "All-Star", but he'll sacrifice some of his lockdown defense to do so.