I'm more intrigued now about Noce than I was when first hearing about the deal. Spencer Hawes was the bigger target in the deal, and he still may be, but I think there's an assumption going around that Nocioni will be cementing his buns on the bench. I've always casually paid attention to him because he seemed to be another one of those international players that would stick it to the Sixers every time out, according to my unreliable eye test. It seemed inevitable that, like Donyell Marshall and Toni Kukoc, he'd come to Philly before his time was done just because management wanted to stop facing him.
But as I said, I'm more intrigued now, because he has a rare trait. He can shoot the basketball without seeming biologically left behind in all other aspects of the game (see KAPONO, JASON and RUSH, KAREEM, then go back and see KAPONO, JASON again). His rebounding isn't much of a strength any more as he's gotten older, but he's Scrappy (Doo) down there and on defense, netting him more hustle plays than his deteriorating skill set would allow. This quote brought to our attention by Edg5 also foreshadows some of our future pain and suffering:
I got a call from the Sixers GM to welcome me. He told me that they liked having me around and that I wasn't just a throw in or some random player, but someone they wanted to have on their team. They told me they want to give me the freedom to play my own way, and I can't tell you how reassuring it is to hear that from the get go.
With a willingness to play anywhere, a GM who believes in the church of basketball sense, and an entire organization/city that claims to have built itself on the T-word, I don't see how Andres Nocioni doesn't get 20 minutes per game minimum. Do I want to happen? Of course not. This is nothing against Mr. Nocioni himself nor the myriad commenters that he brings to the site. I think he'd be a terrific sixth man on a championship team. A replication of his 2005-06 season would be a spectacular addition for any contender.
But as we've repeated so many times here, this Sixers team is not a championship team, even if we had given some of the yacht-jumping voters today's demand and drafted DeMarcus Cousins or Derrick Favors last month. Noce serves virtually no purpose here, except taking minutes away from Thaddeus Young in a contract year or elongating Evan Turner's development curve. A player of his skill set would be perfect next to Andre Iguodala on the wing if he were 5 years younger. He's taking up space and I don't see any way Doug Collins doesn't give him 20 minutes a night.
Continuing the sad purgatorial trials of a team caught between mediocrity and rebuilding. Welcome to Rebuilocrity; Population: Half the NBA.