I'm not going to sway your opinion with any bias on this one, I'm just going to present you twenty facts after which you can profess your feelings about this Sixers team to the world, or at the very least, the Liberty Ballers community. On with it.
- The team is currently 8 games under .500 and 1/2 game out of the 8th spot.
- They're closer to the 13th spot (4 games) than they are to the 6th spot (5.5 games)
- Philadelphia hasn't had a winning season since 2004-05, when they lost to Detroit in the first round of the playoffs.
- They've made the playoffs twice since then but neither team had a winning record.
- They haven't won a playoff series since before the Conferences were split into three divisions in 2003, when they won a first round matchup against the Hornets in their first year away from Charlotte.
- Among the players on this team, only Tony Battie (3), Andres Nocioni (1), Darius Songaila (1), and Jason Kapono (1) have ever won a playoff series.
- The Sixers have are 6-14 against teams with a winning record. They're 11-11 against the others.
- The Sixers are 1-15 when their opponent scores 100 points or more.
- If the Sixers were in the Western Conference, they would be 6 games behind Portland for the 8th seed.
- The Wells Fargo Center averages 68% capacity during Sixers games, worst in the NBA. They're a better draw on the road, averaging 91.7% filled -- 8th in the league.
- Andre Iguodala has led the Sixers in scoring four times this season.
- Marreese Speights TOV%, WS/48, PER, TS%, and eFG% have been trending the wrong way since his rookie season. The only significant area in which he has improved statistically is DRB%, where he leads the team with 25.0%.
- Of the team's last 5 first round picks (in four seasons), one is starting, one is traded, and three come off the bench. They combine for 159 career starts.
- Since I wrote this article about the inflated usage rate of Louis Williams, his USG% has gone up to 27.9%.
- Lou Williams averaged exactly 9.3 field goals attempted in the months of October, November, and December. In 9 games of January, he's averaged 13.3 shots.
- In the last ten games, Elton Brand, Jrue Holiday, and Andre Iguodala have averaged 38 minutes per game.
- The Sixers still don't have anyone averaging at least 15 points per game, the only team in the league without one.
- Jodie Meeks shoots a better percentage from beyond the three point line (39.6) than inside it (39.0).
- If the season ended today (parenthetical fact: it doesn't) the Sixers would have the 10th spot in the lottery. The Pacers had the 10th pick last year and took Paul George (!).
- Liberty Ballers is 21-21 on 300+ comment game threads.
What all of these stats mean is up to you. I'm most happy about #20. #6 makes me laugh and #14/15 make me cry.
What I make of the last 8 years in which the Sixers haven't won a playoff series is that mediocrity isn't fun. The team hasn't committed itself to rebuilding and despite Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday, has still not gone all out in the rebuilding process. And these last 8 years are proof that unless you drop anchor on the rebuilding ship, you'll be cast off to the island of mediocrity and there aren't any volleyballs to keep you company.