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There's been no shortage of Big Picture Sixers coverage ever since I spoke with 94.1 WIP's Spike Eskin after the Sixers beat the Cavs on Tuesday. If you're catching up, listen to my conversation with Spike (and the afterward provided by CEO Adam Aron) here, then read my reaction to all of the nauseating businessman things Aron said here, and finally pore over Derek's expertly-written article about how it all starts with the owner here. That last one is my favorite non-comedy thing that's ever been on the site, so definitely give it a double read. Then, if you want to exercise your creative muscles, chime in to Jordan's piece on building a cost-effective Sixers championship team.
Spike Eskin, on CBS Philly, has his own read on what went down with Adam Aron and me the other night. The fact that anything went down at all is pretty cool. Just like Yung Joc.
Keeping on with the "is this team good enough" theme, I'd like to direct you to a tk76 comment that illustrates perfectly how this team really isn't much better than the two teams that slid into the playoffs the last two non-Eddie Jordan years.
To be 100% accurate and honest… the only difference between this year’s team and any previous Sixers team is that this year’s version has more consistent success against bad teams. Not sure how losing the the Heat helped them be better against bad teams.
Sixers Against Teams .500 or better:
11/12: 11-18 = .38
10/11: 15-25 = .38
08/09: 14-26 = .35Sixers Against teams worse than .500:
11/12: 17-4 = .81
10/11: 26-16 = ..62
08/09: 27-15 = ..64
That's really nice work there. Do good teams take care of business against the dregs of the league? Yes. Have the Sixers beaten the piss out of most of those sub-.500 teams? Absolutely. But when it comes down to it, this club hasn't gotten much better than the one in those years. Boston's gotten worse, so there's a good chance the Sixers fit into the 4-seed, but to what end? This comment was in response to the idea that it's a good thing the Sixers made the playoffs last year because they got "experience" in a playoff atmosphere. That's so intangible that I don't buy it. Plus, if they got all that great experience, why are they 0-for-a-million in games decided by 5 points or less? Shouldn't crunch time most closely replicate a playoff atmosphere and all that experience in five games against the Heat benefit down the stretch? No? Well I'll just keep dreaming about Bismack Biyombo then.
And finally, here's an article about the NBA Playoff Picture, which could get pretty ugly for the Sixers if they go cold again in the stretch run. Getting the Hawks or Pacers in the first round would be muuuuuuuuuuuch better than the Heat and the Bulls, obviously. Win some games, boys.