Philadelphia 76ers ‘09-10 NBA season preview
Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — previewing the NBA season by predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team. Same theme, different season…
Added: Jrue Holiday, Jason Kapono, Rodney Carney
Lost: Andre Miller, Reggie Evans, Donyell Marshall, Theo Ratliff, Kareem Rush
Ceiling: 5th seed, Eastern Conference
Without too much roster turnover, this is kind of a new-look Sixers. Elton Brand is back after missing 53 games last season, Jason Smith is back to bolster the frontline after missing all of last season, and Eddie Jordan is in as head coach. And with Andre Miller gone, point guard looks totally different with younger, more athletic, less reliable Lou Williams and Jrue Holiday sharing minutes instead of the veteran Miller … Jordan is trying to implement his Princeton-style offense, but if all else fails, he has two 20-point scorers he can rely on in Andre Iguodala and Brand to carry the offense, plus Thaddeus Young looks like a budding star … As bad as Sam Dalembert is offensively, he can rebound the ball and block shots and hold his own against most centers in the East … Keep an eye on Marreese Speights. He was solid as a rookie, showed signs of being a beast in the preseason, and looks ready to be an impact player on a playoff team.
Basement: Lottery
The absence of Miller will be felt most strongly early in the season, when Williams and Holiday try to figure things out and the whole team adjusts to Jordan’s system. Not a good sign when just a couple weeks ago, Jordan admitted they hadn’t mastered it yet … I still find it hard to believe that a team doesn’t benefit from having somebody like Brand around and healthy, but there’s a lot of people who think the Sixers are better without him. On top of that, he hasn’t looked that great in the preseason, averaging nine points and six rebounds while shooting 41 percent in eight games … Holiday has also struggled in the preseason; at one point he got a DNP-CD. If he can’t provide quality minutes behind Williams, it’ll be on Iguodala to initiate a lot of the offense. Which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s a lot to hang on somebody who is already the top scorer and the one who takes on the toughest defensive assignments … Last season Philly was able to take second place in the Atlantic Division with a .500 record, which won’t be so easy with the Raptors having improved, and a playoff seed won’t be so easy to grab with others East teams on the rise.
*** *** ***
10/23 — Dallas Mavericks
10/23 — Washington Wizards
10/23 — Minnesota Timberwolves
10/22 — Utah Jazz
10/22 — Orlando Magic
10/22 — Phoenix Suns
10/21 — Charlotte Bobcats
10/21 — San Antonio Spurs
10/21 — Miami Heat
10/19 — Oklahoma City Thunder
10/19 — Milwaukee Bucks
10/15 — Portland Trail Blazers
10/14 — Chicago Bulls
10/13 — Golden State Warriors
10/12 — Toronto Raptors
10/9 — Houston Rockets
10/8 — Detroit Pistons
10/7 — Memphis Grizzlies
10/6 — New York Knicks
10/5 — New Orleans Hornets
10/2 — Atlanta Hawks
9/30 — Sacramento Kings
9/29 — New Jersey Nets
9/28 — Denver Nuggets
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October 26th, 2009 at 10:59 am
GABRIEL BROGDEN says:
As bad as Sam Dalembert is offensively, he can rebound the ball and block shots and hold his own against most centers in the East —}}} Yeah right.
I guess your statement’s true. The operative word is MOST.
October 26th, 2009 at 11:24 am
GABRIEL BROGDEN says:
Let’s see about that “MOST” word:
Starting Cs in the EC.
atl div: Bargs, Perk, Lopez and JJ/(or)Curry.
se div: Horford, O’neal, Chandler, Haywood, and Dwight
cen div: Noah, Shaq, Hibbert, Kwame and Bogut
OK – Sammie can hold his own against most. True. But if 6ers get the 8,7, or 6 spot…he CANNOT bang with whoever’s 1,2,3.
Umm, Hibbert, JJ, Kwame and Noah…Sammie probably beats them 9 outta 10 times.
Horford, JO, and Haywood – probably holds his own as you say…Curry too.
Skillwise, Perk and Chandler match up pretty well.
Dwight and Shaq will make him irrelevant.
But interestingly enough, I also got Bargs settin’ Sammie on FIRE this year. I just gotta gut feeling on this one.
Bogut and Lopez – honestly I don’t know. And truthfully, they’re better bball players than Sammie.
Following that lil’ dissection, I think the below dudes will give Sammie and in turn the 6es, a FIT.
Bogut, Lopez, Bargs, Shaq and Dwight.
*Horford will probably join the list of C’s Sammie can’t deal with effectively.
OK AB, so you’re right…hold his own against “MOST” Cs in the conference.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Me says:
U went thru all that just to agree?
October 26th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Kobeef says:
The Sixers need to dump Elton Brand for some cap space.
He’s getting outplayed by Mareese Speights on a nightly basis and is making about 10 times as much as Speights.
October 26th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Devo says:
you forgot the prized free agent signing the Sixers got
with Primoz Brezec.
dude looks like he should be wearing a helmet to work.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
That's whats up says:
doc… where you at???
October 26th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
the cynic says:
5th seed is pretty generous; this team is going to have to fight just to make the playoffs