<div align="center"><font color=""Red"">The Starting 5</font> <font color=""DarkRed"">Allen Iverson</font> http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nba/players/2005/3094.jpg"> What A+ <font color=""darkred"">Andre Iguodala</font> Andre Iguodala had a very memorible season. He won the MVP for the Rookies / Sophmore Challenge, and finished a mere 2nd in the Dunk Contest, which many people thought he should have won. Although Iggy had a terrific all star break, he didn't really improve much from last season to this season. But you can't really blame him since the guy is playing with AI and Webber, both who demand the ball in order to be effective. But the guy is a great defensive player and has the potential to be one of the best in the league. He is always guarding the top players of the opposing team, and has shut out quite a few. I think the main thing Iggy has to work on is to be more aggressive on the offensive side of the ball. At times, he is too timid and just passes up the ball. He should drive and attack more, and in the off season i hope that he continues to work on his shot. All in all, Iggy is a good player and i think he will be a star one day in the league. B <font color=""darkred"">Kyle Korver</font> Korver, Korver, Korver, what can I say? I expected the guy to go into the season being one of the best three point shooters in the league, considering he finished 2nd in the three point shootout last year. But in the start of the season, the guy was a liability on defense, and had trouble finding his shot. As the season progressed, he had some good games and some off games. All in all, Korver was very inconsistent. I didn't think he had as good of a season as last, and I think his main problem is his confidence. Last season, whenever he got the open shot, I would think that he would make it 99 times out of 100. All can't be said for this season. He has really struggled, and as a result, he didn't even have enough confidence to participate in the three point shoot out in the all star break. I just hope in the off season he works hard, and comes back being the Korver of the 04-05 season. C <font color=""DarkRed"">Chris Webber </font> Well, Chris Webber was supposed to finally be the answer to Philly's problems. He is supposed to be the side kick for AI. AI and Webber are one of the most high scoring duos in the NBA. Unfortuanatly, both need the ball a lot in order to be effective, which really limits the touch of other players. No matter what you say, Webber isn't the player he used to be. He is slow, unathletic, and afraid to bang down low. I think one of the biggest problems I have with C-Webb, is that he has a lot of great post moves, but instead of going down into the paint, he decides to settle for all these mid range jumpers. As good of a player Webber is, I don't think the AI and Webber duo will work out. Webber is also getting paid 20 million this season, making him one of the highest payed players in the league. (he gets paid more than AI and Kobe) B- <font color=""darkred"">Samuel Dalembert </font> Sammy has been some what of a dissapointment IMO. He signed a long term contract worth 60 million and has all of a sudden lost his drive. The guy has terrible basketball instincts and basketball IQ. He's been in the league 5 years now, and he still can't decide which shot to swat and which shot to just let go. In result, he gets tons of goaltending calls every game. He is also terribly inconsistent, he can have a moster game one day, and a horrible game the next. This is mostly due to the stupid fouls he comits every game. Sammy has tons of potential, all he has to do is to use it up to the max. I think he has the opportunity to be one of the best centers in the league one day, he just has to get his act together. C <font color=""Red"">The Bench</font> <font color=""DarkRed"">Steven Hunter</font> Steven Hunter had a pretty decent season IMO. Although he has troubles on the defensive end, he is a great offensive player. He is basically a center. He is tall, has a big wing span, and is very athletic, which leads to a lot of blocks and highlight dunks. On the defensive end of the ball, he is a great presence to have in the middle, and gets a block here and there. But he must continue to improve on defending, which is something basically the whole team needs to work on, and rebounding, which is also something the whole team needs to work on. I think the guy had a pretty good season, and towards the end, we all got to see what a Hunter / Sammy duo could do, and I was quite surprised. I give big props to Hunter for this season, especially considering BK only thought he was worth 2 2nd round picks. B <font color=""DarkRed"">John Salmons </font> John Salmons. I for one hope he is gone next season. The guy started out the season pretty well. Heck, Avery even had a sig with Salmons at one point. But in the end, i think he just thought too highly of himself. He has definetly improved from his last couple of season. The guy can score the ball, no doubt. But besides scoring, he doesn't play with heart, and plays little to none defense. I think John is a pretty decent player, he could be a pretty good role player someday, but just not here. C <font color=""DarkRed"">Kevin Ollie</font> Ollie had a pretty decent season, I mean, I didn't really expect much of him, and he did pretty well when AI was on the bench. He also did a pretty good job of starting along with AI. He plays tough defense, and is a smart player. He did pretty well, and I hope he returns next season. C+ <font color=""darkred"">Shavlik Randolph </font> Randolph was an undrafted free agent. To tell you the truth, I also didn't expect much of him. I just thought he was another player to take up a roster spot. But he has surprised me. He comes out on the floor and gives you 110% night in and night out. He may not be a very talented player, but he tries his hardest and plays with heart. I think Randolph has the chance to be a solid 6th man sometime in the league. I hope he improves a lot coming into next season. C+ <font color=""darkred"">Michael Bradley </font> Not much to say here. Michael Bradley is Michael Bradley. The coaches all spoke highly of him coming into the season, but I really didn't see anything special from him at all. He did pretty good filling in for Webber at times, giving him a rest. But he is nothing to boast about. He is nothing more than a 12th man on any team's roster IMO. I don't really care if he is back next season or not, but if he is, I hope he doesn't get too much minutes per game. C- <font color=""darkred"">Matt Barnes</font> We aquirred Matt from the Webber trade in the 04-05 season. But he never did see much time and was signed by the Knicks as a free agent in the off season. He wasn't really needed much there since the Knicks have a log jam at the guard and small forward positions. So he was let go and the Sixers resigned him. Matt Barnes never really got much playing time at all, but when he did, he was basically a defensive player. He is a pretty good defender and makes a couple of hustle players here and there. He is nothing special, and is just another player in the league. C <font color=""darkred"">Louis Williams</font> Louis Williams is the Sixer's 2nd round pick in the 04-05 draft. He isn't expected to be an immediate contributer, but he has tons of potential and has a chance to be good someday in the league. A lot of people compare him to AI, but as we all know, no matter how good you are, there can't be another Allen Iverson. I think Louis did pretty well this season in the limited minutes that he has played. He is a pretty decent scorer, but must continue to work on his jump shot, playmaking ability, and defense. Louis Williams is a work in progress, and I was kind of upset with this drafting since we could have gotten Monta Ellis and Ryan Gomes instead. C- <font color=""DarkRed"">Willie Green</font> I had high expectations for Willie coming into the season, but unfortunately, he had an injury that put him out for most of the season. Most said that he wouldn't be able to play at all this season, but he surprised us all by returning quickly and contributing on the court. Even though he missed a lot of games, he quickly became one of our best players off the bench. Willie is a good player, and I can't wait to see how he will play next season. B</div>
Nice post! A couple things I disagree with though I would give Louis Williams a D at the highest, and not just because of his lack of impact. I realize that was largely due to the playing time he received, or better yet did not receive. Williams did not seem to be developing physically all year. He also did not seem to play too well when in the game. He got a few nice buckets here and there, but for the most part he seemed out of control to me. I would have much rather drafted Ryan Gomes than Louis Williams. I would give Webber at least a B although the team did not improve with the Iverson/Webber combo together for a whole season Webber averaged some nice numbers, and had a relatively good season outside of his shooting percentage. Although, I would prefer to trade him this summer if we can, simply to allow Iguodala more shot attempts, I have nothing against Webber he did his job. Unfortunately, no one else on the team outside of him and AI did there’s down the stretch. Willie Green had a real nice return from his injury. Hopefully, King resigns him this summer. I love this kid, and have been high on him since the season when AI went down with injuries, he just shined. Should we trade AI this summer Green will have a break out season. The Green/Iguodala combo will be nasty in the future. If we draft Carney in the draft a lineup consisting of Green, Carney, and Iguodala would be a highlight reel waiting to happen. About Cheeks, I love the guy it isn’t his fault this team was as bad as they where. The bench was horrible all season. King did not do a good enough job of providing Cheeks with talent be it through trades, free agent signing (Nailon), or draft choices (Williams). Cheeks is a good coach, and given the right players can lead this team to a winning season in the near future. Anyway, I think King should be fired and Kiki should be hired.
thanks for the comments guys. you made some really nice points BKS, but i think im pretty satisified with the grades that i have given, so ill just leave it be. i do agree that it isnt completely cheeks fault for this horrible season, but he did play a big factor in it. many times this season, he has called plays and made line up adjustments that have just made me shake my head. also, i do agree that monta would have also been a big project as well, but look at him at GS. he has been producing fairly well, but i guess you cant really blame our staff for not drafting him. either way, gomes should have been our guy. just look at what hes doing in boston. if we had picked gomes, it could have possibly replaced our first round pick that we missed that year since he has been putting up monster numbers.
Kevin Ollie gets a B- atleast. His on ball defense is way underrated, same goes for his mid-range jumper and ability to run the fast break with Iverson. Also, if the season ended in December, Mr. Dalembert would be getting an A from me. Sad to see that he struggled in the second half of the season.
i made some changes. i gave webber a B- instead of a C. and gave louis williams a C- instead of a C. i dont think kevin ollie deserves a B-. a C+ may be too high already. although he did play some good D and made some smart plays, i dont really think he has played enought or produced enough "numbers". anyways, if all webber got was a B-, there is no way in hell kevin ollie should also get a B-
Nice article. Webber had a good individual stat season. But, I pretty much agree with the comment thats you made about him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SP23:</div><div class="quote_post">Nice article</div> its wasnt an article
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Brian:</div><div class="quote_post">i made some changes. i gave webber a B- instead of a C. and gave louis williams a C- instead of a C. i dont think kevin ollie deserves a B-. a C+ may be too high already. although he did play some good D and made some smart plays, i dont really think he has played enought or produced enough "numbers". anyways, if all webber got was a B-, there is no way in hell kevin ollie should also get a B-</div> First off, Ollie is a back-up point guard. He's not put in the game to give you numbers. He's a reliever to Iverson and is put in to make plays. No one expects Ollie to score 10 a game and dish out 5 assists. Cheeks doesn't expect that and I think Ollie, playing under so many teams, has realized what he is put in to do. Secondly, if you are going to grade the players like this, you are missing the entire point. You can't just compare them saying the best person gets the best grade just because of who they are. We all know Webber and Ollie. There is no comparrison. If you are going to grade, grade the player's season to their true potential. Webber get's a B from me because all numbers aside, he wasn't any help in the late playoff push. Proof is when he was injured, we had the Dalembert-Hunter line up and it was much more effective. Ollie gets a B because he got the job done and I already stated why. Ollie's B and Webber's B AREN'T comparing to each other. They are comparing with themselves.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Butter:</div><div class="quote_post">First off, Ollie is a back-up point guard. He's not put in the game to give you numbers. He's a reliever to Iverson and is put in to make plays. No one expects Ollie to score 10 a game and dish out 5 assists. Cheeks doesn't expect that and I think Ollie, playing under so many teams, has realized what he is put in to do. Secondly, if you are going to grade the players like this, you are missing the entire point. You can't just compare them saying the best person gets the best grade just because of who they are. We all know Webber and Ollie. There is no comparrison. If you are going to grade, grade the player's season to their true potential. Webber get's a B from me because all numbers aside, he wasn't any help in the late playoff push. Proof is when he was injured, we had the Dalembert-Hunter line up and it was much more effective. Ollie gets a B because he got the job done and I already stated why. Ollie's B and Webber's B AREN'T comparing to each other. They are comparing with themselves.</div> ok. listen, first of all, a C+ and a B really isnt that much of a difference. and also, i live in CA, so i dont get much sixer games around here. i base these grades on from what i have read, heard, and stats. basing it on stats, ollie averaged 2.7 ppg, and 1.4 apg. i am by no means judging by stats, but if you want to get such a high grade, like a B, you have to put more numbers up. i know he has played good D and controlled the tempo, but he hasnt done much else. if you are saying i should grade based on how well each players have played according to their "potential", then shouldnt i give shav randolf and A+? the guy came in as an undrafted free agent, played with heart, scored, and played pretty good D. does that mean he should get an A+ since he played up to his potential? all in all, i think i have graded pretty fairly, and a C+ is high enough for ollie in my books.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Brian:</div><div class="quote_post">Billy King - F Mo' Cheeks - D</div> Bingo.
Allen Iverson: A- Like usually did everything he could. ------------------- Andre Iguodala: C- It just annoys me to see how talented he is but yet dissapears in games. If HE WANTS TO he could average a STRONG 14 PPG<font size=""1"">(yes that's <u>only</u> two points about his season average but when I say strong I'm talking about points(aggression that can turn the game around no tip ins, or just alleys)</font> 7 RPG and 4 APG. ------------------- Kyle Korver: A Unlike more than half of the players on this team he gives it his all and actually puts forth EFFORT to play D and do those little things. Whether it's off the bench or starting, never complains, just plays hard all the time. He's improved his game overall, by being a better ball handler and developing post moves especially that turn away J.....He gets a A for effort. ------------------- Chris Webber: B He makes a share of bad decisions amd his defense is horrible plus his low FG% hurts him. But he's played very well thie season, can't take that away from him. He did just about what I was expecting from him, but I hoenstly thought he would do just a litttleeeee better, but hey a 82 game season does take its toll. ------------------- Samuel Dalembert: D+ Lazy ass haitian. Somethings never change, he shows POTENTIAL. ------------------- Steven Hunter: B- Been up and down, but shows he can play and reads well with AI, he was pretty solid. ------------------- John Salmons: C+ He could be a much better player defensively considering his versatility. But at times he think he's MJ and tries to go one on one way tooo much and when he does he always gets calmed for a palmin violation. Also, I'm not sure if anybody notices this, but he tends NEVER to pass the ball to Korver. ------------------- Kevin Ollie: B+ Another guy that gave it his all and was all about winning. I'd love to have him back. ------------------- Shavlik Randolph: A Wasn't even supposed to be in the NBA, and the way he plays he really shouldn't be in the NBA and that's the best part about him. This is one crazy, active, energetic player. Once he polishes off his game and gets better naturally we could have a David Lee type player on our hands but at his rate he won't be nearly as good at least not until 3-4 years or so. ------------------- Michael Bradley: C- He did his thing here and there. He's a good big body to have in and throw in there. ------------------- Matt Barnes: C- I was expecting a little more from him. He didn't get as much minutes as I anticipated but that's probably because he couldn't out work the likes of Salmons in practice(psh), but when he did play he was decent. ------------------- Louis Williams: N/A If I could remeber how he scored every single point he has in the entire season, then I don't know. ------------------- Willie Green: B For a player that just came back from a major injury, he seems to be very solid. His shot seems to be better, better decision making and seems much more stable and under control when he plays. --------------------------------------------------------- As a team, they get a: <u><font color=""Red"">F</font></u> Played with no sense of urgency, no swagger, no passion, no heart, no nothing. They just stood there wait to get the ball and hope when they shot it goes in. They played for nothing. A large part has to do with the coaching. While coaches get technicals to show much their into the game or upset with a call, all Mo would do at BEST is suck his teeth. That says it all.
AI- Allen gets an A, he did have a strong season. Obviously it wasn't good enough and I am begining to question his leadership capability. Chris Webber- B I know a lot of people get pissed off at C-Webb, but really you shouldn't have expected anything differnet in the first place. Even before we got him he was a defensive liability in Sacto, he just didn't get bad at defense over night. Other than that Chris did his job. He was there for the 76ers, and he stayed healthy. What more can you ask? Andre Iguodala- Andre could have played much more aggressive, but I amsome what satisfied with the way he played. I give him the lowest B possible. Although it may sound weird, I think Dre has to learn to be selfish. He has to get an ego, this season he just didn't have any killer instict to him on offense, which took away from his production. Then again, is the teams leaders doing there job, and making these players feel comfortable in the system? Kyle Korver- I give Kyle a C, I can't help it, if he wants to play he needs to be more athletic!!! He trys hard but it isn't good enough because he is constantly getting beat by many swingmen in the NBA. He needs to develop a more consistent jumper as well, Kyle was very streaky this season. I'd also like to see him add a midrang jumper to his aresenal, if you can shoot 3's you should be a deadly mid range shooter as well. John Salmons-C-, John needs to develop the rest of his game, in other words Salmons is a ball hog. Salmons and Iguodala are both players who didn't do one thing in particular well, and that hurts when your trying to build your team with role players around 2 "stars". Steven Hunter-C+, I really think the 76ers tried to trade the wrong center. Hunter didn't play exceptional, but he was respectable. When he got the ball he did something constructive big man move with it, he didn't shoot a 20 foot jumper. There is always room for improvement, but Hunter was solid this year. Samuel Dalembert-D, Sorry Sam, but you did absolutely nothing to show anybody that you deserved that fat contract you got! Your ass better start watching tape, and get back to the basics. Sam has the pieces, he just has no glue to put them together. He started playing basketball at a late age, so that probably has something to do with it. The 76ers really need to get some help for this dude. Its time to go back to the drawing board, and its time for Sam to play like a legit 7 foot center. I really don't feel like grading anybody else, because to me everyone was just blah to me. Ollie was solid, and Louis Williams gets an INC grade.
