I think the fact that the East is going to be verey good and very deep next year will kill the Sixers. In my opinion, there are at least eight teams better than them, those being the Bulls, Heat, Nets, Pistons, Magic, Cavs, Wizards, and Bucks. Then there are other teams that could easily be better than them. Teams like the Pacers, especially if they land Harrington, will be tough, and if that happens, might end up vaulting them into the playoffs. The Bobcats will be tough if they don't have injury issues again this year, that meaning May, Wallace, and Okafor need to stay healthy. If the the Celtics youth can step up and be solid, they could be better as well. All in all, the East is too deep and too tough, and I think the Sixers won't make the playoffs because of that.
The biggest hurdle will be getting over all the trade talk and just playing basketball. Even going into the season it's going to be hard for players to give it 100% when they could be in Philadelphia tonight and in another city tomorrow. You'll be surprised but no matter what they say it does hurt the player's confidence. We're not talking about role players either, Chris Webber and Allen Iverson were two hot names in the trade market and they are going to still be going into the season. If the Sixers can stay in the playoff hunt before the trade deadline they should be in good shape. Once that deadline passes, all the players now know that they're going to finish the season here...
The biggest hurdle will probably be finding a personality for this team. You look around the league every team has something they excel at be it defense, offense, team basketball, ball movement, etc. Then when you look at the 76ers you really don’t see any of that. They have some good offensive weapons, but they are not exactly a team that will run you out of the building like the Suns or Mavericks would. They have a couple good defenders going into the season Ollie, Iguodala, Carney (rookie), Jones (rookie), and Dalembert yet their defense is less than stellar. The team does not play as a cohesive unit such as a team like the Bulls or Hornets due. Most of the time when they are on the court everyone gives AI and Webber the ball as if they are playing hot potato. Iguodala could score at will if he had a scorers mentality yet we all know that is not the case. A team cannot succeed in this league without knowing what they are trying to excel at, what will be their bread and butter when it comes crunch time. King has said multiple times he wants to make this team into the mold of the 2001 NBA finals 76ers, a team that was based on defense. However, talk is cheap; he has taken no steps into doing this. He said he would change this team’s culture during this off-season well unless he intended on accomplishing that by adding rookies I would say he failed. With all that said I still have hope that this team can be an above .500 squad. In reality, the Webber/AI duo has yet to reach full potential and Iguodala and Dalembert can only get better. I hope that they surprise us all this season and over perform. Another thing I think might hinder the team is that they lack an enforcer someone who will intimidate other players when they come in the paint or try to push people on the squad around on the court. You look at all the teams over the past decade that have been great they have all had a guy who did the dirty work Oakley, Rodman, Lambier, etc. These are just some of the things that will hinder the 76ers some others would be lack of depth, size, endurance, etc. Oh well things could be a hell of a lot worse.
