Sixers Starting with Optimism

Discussion in 'Philadelphia 76ers' started by Really Lost One, Oct 1, 2006.

  1. Really Lost One

    Really Lost One Suspended

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    <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Half full. Half empty.

    The view on how well the 2006 76ers will do depends on whom you talk to.


    The half-full view, which the players share, is glad one of the premier scorers in the league is back in the fold. Just ask Chris Webber, the team?s second-leading scorer (behind Iverson).


    ?First of all, I am happy Allen is back,? Webber said. ?Make no mistake about it, we definitely cannot play without him. He is definitely the best player I?ve played with.?


    After the 76ers finished with a 38-44 record last year, the half-empty view says it is time to rebound, to start remaking this team.


    The half-full view is glad there is little change, glad the team is intact.


    ?This is pretty much my first year going into a season with pretty much the same team, the same coach, the same coaching staff,? said forward Kyle Korver, who enters his fourth season. ?I feel like we all know each other. This is a new thing for me, and I like that.


    ?It seemed like every other year we had to find Allen?s second scorer, we had to find this or find that. We tried to throw someone into the mix and it wasn?t happening. A lot of teams get time to grow and develop, and we really didn?t have that the last few years.?


    Forward/center Steven Hunter, who returns for his second year with the team, said the chemistry is going to be great this year, that the players already know what coach Maurice Cheeks wants from them.


    ?I am a firm believer in the saying, ?A penny saved is a penny earned.? I think us not making trades could still make us a good team,? Hunter said. ?We have some of the better younger players in the league and I think we can get it done with this team.?


    One of those younger players is guard Willie Green, who missed the majority of the 2005-06 season rehabilitating from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He could be considered one of the few new additions, playing in only 10 games last year.


    Green, who is averaging 7.3 points a game for his three-year career, believes it takes time for teams to gel, that the 2000-01 Sixers squad that made the finals went through growing pains before it had success.


    ?If you look back on the team that went to the championship, once they went through those bumps in the road, they got better and gelled together as a team and they knew their roles. That is the same with this team. Myself, Andre [Iguodala], Sammy [Dalembert], Steve [Hunter], Kyle, we are not considered young anymore and we?ve been through the bumps in the road, and that?s what?s going to make us better. We know each other?s games, and that?s going to help us.?


    The half-empty point out that the division still has strong teams in Detroit, Miami, New Jersey, Washington, Milwaukee and Indiana.


    The players, with the filled glass, point out that the team lost 10 games last year in the closing seconds. Winning five of those games would have given the team a 43-39 record and made them a sixth or seventh seed in the playoffs.


    ?We, as players, feel we can do so much more,? Korver said. ?If we just tighten up a couple of little things ? if we get back on defense, rebound better, just doing little things here and there ? those close losses last year, even five of them, could have been wins and we would have been in the playoffs and we have that experience and people would be a lot more excited.?


    Now that?s the view of a rather large glass.

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  2. miss3pointer25

    miss3pointer25 JBB JustBBall Member

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    You have to go into a season with high hopes. Because if you don't, then what are you playing for?
     

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