The 04-05 campaign was a solid season. AI was brilliant, and the 76ers had a ten game win improvement. They made a move at the all-star break, which in the long run will work nicely for Philly in my opinion (despite what many others think). But obviously the 76ers still aren't there yet, so with this thread I'm asking what do you think the 76ers team as a whole need to work on for next season or the future at that. <u>Defense</u> The 76ers are a good defending team but an inconsistent one at that. What the 76ers aren't good at is getting stops and defending the perimeter. Through the regular season and into the playoffs the 76ers had many lapses on defense and they often gave up open looks (too many). If Philadelphia wants to be a contender, then they will have to go by the old motto, defense wins championships. During the first round, the 76ers got beat in 5 games. One of those games should have been won without a question, and you guys know which game I am talking about. But instead of blaming that loss on a missed free throw, look at the situation. They had a nice lead on Detroit, but in the last few minutes they couldn't make any stops and Chauncey Billups scored at will, that ultimately cause the 76ers the game and series in my opinion. There were some bright spots on the defensive side of thing s though. The 76ers were #1 in the league in forcing turnovers but at times they relied too much on causing turnovers rather then playing hard defense. When you look at the recent starting five, you have got what you need. Allen has always been a top thief in the league so you've got a player with an ability to create steals by getting in the passing lanes. You have a young guy, who plays lock down defense, and can also create a lot of steals and block shots as well. You have a seven-foot center whose best aspect of his game is shot blocking. The problem is the scheme is off. AI's steals per contest are at it's lowest since the 99-00 season. Along with that, last year Samuel Dalembert was a top shot blocker, but this year his blocks per game have not been near as good. I think the main problem within the 76er defense is the rotation, they rotate to slow on defense and like I said that leaves to wide open jumpers, and it slows Dalembert down in the paint. Thus Dalembert picked up lots of fouls and not enough blocks, and Donyell Marshall hit a NBA record 12 three's on Philadelphia. Hopefully the coaches will realize this during the offseason, and I sure hope the 76ers don't have the same problem next year. <u>Team Chemistry</u> For the most part the 76ers know each other; the problem is throughout the season nobody knew who would be starting on a regular basis. Sure minor changes don't really affect a team that bad. But when you have a completely different team starting every night then your team is going to be messed up because the starters will never have a feel for each other. Not only does this mess up chemistry it messes up the confidence of the younger guys on the team. With that being said, the coaching staff needs to have a mindset from the beginning of the season to the end on an idea of who the starters are. Also I've stated this before, I think the 76ers could use a nice point guard. A player who knows how to speak up in the locker room and play off the bench could be a huge lift for the Sixers. As of now, those are the only things that come to mind. I'll post more later as soon as this thread gets some feedback.
My problem with them is partially their offense. When they can't create turnovers and run into the open court, the offense is basically dead. O'Brien really has to work on better halfcourt strategies because if the running game isn't on, the Sixers aren't scoring. I think they should utilize the role players and depth more instead of just relying on Iverson. When his shot isn't going in, nothing is flowing so we sort of need a backup plan with the role players. I know a lot of the guys can score- Salmons, Green, and Dalembert but no plays are actually set to have them score. A good example of this is that I have yet to see a Green (an excellent cut and slasher) and Webber combination where Webber would pass the ball from the high post to a slashing Green. All I know is that it would be a deadly combination. I'll post more if I can think of anything else.
04-05 Offseason To-Do List <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Trade for a true second fiddle to Allen Iverson. Check. Increase the victory total by double digits over last season. Check. Make the playoffs after a one-year hiccup in the lottery. Check. Philadelphia 76ers general manager Billy King and coach Jim O'Brien can boast about having accomplished all of the above after a 43-win 2004-05. For the moment, they can favorably measure this season's record and playoff appearance against last season's record and postseason disappearance. ?Absolutely fulfilled expectations,? is how O'Brien so self-approvingly put it upon finishing his first season in Philadelphia. But for the Sixers to continue making serious strides, for them to entertain any notions of not-too-distant title contention, they will have to tick off plenty more lines on their to-do list. Entering this offseason, here are the 10 most immediate musts on that list:</div> <div align="center">Link</div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">My problem with them is partially their offense. When they can't create turnovers and run into the open court, the offense is basically dead. O'Brien really has to work on better halfcourt strategies because if the running game isn't on, the Sixers aren't scoring. I think they should utilize the role players and depth more instead of just relying on Iverson. When his shot isn't going in, nothing is flowing so we sort of need a backup plan with the role players. I know a lot of the guys can score- Salmons, Green, and Dalembert but no plays are actually set to have them score. A good example of this is that I have yet to see a Green (an excellent cut and slasher) and Webber combination where Webber would pass the ball from the high post to a slashing Green. All I know is that it would be a deadly combination. I'll post more if I can think of anything else.</div> That is why the 76ers could really use a point guard who can generate instant offense off the bench.
I am going with their ability to score in the low post. I know your saying what about Chris Webber but if you watched the games your will see that Chris takes most of his shots from around 17-20 feet out. I know that is the kind of offence Obie wants (four guys on the outside with one guy down low) but I don't think it is going to work. They need a guy that can get dirty down low, ware down the bigger defenders so that Allen when he drives will be going up against worn down defenders. This guys doesn't even have to come in the starting lineup, maybe as a sixth man or a guy off the bench. We would probably land this kind of guy with our MLE this year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">That is why the 76ers could really use a point guard who can generate instant offense off the bench.</div> Yeah, but Iverson has most of the minutes at point guard, so getting one would be sort of meaningless since he would be getting like five minutes.
Ideas for a better team Most of you will think my concept is retarded, but i really don't want to lose any of our players, but we clearly need to do something. I would be willing to trade webber and mckie for 3 first rounders this year, I think we could probably get sean may and . . . for what we need (guaranteed low post scoring and the occasional rebound) he's as good as nearly anyone in the nba right now. And with two other First rounders we could get a lot done, i don't even know who is available but we could use some hard nosed defensive players, and players that can pass and pentrate would also be great, but big thing i want is sean may
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah, but Iverson has most of the minutes at point guard, so getting one would be sort of meaningless since he would be getting like five minutes.</div> That's why when the 76ers need points they can go with a small line up and get someone to create shots for the other guys instead of AI doing it all the time. When you look throughout AI's career all his career high PPG have came with E.Snow at his side, I'm not saying switch AI back to SG, but I really think our team would benefit a lot more if he played some SG. But of course I doubt O'Brien will try such a thing.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">That's why when the 76ers need points they can go with a small line up and get someone to create shots for the other guys instead of AI doing it all the time. When you look throughout AI's career all his career high PPG have came with E.Snow at his side, I'm not saying switch AI back to SG, but I really think our team would benefit a lot more if he played some SG. But of course I doubt O'Brien will try such a thing.</div> Yeah, personally I think Iverson would be better as a shooting guard- sharing the ball with a good point guard playmaker, but I too doubt O'Brien would do that after the year Iverson had. He is pretty turnover prone even when he does get a lot of assists so it does hurt the team somewhat. Plus, with Iverson having like 70 percent of the team's touches, it becomes really easy for teams to know the strategy and shut us down on offense.
