Then you're in the minority. I'm a Sixers fan too, they're my second team. And nothing good ever happens with Willie Green on the court. Sure he was good value from where he was drafted, many players drafted in the second round can't stick in this league. But that doesn't mean Willie Green is a good player. He is a career 41% shooter, 30% 3-point shooter, and his offensive game consists mainly of jacking up shots and hoping they go in. Willie Green is a "very good ballhandler capable of pushing it when we want to run." That's not saying much. There are many guards in the league that are "very good ballhandlers" and can run the fastbreak. I happen to know quite a few Sixer fans from JBB, and whenever I talk to them, nothing positive ever comes up about Willie Green. You are in the minority.
Hes been a strong part of this team the past couple years and he was a 2nd rounder. hes not an elite player thats obvious but WG would be a nice addition to alot of teams. I wouldnt mind if we traded him, because i think he could bring in some value, but if hes here i cant complain either.
What positives does he bring to the team? Will the team get worse if his minutes go elsewhere? No. He shouldn't be getting a lot of minutes to begin with. For a guard who is a career 41% shooter and doesn't have much accuracy beyond the arc, who still insists and "getting his own" on offense won't be a focal point on any championship team. Unless somehow he is an elite defender, which Willie Green is not. He shouldn't be seeing much time on the court, and I hope next year Mo will be smart enough to give some of Willie's minutes to Louis Williams or maybe even Kareem Rush. At least Rush has a respectable outside shot.
i'm not making too big of a deal about minutes at all. i'm being realistic with minutes. brand, igoudala, and miller are going to play big minutes. that's a fact. pretending there are enough minutes to play to brand's strengths and play close to as much small ball that was successful for them last year isn't realistic. adding elton brand definitely doesn't hurt the team. but you can't just take their record from last year and say oh and they add elton brand on top of that so now they are a legit contender to get out of the east. some of brand's effect is taken away because his presence takes away some of the game that helped them get where they got last year. the sixers will be a better team this year, but they have not made some drastic improvement.
How isn't there enough minutes for Brand to play to strengths? You don't make sense. Brand will get his, he will get his minutes. I don't see any reason why he wouldn't. As for small ball, you're acting like the Sixers NEED to play small ball every single game to succeed, which they don't. The Sixers aren't going to go into every single game thinking, "well we're gonna have to play 12 minutes of small ball today," small ball will only be used in certain stretches here and there and it's really not a big deal. The Lakers didn't "need" small ball to make it to the Finals, and neither did the Celtics. I don't foresee any instances in the future where small ball will inhibit with the team's play and actually hurt them. Again, here's the small ball lineup: pg: Miller sg: Williams sf: Iguodala pf: Young c: Brand Out of that lineup, 4/5 players are starters. Samuel Dalembert is the only starter not in the lineup, and given Sammy's history, that lineup will usually be used when he is foul trouble. So again, I don't see how this will hurt the Sixers at all. You're blowing it out of proportion. "oh and they add elton brand on top of that so now they are a legit contender to get out of the east" I never said any of that. All I said was that the Sixers will be good enough to advance past the first round. That's all. I never said they'll come out of the east, win the Atlantic Division, compete for the championship, make it to the Finals, etc. And Brand only makes the Sixer's better, he doesn't take anything away from last year's team. One weakness the Sixers had last year was no true big man who could accommodate Samuel Dalembert. They obviously solved that with Brand. "but they have not made some drastic improvement." Elton Brand is a 20/10 big man, a franchise player. Andre Iguodala struggled last year as the #1 option, he no longer has to play that role with Brand in the lineup. Iguodala will no longer have opposing team's defense focused squarely on him, because the Sixers will have another scoring threat in the lineup in Elton Brand. This will make Iguodala the second option on the Sixers, a role he is more comfortable with. If this isn't a drastic improvement, then tell me what is?
i think you misunderstand what i'm talking about with the small ball and minutes. no big deal though, i don't feel like going through this over and over and over. quick question though. do you think playing brand at the center of a lineup focused on going up and down the court and playing small ball is playing to his strengths?
I don't think it'll be a big deal. Like I said before, the Sixers aren't going to be playing a lot of small ball next year, so little spurts here and there won't hurt. I'm sure Elton won't have that much trouble keeping up, he's not exactly a slug. As for whether or not it plays to his strengths, probably not. He's going to be a 6'8 center, but in order to play small ball, you're obviously going to have to give up some height (as evident by the name).
They're actually very good comparisons. The Hawks are a VERY balanced team. Last year they had JJ, Horford, Childress, Marvin Williams and Josh Smith all average double figures or close to double figures in points, then Bibby did once he came over. That my friend, is called balance. The Bobcats might be the most balanced team in the world, but they're still a young and athletic team with tons of potential. Raymond Felton has the ability to be one of the better PGs in the league, Okafor, when healthy, is a very good big, we still don't know what Adam Morrison or Sean May are actually capable of, when healthy, Gerald Wallace is one of the leagues better defenders and he's easily one of the most athletic players in the league...you get the point. They have youth. They have athletes. They have TALENT. To deny that, you are clearly blind. And by the way, I don't see the 76ers finishing 3rd, though I'll admit it could happen. However, I still think the Magic are a better team. They're a proven commodity that won 50 games last year and is returning basically the same team, so I see no reason why they can't win at least 50 games this year, if not more. The Pistons and Celtics are still going to be the two best teams in the East as well. Plus you have to look at the Cavs. As much as I bash on them, they're still one of the top teams out East. And now that LeBron has a GOOD complimentary scorer in Mo Williams, I think they'll be better than they were when they won 50 games and made the Finals. So, that puts them no better than 5th in my books at the moment. You CLEARLY overrate your 76ers. I like them, but a core of Iggy/Miller/Brand is not as good as LeBron/Mo Williams or Hedo/Dwight/Shard. And it's definitely not better than the Celts big three or the core of the Pistons.
