<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Barely 12 hours after their season ended on the floor of the Palace of Auburn Hills, the 76ers met as a team for one last time at their practice facility at the PCOM campus. The bad taste of the loss to Detroit in Game 5, in which the 76ers held the lead through the first three quarters, was still fresh in everyone?s mouths. Head Coach Jim O?Brien, 76ers President and General Manager BIlly King, as well a few of the players, emerged from the meeting to speak with the media about the past, present and future of the team. ?I know as a coach, I feel good about the way the season went, but am I perfectly satisfied? Absolutely not,? O?Brien asserted. ?I think that?s the mentality that everyone in this franchise has to have until we get to where we want to get and that is to a championship level. You should be dissatisfied.? Facing elimination and on Detroit?s home court, the Sixers scratched and clawed until the very end. Allen Iverson almost carried the team single-handedly to a win and an extension of the series with 34 point and seven assists in 48 minutes.</div> <div align="center">Full Story</div> ...It was a hell of a ride. From our struggles early and having that 6 game losing streak to the turning point of our season (5-3 on the eight-game road trip) it was a fairly good season if you ask me. At 10 game win improvement from last season isn't all that bad, but it would have been probably 15+ if we had a set rotation and it didn?t take so long to learn how to play under O?Brien. I can't believe our actual set frontcourt was once Marc Jackson and Josh Davis occupying the C and PF position. . Nevertheless we played with adversity through the season and finished strong in the end, Iverson has a season that will go down as one of thee best statistical seasons in NBA history and we can't forget about that blockbuster trade. We eventually got the Playoffs tried our hardest and lost to the reigning champions. Billy King said it best as in.... <font size="1">?I think last year we won 33 ball games and were not in the playoffs. This year we won 43, a 10 game improvement, got in the playoffs, a free throw away from tying this series up with Detroit, and the guys competed,? King said.</font> Yup, just a FT away that would change the whole complexion of that series, just one FT away and I wouldn't be creating this thread. But just the effort we gave against the defending champions will give us some confidence next season. And again looking at Billy King comments and just think about this, imagine the season we may have next season once... Everybody is healed up and improved they're games, Webber goes through rehab and gets some mobility back, we go through training camp, we have a set lineup and rotation and most importantly the chemistry and togetherness this team will have. I'll go out on a limp here and say that next season that this team could potentially have a 50+ win season. I?m already looking forward to next season. But boy do we have a long way to go. :/
A good article on some of the players take now that the season is over and lies in the future for the 76ers.
Seems like there is a lot of optomism in the Sixers' locker room, which is good because they did play very hard and with a lot of effort...I think this summer is big for them as far as signing some key elements and becoming a top 4 East team...
The Sixers had an exciting season even though it ended with a 1st round Game 5. Iverson was exciting as usual (perhaps the most exciting he's been in his career), and they got Iguodala putting fans in their seats with their high flying dunks. A pretty exciting ride.
Well everybody, it was a fun season for me as a Philadelphia fan. Although we didn't really go out with a bang, I truly believe that the 76ers gave 100% against the Pistons and I am proud of them. What disappoints me though, is that I really think the 76ers defeated them time after time this year. They are a young ball club and that showed across the season and into the playoffs. What I noticed is the little things brought the 76ers down. Things like blowing huge leads late in the game, or giving up multiple offensive rebounds. Those little things caused us games and at that point, I really think the Sixers failed to realize every game counts. Just imagine, if they could have held the New York Knicks to a loss when they had a 19 point lead in the fourth quarter, then they would have been able to get the sixth seed rather then then the seventh, and really the skies the limit because Philly blew many games in that kind of fashion. Philadelphia's young guys are the key to the 76ers future and present. How will Samuel Dalembert and Andre Iguodala get better this summer because both will be key to 05-06's season? I am optimistic for next year as well as most of the people are, AI will be at the same level, and Chris Webber will show improvement. The thing that really intrigues me the most is that Philly has about seven months to pull together as a team, and I really think they are going to be a good team next season. Now, I just want to give thanks to Allen Iverson himself, he literally put the 76ers on his back this season and in my opinion he dominated the NBA almost night in and night out.
