With the Sixers winning their fourth straight game and finally getting above the .500 mark for the first time this year, I wanted to talk about this team and how I like their style of play. They are not built the way that most succesful teams in the NBA are built right now. I'm not saying I'm ready to call the Sixers an overly successful team just yet. But the progress they have made from last year, and even the beginning of this year, to now has been impressive.
Teams like the Celtics, Lakers and Heat are built around superstars. Players that can take over a game and single handedly carry a team through the playoffs. The Cavs had that in Lebron James. The Cavs went from perennial number one or two seed in the East with Lebron to the worst team in the NBA without him.
Despite what the Sixers payroll says (I'm talking about Iguodala and Brand's max contracts), they don't have that superstar. They're a team of very good young players, but no great player. They play selfless basketball on offense. They routinely have 5 or 6 players who score double figures in a given game. A lot of their points, something to the tune of 50 per game, come from the bench. The Sixers lead the league in bench scoring thanks mostly to Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young. I believe they have one of the best young point guards in the league in Jrue Holiday. He's your protypical point guard who sets up the offense and makes everyone around him better. Being only 20 years old, he's just going to get better.
The Sixers also play great team defense. Iguodala, as much guff as he gets for being overpaid and overconfident, is one of the better defenders in the league. He can completely shut down an opposing team's swing man. Not long ago I read a quote from a rival coach calling Iguodala the Darrelle Revis of the NBA. That may be a bit of a stretch, but it's a testiment to how good of a defensive player he is. Holiday, at 6 foot 4, is bigger than most point guards. Smaller guards have a problem trying to put up shots over him.
I feel that this is the way teams should be built and how teams should play. It's old school, which is the kind of coach Doug Collins is. He has them playing as a team, when most of the league plays as individuals. However, they do need another piece or two to complete the puzzle. Ideally, it would be a dominant 7 foot center. I'm not holding my breath on that one though, players like that come by once a decade. Until they find this missing piece, or pieces, I'm just enjoying the ride. I'm excited for Sixers basketball again, it's been a while since this team has been watchable. I really believe that they have the chance to make some noise in the playoffs. And, with Collins as the coach, they should continue to improve over the next couple of seasons.
NOTE: I wanted to title this post "Digging The New Brand Of Sixers Basketball" as a joke. I was afraid people would think I'd be serious with that title. I'd say about 1 in 5 articles I've read about the Sixers since Elton Brand signed here has played off his last name in the title. It's overdone.
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