The Sixer Sense Season Preview: Sixers vs Southeast

The Sixers will be going up against the best (Heat), average (Hawks), and the worst (Bobcats) of the NBA all in one division. Oh and the Magic and Wizards too. Anybody else realize the Wizards use magic? I’m sure there’s a hidden story there that I’m not going to try to investigate.

Wizards:

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

This is the only other team in the NBA that I have actually run a blog about. And that was before I started writing about the Sixers. So the Wizards kinda have a special place in my writing heart. Here’s a team that could potentially make the playoffs. John Wall has a team he can play with and he should grow as a PG. They need Nene to stay healthy.

They have an interesting group of young and old guys. And the roster is just about brand new compared to when I wrote about as I mentioned above.

The Wizards will provide a certain challenge to the Sixers but ultimately the Sixers should beat them. Last season, the Sixers completely destroyed the Wizards; pre-season and regular season. Except the last meeting of the season in which the Sixers were in the middle of their epic collapse. But I really think the Wizards are done with the lottery, or at least no more top ten. Their ceiling is the 7th seed for the playoffs.

Heat:

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

The defending champs. Ever since the big 3 came together, the Sixers have beaten them once, in the playoffs. I mean a lot of teams have obviously had trouble with the Heat. It was frustrating because the Sixers would hang on for like 3 quarters and then suffer a collapse in the 4th quarter.

The Heat seem to have gotten better by adding Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. Ok maybe Lewis won’t be a great help but it also appears the Heat have given up their search for a true Center and are placing Bosh there for now. Or something.

Eddy Curry is an NBA champion. Let that sink in.

The Heat will most likely continue to dominate the Sixers although they, along with most of the league, won’t have an answer for Bynum. Most likely, they will lose the big man battle but with LeBron James in charge, it doesn’t seem like the Heat will worry about losing the big man battle, although rebounding is a part of the big man battle.

I’ll go as far as to say the Sixers will get their first regular season vs the big three Heat for the first time. Wouldn’t that be something? The Heat, to me, are the only team that is a just about a guarantee to stop the Sixers’ playoff run. I’m excluding the finals.

Hawks:

No way he wears #3 with the Sixers. I’ll personally see to that. #ByeLou Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

#ByeLou. I’ve been using that hashtag on Twitter for quite some time. That’s how bad I wanted Lou Williams off the Sixers. My dreams have come true. The Hawks have been consistent in the past few years although that consistency is probably over. They finally said goodbye to Joe Johnson and to try to replace that scoring, they brought in guys like Lou Williams. Good luck with that. I suspect one of the reasons Lou left the Sixers was a role issue; he wanted to start. Does he think he’s starting for the Hawks? I guess so, and he’ll be a SG.

Are they a playoff team? Just like the Wizards, it’s tough to say. There’s a few teams competing for the same playoffs spots. Jeff Teague, Al Horford, and Josh Smith are guys that can lead this team to the playoffs. I don’t think that this core can grow into a contender though so they’ll need extra help from a sudden current roster member explosion or a trade/free agent move.

The Sixers should be able to handle the Hawks. I feel like the birds will be able to steal one (there’s upsets in sports). It’ll be Lou hitting a buzzer beater to beat us too. And then I’ll hang myself. #ByeLou

Magic:

Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE

Welp…the drama is over. Some say the “Dwightmare”. Whatever it is, the city of Orlando is no longer being held hostage. First Shaq, then Dwight. Maybe the Magic should stick to guards or something. And what’s up with the whole leaving to the Lakers thing? Odd.

They have some nice role players on their team. And that’s about it. Lottery here we come. I mean, if the Sixers lose to the Magic (like they almost did in the pre-season) opener it’ll be a shame. They’ll be looking for their next star in the upcoming draft. They have picks. They should have money. They can do something. But their current roster will not grow into much. Also, have fun with Moe Harkless. Sixers fans had a slightly positive take on him and the whole “How could you be Moe Harkless?” thing even though Harkless would like to be known as Maurice from now on. Sixers drafted a guy named Harkness so…yeah.

So this will be a painful season for Magic fans. Wonder if a Cleveland type reaction is on the stage for Magic fans. We’ll find out when the Lakers visit the Magic. Oh boy.

Bobcats:

Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-US PRESSWIRE

In what can be considered irony, Micheal Jordan the player led the Bulls to the best NBA record. As owner, his team has the worst winning % in NBA history. I just wish we could’ve had a full 82 game season. Would the Bobcats really win less than 9 games? Nets almost did it.

Bobcats are a mess right now. They have young guys but something is off about this team and I’m having trouble grasping what it is. In time, I guess this roster will be a contender but I just don’t know. Each time they get young, promising players, it doesn’t work out.

Could be a management issue. Again, MJ has been calling the shots. He wanted Kwame Brown. So, MJ hasn’t given many people confidence that he knows what he’s doing. Leave it to the GM buddy. Not everybody can be involved like Mark Cuban. I think another trip to the lottery is in order, but will they be the worst yet again? I actually don’t think so. They get up to being the 13th best in the East.

But I swear Sixers better not sleep. No disrespect to the Bobcats but the Sixers are superior to the Cats in every area. Sixers have only themselves to blame for losing to the Cats. Go ahead Sixers. Lose. I dare you.

Welp there’s one more post from me coming soon for the season preview. The rest of the staff should be working on player previews. Sixers won game one of the preseason. Look for game coverage here at The Sixer Sense for preseason games that are televised. There’s 3 of them.