Philadelphia 76ers: Winless In Philadelphia

Winless In Philadelphia

It’s Wednesday night, and the aftermath of a season with hope for better times has been snuffed with the cold breeze of reality that blew out of the Wells Fargo Center at the sound of the buzzer indicating the game had ended.

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Can this be one more season of trusting in a process that seems to be an eight track tape playing “oh woe” “we lost” “another player injured” as its play list, repeating over and over again?
No. This time it’s different.

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The team is not winning, but it’s improving. That’s not just saying something to make myself, or you, feel better at the outcome of losing. From a team that just couldn’t defend in 2013-14, to the team that just couldn’t score in 2014-15, this season feels like a team that can score and can defend. The only missing piece is doing both for four quarters in the same game. But complicating that synchronized effort is the fact that these Sixers are limping into a new season. They are so banged up that they are taking advantage of the NBA hardship rule which allows a team to sign a 16th player, point guard Phil Pressey… well I’ll let Larry William of The Sixer Sense explain:

"The Sixers are able to use this exception due to having 4 players that are injured or sick that have missed at least 3 games and will be out for at least 2 weeks after those 3 games. Joel Embiid (out for the season), Tony Wroten (expected to return in December), Kendall Marshall (expected to return later this month) and Carl Landry (expected to return in January) have all missed the first 3 games of the season."

Pressey will likely be a depth player to fill out the minutes at the PG spot, but the team had the option to bring back any number of recently cut players and did not do so. It was clear that Pierre Jackson was not himself, nursing a groin injury. Jordan McRae and J.P. Tokoto simply didn’t show enough in training camp and preseason to warrant a return. But many were surprised that Scottie Wilbekin, who had a solid preseason, was not given the nod. Wilbekin is rumored to be in discussions to play overseas in the European league.

The final player cut was Furkan Aldemir. Aldemir was originally mentioned as a player the Sixers could bring back, but he is satisfied to return to play in Turkey. And it was clear that Brett Brown wanted to bolster the play at point guard.

"“Point guard. Point guard, no doubt. Because I think Isaiah Canaan has shown he can play a little bit of one, he can go over to two, he’s physical enough to play one, two or two, one. Whatever the order is, the order is. And we’ve unearthed something in T.J. (McConnell) who is just a real push it point guard and a pass-first point guard. I feel what this team needs to protect ourselves, as much as anything.” – Brett Brown as interviewed by Bob Cooney of Philly.com"

We’ve been down this road before, the losses piling up mean a better spot in the upcoming NBA draft. So celebrate if you must. But don’t become too familiar with the “we’ve lost again” pattern fans.

The 2015-16 season was expected to be challenging, as the Philadelphia 76ers team is one of the youngest teams to play professional basketball. With so much youth, the energy of the team is very positive, but the performance is unsurprisingly erratic. Hot one night, cold the next. In addition to the inexperience in the NBA, these players are virtual strangers to one another. With so many new faces, the building of instinctual play is not on the menu just yet.

Sure. we could fall back on the “winless for wiggins” mantra. But hold on, help is on its way. Each cog of the machine is forging as I write this. Each intricate part is coming off the assembly line.
The train is pulling away from the station, and right now it’s just a hurky jerky clickity clack of confusion.

But the train is moving. Soon it will be a smooth ride. Then, my friends and fans, it will be worth the journey.

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