Philadelphia 76ers: Progress Of The Process

The process has been a slow churn for Philadelphia 76ers fans since Sam Hinkie put his plan in effect. Are the 76ers better because of it?

Ever since Sam Hinkie became the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s been a very rough ride. His plan to create a team who will contend year-after-year has completely decimated the on-court product for a chance to have a successful future and, depending on your views of the Sixers, he’s ruining our team or is the saving grace.

For almost everyone who reads The Sixer Sense, I’m assuming that you trust the process, as do I, but we cannot ignore two straight seasons where we start off on an extended winless streaks, with last year coming in as the second-longest. Sure, there have been numerous injuries, like Tony Wroten, Kendall Marshall, Robert Covington, on top of Joel Embiid missing another season, but part of the process is continued internal improvement, with the following questions needing an answer:

“Are we showing improvement on the offensive and defense end?”

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“Are our players improving their skills?”

“Are we integrating our team-wide philosophies, with our players buying in?”

The first two are related but stand on their own merits with the difference, in my opinion, being that the first a team-wide question and the second about our individual players.

In regards to the first question, let’s look at last year where we had an offensive rating of 95.5, which was last in the league, and a defensive rating of 104.8, which came in 13th out of 30. This year we are at 92.8 and 107.3 (on 11/23/2015, prior to the Minnesota Timberwolves game) respectively, showing that we are scoring less and giving up more points, a regression in both areas. Granted, a caveat to this is that Philly has played one of the more difficult schedules so far, but while this question is currently skewed by the SOS, it still doesn’t change the fact that we have yet to register a win after 14 games from the start of the season. As long as we don’t lose 17 games straight again, we shouldn’t panic, right?

This second question is more disconcerting for Sixer fans. Many people have been enamored with our new toys, in Jahlil Okafor and T.J. McConnell, that our focus has shifted away from the players that were already on our team. The biggest name on the list is Nerlens Noel and many people were curious to see how well he’d fit next to Okafor. Unfortunately the results have been mixed at best so far in this season.

Noel had a defensively dominant season last year, garnering Defensive Player of the Year votes which also helped his Rookie of the Year candidacy, but this year his activity on that end has gone away. At the beginning of the year he was a consistent menace for opposing offenses, a gameplan focus on which to avoid if teams wanted buckets around the rim against the Sixers. However, after his wrist injury, his defensive instincts have been registering a half-step slower and Noel often looks more reactionary on D, rather than attacking an offense. This is especially true when he plays next to Jahlil. It looks as if they need more reps together to figure out things like rebounding and opposing penetration responsibilities, both hesitating too often.

It doesn’t get any better for Noel on offense. Even though Noel will never be known as a true threat, he did show flashes last year of knowing when to pick his spots. This year his offensive confidence has collapsed, shown by forcing shots that are out of his range (for example, an airball at the top of the key against the Indiana Pacers) and his inability to catch the ball cleanly under the basket. He is shooting a ghastly 42.6% from the field, beyond terrible for a player that plays close to the basket.

In terms of a player who has neither regressed or progressed, look at Isaiah Canaan. Coach Brett Brown has realized that Isaiah is not a point guard, taking away his starting spot from the beginning of the season, and making him the offensive focus off the bench. The main criticism of Isaiah is the lack of penetrating and ball handling, leading to too many long-range shots at the expense of initiating a flowing offensive set. Because Isaiah is so limited with the ball in his hands, he makes some decisions as a way to overcome, but are ill-advised. At least Coach Brown has realized to always pair Canaan with another ball handler, because the more responsibility Canaan has, the worse he does.

One player who has made a small improvement from last year is Jerami Grant. Earning the starting spot when Robert Covington was down with his knee injury, Jerami has shown flashes of improvement of attacking the rim to get easy buckets. He also continues to give full effort on defense, making use of his 6’8″ frame. The only area he has regressed in is three point percentage, shooting below 20% from that range, but also shooting less than two a game.

Next: What We've Learned About This Season So Far

The last question needs more speculation, as there aren’t any stats to count for subjective matters of the team. By all accounts though, it sounds like the Sixers are currently still hungry to compete every night. Watching this team play their games is an exercise in frustration on most nights, but you cannot question their effort. Again, this is a testament to Coach Brown who has set the tone for the team, never letting any player quit and keeping a positive vibe across the entire organization which, according to Gregg Popovich, is part of his nature.

I can’t stress enough how important it is for coach to be doing this. On a team with young players who are experiencing extended losing for so long, a lot of negativity can seep in to affect the team. Players can stop caring about the game or worse, will lash out at the team, and will create an environment where no one wants to come to the practice facility to improve. Coach Brown’s love for this team is not missed by the players, who continue to sing his praises and who credit Coach Brown for improving their individual play.

The phrase ”it’s always darkest before dawn” gives hope to all Philadelphia 76ers fans out there, knowing how dark the current times are and hoping for a better future. Let’s just hope leadership doesn’t look too far ahead yet, because the foundation of the future is built today.

Note: All stats per Basketball-Reference.com.