5 things the Philadelphia 76ers must improve to contend

Now that we know the Philadelphia 76ers will not go a perfect 82-0, here are five areas they can improve on to meet their stated goal of making the NBA finals.

We were warned there would be some early growing pains for the Philadelphia 76ers by coach Brett Brown.

He was not lying.

Besides the biggest move, putting Markelle Fultz in the starting lineup, there are additiional factors why it might take a while for the Sixers to get in sync.

With former assistant Lloyd Pierce now working for former Square Pegs star Jami Gertz as head coach in Atlanta, the responsibilities for defensive philosophy have transferred to assistant Billy Lange, who has put in a lot of new techniques.

Of course it would not be a true Sixers season without injuries. Brown had to start without three players who one would assume would be part of his rotation, forward Wilson Chandler, center-forward Mike Muscala and first-round pick Zhaire Smith.

Muscala missed a few games and Chandler should be back shortly. Smith, per Sixers first round tradition, has a broken foot and a mid-December return is the target right now. But this has left Brown a jumbled rotation to start the season, seeing which guy who wasn’t suppose to play can help.

Now it is certainly not time to panic. It is not like the Sixers lost at home to the Orlando Magic (like Boston did). However, there are five areas that the 76ers need to improve on if they want to reach  the NBA finals.