Philadelphia 76ers have contending potential this season

The Philadelphia 76ers have been disappointing this season to say the least. Last year, the Sixers had the best regular season record in the Eastern Conference and now they find themselves struggling to remain above .500. However, I think there is more hope than may currently appear.

Last week, Keith Pompey of The Inquirier asked 76ers head coach Doc Rivers if it was concerning to have so many close games against opposing teams missing their star players. Rivers’ colorful response can be seen in this link (language warning in video).

Usually, I side with reporters in the belief that any question is fair. Part of the reason players and coaches receive large salaries includes having to answer questions they think are “[expliced] questions”. Here though, I think Rivers has a point, even if he didn’t articulate it the best way.

Fans need to be more confident in the Philadelphia 76ers chances.

You can absolutely say the Sixers play down to their competition, but when you do that you have to also acknowledge they play up to their competition in big games. On December 11th, the Golden State Warriors came to Philadelphia boasting the best record in the entire NBA and had their full roster available, except Klay Thompson who has not played all year.

The Sixers controlled that game throughout and Matisse Thybulle kept Steph Curry from breaking the all-time three-point record in Philly.

Fast forward to December 30th, the Sixers went to Brooklyn to face a fully loaded Nets team and won again. The Sixers beat the top team in each conference in a span of 20 days and the most encouraging part was that Joel Embiid was dominant in both contests. Neither Golden State nor Brooklyn had any answer for him in those matches.

It is clear that this team is not what the fans were hoping for coming off such a productive and impressive regular season last year. As former NFL head coach Bill Parcells once said, “you are as good as your record says you are.” The Sixers are 20-16, sitting sixth in the Eastern Conference, I would encourage fans to not give up hope yet.

I am not saying this team will win the NBA Championship this season, but I am urging a more positive attitude. Last year’s playoff loss to Atlanta is definitely a contributing factor to the team’s slow start. Another factor is the ongoing Ben Simmons saga that seemingly will never end.

Yet, if the Philadelphia 76ers can get quality assets in return for Simmons and gain confidence/motivation as the second half of the season approaches, then they have the talent and depth to make a playoff run. It’s a new year, might as well try to practice positive thinking.