Although NBA teams don’t start their preseason until October, the 76ers newly appointed head coach Doug Collins has done an excellent job so far.
The first thing any leader in any environment must do upon his/her arrival is sale his system.  If nobody buys into your system, you either replace those people with those who will buy into it or you’ll be changing jobs quickly.
NBA coaches Phil Jackson, Larry Brown, Greg Popovich and Jerry Sloan are masters at getting players to accept their philosophy.
The Sixers 2009-2010 season was doomed the moment Eddie Jordan said he was implementing his Princeton offense during the press conference of his hiring.  Jordan quickly lost the respect of his players and it was known before the All Star break that he would only be in Philly for one season.
The first thing Collins did as head coach was begin reaching out to his players, starting with Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand.  While many hope at least one of these overpaid disappointments is traded this summer, Collins has to approach them as if they’ll both be in Philly in October.
While I disagree with him possibly starting Brand at center and Thaddeus Young at power forward, I do respect the fact that Collins has a plan.
During his conversation with guard Lou Williams, coach Collins asked him if he lost the starting point guard spot, would he be okay with coming off the bench.  I loved that question.
With Jrue Holiday and rookie Evan Turner very likely the starting backcourt, Williams will be the first guy off the bench.  Williams shouldn’t be a starting.  He has the potential to be an offensive spark the way Vinnie “The Microwave” Johnson did during the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys era.
Reading between the lines, Collins question really was “Are you going to be a sixth man here or trade bait??”
Over the summer and definitely during the preseason the Sixers will find more out about who’s willing to accept a lesser role if it means a more competitive team.  This is how championship teams are assembled.
We’ll see if Williams can backup two players with less experience combined than he has.  If he remains a Sixer, will Iguodala defer to Turner if he’s indeed the better scoring option?  One of the reasons Samuel Dalembert was traded is because he didn’t like how he was used on offense.  It was very likely he wasn’t going to be too fond of how Collins utilized him either.
Lamar Odom understands the Lakers are a better team when he’s coming off the bench.  The Celtics ‘Big Three’ learned to cater to each other’s strengths in order to become champions in 2008.
The sooner everyone’s roles are determined in Philly, the sooner the Sixers will be taken more seriously.  Seeing Doug Collins seeking to find out in May and June is definitely a good thing.
thats hard though lamar odom has pau gasol in front of him so he’s looking at it like im probably suposed to come off the bench. lou williams has to be looking at jrue holiday like u guys cant be serious. he is a better player than jrue jrue hustles on d thats about it. if he’s so young and you are going to use that as the excuse for his terrible stats than quite frankly he’s to young to be on the floor. 8ppg 3 ast and 2.5 to’s for jrue in 25 min per game
lou will 14 ppg 4ast 1.5 to’s in 29 min per game
and its not like ur gonna say to me oh jrue made us win lmao i dont c how u can start this guy wo trading lou
o and some1 tell iggy we dont need him to be kobe
tellem his role is if u dont have a dunk pass it
did any1 see the gm vs raptors we were down like 1 with 25 secs left and had a full shot clock iggy caught an inboud pass and lofted a 40footer like it was 1sec left. all man some1 tell him that is not his role lol
Yeah but Odon use to be the starter and is better for that team coming off the bench. Same thing with Ginobili. You need key guys to come off the bench and on a lot of team the 6th or 7th man can start for other teams. But if you understand you role you have no problem with it. When Odom comes in, he basically runs the floor from a point-forward position so even though he’s the 6th man, his role is invaluable. Lou Williams and Young can be your key bench players when you need offensive sparks when the starters are struggling. The NBA is about depth and not who has the best starting 5.
PW, I agree with you about iggy. I just want him attacking the basket, get out on breaks and playing defense. No more jumpshots until he actually has one. I don’t mind the little 13 footer but its the 17 and 20 foot ones that be killing me. If he can get the small mid range and attack the basket he’s golden. He doesn’t need to be firing up rainbow 3 pointers. I believe Collins knows this and hopefully we won’t see as many of them crappy shots this year.
LOL, Phillywill just can’t accept the fact that everyone thinks Holiday is better than Lou. And you can tell you are just a stats guy, you don’t watch the games, because Holiday got better towards the end of the season when he was getting more minutes. All you are doing is looking up stats to see who you think is better. Go out and get a job so you can get TV and Cable so you can watch the games and learn something. Stop sitting on the Public Library computers, bum.
ok first off im not looking up shit i wathced the gms so i knew the stats second they show their stats everytime they shoot a ft or do anything so stfu jrue had a career hight at the wachovia 26 pts on 7 3’s i was there that night maybe 1 other good game that u waould say a good pg had not a bum pg who had a good game which is what holiday is. ok 3rd my email is willpen24@yahoo.com i dare u to email me i will give u my num i want u to call me, and lets meet up somewhere since i dont know bball lets go to a playgorund ur choice just hit me up i aint say nothing to u i will now tho please email me or give me ur email sportsbitch
u cant use odom as a example he is not better than or should start over gasol or bynum make sense. u can say like the mavs when they started jj barea and brough j terry off the bench or use ginobli but maybe u guys didnt watch the offs this yr he started every game. i guess its like jamal crawford he could start but they bring em off the bench but jrue is a liability no jumper at all its a set shot his release is majorly slow he isnt athletic he has major trouble finishing at or around the rim in traffic i mean he hustles big shit in lil china so did eric snow. he hustles on d but who tf is jrue holiday gonna lock up at the pg position no1. and since u know so much sportsbitch y is ur boy jrue the worse pg in his class evans flynn curyy lawson collison his college teamate lol and eric maynor. holiday is the worse out of all of them
and he’s the worse out of the pg’s either by stats or by wins whatever ur criteria
LOL, looks like I hit a nerve. Who says he is the worse? You? LMAO, I don’t need to elaborate if that is all you got. Like I said before, I really don’t listen or respect your opinions, because they are guided by emotion. You can tell by the way you react. I don’t really care who starts for the 76ers as long as it is the better player, and most say it is Jrue. I never heard anyone say that Jrue is the worst PG in his class besides you, and I definitely don’t think that, but even if that were true…… What would that even mean? Doesn’t mean Jrue is a horrible PG, it could be just that last years PG class was amazing. Like I said though, lay off the computer and looking up stats on NBA.com and ESPN.com and try to actually watch games, because you clearly don’t know what you are talking about.
im glad i inspire ur bitch ass to look at my comments lol but what tf do u keep saying stats for jrue won least amount of games of any pg in the 1st round.he came to a playoff team which became worse with the loss of a real pg . not an 8 and 3 pg somehow now titled floor general lol. evans flynn curry jennings lawson collison maynor . go by stats u can go by wins u can go by whatever criteria u want they are all way further ahead than this sacred cow of a pg
and i notice u didnt email me we dont have to discuss over gcobb u so tough holla at me
Uh oh, Phillywill is threatening me now. LMAO internet tough guy. Wins are stats, moron. LOL at you and your uneducated ass. Besides, wins are a team measurement, and Jrue wasn’t the starter in the beginning of the year. Like I said, you don’t watch the games, because if you did, you would have seen how good Jrue was getting better by the end of the year when he was actually the starter, and the reason why everyone in the 76ers organization along with numerous NBA experts have high hopes for this guy. All you have to judge him on is things you can look up on the internet, because you are a bum who is using the Public Library computers, and you have no T.V. or Cable to watch the games. You should really find something better to do with your time instead of coming on here and showing everyone on here what an idiot you are.
I am done talking to you…… You clearly don’t know what you are talking about, about the sport, and don’t even watch them. That is why you don’t know that Wins are a stat, why you also don’t know Wins are a TEAM stat, and why you didn’t know that Jrue wasn’t the starter til the end of the year.
I think we’re this close to someone saying “Your Mom!”
if u look at the comments u will c the internet thug i came on a sportssite and gave my opinion. it wasnt for u to like idc. u can say whatever u want about my opinion but ur bitch ass changed the topic when u decieded to be tough tony and direct negative comments towards me. and now ur a bitch and wont man up to them willpen24@yahoo.com so i can give u my number u call and thats it. lets see who the internet thug is or what have u not much talkn needed. 2nd i only make a comment at work dumb ass im not u i dont use spare time at work to come online to make comments. 3rd im a come to ur playground in ur hood whats the prob im coming to u
im a real philadelphian if u r 2 then u’ll holla
clearly the comment i just left must have been censored. all u have to do is look at the comments and u can easily see who the online thug is. i left a sports opinion and u decided to not just comment on that but to direct negative comments towards me. see if i say what i say about some1 i stand up after saying it so my email is willpen24@yahoo.com
if u a real philadelphian like me then u’ll holla if not no need to discuss anything with me
and im telling u what i c about jrue hoilday ur the 1 who keeps referring to experts and every1else so maybe ur talkn bout urself
stop thinking phil jasner knows basketball he knows jouranlism
ur playground just name the time and day im there sportsb
New year, new system, with a different coaching philosophy means whatever you saw last year may have absolutely no bearing on what the starting personnel situation for this year should be.
If Lou Williams doesn’t pick up his defense (steals) he will guarantee himself a spot on the bench. With him being the smallest guy on the team at this point it’s finally clear to the Sixers organization that that they need a big back court to even look like viable contenders. Lou Williams can’t grow 5-6 inches to better block a couple of shots a night, or grab a few more rebounds, but he can work harder at trying to steal basketballs. AI was extremely tenacious on the defensive end which always threw teams off their strategy, frustrated other point guards and that’s the part of Williams’ game that’s going to have to evolve to compete for the starting spot…or even to keep a bench spot. Honestly though, with Turner’s handle and his smarts I can see scenarios where he would be the point guard and Williams would be the shooting guard.
LOL
i agree butch i can c alot of turner playing the pg