Currently the Philadelphia 76ers are making some pretty solid moves in the NBA. They’re right in the middle of an exciting playoff race in the Eastern Conference and are in the 7th seed position with a legitimate chance of moving into the 6th spot.
The Sixers aren’t a glitz and glamor team filled with big name stars. They’re a bunch of good players that play solid defense and as we all know it starts with defense.
Former NBA sharp shooter Tim Legler has been around the Philly area for some time and has witnessed the ups and downs the Sixers franchise has been through. However even he admits there is something different about the team this season.
“I think the difference with this team is the consistent effort on defense. When you come out and watch them play you get an honest effort out of the defensively,” said Legler. “This is the first time probably going all the way back to the team that went to the Finals and a maybe a few years after, that you’ve actually seen that. So you’re talking a decade almost.”
This season the Sixers are 13th in the NBA in points allowed (97.3) their lowest total since the ’08-’09 season. Although they’re still a team that like to run up and down the floor on offense, they’re now getting recognition for being one of the better defensive teams.
“I think now they are starting to build some momentum, people are starting to catch on to the team. They are a young team that is learning to play the game the right way,” said Legler.
Playing the “right” way, is a phrase that is being thrown around a lot when talking about the Sixers. Naturally the players deserve a lot
of the credit for their new found success, but Legs feels that new head coach Doug Collins should receive most of it, and more.
“For me it’s a two man race between Doug Collins and Tom Thibodeau. For a rookie coach to go into Chicago, now I know Derrick Rose is having a phenomenal season, but he has that team playing championship caliber defense. So Thibodeau has to be in the conversation. But to me the fact that Collins has taken the same team that Eddie Jordan had, with the addition of Evan Turner, and is getting more out of them, means a lot. They’re playing phenomenal and will definitely be a playoff team and their defense will scare someone in the first round. That right there points directly at coaching. And Collins deserves a lot if not all of the credit.”
Barring a complete meltdown, the Sixers will find themselves back in the playoffs. Now the question is which team will they face in the first round?
If the playoffs started today, they would face the Chicago Bulls. Naturally the Bulls are light years ahead of the Sixers, and would be a real tough match up for them. In fact all of the top four teams (Boston, Chicago, Miami, and Orlando) would be a hard battle for Philly. However like myself, Legs feels that the Sixers shouldn’t be taken so lightly against any of the teams.
“This is a team that if they got the right match up could scare the hell out of someone. I’m not sure if they can beat one of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference, it will be very difficult. However of those three teams (Boston, Chicago, Miami) I would say the Heat are the most vulnerable. They are the team that struggles the most in the fourth quarter. And if you can play a team tough and defend like the Sixers, you’d have a chance…But the experience the Sixers will gain from playing in the first round should give them the confidence they need going into the off-season for the next year.
Although making it out of the first round will be almost impossible for the Sixers, stranger things have happened. Currently the Sixers are 34-32 overall with a 22-11 record at home (5th best home record in the East).
Beware of the Miami Heat, I do not think we match up with them. Just like I don’t think we match up with the utah jazz since al jefferson always kills us wherever he plays…. I digress
The heat are gaining steam at the best and most critical point of the year. They are a championship caliber ball club. Honestly the more I think about it the sixers match up very well with the bulls in the first round, there teams are practically identical besides mvp d rose, but the sixers have a bunch of guys that are mvp for them every night, iggy one night, brand another, lou will off the bench, the thad another night or them all together. The bulls go as afar as Rose takes them, the sixers don’t have just 1 player to rely on every night. We ll win every game if we play team ball every night
Iam a bit concerned with there effort these last two games during the road trip, I’ve seen the defensive intensity but it was too late in the game to try and turn it on. They need not to get full of themselves and think they can take the night off and still win, your still in the 7th spot in close playoff race in the east so they gotta play hard every night.
Like I said before the sixers never had problems scoring the ball its been on the defensive side where they struggled in yrs past. Though we’ve seen improvement they’re still a work in progress and can’t let up esp this late in the yr and still have a chance to move up in the standings