Addressing the Sixers, Department by Department

Nov 22, 2024

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Literally the worst record in the league. Near the bottom or dead last in every offensive category worth a damn, pedestrian on defense, slow to the ball all around. And guess what: this isn’t even rock bottom.

Really pitiful and weird so far honestly. I’d like to blame it all on injuries, and the three of them have had fair share, but it really does seem like it’s more to the dynamic than we are seeing, which I’m sure will continue to come out as they spiral deeper and deeper into the tank abyss.

Giving them a grade of incomplete, mostly because many of them are currently doing way more than they ought to be – to no benefit to anyone, as the record shows. If I had to sum it up I’d say, one charismatic bubbly bucket-getting rookie guard and Big Bona aside, everyone is playing way too much and doing way too little.

Fair or unfair, he’s quickly creeping into that lame-duck Brett Brown phase for me. I would have never said that months ago, but he really is striking me more and more like a guy who has no clue where to begin in righting this ship. Shellshocked even. I can’t blame him for injuries to his three best players, but I can definitely blame him for still running the same defense and free-atWill offense with guys who should be nowhere near being told to take the shot if they see it.

Daryl’s a proud (albeit stubborn) man, so I’m sure this is killing him – but this fix is going to take a lot more than getting creative with the KJ Martin contract.

Nov 22

I really do think this isn’t as bad as it can get. I know that seems impossible, but please take my word. Will it get worse? Probably, before it gets any better – and let me be clear, by better I mean stringing along a three- or four-game win streak. At this point there’s no way I’m talking playoffs, not playing myself or you, by talking about play-in, 8th seed etc. They have to win 10 straight just to get to .500, so baby steps it is.