Defense and depth: Big issues for the Sixers so far this season

Check out the original article, which ran on Philly.com, here. 

The success of the Sixers’ up-tempo offense thus far this season has come as a surprise to some who expected them to struggle on that end. The Sixers currently boast the eighth most effective offense in the entire NBA in terms of points per game (103.7 – an average of a free Big Mac each game night at Wells Fargo), and are averaging the third most made field goals a game at 39.6.

The Sixers have six players averaging in double figures, including Tony Wroten and James Anderson, who both averaged less than four points per game last season. Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner are both having career years and excelling offensively, while rookie Michael Carter-Williams is stuffing the stat sheet and making ten teams second guess their June selections.

Yes, the offense has been running effectively, but the Sixers still sit at 6-9, which is currently eighth in the anemic East, and a full seven games behind the first-place Pacers.

The offense obviously isn’t the issue. Instead, it has been defense and lack of depth that have most contributed to the Sixers’ struggles this season.

Spencer Hawes may be worth bringing back for the Sixers

This article ran on Philly.com yesterday, so check out the original here. 

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Spencer Hawes is a free agent after this season, hooray! 

Finally, the Sixers can clear that contract from the books! 

But wait, should the Sixers consider holding on to Hawes?

It is an idea that I never would have entertained a couple short seasons ago, as Hawes struggled to stay out on the court for Coach Doug Collins, and looked lost a lot of the time when he was able to avoid injury issues. 

However, his improving play and the continuing league-wide trend toward small-ball and speed make Hawes’ skill set especially intriguing, and one that might be worth holding on to. 

There is little doubt that Hawes’ market value will be elevated in the offseason if he continues his impressive play, and while it would not be wise for the Sixers to break the bank on him, it may also be unwise to let him walk without some contract consideration. 

Thaddeus Young's early offensive struggles

I took a look at some of Thad Young's early offensive struggles this season for Philadunkia earlier this week, check out the full article here.
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From: Tracking.si.com

With so many fresh, inexperienced faces populating Sixers' Training Camp at The Philadelphia College of Orthopedic Medicine this summer, it was assumed that the teams established veterans: Thad Young, Spencer Hawes, and Evan Turner would be responsible for much of the team's on-court production, and locker room leadership.

While Turner and Hawes have seen their stats spike in Brett Brown's up-tempo offense, Thaddeus Young has had some obvious difficulty adjusting to his sixth new coach since being drafted by the Sixers. Instead of improving, Young's points and rebounds per game are both down from last season, as is his shooting percentage, which currently sits at 46%, compared to last season's 53%.

Brett Brown's fast-break-friendly, motion style offense would seem to be an ideal situation for Thad to flourish, as Spencer and E.T. are, since he is athletic and operates well in the open court. But, the adjustment hasn't been smooth, and has occasionally left Young looking lost.

Is it time for the Sixers to consider trading Evan Turner?

This article ran originally on Philly.com yesterday. It was a hot topic and generated quite a few comments, some negative aimed at me. It is important to note that I am not saying that the Sixers should trade Evan Turner, simply that if they are going to, it may be an opportune time to start looking for some available options.

Read the original article here.
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The plan was for Evan Turner to pile in the points per game, and show that he could be a viable offensive option, in turn increasing his trade value, while the Sixers struggled through this season.

While the Sixers haven’t exactly struggled so far, it is safe to say that the Turner part of the plan has worked well to this point. 

Evan Turner has improved upon his production and his efficiency, AND he is currently a top ten scorer in the NBA. He’s there, with his 23 points per game, on the top ten list, sandwiched right between Carmelo Anthony and Monta Ellis. Who saw that coming?

Turner has seized the opportunity to be the team’s primary offensive option after spending several seasons offensively oppressed under Coach Doug Collins. Turner has made a concerted effort to attack the rim, rather than just settle for jumpers as he often did under Doug. Turner currently leads the NBA in total points scored on drives to the basket, and is averaging a career high 5.6 free throw attempts a game. As if this weren’t improvement enough, E.T. is also shooting a career high 49% from the field, and pulling down six boards per. 

He’s locked in, and logically so, as he’s playing for a contract; either with the Sixers or elsewhere in the league’s landscape. This brings us to the point of this piece: Is it time to trade to Turner?

Like Jason Kidd, Sixers' Michael Carter-Williams is a nightly triple-double threat

Check out the entire article here, from Philly.com.
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"The most impressive part of Michael Carter-Williams’ game thus far this season has been his versatility. 

Yes, his shooting his been pleasantly surprising, especially from long-range where many expected him to have extreme struggles, but his calling card has been that versatility. The kid is a walking triple-double waiting to happen. He has yet to record an actual triple-double, despite being a single steal shy in his first game, but the multi-tool talent is there. 

There has long been talk of a man of many talents, a la LeBron, averaging a triple-double throughout the course of an entire season; Carter-Williams is the type of player that could come close.

Allen Iverson details his infamous 'practice' presser

Check out the full article here. 

May 7, 2002 is a date that members of the media won’t let Allen Iverson live down. 

On that date, Iverson infamously announced his distaste for practice, and may have set a record for uses of the word in a twenty minute period. 

The comedic value and resulting popularity of the press conference cannot be denied, (just check its YouTube views), and the clip has stuck with Iverson ever since. 

While he said that he wouldn’t take back what he said given an opportunity, Iverson did use his much milder, recent retirement press conference to revisit the infamous ‘practice’ presser, and provide some context on it. 

Sixers' rookie Michael Carter-Williams has the skill set to develop into a dominant guard

This article ran originally on Philly.com late last week, and Carter-Williams' recent performances against John Wall and Derrick Rose further demonstrated his potential.

Check out the article in its entirety here.
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It didn’t take Michael Carter-Williams long to score his first NBA basket. In fact, it was less than 30 seconds into the Sixers season opener against Miami that he took an errant pass from Roger Mason Jr. the remaining length of the court for a driving dunk. 

It was a pretty quick score, and an overall impressive offensive output for a player many thought would struggle adjusting to the offensive end of an NBA game. 

Carter-Williams showed little signs of such struggle in his debut, putting up 22 points on 6-10 shooting from the floor, including four three-pointers. His 22 points represent the most in a Sixers debut since recently retired Allen Iverson piled in 30 points against the Bucks in 1996.