After their loss to the Wizards in Washington on Monday
afternoon, the Sixers officially sit at the halfway point of their season. The
team has played 41 of the 82 regular season games on its schedule and won a
grand total of 13 times, which, at this point, is more than many expected.
With the season’s glass half empty, now seems to be a good
time to look at some trends on the Sixers’ struggle of a season.
First of all, the Sixers’ 13 wins is the third least in the
league at this point. Only Milwaukee (7) and Orlando (11) have fewer wins than
Philadelphia. If you’re on board with using this season as a developmental tool
and landing as high as possible in the summer’s lottery than this is a good
thing. If not, well then you’re likely out of luck, and you will just have to
continue to suffer through some bad basketball from the Sixers this season.
Aside from having the league’s third lowest win total, the
Sixers are at the very bottom of the barrel in several other areas as well. The
Sixers are dead last in the league in defensive points per game, allowing their
opponents to score a whopping 109.9 points a game; a full four points higher
than the next closest team, the Los Angeles Lakers. The Sixers defense has been
beyond suspect all season, and they continue to allow their opponent to pile on
the points. They have been alright offensively, scoring 101 points per game
themselves, but it is tough to beat anyone when you’re giving up 110 points
per.
Working hand-in-hand with the amount of points Philadelphia
gives up on a nightly basis is how many three-point attempts, and makes, they
allow. The 7-6 are again dead last in the league in both three point shots
attempted, and made by opponents. This is not a surprise for anyway who has
watched the Sixers so far this season, as at times it feels as though there is
a constant barrage of three’s raining down on Evan Turner and his teammates.
The Sixers are allowing 26.7(!) three-point attempts per game, and their
opponents are making an average of 9.8 of such shots. That is almost 30 points
a game surrendered to the three-point shot! Again, it if very difficult to win
consistently when you’re allowing so much damage to be done from beyond the
arc.
There is yet another category where the Sixers find
themselves last in the league; turnovers per game. The Sixers, as if they
didn’t already have enough issues if they took good care of the ball, turn it
over more than any other team. On average, the Sixers turn the ball over 17
times a game, leading to 16 opponent fast-break points. Again, not a sign of
success.
Obviously the Sixers have struggled this season. Some of the
struggle was to be expected however, and it hasn’t all been bad. There have
been some positive aspects to the season as well, mostly in the form of
phenomenal rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams, who appears to be well
on his way to becoming the first Sixer Rookie of the Year since Allen Iverson.
Carter-Williams is dominating all other rookies is virtually all statistical
categories, and he looks as though he can be a huge factor in the future of the
franchise.
Carter-Williams leads all rookies in minutes (34.6), points
(17.5), assists (6.7), rebounds (5.7), steals (2.5), and turnovers (3.4 – hey,
he’s not perfect) per game, as well as double-doubles recorded with eight.
Pretty impressive start to the season, and his career, for MC-W.
So, the Sixers season hasn’t been pretty to this point,
especially for someone who was expecting a playoff push (but why were you
expecting that anyway?). The team, young as it is, makes a ton of mistakes,
plays poor defense, allows too many threes, and turns the ball over entirely
too much. But, the point guard play of Michael Carter-Williams has been a
bright spot, and something for both the franchise and the fanbase to build off
of going forward. The Sixers remain several steps away from true contention,
and this struggle of a season used to evaluate and develop young talent is
simply a small step in the right direction.
No, it hasn’t been pretty and the second half of the season
might get even uglier, especially if key contributors are traded away. But, if
you are going to build a solid house you need to start with the foundation, and
that is exactly what Sam Hinkie, Brett Brown, and the rest of the front office
is doing with the franchise. It will be interesting to see what the second half
of the season has in store for the Sixers.
No comments:
Post a Comment