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| image from sportslogos.net |
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| Evan Turner could steal the spotlight next year (image by the AP) |
The Sixers did something that majority of NBA fans did not expect – to not get swept by the Miami Heat. For all their tenacity and grit, it’s quite unfortunate that their greatest achievement for this season was Game 4. It was a great game, mind you, but it doesn’t really speak volumes about the Sixers’ ascendancy in the East.
Maybe because there is no such thing as a Sixers’ ascendancy.
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| Collins is the man behind these overachieving Sixers (image by Rob Carr/Getty Images) |
No there’s not.
But that could be different next season.
Considering how Doug Collins put this team on the right track and considering how he managed to get them to the postseason as a 7th seed, this Philly team was a big overachiever this season. Consider too that their highest scorer for the season and their ill-fated match-up with Miami was a journeyman power forward drafted 12 years ago, and you should get the picture.
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| Will Holiday ever be mentioned in the same breath as D-Rose? (image by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) |
Right now that picture isn’t exactly inspiring, but, again, the right moves this off-season might give this Philly team added legitimacy as a playoff contender. And maybe this time they can do it by actually compiling a winning record.
Young studs Jrue Holiday (prior to the season’s start, Collins expressed how he thought Holiday could be a top-5 poing guard in a year’s time) and Evan Turner should provide Sixer fans with some hope for the future. Thaddeus Young and Elton Brand seem to connect well in the frontline, and Jodie Meeks and Sweet Lou Williams spread the floor nicely. It’s a good core.
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| Where are you headed AI? (image from Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) |
Okay, before you say I forgot about Andre Iguodala, let me say this: he might not even be in Philly next year. Not sure if he even wants to stay.
But that may not be such a bad thing. AI hasn’t exactly delivered on his sky’s-the-limit potential. Sure, he’s like a new age Dominique Wilkins when it comes to the art of sky walking, but a tier one
guard/forward hybrid he is not. At least not yet, and I get the feeling he will never be that guy in Philly.
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| Is this frontline as good as it gets? (image by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) |
A parting could be mutually beneficial, especially since the Sixers’ most glaring hole is right in the middle. The spot where Spencer Hawes and Tony Battie should be cleaning house is a gaping wasted space. If the front office can engineer something to bring in a solid big man, then Doug Collins might finally give Philadelphia fans a sense of Sixer ascendancy.
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