We all know that Doug Collins faces a very, very difficult challenge in turning around the 76ers.  Guiding Philadunkia’s home team to a better season in 2010-11 will be the the least difficult part of Collins’ stay here in Philly (Several of us here at Philadunkia could coach the 76ers to 30 wins). 

Building a consistent winning franchise here in Philadelphia will not be so easy.  The 76ers are young and talented, but they have a lot of repetitive pieces and players that don’t fit together all that well.  Additionally, the Elton Brand riddle / enigma still needs to be solved.  Last, but certainly not least, the Sixers are cap strapped for the near future.  These items make the long range goal of building a championship NBA team here in Philadelphia a daunting task. 

So we’ve established that securing a parade down Broad Street in honor of the 76ers will be a monumental feat, but just how tough is the immediate road (2010-11) that lies ahead for new head coach Doug Collins? 

Well according to Foxsports.com…

Continue Reading>>>

Two weekends ago some friends and I took a nine-hour drive to the southern tip of North Carolina for a week of sunshine, warm ocean, and some much-needed R and R.  I rode down with my buddy Keely, who brought to the table an old Saab that gets great MPG’s, an IPod with the new Roots album on it, and a head unusually well packed with ideas about sports.  When casual conversation took us as far as it could (Northern Virginia) we moved into an NBA fantasy draft.  Our drafting principle was this; the teams we’d picked would actually play—well imaginarily–but we had to pick them as though they would play.  So you didn’t want to just gun for big names and big numbers.  The goal was to construct the best team possible– not just an All-Star team.  After a hard fought rock-paper-scissors contest to secure the first pick we dove in and the names started flying off the board.

And then after a while, the names stopped flying.

Keely had frozen up.  He was sitting on his pick and was a versatile three shy of filling out his starting lineup (CP3, Wade, Duncan, Howard), but he was stumped.  He had scorers.  He had a distributor.  He had a take charge, crunch time guy.  What he needed was a glue guy.  Someone who could burn at several spots and defend, hopefully multiple positions.  Handle the ball if need be.  Hit an open jumper.  Press.

But who?  There aren’t a lot of guys in the Association that fit the profile.  After five minutes of quiet contemplation he took the cowards way out and drafted Melo.  Fair enough, I thought, a three’s a three.  But something nagged at me, tip of my brain, until we can a couple more miles and the root of the nag showed itself.  There had been a perfect fit for him waiting on the board.   A guy who brought everything to the table his team lacked.  A guy with the versatility to lend a hand wherever one was needed.  A guy who plays on both ends of the court.  A guy with a difficult name to spell.

That guy is Andre Iguodala.  I was struck by the implications of this.  Wow, I thought, Andre Iguodala should have gotten picked to play on one of two imaginary super-teams my friend and I made up on a car ride while we were delirious from NoDoz and Red Bull.  He’s that good?

He is.

So while I doubt this is exactly the way these teams get picked, what I’m saying I get Andre making the final 15 (and eventually the final 12) for Team USA.  What I don’t get is that other people don’t get it.

Continue Reading>>>

Recently Chad Ford and John Hollinger, the “NBA Insiders” over at ESPN.com, posted their Future Power Rankings of NBA teams.  As a refresher, we remind you that the Future Power Rankings are ESPN Insider’s projection of the on-court success expected for each team during the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.  Or in simpler terms “a convenient way to see the direction your favorite team is headed.”

As we read over the most recent rankings by Ford and Hollinger we were not surprised to see that these respected NBA scribes placed the Sixers at #25 in their Future Power Rankings.  That’s right about where we had the 76ers in our own NBA rankings.  What surprised us is the accuracy with which these “national” writers analyzed the issues that plague Philadunkia’s favorite franchise.  It was as if they follow the Sixers on a daily / nightly basis or had secretly hidden a microphone here in the Philadunkia offices and had been listening to our conversations on the state of the franchise.

After the jump are the words ESPN.com’s Ford and Hollinger wrote about the state of the Sixers.  The breakdown will sting a little, but sometimes we need to hear the truth from outsiders for it to really hit home…

Continue Reading>>>

What do you do when you’ve just wrapped up your worst season in a decade, fired your head coach, and traded your starting center for two guys with tons of “upside”?          

You throw a Beach Party of course!          

On Saturday, July 31^st at Jack’s Place in Avalon the Sixers hosted the 2010 version of their annual Beach Bash.         

Here was the scene: A bar/restaurant in one corner, a parking lot with a signing tent and stage and a few inflatable-bounce-pits in the other.  It was really hot and Evan Turner was in the house.          

The attention of the crowd was heavily focused on Turner and everybody cheered loudly when the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 Draft was introduced.  All-in-all a pretty exciting moment.  After allowing him a beat to soak in some adulation (which I think contains Vitamin D), his handlers led him to the autograph table and he went to work at the small-ball of fan pleasing, signing and smiling.  And stayed at it.  Patient guy.          

While I was angling to talk to Turner, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren took the podium and addressed the crowd.  He shared with them some specifics on the Flyers and some platitudes about building a winner. I turned around to see if Ed Stefanski was listening.  He wasn’t.          

When Holmgren was through, I asked him a few Sixers questions while a PR rep looked at us quizzically.  He expects 31 wins for the Sixers this year, 17 ppg for Evan Turner, and thinks AI9 will finish the year in a Sixers uniform.  Write it down.           

But back to the order of the day.  After Turner shot a Kia commercial, signed more autographs, and shook hands with all the people his handlers gently demanded he shake hands with, I got a chance to talk for a few minutes with the belle of the ball.          

Continue Reading>>>

As well all know Andre Iguodala survived the last round of cuts for Team USA.  However, Coach K still has three players to let go.  SI.com’s Chris Mannix predicts that AI9 will NOT be one of the last players cut and he will make the 2010 version of Team USA, saying, ” The Sixers’ swingman was one of the standouts at camp last week, drawing praise from Coach K and Colangelo for his energy and defense. Iguodala can probably play three positions — shooting guard, small forward and power forward — in Turkey, a valuable asset on a team placing a premium on versatility.”

Good news, Foxsports.com does NOT have the 76ers ranked as one of the 5 worst teams in the NBA.

They have added a new coach, a host of new additions to the roster and Evan Turner, the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft, but what NBA team would be complete without the dance team.  So, the Sixers recently announced their dance team for 2010-11.  You can check out the final auditions video here.

Continue Reading>>>

The following post was inspired by fellow True Hoop Network scribe Ryan Schwan at hornets247.com who recently emailed the entire True Hoop Network asking for each blog to submit its home team’s best offer for Chris Paul.  Ryan will the gather the offers, rank them, and virtually trade Paul just for kicks.  

So of course we here at Philadunkia.com went to work right away on getting Paul into a 76ers uniform. 

Do you think Allen Iverson will be pissed if we let Chris Paul wear the number 3?

After the jump, Philadunkia’s trade offer for Chris Paul…

Continue Reading>>>

On Wednesday TNT analyst David Aldridge reported that the Los Angeles Clippers, who are on the market for a veteran small forward, have set their sights on the Sixers own Andre Iguodala.  According to Aldridge’s report there is no indication on whether or not the Clippers will seriously pursue Iguodala, but there is at least an interest in the five year veteran out of Arizona.

Even though there is just the slimmest chance of a deal getting done at this time between the two parties, it is an interesting topic to think about.  Iguodala is guaranteed over 40 million dollars in the next three seasons and if this trade were to be completed, the Clippers would have to give away a pricey contract of their own.  The contract that works from a salary cap standpoint when compared to Iguodala’s, while also giving the Sixers an immediate missing piece to their puzzle, is the contract belonging to Chris Kaman.  Kaman is due 23 million dollars over the next two seasons and would serve as the starting center for the Sixers, which they desperately need at this time.  Please don’t throw Spencer Hawes at me either.  Hawes is a solid, developing prospect but plays nowhere near to the skill level of Chris Kaman.

Continue Reading>>>

On September 25^th , 2000 Paul Pierce was stabbed eleven times in the face, back, and neck while attempting to break up a fight inside a Boston dance club.  That evening he underwent emergency lung surgery.  Things obviously looked bleak for Pierce.  Here he was, a young athlete, in the prime of career, cut down by a senseless act of violence that imperiled not just the only dream he’d ever had, but his life.  Everything hung in the balance. 

Pierce persevered though; made a recovery so complete, so miraculous, that he went on to start all 82 games for the Celtics the following season. This happened because he worked hard and never stopped believing in himself.  It also happened because Tony Battie, his friend and teammate, got him to the hospital so quickly that night.

Battie also was the No. 5 pick in the 1997 NBA Draft.

These are two very impressive facts about Tony Battie.  Especially the first one.  I wasn’t able to find a third though, because one doesn’t exist.

Fortunately (because I have a column to fill) there are plenty of unimpressive facts about Tony Battie that we can catalogue.  Here they are…

Continue Reading>>>

While the 76ers finally struck gold with their talented and young (19 years old) starting point guard Jrue Holiday, the Sixers also currently have questions as to who will be backing up the club’s floor general and poster boy for a brighter future.  In my opinion, the Sixers still need to find someone that can give Holiday a breather once and awhile or (knock on wood here) fill in for Holiday should he miss a few games because of injury. 

The likely candidate for head coach Doug Collins is combo guard Louis Williams.  Williams is entering his fifth-season in the NBA (all with Philadunkia’s home team), but as we learned last year, his game is better suited to be a scorer than a facilitator of an entire offense.

Continue Reading>>>

Yesterday, 76ers General Manager Ed Stefanski called into the Tony Bruno & Harry Mayes Show on 97.5 “The Fanatic”.   It’s the first time Ed has addressed the state of the franchise as a whole in a very long time and he had some interesting things to say, so we though we would provide you with a little recap.

To be honest Bruno & Mayes dropped the ball big time in this interview.  It’s obvious that neither of “The Fanatic” hosts have a deep knowledge of the current state of the 76ers as they didn’t know that the Stefanski has the $5 million mid level exception available to him so he has the ability to add a free agent to the roster for 2010-11.  Additionally, Bruno & Mayes asked to many “national” questions including several on the Lebron James to Miami drama and did not keep the interview focused on the 2010-11 Sixers, a topic on which we could have interviewed Ed on for hours.    

After the jump is a breakdown of Ed’s answers to Bruno & Mayes questions.   

Continue Reading>>>