76ers fans and players alike can breathe a sigh of relief now that the team has gotten their first win under their belts.  After a heart-breaking overtime loss to the Washington Wizards Tuesday night, the Sixers looked re-energized in Wednesday night’s contest, blowing out the Indiana Pacers 101-75 at the WFC. 

The 76ers formula for success was simple: get out in transition, control the boards and attack the basket.  The 7-6 out-rebounded the Pacers 54-46, had more fast break points 24-10 and points in the paint 46-34.  For a 76ers team that is usually mismatched in the frontcourt it was great to see them dominate the paint and boards in a win. 

Moving forward we have to continue to attack the basket the way we did, limiting ourselves to only 12 three point attempts while managing to get to the foul line 25 times (made 21).  The tone was set early on in the contest when the 76ers jumped to an early lead. 

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Two presumed basement feeders of the Eastern Conference fought their little hearts out Tuesday night in the Verizon Center, with the Washington Wizards walking off the court victorious over the 76ers. Washington kept last season’s trend alive (they swept us three games to none in 2009-10) in dramatic fashion last night, just clipping the Sixers 116-115 in overtime.

Philadunkia.com is one of the leading websites dedicated to covering 76er basketball, but I wouldn’t be doing the sport justice if I didn’t lead off this post commending the astonishing performance from Wizards rookie point guard John Wall.

A colleague of mine at the game said you could feel electricity in the crowd for the first time in several seasons. Wall poured in 29 points (from all over the court), 13 assists and a mind-boggling nine steals, most of which led to easy transition points for Washington.  Wall’s speed and body control on drives to the bucket look even more polished than his days in  a Kentucky uniform.  Wall’s chemistry with off guard Nic Young is also an encouraging sign for the DC faithful.

Tuesday night in Washington DC proved how much of a can’t miss prospect Wall actually was.  Evan Turner was quiet all game until it mattered in the fourth quarter, where he scored eight of his nine points, an encouraging sign to go along with his six boards in 28 minutes.  But how long do you think it will take ET to come close to Wall’s triple-double numbers, even if it was something he pulled off at Ohio State quiet often?

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This edition of “Fo’ with the Foes” — Philadunkia’s advanced scouting series which with the help of an accomplished journalist from around the NBA beat or blog world, previews upcoming 76ers opponents — features tonight’s opponent John Wall and the Washington Wizards.

We can really only say two things about this game – The first item is that this will be an ugly contest as these two teams are not playing well right now.  The 76ers rank 27^th in offense (91.33 ppg.) and the Wiz are even worse at 89 ppg. (29^th overall).  A lot of that could have to do with the fact that these are two of the worst shooting teams in the NBA.  The Sixers own a FG % of 42.8 which puts them in the bottom five in the League (26^th) and Washington isn’t much better at 43.5% (22^nd ranked). 

Neither team can play a lick at the other end of the court either, as the Wiz are the 6^th worst defensive team in the NBA (105 ppg.) and the Sixers sit just inside the bottom half of the League (14^th @ 100 ppg.).  Those in Philadunkia nation should watch for developing Wizards big man Andray Blatche to have a break out game vs. the Sixers weak interior defenders.  

The second thing we can say about Tuesday night’s contest is that the real reason we’re tuning in tonight is to see John Wall.  Now that’s keeping it real.

For a little more insight into the Wizards team the Sixers face tonight, we turn to our man Rashad Mobley from truthaboutit.net to answer two questions on the Wizards from us here at Philadunkia as well as provide us with two points of analysis on this John Wall’s squad from an insider’s perspective.

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The Philadelphia 76ers have a gleaming hole at the center position.  Their starting center Spencer Hawes is a scrub and in his three starts has produced ten points and nine rebounds — total.  

His backup, Marreese Speights, who is defensively challenged and suddenly injury prone has found himself warming the bench for the majority of Philadelphia’s first three games (an average of five minutes per game).  Since Hawes and Speights have been unable to handle the center duties, Elton Brand has spent significant time at the 5-spot over the first three games and done an admirable job.  However Brand is not the answer for 2010-11 nor the long haul.  The old-timer Tony Battie got some playing time at center in the 76ers contests against the Hawks and Pacers and was serviceable.  Battie has seen 19 total minutes on the floor and tallied three points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks, but again the Sixers can not rely on him to start and see major minutes each night.  

It’s clear the 76ers need to look elsewhere at the five position.  A low-post presence is key to compete in the East against the likes of Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh and the O’Neal’s in Boston.  Even taller average players like Roy Hibbert will be able to have their ways offensively against Philly on the interior.  The 76ers missed out on numerous opportunities this summer to sign a big and it’s killing this team right now.  So whether it’s through free agency or via a trade, the 76ers will have to start making phone calls for a player who can bang in the post and fix this problem now. 

Lets take another look at some of the players available in free agency and potentially through trade who can plug the hole in the middle for the 7-6.  

 
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