The no. 2 pick of last years draft, Evan Turner, finally got the starting bid and is tearing up. He rebounds well, scores well and efficiently, and is not too shabby with the passing. IMO, the 76ers are slowly turning into a dark horse candidate, with and athletic group that plays good defense also. Any chance they could beat Miami/Chicago?
They matchup well against Chicago. It would be a good series. They have no shot against Miami though IMO
Turner and Iggy is a good defensive combination against Miami. Would be a good matchup. However, oddly enough, don't see them being able to take Chicago. In fact, if not for Lebron shutting down Rose in winning time, Miami couldn't beat Chicago either.
i would think they could be one of the best teams to limit drose, i agree and philly has good depth also. that is why i brought it up and philly is an athletic team that can get under people's skin. Remember when the Rockets played them? Iggy and Co played great defense against us. Iggy had 5 steals in fact.
They just need a reliable post player to turn to. Their back court is stacked, maybe too stacked. Jrue, Lou Williams, Turner, Iggy, Meeks. Brand and Hawes (or Vucevic) down low is just not going to cut it though. If I were them I'd try to pick up Gasol. Jrue and Thad Young for Gasol, who says no?
I'm surprised Turner rebounds so efficiently. I thought he was a Kevin Martin / Monta Ellis player coming out of college. That is, all offense, no real intangibles.
If Morey is targeting Turner, he better think again. Not even sure the 76ers would do Martin for Turner straight up based on how each have been playing the last two weeks. If Morey/Les decide that we need to tank...its gonna be tough finding a place to dump our olds.
Evan Turner turned it on when reports surfaced that someone who knew the organization had inside info about why Turner's play was off. People surmised Turner had some kind of medical condition. He and the organization denied it and ever since, with him in the starting lineup, he's played well. Now, with Kevin "Captain Listless" Martin playing like doo-doo, the KMartin-JHill for Turner/Nocioni (exp.)/Brackins doesn't seem likely. The 76ers are notoriously conservative/nervous when it comes to trades, anyway.
Didn't they address this in 2k11? I used to play Association mode with Philly and Kerr and whatshisname kept talking about how Turner injured his back or something and had a major surgery in college and then bounced back and still had a great year. Was it his spine? I forgot.
From all I've seen and read part of Turner's improved play is he is finally being allowed to handle the ball extensively. Ala a Brandon Roy, this is when he is at his best. He is not a Kevin Martin type SG, but more of a Roy/Wade clone in the sense that when he is the decision maker things go well. The 76ers problem previously was that (1) Iguodala has some of this tendency, too, and (2) they have a point guard that is decent. Collins was trying to run a more traditional offense scheme with the PG controlling the offense, or AI2 at times. Turner fit horribly in that role. Turner would be great on McHale's Rockets. Granted, Lowry is also a more than capable PG who is at his best directing the offense, but I think the 2 would co-exist well together, actually, with the way McHale runs his offense. The Sixers need to decide whether or not Turner, Iguodala and Holiday can co-exist. I don't feel like long-term it makes the most sense. The three together don't seem to allow each player to play to their strengths, but I could be wrong. I think they are best off playing out the season and seeing if it does work... worst case scenario, they can make an offseason trade. That said, IF they did decide to make a move, AND they did decide that move should be trading Turner (both of which I wouldn't do if I were them), then I think KMart (plus whatever from either side) would be a solid choice for them. He would play well on that team as a designated, hopefully efficient scorer. I think Collins would know how to utilize him and do so perfectly. All that said, I see no way the 76ers beat the Bulls or Heat in the playoffs. 50-50 at best they can take down the Magic, Pacers or Hawks, too. There's no go to scorer, still - Lou Williams 28 points last night was a season high for any Sixer player - and as good as they've been over the last 3 games, they were only 2-8 in their previous 10, with all the losses coming against generally better competition than whom they've played recently.
76ers have been very competitive against the Bulls and have the defense to keep up with them. It will probably come down to Rose beating them in teh 4th but they will be in every single game. While teh 76ers have lost games recently, they have all been close games against mostly good teams. If Spencer Hawes finally comes back healthy, they could be interesting.
Granted, I don't watch every game, but they are 1-1 against Chicago. Both games in Philadelphia. They game they won Chicago was missing Deng and Rip. I agree that they can be competitive against solid teams. I don't see them winning series, though. It's the same problem the Rockets have, except the 76ers play in the East. Look at their schedule and results. There are a couple of outliers where they beat really good teams (they have wins against Lakers, Bulls, Pacers, Hawks and Magic)... or where they lose to really bad teams (loss against Nets), but on the whole they lose when you think they would and win when you think they would. Of their 25 wins, 6 are against the teams mentioned above (Lakers, Bulls, Pacers, Hawks (2), Magic). Of these 6, only the Hawks win came on the road. The other 19 are against PHX, GSW (2), NOH, DET (3), TOR, SAC, WAS (3), MIL, CHA (2), CLE, BOS, UTA, NYK They benefit from playing in the East and having a relatively easy strength of schedule so far - according the ESPN, only the 22nd hardest SOS. They are a nice surprise. Collins definitely knows how to coach. The Turner turnaround story recently is great. If they finish the season strong enough to hold onto the 4th seed, could they beat the Pacers in a series? Sure. But I don't see how they advance past that, especially without home court advantage, given they only have 1 meaningful road win all season.
I live in Philly and so I watch most 76er games. They have a huge problem finishing games. Its Lou Williams or bust. This week they play Indiana, Miami and Chicago so I guess we will see more about the team then. They need Spencer Hawes back if they want to make noise in the playoffs IMO. But he seems to always have injury problems.
So you definitely watch way more of them than I do? Wouldn't you say that if it's Lou Williams or bust, then against the better teams, much of the time it will be bust?