Hope For The Future: No Unity in Philly
Welcome to our newest series, wherein we detail how each of the teams who missed the playoffs this past season has some bright hope in their future. Well, probably, anyways.
The Philadelphia 76ers never got the ball rolling. The team didn't respond to their coach. Their favorite son returned home, only to check back out for the season, and the rest of the team ended up checking out as well. Unlike the Liberty Bell, though, maybe the crack in the Sixers can be fixed for the future.
Assists: The return of Allen Iverson was a plus. A.I. returned home; he was happy, the fans were happy and the team was happy. After Lou Williams went down, he went to a place where he could start and was wanted. In actuality, Williams was an emerging player when he went down. Of course the brightest spot on the team was Andre Iguodala, the team's leading scorer. They changed their logo, too, which was pretty spiffy.
Turnovers: The Sixers quit because Eddie Jordan quit. Allen Iverson left the team due to personal problems (divorce, custody battle, sick child) and went on a downward spiral resulting in reported gambling and drinking problems. Elton Brand and Jordan were clashing, and he found a one-way ticket to the bench. Problem is, Brand is owed $51 million over the next three years. Iguodala never got along too well with Jordan either.
All these toxic factors made Eddie realize he made a mistake, and he checked out on the team, because the team checked out on him. GM Ed Stefanski has a lot of work to do, but with all the salaries on the books for 2010-11, it won't be until the year after until the Sixers can drop unnecessary payroll (Jason Kapono and Samuel Dalembert earn a combined $19 million).
Philadelphia needs to get a coach that can get the team motivated and working together. There have been numerous reports about Larry Brown returning to Philadelphia, but the Sixers and Brown (at the moment) have denied it.
Final Score: Unless the right coach comes in, it's going to be another long season in Philadelphia. The team needs to find unity if they want to be successful. If the coach quits, the team quits, and then the fans quit, which does not bode well financially. The Sixers need unity in order to thrive, and they have to get it together fast.
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