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2009-10 Philadelphia 76ers Predictions

Written October 21, 2009 by Jack Jones

For the past few seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers have been good enough to make the playoffs, but not quite good enough to get out of the first round. It’s not likely much will be different this year, except maybe they will be left out of the playoffs all together. To me the team losing Andre Miller is a little too much to overcome and the NBA odds makers seem to agree with me as Philly is listed as a 40-to-1 favorite to win the East and a 80-to-1 favorite to win the NBA Finals. If you are going to be doing any NBA betting this winter, then BetUS Sportsbook offers new signups a $500 match bonus!

Backcourt

Lou Williams has never started a NBA game, yet he’ll be counted on to run Eddie Jordan’s offense. This guy is a shoot-first, pass-second kind of player who might be coming off a 12.8 ppg season a year ago, but he shot under 40% and under 29% from 3-point range. Andre Iguodala is going to be forced to play shooting guard even though he’s a natural three. He was the team’s best player a year ago with 18.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game a year ago. Jason Kapono was added as a 3-point specialist and he’s one of the best in the business (tied with Steve Kerr for the career % lead). Willie Green will come off the bench to back up Iguodala. Depth at point guard is sketchy, with rookie Jrue Holiday and Royal Ivey. Holiday is a little small yet and Ivey has played little in four seasons.

Frontcourt

The big question down low is can Elton Brand ever return to form? He grabbed double digit boards and put up 20+ points per game at the height of his career, but the last two seasons have been marred by injuries. He is slotted to start at power forward, but if he can move over to center that opens the door for Thaddeus Young to play power forward and Iguodala to move to the three spot. Young benefited from Brand’s absence a year ago, scoring 15.3 points and grabbing 5 rebounds per game. Samuel Dalembert is a pure shot blocker and rebounder, but I don’t know if he is going to be a great fit for Jordan’s offense. This team might have a couple of stars in Brand and Iguodala, but depth is an issue with Primoz Brezec, Jason Smith, and Marreese Speights coming off the pine.

Summary

The loss of Andre Miller is the different to me between this team being a lower tiered playoff squad and one that will be sitting at home when the postseason begins. There are a lot of question marks surround Brand, Williams, and what to do with Dalembert. With my NBA predictions I took them as third in the Atlantic Division, just ahead of the Knicks.

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