2011-12 Philadelphia 76ers Predictions
Written by Steve Janus
The Philadelphia 76ers made remarkable strides in their first season under head coach Doug Collins. Behind a new defensive minded attack Collins turned a team that finished fourth in the Atlanta at 27-55 in the 2009-10 season to a team that went 41-41 last year. Philadelphia made the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, but were unable to get past the Miami Heat in the first round. They played the Heat a lot closer than a lot of people expected, but only managed to win one game in the series.
While they have a number of very good players, many wonder if this team can be a true contender in the Eastern Conference without a true superstar. So far the 76ers haven’t done much of anything in free agency or by way of trade. They were able to re-signed two of their top young players in center Spencer Hawes and small forward Thaddeus Young. Philadelphia’s biggest need was to add some depth inside, but the only move they made was drafting 7’0 center Nikola Vucevic with the 16th pick in the first round. Vucevic has the potential to be a solid NBA player, but I wonder if he is ready to contribute as a rookie.
For Philadelphia to take that next step this season, point guard Jrue Holiday and small guard Evan Turner have to elevate their play on the offensive end. Holliday made huge strides in his second season as a pro. After averaging just 8 points and 3.8 assists in 51 starts as a rookie, Holliday put up 14 points and 6.5 assists starting all 82 games in his second season. Turner needs to show similar progress in his sophomore season. As a rookie Turner averaged just 7.2 points in 78 games (14 starts), but is expected to start ahead of Jodie Meeks this year.
At small forward the 76ers have one of the more complete players in the NBA in Andre Iguodala, who averaged 14.1 points, 6.3 assists, and 4.9 rebounds a game. Iguodala is also very solid on the defensive end. The big knock on Igoudala is the fact that his scoring has dropped each season since posting a career-high 19.9 ppg during the 2007-08 season.
The big question mark for this team is what they will get out of veteran power forward Elton Brand,. While he led the team in scoring (15.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.3), he is clearly on the wrong side of his prime. Brand started 81 of 82 games last year, but has struggled to stay healthy in the past. He started just 86 games the previous three seasons.
Hawes is a nice big body inside, but doesn’t provide a whole lot of offense (7.2 ppg). I already mentioned the lack of depth the 76ers have inside. The only other real big body this team has is the rookie Vucevic, and who knows what he will bring to the table. Iguodala can play the power forward spot if needed, but is clearly undersized at that position.
While the 76ers lack depth inside, they have a solid core of reserves at small forward and both guard spots. Young, Meeks, and backup point guard Lou Williams can all score the basketball. Williams averaged 13.7 points and 3.4 assists, Young put in 12.7 points and 5.3 rebounds, while Meeks averaged a solid 10.5 points. They also have energetic forward Anres Nocioni.
Prediction: 3rd Eastern Conference Atlantic Division - Overall this is a very young team that should only get better with time, but until they add some more depth inside they aren’t going to be able to compete with the elite teams in the Eastern Conference, especially in the playoffs. I don’t think there is any doubt this team will make the postseason, but I have them a few steps behind both Boston and New York in the Atlantic.
Find out where we have all 30 NBA teams finishing in our 2011-12 NBA Predictions article.
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