76ers: an update
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76ers: an update
This NBA lockout is making life very quiet within the 76ers. Here's the update on a handful of Sixers' issues:
1.) The team's annual Summer Beach Bash in Avalon, N.J. is this Saturday. In past years, there would always be at least two or three players present. Obviously, this summer is different. Sixers coach Doug Collins is expected to attend, but because of the lockout there will be no player representation. Season ticket holders will have to make due with Hip-Hop and perhaps a minute of Collins' time. We'll be attending and, hopefully, getting some insight into how everyone is handling this summer.
2.) Don't expect the coaching staff to replace assistant coach Quin Snyder (he moved to the Los Angeles Lakers) until early September. There's little reason to move quickly on the hire so expect news of the addition the first week or so of September, which is when the coaching staff reconvenes in advance of training camp's opening. All of this is assuming the current lockout is resolved, which is quite an assumption ...
3.) As for the lockout ... the Associated Press is reporting that the first "real" meeting between the two sides is scheduled for Monday. Since the lockout went into effect on July 1, representatives from the two sides have met, but none of those meetings have included NBA commissioner David Stern and the union's executive director Billy Hunter. Monday's meeting is supposed to include both and be the first real step in negotiating the next collective bargaining agreement. During the league's last work stoppage, 1998, the first real meeting also came in early August.
4.) Jrue Holiday is back in California working out. Holiday spent a good chunk of the summer overseas, first on an Adidas tour and then, more recently, in Germany supporting the U.S. Women's National Team. By all accounts, Holiday's doing what he did last summer: spending hours in the gym and working on his speed and explosion.
Even though, for the most part, the NBA has gone dormant, we don't want to let this blog follow. As we did in the weeks leading up to the June 23 NBA Draft, we want to keep discussing important topics around the Sixers: what's Craig Brackins doing now that he cant workout at PCOM? Is Andre Iguodala going to go overseas? Etc.
Any topic you might want addressed (nothing's too small during a lockout), email me at kfagan@phillynews.com or ask on Twitter @deepsixer3.
--Kate
Each week, Kate will check in from the road and answer fan questions about the Sixers. Click here to ask Kate a question or e-mail her at kfagan@phillynews.com.
Since its Baseball season anyway, let me make a baseball analogy. I think it was in the 1920s, when Yankees dominated the American League, around the league attendance was down and teams were on the brink of bankruptcy due to lack of ticket sales and lack of fan interest. Was baseball on the decline? Well at the same time, the National League, the teams were making money hand over fist, packing the house day after day (no stadium lights yet). So why the disparity? The Yankees with the murders row was running away with the pennant every year, so fans in the other American League cities didn't even show up, because what was the point, their teams had no chance,as the Yankees could be up 20 games by mid-season. At the same time, the National League pennant was coming down to 2, 3 and even 4 teams in the hunt almost to the final week of the season, and even in the cities with teams in the 2nd division, they came to see their team play the contenders to see who would win the pennant, because it was exciting and it seemed every team had a shot to win. This is the problem with the NBA... You have a handfull of teams that will win every year, and the teams with no shot, year after year, eventually fail to fill the seats because, like in the American League back in the day, what was the point of going to the game? There are only about a half dozen teams that are real contenders, so fan interest die eventually in those "have-not" cities. Allowing 2 1/2 super stars onto one team in Miami is great for Miami, but it will just make the other teams even less interesting to watch (until the Lakers, Heat, etc. come to your home court, and then the house will be packed). If the NBA wants to grow, they need to make some competitive balance in the league. The Lottery apparently is not the answer. Teams may have to adopt "profit sharing" like the NFL, so that teams will have even footing with spending and perhaps that will stop the run away pennant effect.— Fo Fo Fo- Yup, it is what it is, the top 5 teams are of interest, the rest are cannon fodder. — JonKap
- Fo Fo Fo - Great points. However, in baseball for some reason people nowadays keep spending their hard earned money on teams like Pirates and Brewers etc with no shot of winning. Baseball, hopefully can change like NFL too.— hasanmahmd
- aren't the pirates and brewers duking it out with the cardinals for first place? and didn't the giants (not the yankees, not the sox, not the phillies) win the world series last year? not to say there isn't disparity in mlb but lets not compare it to what you're seeing in the nba. the nfl has laid a great map down w/more revenue sharing and not just a cap but also a floor on spending as well. That's how you even out the competition. Hopefully, the NBA reads that map and doesn't wait until it's cancelled games and alienated what's left of it's fan base before doing it.— 76ers in 2076
- Buyout Noc do not resign hawes + whatever cap space we already have = a major player. That's if you don't want to trade.— combocancer1975
- I really don't think any major players will go oveseas. Sounds likes threats to me.— jujuphilly
- the problem with your plan combo is that we can't get stars to sign with philly. Name the last big name free agent to sign with the sixers. they don't come here b/c the media and fans are ruthless and you don't get the national pub out of philly to make it worth the hassle. They've got to make trades to move up so keep noc to trade his expiring contract, trade iggy for ellis so we finally get a closer, move turner to the three and let this team grow. Boston's done, NY won't have the cap space to bring anyone in, Orlando's gonna lose Howard, and then it's us fighting with Miami and Chicago for many years to come.— 76ers in 2076
- Money talks. If what you say is true I would "slightly" overpay for a player I think would be a good/great fit. You are killing me with Monte Ellis. PLEASE don't do that. We have m&m plain (Lou) we do need m&m peanut. Dude we are getting smaller with Ellis. Turner has not developed Ellis will stunt that. Jrue has not finished developing. Both need the ball and Ellis does also. And lou. I can't see it working.. I may be wrong..— combocancer1975
- if we're smart about it i'd overpay a little b/c we have to. but by smart i mean lets not pay for a guy coming off an injury where one calf is three times the size of another. really really hard to believe they didn't see that in the physical. maybe i'm wrong about ellis but i look at him as a slightly better skill set at the two than lou. better shooter, better at getting to the rim and probably a better defender when dc gets his hands on him. don't judge his defense based off of his warrior days b/c dwight howard can't play defense under that regime. it's something in the water. and we don't get smaller. Evan is slightly smaller than iggy and ellis is slightly bigger than meeks. i see where you're coming from with him taking shots from Jrue and ET but Jrue shouldn't be asked to take 20 shots/game. He's the point guard! ET, is Iggy only we hope he develops enough shooting to become the all star iggy can't. At the end of the day you need to get someone who wants the shot and can make it. as long as iggy's here doug will give it to him and iggy will neither want nor make the shot.— 76ers in 2076
- What the league needs to do is get rid of guaranteed contracts....clubs that get burnt from bad deals (and there are too many to mention) care more to dump salary than to acquire...The system should be like the NFL, where the money is made more from bonuses..and lack of performance will mean looking for another job...Hard cap to what one can spend....And play Lou Williams more.— bearsfriend
- Zzzzzzzzzzzz.— pedge
John Mitchell is in his second year covering the 76ers for the Inquirer after joining the paper in November 2011. He covered the Washington Wizards for the Washington Times from 1998 to 2008. He's also worked at the Philadelphia Tribune, the Wilmington News Journal, Courier-Post, Trenton Times and Elmira Star-Gazette.Born and raised in West Philadelphia - not too far from Will Smith - he graduated from Overbrook High School the same year the 76ers won their last championship. He's a proud graduate of Howard University and the proud father of two sons, Jared and Jordan.
ABOUT MARC NARDUCCI
Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between. Narducci also has a true passion for South Jersey scholastic sports, which he has covered for many years.
