What should be expected of these improved Sixers?
Since a 3-13 start, the Sixers have now gone 25-16. That's 41 games, which is half a season. See what we're getting at?
Who would have thought this is where the Sixers would be as the trading deadline is just hours away? Andre Iguodala is most likely staying, there appears to be no significant moves on the horizon as the deadline inches closer to it' 3 p.m. Thursday deadline.
And guess what? Sixers fans are probably OK with the team standing pat. Again, who would have thought it.
In Wednesday's 117-94 win over the Washington Wizards, the Sixers improved to 25-16 over their last 41 games. You know what 41 games is? It's half of the 82 a team plays in a season. So since the 3-13 start, 25-16 is what you've got. Play that out over a full season. Go ahead, do the math. That's 50 wins.
It's starting to get a little eerie the way coach Doug Collins sets goals or makes predictions about this team and they come to fruition. Before the season started, he stated the importance of winning at home, he was obsessed with it. They have won 17 of their last 22 at the Wells Fargo Center to improve to 18-9 on the season. At his first press conference with reporters after being hired, Collins talked of seeing this team with seven players averaging double figures in scoring, with no one averaging more than 17. Seven guys hit double digits in the scoring column against the Wizards, the fifth time that has happened in the last eight games and the tenth time overall.
He professed a need to get Elton Brand and Thaddeus Young "back", and both are having seasons better than most envisioned.
The Sixers have won 11 of 15. They've won games with their offense, with their defense. They've won games when the big men have dominated, when the guards have dominated. They've won because of their bench, because of the adjustment of the coach. They've played better since Collins has said he wanted Iguodala to be a "point forward".
The Knicks, who stand just above the Sixers at the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, added Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. The Nets pilfered one of the best point guards in the game in Deron Williams from the Utah Jazz.
The Sixers, it appears, will be spectators in all of the juggling that is the trading deadline. Oddly, that doesn't seem to be a bad thing right now, does it?
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