PHILADELPHIA'S CINDERELLA

January 16th 2012, Martin Luther King Jr Day and I'm watching the Philadelphia 76ers develop into a team with great potential. They have a 9-3 record early on in this lockout-shortened, extremely compacted, 66 game regular season. NBA analysts have already predicted the Sixers to be a 4 or 5 seed come playoff time. The team has been deemed very solid with a lot of depth, great coaching and a good mixture of leadership and youth. Doug Collins, in his second year with the team, is probably one of the most enthusiastic persons you'll ever know and brings every ounce of that fervor with him every game. He high fives and encourages his players like a teammate during every time-out. And the players respond to him like a teammate or a peer.

The 76ers depth is the main reason during this lockout year that many experts like them. With as many as 5 games being played in a single week for 1 team, this NBA season will be even more harsh and demanding on players bodies. Many NBA teams have 'second-string' lineups which they utilize for rest and motivation for the starters, but the Sixers second team is good enough to be the starting five. Jrue Holliday, Jodie Meeks, Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand and Spencer Hawes make up the starters. Evan Turner, Lou Williams, Thad Young, Nikola Vucevic and Tony Battie make up the second team. The Sixers have TWO actual starting lineups. No other NBA team has that luxury or ability.
And so far this season it is showing up in the box scores. The Sixers margin of victory, 12 games in is almost almost 20 points per game. They are not just winning, they are blowing out the competition.
Not only are they really good, but the Sixers are also a joy to watch. They love to get out and run, but they can also play half court basketball. They pass and distribute the ball like an international team that's been together for 10 years. They have a great combination of shooters and slashers. Sixers teams of recent history have been notorious for poor shooting. The current team with Jodie Meeks, Lou Williams, Drue Holliday (and on some nights Andre Iguodala is lights out with the jumper) have great shooting ability.
As they wrap up another victory against the Milwaukee Bucks and the 'hells bells' ring again as they do with every Sixers home win, the 76ers are creating a winning atmosphere they haven't experienced in Philadelphia basketball since Allen Iverson was running the show. This team has been bad for several years and as a result of good player drafting and solid team management, they have built a team that people will root for. They have definitely won me over and now I have another team to cheer on. I plan on purchasing tickets as well, hopefully for the Heat game in March.
Bottom Line: The 76ers are for real. 4 or 5 seed? I say 2 or 3 seed. They are better than the Celtics. The Magic are big and that will test the Sixers, but overall I like the Sixers defense and depth over the Magic and Dwight Howard. Of Course, the Bulls and Heat are the juggernauts of the East, but don't fall asleep on Philadelphia's New Cinderella. They have a chance this year as a team of great interchangeable parts to beat the teams built around a couple super stars.