Posts Tagged ‘Spencer Hawes’

Will The Sixers Make Moves?

February 16th, 2014 by Sam Shipley | Comments Off on Will The Sixers Make Moves? | Filed in Basketball, General, Sixers

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The NBA trade deadline is just five days away on February 20th, and this year is shaping up to be an active deadline. The Sixers are expected to play a part in that but as of now everything has been very quite. So the question “Will the Sixers make any moves?” is starting to be asked a bit more anxiously, and today I will give my opinion on that very question.

The Sixers are currently 15-39 at the All-Star break, which is the second worst record in the NBA. For those of you that are looking ahead to the draft, that record has the Sixers comfortably in the bottom three, as Sacramento and the Lakers are both 3.5 games behind the Sixers.

With the draft certainly on the Sixers minds, it is time for them to look at their roster and decide on what pieces they will like to have on the roster for next season and possibly years to come. The three main names to watch are obvious, Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young, and Spencer Hawes. So what are the chances of any of these three being traded? Well lets take a look.

EVAN TURNER

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Sixers at the Halfway Point: Better Than Expected, But Still a Long Way to Go

January 23rd, 2014 by Jim Chesko | Comments Off on Sixers at the Halfway Point: Better Than Expected, But Still a Long Way to Go | Filed in Basketball, General, Sixers

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The 76ers open the second half of their 2013-14 season Wednesday night, and it will be very interesting to see what happens over the next three months, both on and off the court.

They’ve dropped seven of their last eight games, and several recent losses have been a bit ugly, but otherwise, the Sixers have exceeded almost everyone’s expectations over the first half of the season. The won-lost record at the midpoint stands at 13-28. While that’s not great, a lot of the team’s fans and several of us in the media wondered if they’d win that many games over the entire first season of the Brett Brown era.

For fans hoping to see the Sixers get two lottery picks in the June draft, the season is working out just the way they’d want. At this writing, the 76ers own the NBA’s third-worst record (behind only Milwaukee and Orlando), while the New Orleans Pelicans are seventh-worst. As you may recall, the 2013 draft-day deal that sent Jrue Holiday to the Big Easy landed Philadelphia another first-round pick, as long as the Pelicans don’t make the playoffs and the pick isn’t among the top five. So, if the Sixers and Pelicans continue on their current course – and the ping-pong balls cooperate – your hometown team would have two high picks in what’s supposed to be a pretty deep draft, even if Duke’s Jabari Parker decides to stay put for another year of seasoning.

Bright spots over the first half: Obviously, the major positive has been the speedy development of rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams. MCW is averaging 17.5 points and 6.7 assists through the first half of the campaign, and already has the poise of a veteran. He’s 22 years old, and should only get better over the next decade. Carter-Williams’ backup, Tony Wroten, has also been a pleasant surprise, averaging 13.0 points and 3.3 assists off the bench. Wroten, who suffered a right-ankle sprain last weekend in a loss to the Bulls, is still a kid at age 20.

The Sixers have also been getting career years out of both Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes, who are averaging 18.3 and 14.1 points, respectively. The 7-foot Hawes has even become a solid three-point shooter, at 41.3%. Still, it remains a good bet that Turner or Hawes (or both) will be sent packing before the NBA’s Feb. 20 trade deadline.

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6 or 7 Reasons to Watch the 76ers This Season

October 31st, 2013 by Jim Chesko | Comments Off on 6 or 7 Reasons to Watch the 76ers This Season | Filed in Basketball, General, Sixers
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To Watch the Sixers

Your town, your team, your 76ers – but why bother to pay even a little bit of attention to a team that may approach losing that number of games (76) in an 82-game season?  Wait, they’re young, they’re inexperienced, but they can’t possibly be that bad, can they?  Who are these guys who open their 2013-14 season tonight against the two-time defending champion Miami Heat, and why should we care about what happens over the next six months?

Here are six or seven reasons to invest your time in this season’s 76ers:

1. Michael Carter-Williams. The development of the 6-6 rookie point guard out of Syracuse will be the main reason to monitor the Sixers this year, since his growth is crucial to the team’s long-term progress.  We already know MCW, the 11th pick in the draft last June, can play, but the key things to watch will be whether he can improve his shooting and how he handles playing the toughest position in the NBA on a largely inexperienced team.

2. The “old” veterans, Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes. To casual fans, these two guys and Evan Turner will be the only familiar faces on a 76ers team that has been nearly completely turned over in recent years.  Hard to believe that Young is entering his seventh season, all with the Sixers; this is Hawes’ seventh year as well, his fourth since leaving Sacramento to join the Sixers.  The 6-8 Young and the 7-1 Hawes will both play big roles on this year’s team, and will need to show some leadership with an otherwise inexperienced group.

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Sixers 2013-14 Season Preview

October 30th, 2013 by Sam Shipley | Comments Off on Sixers 2013-14 Season Preview | Filed in Basketball, General, Sixers

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It is no secret that the Sixers are going to struggle this year. They traded away their best player, Jrue Holiday on the night of the NBA draft to acquire a first round pick in next seasons loaded draft and big man Nerlens Noel. Down the road was this a good deal? Most likely, but it certainly does not benefit the Sixers this season in anyway especially with Noel not even suiting up this season.

Last year on opening night, the city was filled with optimism. The Sixers were supposed to finally take that big leap after acquiring Andrew Bynum and become contenders. We all know how that story played out.

New General Manager Sam Hinkie, has made it clear that this season will be the first year of a rebuilding process, and nothing makes that more clear than the team slogan “Together We Build”. The Sixers currently have four rookies on the roster, headlined by first round drafts pick Michael Carter-Williams and Nerlens Noel. And only two players have been in the league for more than six seasons, Kwame Brown and Jason Richardson who have played 12 seasons each.

The goal is obvious this season, see the development of the young players, but ultimately win the sweepstakes for Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins is talked about to be the next big thing in the NBA, and when I say big I am talking Kobe Bryant and LeBron James big. The kid has just pure talent and will make an instant impact for years wherever he lands.

So what are the Sixers odds of being the worst team in the NBA this year, which gives them the best shot to get Wiggins? A Las Vegas sports book has the Sixers over/under for win total at just 16.5 this season which is the lowest for any team in about a decade.

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Spencer Hawes Paces The Sixers To A 3-1 Series Lead

May 9th, 2012 by Sam Shipley | Comments Off on Spencer Hawes Paces The Sixers To A 3-1 Series Lead | Filed in Basketball, General, NBA, Sixers

Earlier in the season Spencer Hawes seemed like a true candidate for Most Improved Player as he was putting up double-double numbers almost every single night. However, he was injured just 14 games into the season and when he returned he didn’t seem to be back in his groove yet. Well these last 2 games may have been a sign that he is finally completely healthy and back. After recording 21 points and 9 rebounds on Fridays win over Chicago, Hawes came right back to record 22 points and 8 rebounds in today’s 89-82 victory to give the Sixers a 3-1 series lead.

This is the first time since the 2001 NBA Finals run that the Sixers have recorded 3 straight playoff wins, and they are now just one win away from advancing to the 2nd round of the playoffs since 2003. Hawes picked up right where he left off on Friday by coming out with his hot shooting that kept the Sixers in the game throughout the 1st half. With Holiday, Turner, and Williams all struggling to score, Hawes picked up the slack and his 3 pointer with just seconds left in the 1st half gave the Sixers a 44-42 lead going into halftime.

After having a big game the other night, Jrue Holiday couldn’t have started Game 4 any worse. He was just 1-13 in the 1st half as he seemed out of rhythm and was forcing the issue on the offensive end. His shooting was so bad that even Doug Collins said Jrue’s slump was “0 for the world”. He didn’t get any help from Lou or Evan as well as they shot a combined 5-22 for the game.

Andre Iguodala also helped the Sixers stay in it, despite dealing with right Achilles tendonitis, Andre Iguodala played great defense and also finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds to go along with some ferocious dunks. His defense on Luol Deng has been outstanding to say the least, as Loul Deng has just 24 points on 10-30 shooting over the last 3 games.

The 2nd half was a lot different for Holiday. After shooting 1-13 in the first half, Holiday came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders as he hit 6 of his 10 shots. None were bigger than his back to back 3 pointers with about 4 minutes to play in the game to put the Sixers up 80-73. Holiday would go on to finish the ball game with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists to give him an average of 19.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and 5.0 apg in the series so far.

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All-Star Break Might Not Be Enough For Struggling Sixers

February 25th, 2012 by Craig C. | 4 Comments | Filed in General, Sixers

 

The festivities are going strong in Orlando, and as two Sixers are participating in the event, the Sixers are wondering what has happened over the past couple of weeks. While the rest might be a welcome sight for Elton Brand, who is recovering from a thumb injury, and others who are dealing with the exhaustion of a shortened season, the real factor is- it is not going to get any easier. Spencer Hawes is still uncertain when he will return from his nagging achilles injury and the real problem could be the lack of a legitimate shooter, that stud that every team needs to take it to the next level.

As seen in recent games, the calls that other players get ( the Kevin Loves of the world), the Sixers do not get. Some may say it’s part of home court advantage, but the reality is the Sixers play more road games in the second half of the season and they just do not drive to the basket. They live and die by the jump shot. The Sixers have gotten to this point by playing gritty defense and working hard, but that only gets you so far in the NBA. The likes of Evan Turner and Jodie Meeks have lost any ability to score, and with no inside presense, the Sixers might have a tough road ahead of them. The only thing the team might have going forward is that Brand will be back, the team plays in a division without much depth, and they still have the heart to battle every game.

The Sixers do not appear to be in the market to make any changes, nor do they have the depth to attract anyone who can change the course the team is heading in. Five straight losses after such a surprising and wonderful start needs to warrant some changes. Changing the starting lineups could be one way to right the ship, but something needs to be done quickly.

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A Long Way Out – 2010-2011 76’ers Preview

September 7th, 2010 by OD20 | 5 Comments | Filed in Baseball, Sixers

Could Jrue Be Part of a Sixers Resurgence?

I have a couple quick observations before we get into a look at the 76’ers upcoming season.

1- There is a very clear and distinct separation between where football and baseball (and maybe even hockey) stand in terms of popularity, and where the NBA has fallen to.  With both football and baseball you can find offseason dates with little effort.  The date pitchers and catchers report, the start of NFL training camp, heck even the dates the position players report and mini camps are readily available.

With the NBA, not so much.  I double dare you to take 3 minutes of your life and try to find me the official date for the start of training camp for the 76’ers.  Even tried and trusted Google let me down.  It’s almost like a bad secret no one wants to talk about.  If no one really cares about the regular season (including the players) for first 6 months of the year, then there may not be a single person alive, outside of those of us who are trying to write about it, who cares about the NBA training camp and preseason.  It’s sad really.

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