More Concerning Team Right Now: Sixers or Flyers?
In a city dominated by the Eagles, and most recently by the Phillies, I realize the answer to this question may be E. None of the Above. In fact, Ryan Howard’s achilles tendon and Robert Griffin III’s choice of breakfast cereal may rank as more pressing issues than the Sixers’ eye-opening loss to the Bucks last night. However, we are in the midst of a very successful winter in Philadelphia. The Sixers are leading the Atlantic Division and the Flyers are tied with Boston for the third best team in the Eastern Conference. On the same token, recent shortcomings and heartbreaking losses have many fans bracing for a spring collapse. The Celtics and Knicks are both hot on the Sixers’ heels, and while they’ll probably still make the playoffs without winning the division, a low seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs would most likely mean a first round exit at the hands of the Heat or Bulls. For the Fly Guys, it is almost predetermined at this point that the Rangers are going to take the Atlantic, so they’re just jockeying for playoff positioning and more importantly trying to get this team to click on a consistent basis. Both teams have huge concerns headed into the home-stretch, but who should Philadelphia be more concerned about right now?
Sixers’ 3 Biggest Concerns
1. The Fourth Quarter. The Sixers have lost 8 of their last 10, and probably the biggest reason is their productivity in the fourth quarter. Using the eye test, it’s hard to tell if it’s just a coaching issue or a sheer lack of talent, but one thing is for sure, they look like an entirely different team in the last 12 minutes of the game. They start missing free throws, turning the ball over, settling for contested jump shots, getting out-rebounded, and allowing star players to get open looks. In the last two weeks alone, they’ve faltered in the fourth quarter against Dallas, Minnesota, Houston, Oklahoma City, Chicago, and now Milwaukee. If they’re going to hold on to this lead in the division, they need to figure out how to close out games.
2. Close Games. The statistics really say it all in this one: the Sixers are 2-8 in games decided by 5 points or less this season. It goes hand-in-hand with their issues in the fourth quarter. They can’t knock down the big shot when it counts, and they allow the opponent’s best shooters to find open looks late in the game (Nowitski, Durant, Westbrook, Rose, Jennings, etc.). I think a lot of it is inexperience in close games at the NBA level. This team hasn’t been faced with big-time NBA situations very often. In fact, in the first month of this season, the Sixers had the highest winning margin in the league. A young team needs a little time to mature and learn how to perform in the clutch, I understand that, but they better figure it out soon or they’re doomed.
3. Who’s the Man? One of the biggest issues in the fourth quarter of close games is the same issue the Phillies have faced the past couple years (had to throw a Phils reference in there just to keep your attention): they don’t have a closer, or at least they don’t know who it is. For the large part of this season, it’s been Lou Williams. He is the team’s highest scoring player and loves to do his work in the fourth quarter. However, he’s come up small more times than he has gotten it done, especially in recent situations. The moral of the Lou Williams story is such: he is a talented sixth man who isn’t exactly a reliable option late in the game and shouldn’t be entrusted to carry the load down the stretch. So if Lou isn’t “the answer” (God I miss Allen Iverson), then who is? Is it the team’s veteran leader and lone All Star, Andre Iguodala? Andre isn’t a good enough pure shooter. Is it the team’s best athlete and most improved player, Thaddeus Young? Ditto. Is it the team’s long-range assassin, Jodie Meeks? You can’t say HE isn’t a pure shooter, but he hasn’t shown the ability to hit the big shot since his days at Kentucky. My point is, nobody knows who to go to in key, late-game situations and that needs to be addressed before Lin-sanity and Rondo-monium put the Sixers’ division championship hopes in a straight jacket.
Flyers’ 3 Biggest Concerns
1. Goaltending. Surprised? It’s been the Flyers’ shortcoming and biggest question mark since Ron Hextall’s departure (maybe even since Bernie Parent’s departure). However, it may actually come as a surprise this year, after the Flyers went after the market’s most coveted goaltending talent in the offseason, Ilya Bryzgalov. Management finally got the message that Stanley Cups are hoisted by the team with the best goaltender, and they took what they thought was the best course of action, but they struck out. Is the space between the pipes in Philadelphia just cursed? I’m not one for the supernatural, and I’m also not going to give up on Bryzgalov just yet. Philly fans are notorious for their short patience, but I’m going to give Bryzgalov the benefit of the doubt (like I have any other choice). Playing any sport at any position in Philadelphia is a “nightmarish blessing” (that doesn’t really make sense, but you know what I mean), but none more nerve racking than the starting goaltender for the Flyers with a $50 million contract and the blood of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter on your hands. To this point in the season, it’s the biggest concern and the most glaring weakness, but for some strange reason I have faith he’ll get it figured out by playoff time. A big measuring stick will be the game tonight versus the Detroit Red Wings (7pm).
2. Defense. Unfortunately, this is another long-term weakness of the modern-day Philadelphia Flyers. Management has also made a big push to address this glaring hole in the lineup, but nothing has really solved the problem. The loss of Chris Pronger was really the nail in the coffin for the defensive corps of this team in 2012. The head injury to Prongs degraded the Flyers’ blue line from reasonably “acceptable” to “not gonna cut it” in my eyes. They did add some nice size before the trade deadline with Kubina and Grossman, but these guys aren’t really first or second pair kind of guys. Their impact will be limited.
3. Health. It seems as if the Flyers can never get their full starting lineup out on the ice at the same time. Pronger, Briere, Giroux, Jagr, and a slew of others have been plagued by injury at some point or another this season, and now, an already weak defensive group is facing debilitating bumps and bruises. Just last week, Holmgren announced that Timonen and Mezaros (probably regarded as the team’s two best defenders) will be out indefinitely with lower body injuries. There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight with the injuries to this team. I guess we just have to cross our fingers that one of our big guys doesn’t go down when it gets down to crunch time, and we have enough depth to cover our asses while the starters are rehabbing.
More Concerning Team Right Now: Sixers or Flyers?
I’m taking the Sixers here for two reasons. First, they are in a more vulnerable position. While the Flyers may not really have a shot to reclaim the divisional crown from the Rangers, at least they aren’t in a compromising position to lose ground quickly. They can take some time to sort out their issues and still be in good position to make a playoff run. For the Sixers, they have two very talented teams nipping at their heels. They need to turn it around and hold off two red-hot teams in a concentrated amount of time due to the shortened season. Things could go sour quickly, and if the Sixers are sitting come playoff time with a 7 or 8 seed, Doug Collins and crew should begin combing Expedia for popular golf resort locations. Secondly, the Sixers have more to do in order to resolve their problems. They need to add someone to their roster and change their mental approach to the game. In the case of the Flyers, they just need to work out some kinks on their existing roster and get guys back in the lineup. In other words, the Flyers have mostly cosmetic issues, while the Sixers’ weaknesses are structural and pressing. The Flyers have the talent, they just need to put it in play. Most concerning team right now: Philadelphia 76ers.
What do you think? Cast your vote below.