Sixers Make New Hires, Also Get Some High Praise

The Sixers have hit their max potential so far this season, garnering them great attention. They continue to make changes that signals promise.

Analytics was the driving force behind the Process that the Sixers have followed for multiple seasons. Sam Hinkie’s planned leaned heavily on a calculated mix of analytics and luck in the draft, and it’s what made him such a polarized figure.

You can like analytics or you can hate it, either way there’s no debating that it now plays a huge role in basketball. The past decade saw an incredible surge into teams starting to dedicate at least all small sector of “behind-the-scenes” operations to the analytics movement.

The Sixers, even post-Hinkie, are still committed to being pioneers in the analytical sense. Zach Lowe of ESPN recently reported that the Sixers are adding five new analytics people. This was the first publicized move since Colangelo’s removal of some of Hinkie’s hires this past offseason.

The interesting tidbit here is that three of those hired worked with former Grantland staffer Kirk Goldsberry, who was a huge part of the start of the analytical revolution in various sports. The Sixers have tried to target the brightest in their quest to use analytics to push them forward in this rebuild.

They have now accumulated one of the largest analytics department in the league, having eight full-time employees in that regard.

The worries of a complete flip of ideology have continued to be disproven. Colangelo has stayed committed to patience in this rebuild, and has yet to clear the slate of Sam Hinkie’s work, which has given the team many of its crucial building blocks.

The commitment to analytics is still there. And the hires coming just before the trade deadline may play a real part in a potential move.

Along with hiring a new group of brains, the Sixers have a newfound swagger on the court. Winning the seven of the last nine games, Philadelphia is starting to enchant the rest of the NBA world and is finding themselves as the most heartwarming story this season.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is no exception, as he commented on the recent success of the team.

Popovich puts someone who has been overlooked in this recent stretch of shining success. Brett Brown hasn’t been the center of attention thanks to the ever-rising stardom of Joel Embiid. But Brown’s improvement in staggering rotations and keeping the team playing a high level on defense.

Next: Noel Situation Has Little Precedent

The Sixers and the Spurs aren’t set to face off until February 2nd, which makes this comment even more amazing. This was Popovich mentioning the Sixers at a random point of the season. It puts the success of the young and rebuilding to a national forefront.