Welcome! Come one, come all, to the main event! It's season preview time, and Upside and Motor is ready to rock your world. The previews will be both concrete and lyrical in this magical world, both by numbers and by prose. To take a look at all the previews, click here.
Straight Up
Straight Up features all the stuff you actually want to see in your team previews: who are the new kids on the block, who skipped town, and where the team stands for the upcoming season. Along with my projection and standing for the upcoming season, it'll also feature three individual awards: Team MVP (let's not get into the debate over exactly what that means), the Most Important Reserve, and the Most Unheralded Asset.
Projected Record: 51-31 (2nd in the Atlantic Division, T-4th in the Eastern Conference)
Off-season Acquisitions: Elton Brand, Marreese Speights, Kareem Rush, Donyell Marshall, Theo Ratliff, Royal Ivey
Notable Losses: Rodney Carney, Calvin Booth, Jason Smith (injury)
2008-2009 Team MVP: Elton Brand - The guy's a baller. He'll make things easy for the Sixers in the half-court offense (an area in which they struggled mightily in last year's playoffs) and he'll create an incredible 1-2 shot-blocking punch with Sam Dalembert on defense. Brand is an incredible two-way player who should return to form this season.
Most Important Reserve: Lou Williams - Andre Miller's hardly a scorer, but the team needs to maintain the same output when he's off the floor. Williams is excellent at creating for himself and even playing off the ball a bit, but he'll need to improve a bit as a playmaker. He'll take baby steps forward this season in that department and he's still a burst of energy and quickness off the bench to keep opponents on their heels.
Most Unheralded Asset: Reggie Evans - Evans was remarkable against the Pistons in the playoffs, and he'll have his role significantly reduced with Brand's arrival. Still, Evans is as good as pure rebounders get in the league today, and random bursts of scoring are just gravy.
Poetry in Motion
Photo from Getty Images.
Poetry in Motion will feature my feeble attempts at mimicking the sonnets of one William Shakespeare, complete with a weak, liberal interpretation of iambic pentameter and an identical rhyme scheme. As they say, the NBA imitates art...I mean poetry...err, life imitates the NBA...or I imitate poetry while writing about the NBA. Something like that. Either way, each preview will contain two sonnets: one focusing on a wider, team outlook and another focusing on the roles and futures of individual players. Revel! Criticize! Enjoy!
Enter: the newest member of the club,
Brand makes the Sixers instant contenders,
But still quite unproven, ay, there’s the rub,
Still, pencil them in for playoff splendor.
From Brand to Sam, from Andre to Andre,
The team’s complete on both sides of the ball,
They’ll frustrate opponents play upon play,
Slow down or fast break; they’re sure to enthrall.
To win – perchance to dream of Finals bling,
Philly stands a good a chance as any,
Regardless of what this new season brings,
Their fortunes are certainly ascending.
Eighty two games to work out all the kinks,
Under bright playoff lights they’ll surge, not shrink.
Elton Brand stands much taller than his frame,
Altering shots and scoring points at will,
But don’t overlook Sam Dalembert’s game:
Rebounding, defending with poise and skill.
Iguodala fancies himself a star,
But he’ll excel in his supporting role,
Can Philly’s three point shooters raise the bar?
They’ll have to lest double teams take their toll.
Progress is the name of the game for Thad,
And Williams must continue to impress
For the Sixers to build on what they had,
Few things more important than bench success.
Miller, Marshall, Ratliff: the guiding lights,
Veteran drive pushing to highest heights.
Player Preview Spotlight: Samuel Dalembert
The Player Spotlight feature highlights just one of the many cogs that make up the team. They may not be the best player on the team and they may not be the most recognizable (or who knows, they may be both), but I can guarantee that they're interesting. Their game, their on-court persona, their role within the greater scope of the team. Something about the player in the spotlight deserves your attention, and as usual, I'm more than willing to point it out to you.
If Kendrick Perkins was such a pivotal cog in the Celtics' success last season, then Dalembert can only be more important for the Sixers. Sam is taller and has better reach. He's more gifted offensively and to this point has been a better shot blocker and rebounder. He notched a double-double average last season, and yet he finds himself poised for his best season yet.
Maybe he won't match his production from a year ago. But as an offensive option surely to be forgotten by the defenses swarming around Brand and Iguanadala, Sam Dalembert will see plenty of open layups and dunks just ripe for the taking. The real responsibility will be on Andre Miller and Sam's other teammates to spot him streaking to the basket. But all of this is only possible because of something within Dalembert. Something the Sixers have long been waiting for. Whatever it is, Dalembert's finally got it.
Don't pretend you didn't see it. Late last season and for stretches in the playoffs, something changed. The stat sheet won't show it and maybe this is just another argument on the laundry list of reasons why I'm insane. But Dalembert's game seemed altered: less awkward and mechanical. The moves he was putting into practice were melding into his arsenal rather than being covered in protective plastic wrap. Prior to this past season, I worried about Dalembert's on-court awareness; too often he seemed lost, or would be slow in rotation, or just look flat-out uncomfortable out there. But as the year progressed into April and May and into the playoffs, I feel like Dalembert finally understands his place in the offense. Credit Mo Cheeks if you will, but at 26 years old, Samuel Dalembert is a pretty damn good center. He'll probably never be an all-star. But if come June (this year or next, or the one after that, or the one after that...) the Sixers are parading through downtown Philly, who cares if Dalembert made an arbitrary trip to a defenseless exhibition game or not? Philadelphia's success is securely attached to Elton Brand's wide, likely ridiculously strong shoulders, but Dalembert is going to have to make his presence felt if the 76ers want to take a real shot at legitimacy this season.Season Previews, F'real
For those poor, conservative souls trapped in normativity, I'll make sure to send you to a few places where you can read through more conventional, in-depth season previews. Most of these links will be from team bloggers whose trade is knowing what there is to know about their respective teams, so tell your ears to perk up; it's time to listen.
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