Philadelphia 76ers: The Surprisingly Good And Expectedly Bad From Sixers’ Season Opener
By Cody Daniel
All of the talk and hoopla about the Sixers’ Tank 2.0 and how Nerlens Noel will fare once the regular season arrives finally have some fundamental answers. That, among other things you will likely see a lot of this season from Philly, like exciting dunks, feisty and competitive attitudes, and how could we forget the losses were all a part of Philadelphia’s opening night loss to the Indiana Pacers. But with that loss came some silver linings and some typical 76er-esc disappointments that just point to a very, very long season ahead.
The Good
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For reasons that probably include being on the ever-tanking 76ers and having very little team publicity, most people don’t give Tony Wroten the recognition he deserves as a key player. In the opener, he dropped 22 points on the Pacers and added eight rebounds, seven assists and one posterizing dunk to the mix as well.
But what was best about this performance was his extreme efficiency running the show, as Wroten had only one turnover in just over 35 minutes. Wroten also had three steals, which were huge towards his offensive contributions.
Nerlens Noel’s defense and minutes
Despite going toe-to-toe in the paint with Roy Hibbert and Luis Scola in his debut, Noel still made sure to have a defensive impact with three blocks, in addition to altering several more. Noel snagged 10 boards also, but most importantly for Noel, Brett Brown and the Sixers’ fan base alike his Noel making it through nearly 35 minutes of action without showing much fatigue or discomfort.
Alexey Shved and Brandon Davies
It’s always a good sign when you can have two guys named Brandon Davies and Alexey Shved come in and contribute 30 points off the bench. Shved racked up 18 points while showing off some nice touch from the perimeter and the ability to run the show as a point guard off the bench.
On the other hand, Davies surprisingly put up 12 points, but it was some of the ways he put those points up that made it so noteworthy, such as his sky hook in the midst of scoring six straight points for the Sixers.
The Bad
Noel’s offense
Yes, it was only his first game in the NBA so he shouldn’t receive too much criticism just yet, but going 2-11 from the field and 2-6 from the charity stripe is something that won’t continually be accepted by coach Brown. Outside of the numbers, Noel just looked weaker and more out of place than the rest of the guys, which just shows how far he really is away fro becoming an offensive threat.
Free throw shooting
The 76ers shot a horrid 56.7 percent from the free throw line (17-30) in their loss to the Pacers. That is leaving 13 points out on the court and considering they only lost by 14, hitting even half of these shots would have dramatically changed how they played the final minutes of the game.
Defense
A huge part of basketball is being able to keep your opponents from scoring and that’s something the Sixers will struggle with mightily this season. The Pacers shot over them, around them and bullied them around the paint offensively for total of 103 points. Unfortunately, this isn’t something that should get much better with the current roster in Philly.
Overall, the Sixers should be able to walk away from this loss with some great things to look back and improve upon, both good and bad. They get the Bucks on Friday so the competition should get a little easier, but with such a youthful squad, you’re sure to see many more of these same mistakes.