Fantasy Basketball 2010-2011 Team Preview: Philadelphia 76’ers (9/11/10)

The Sixers experimented with Eddie Jordan and his Princeton offense last season and it was a total disaster.  They brought in Doug Collins this year to try and fix the mess of 2009 and many roles could change on this team.  It looks like Jrue Holiday will start at PG with rookie Evan Turner running with him at SG.  Andre Iguodala should get the SF spot and Elton Brand should start at PF.  Center is going to be a battle in camp.  I’ve seen some rumor of Brand trying to play center with Thaddeus Young at PF, but we’ll see.  Post your article comments over on the Fantasy Basketball Daily Facebook Page.

Projected Depth Chart
PG:   Jrue Holiday, Lou Williams
SG:   Evan Turner, Willie Green, Jodie Meeks
SF:   Andre Iguodala, Andres Nocioni, Jason Kapono
PF:   Elton Brand, Thaddeus Young, Jason Smith
C:    Marreese Speights, Spencer Hawes

2009 Season Stats and League Ranking
Pace:   #22, 91.6 (avg. 92.7)
Offensive Rating:   #20, 106.1 (avg. 107.6)
Defensive Rating:   #24, 110.3 (107.6)
Team eFG%:   #15, 49.6% (avg. 50.1%)
Offensive Rebounding:   #9, 27.6 (avg. 26.3)
Defensive Rebounding:   #21, 73.2 (avg. 73.7)
Opponent’s eFG%:   #24, 51.8 (50.1)
Points Per Game:   #23, 97.7 (avg. 100.4)

 

Playing Time and Usage Rates
Usage rate illustrates a player’s involvement in the team’s offense.
Player  (2009 MPG)             Usage (2009/Career)
Holiday (24.2)                            18.4/18.4
Williams (29.9)                           21.1/23.9
Iguodala (38.9)                          21.8/19.9
Young (32.0)                              21.5/20.1
Brand (30.2)                              21.7/24.5
Speights (16.4)                          25.1/23.3
Hawes (26.4)                             19.6/19.8

Notice that the top 5 guys have almost identical usage rates.  This rarely happens, but with the Princeton offense it forced each player to submit to the team concept.  The player most hurt by the system was Andre Iguodala.  His strength is his athletic ability and the skill to create offense on the fly.  The Princeton system severely limited his production.  Jrue Holiday should see his usage rate increase this season, while Marreese Speights will likely see his decline.  Thaddeus Young is a wildcard and we won’t get a handle on his minutes until well into camp.  If Hawes can make a good showing and win the starting center spot, he could see a spike in his usage also.

 

Shooting Ability and Shot Location
Player         Career eFG%            Career 3PT          Jumper/Inside
Holiday          50.2                    .8/2.2 (39.0%)          71/29
Williams         46.9                   .6/2.0 (32.3%)          64/36
Iguodala      50.1                      .9/2.7 (32.1%)           71/29
Young           52.0                     .5/1.5 (34.3%)          48/52
Brand            50.1                            0/0                    70/30
Speights        49.2                          0/0                     56/44
Hawes           48.5                    .3/1.0 (31.4%)         49/51

Holiday’s shooting ability gives him an edge over Lou Williams at the point guard spot.  Jrue is a good shooter and very accurate from three point range.  Williams has the better ability to take it to the basket.  Iguodala is a good shooter but should probably seek to take it to the basket more this season, which could increase his efficiency.  Thaddeus Young is primarily an inside scorer and he gets a lot of looks at the rim which is reflected in his high 52.0 eFG%.  Hawes, Speights and Brand are all average shooters.

Philadelphi is not a very good three point shooting team.  It looks like Holiday will get most of the opportunites and Iguodala will probably throw up some inefficient threes as well.  Let’s hope Evan Turner can develop a good three point shot.

The Sixers are a fairly balanced team with guys who can shoot the jumpshot and take it to the basket.  None of the players are truly limited to the perimeter and all four of the big guys are good scorers around the basket.

 

Rebounding
Player                Off/Def/Total
Holiday              3.7/9.1/6.4
Williams             2.2/8.9/5.5
Iguodala            3.4/14.6/9.0
Young                7.3/12.4/9.8
Brand                 11.6/18.8/15.2
Speights            10.8/17.8/14.2
Hawes                 8.2/19.6/13.9

Holiday and Williams are average rebounders from the PG position.  Iguodala is a good defensive rebounder, but he could definitely work on his offensive rebounding number.   Thaddeus Young has the opposite problem from Iguodala, his offensive rebounding is strong but his defensive rebounding is weak.   Elton Brand is still a strong rebounder.  Speights and Hawes are very similar rebounders from the center position.

 

Defense
PG – Jrue Holiday is an excellent defender and he doesn’t mind putting in the effort on that end of the floor.  Lou Williams is much weaker than Holiday on the defensive end.
SG – Evan Turner is going to have a steep learning curve with NBA defense.
SF – Andre Iguodala is one of the better defensive players in the league.
PF – Elton Brand used to be a good defensive player, but the last few seasons have seen his effort decreasing on defense to the point where he is merely average.  He doesn’t block many shots.  Thaddeus Young is still raw, but he has the ability to make some great defensive plays, and some bad ones.
C – Marreese Speights is a below average defender.  The good news for Speights, Spencer Hawes is an even worse option for the Sixers on defense.

Comments are closed.