The Sixers' slogan is “Run With Us.” Now, with the signing of Elton Brand, their slogan should be “Watch us TRY and Run.”
Elton Brand ruined the chemistry that this team had because it seemed that the Sixers tried to adjust to Brand’s offense, and not the other way around.
When you bring in a player in the offseason, the key is to make sure he adjusts to his new team. Elton Brand never adjusted. He looked like a lost child out on the floor, and he never seemed to be completely healed from any of his past injuries.
Whenever any $80 million man goes down with injury, it would seemingly doom a team's season. Not in this case. This injury will be a blessing in disguise.
The Sixers now can turn back to their “Run With Us” slogan. They can get up and down the court and compete with the best of them in the East. They no longer have to wait for plays to set up, and run an offense that they are not used to.
Maurice Speights is now going to be thrown into the starting PF spot (at least he should be), and be given a chance to show what he has in him. Saturday, against the KG-less Celtics, Speights had six points in five minutes of play, bringing the Sixers back into the game. He deserves this chance to succeed and he has earned every minute of it.
Andre Iguodala is now “the guy” for the remainder of the season. But was there any doubt in the preseason that this wasn’t his team?
He has earned every penny he made in the offseason already, and is set up to become that superstar that the city of Philadelphia has been missing. Watch for AI Part Two to step his game up and average around 23/6/6 for the rest of the season.
The last name I will throw out there is Donyell Marshall. He was one of the key free agent signings in the offseason, and all he does is show up in a suit and tie.
He is hands down the best three-point shooter on a team that is desperately lacking a three-point shooter. He may not get a ton of minutes, but he should get between six and eight minutes a game with Brand out. Hopefully he takes advantage of this opening.
Will the Sixers make the playoffs? Yes. Will the Sixers be a team that people are afraid to play? Yes. Will they be dangerous in April? Yes.
So does this injury hurt the Sixers? Not one bit!
The only thing I am wishing now is that it could have happened two weeks earlier.
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