Philadelphia 76ers: Are the 76ers Really the Best Team in the NBA This Season?

According to ESPN analyst John Hollinger and his most recent NBA power rankings, the Philadelphia 76ers are the best team in the entire NBA.

While Hollinger's power rankings are based on an average of legitimate statistics like strength of schedule, average margin of victory and divisional records and standing, it's still amazing to see the Philadelphia 76ers sitting at the top of that list.

I know the 76ers are 7-2 and have beaten their opponents by an average of 14.6 points per game, but that record isn't truly understood, until it's looked through the perspective of the teams they've played.

The 76ers' seven wins have come against the Suns (4-4), Warriors (2-6), Pistons (2-8), Raptors (4-6), Pacers (6-3) and Kings (3-7), with a combined record of 21-34.  The 76ers two losses have come to the Trailblazers (6-2) and the Jazz (5-3), with a combined record of 11-5.

I know the 76ers lost those games by a combined seven points but still they've lost to good teams and have beaten bad ones.

I'm in no way saying that the 76ers aren't a good team, because they certainly are, but I think it's ridiculously early to be placing them ahead of teams like the Miami Heat (8-1), Chicago Bulls (9-2), Oklahoma City Thunder (9-2) and the Portland Trailblazers (6-2).

The one thing that the 76ers have yet to do, which all of those other teams mentioned above have done, is prevail when playing from behind and grabbing wins in close games.  The two close games the 76ers have played in, against the Jazz and Trailblazers, ended with single-digit losses.

There's no doubt that the 76ers are a good team, with a very talented young roster, but they haven't proven anything this year so far other than the fact that they can beat bad teams.

Sure they've beaten them by a margin of plus-14.6 points, but until they beat an elite NBA team, I can't agree that they are the best team in the NBA by any stretch of the imagination.

The 76ers don't hit the rough part of their schedule until February, when they play the Bulls, the Heat, the Hawks, the Lakers, the Spurs and the Clippers in a brutal span of 10 days.  If the 76ers can come out of that six-game stretch with four or more wins, I will consider them to be a legitimate contender, but until then, it's just irresponsible to do so.

Aside from the 76ers not playing the top competition in the NBA yet, the other thing that will hold them back throughout the remainder of the 2011-12 season is the lack of experience on their roster.

The average age on their roster is 25-and-a-half years, which displays the youth they have, but it subsequently displays the lack of experience they have as well.

There's, without a doubt, solid talent on the 76ers roster with players like Spencer Hawes, Thaddeus Young, Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner starting to reach solid and consistent levels of production, but until those players produce against top-tier talent, they can't be honored as the NBA's best roster by crowning them the best team in the NBA.

I would go ahead and say that the 76ers have the most potential out of all 30 NBA teams, but potential means nothing until it's realized, and their potential can't be realized until they start playing the elite of the elite in the NBA.

If Hollinger's power rankings were based on potential, I'd have no problem with putting the 76ers as high as No. 1, but based on 2011-12 season production, the 76ers don't deserve to be higher than seventh.

The 76ers should be behind the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trailblazers and the Atlanta Hawks.

So there you have it, the 76ers are absolutely not the best team in the NBA.  Sure they have a lot of potential, but success isn't evaluated on potential, it's based on actual performance.

Until the 76ers beat the best of the best, I can't put them on those team's level.