Most Startling Statistics of Philadelphia 76ers' Season So Far
Most of the NBA's organizations have a number of startling statistics, but the 76ers" target="_blank">Philadelphia 76ers might hold a number of the crazier ones.
Philly has the league's youngest roster, and general manager Sam Hinkie's intentions with his team haven't been too big of a secret. We don't have to use the term "tank" if we don't want to, but it's safe to say that the 15-man roster wasn't built to win games during the 2014-15 season.
It's clearly a franchise designed for the future.
Young and inconsistent talent often comes with fun and surprising numbers, and the Sixers don't break away from this trend.
Here's a look at the five most startling statistics of Philadelphia's season so far.
Everything Brandon Davies Is Doing
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Here's an excerpt about Brandon Davies from an article I wrote three weeks ago about 15 bold predictions for the Sixers during the 2014-15 season:
"Brandon Davies not being sent to the D-League one time last season should have gotten significantly more headlines than it never got. We're talking about a guy who fit all of the D-League's criteria. He was an undrafted rookie whose 1.8 fouls nearly matched his scoring average of 2.8.
There are too many young players with potential for this cycle to repeat itself during the 2014-15 season. He will either get sent down or cut at some point. If neither action is ever taken, then we know Philadelphia and the Sixers organization are playing a giant joke on the entire NBA community.
"
It looks like I was wrong about that one.
Davies is currently averaging 7.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 21.4 minutes per game. While not groundbreaking, it's an incredibly big improvement over everything he did last season.
He's not only putting up numbers—he's also actually proving to be an important player in Philly's rotation. There isn't a minute that goes by without Davies giving everything he has (and he no longer has the deer-in-headlights look whenever he hits the floor).
It's still very early, but I'll be the first to say I have been wrong about Davies and how he would do this season.
It's a great thing to witness, too.
Fourth-Quarter Scoring Failures
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The popular saying of "it's not how you start but how you finish" is there for a reason. Getting off to a bad start can be demoralizing, but it's highly possible to overcome with enough effort. Finishing a game in an awful fashion—on the other hand—is usually the final blow, as it doesn't give the team any time to recover.
Enter the Philadelphia 76ers, who average a measly 19.2 points per fourth quarter.
Scoring 19.2 in each quarter would equal 76.8 points for the entire game. The fact that they're averaging 88.6 points per contest—still a league worst—goes to show that the fourth quarter is where the majority of their problems present themselves.
The proof is in the results, too.
The Sixers have managed to stay surprisingly competitive, despite their brutal 0-11 record—more on that later. One of the most entertaining of those games happened to be against the Chicago Bulls (the contest ended as a 115-118 loss for the 76ers). You wouldn't know by the end result, but Philadelphia was down by 18 going into the final period.
39 points in the last 12 minutes by Philly ended up being the difference maker in terms of getting back into the game. It's the definition of the first sentence of this slide.
There will be plenty of losses in the Sixers' future, but it would just be nice to see them finish games in a way that doesn't make one's stomach turn.
Tony Wroten's Free-Throw Attempts Per Game
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Tony Wroten has been sensational to start the season. He stepped into the starting lineup for an injured Michael Carter-Williams and turned into an animal on the court.
His 19.3 points and 6.1 assists per game are impressive and all, but we knew he would get the playing time early, so attaining those kinds of numbers was realistic. What's more surprising than anything is the frequency at which Wroten has gotten to the free-throw line.
It is 7.2 times per game (to be exact).
He has established a playing style that is hard to come by. The majority of guards have the ability to get to the rim at the NBA level, but few seek out contact once they get there. It's exactly what Wroten has managed to do.
He's currently the No. 11 player in the NBA in most free throws per game, sitting ahead of players like Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose and John Wall.
Not many predicted that one was going to happen.
If we must take the excitement down a notch, then it's important to note that he has the second-to-worst free-throw percentage (62 percent) among the 10 players ahead of him. He trails only Dwight Howard (46.2 percent). Wroten's doing an impressive job of getting there, but he has struggled to put the ball in the net with any kind of consistency afterward.
Carter-Williams' return has the potential to limit some of Wroten's opportunities, but we shouldn't put continuing to attack the rim past him.
He's been a monster thus far.
Leading the League in Steals Per Game While Lowering Points Given Up
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The Sixers have an offensive pace that's matched by few, so it's rare for defense to ever appear on the positive side of the spectrum.
Sure enough, though, it's exactly what has taken place with Philly and its steal rate.
The team averages 9.8 steals per game—and that's good enough to be the league-leader in that specific category. The best part of it all is how well balanced Philadelphia is when it comes to steals. Wroten is leading the team with two per game, Nerlens Noel averages 1.56 and Hollis Thompson contributes 1.45.
Leading the NBA in steals is crazy because the Sixers are coming off a season where they gave up a league-worst 109.9 points per game, all while being the No. 1 team in the takeaway category.
Philadelphia has managed to lower the number to 105.0 points by the opposition. Though it's not great, it's a welcomed change that could even get better as the season goes on.
Having more steals while holding the competition to fewer total points is a great ingredient in the recipe for winning.
There just might be a few more ingredients Philly has forgotten about.
Starting the Season with a 0-11 Record
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Most people predicted that Philadelphia would have the NBA's worst record before the season even started. It wasn't difficult to guess that one. Saying the Sixers wouldn't win one of their first 11 games would have bordered on extreme, though.
And extreme is exactly what has happened.
Let's think about a couple of things before anyone says that opening the season with 11 losses isn't exactly too crazy.
Remember how bad last year's team was supposed to be? Even with similar expectations, it managed to win its first three games of the season—including beating the Miami Heat in the season opener. In fact, that same team was 5-6 through its first 11 games.
Another thing to consider is how close the Sixers have actually been to winning. They have the NBA's worst point differential at -16.4, yet they've lost three of their games by three points or fewer.
Philly's 2013-14 26-game losing streak matched a record in professional sports. This year's squad is still far from touching that kind of territory, but starting the season off with a double-digit losing streak is incredibly shocking.
Losing 11 in a row isn't quite the same as winning 11 in a row, but it's almost as amazing. We'll see how long it takes them to finally get win No. 1.
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