5 Surprising Statistics That Are Defining the Philadelphia 76ers' Season
The Philadelphia 76ers' 2-22 start to the season could be deemed as one of the team's most surprising statistics, but there's more to the numbers than just the record.
The Sixers are on a historically bad pace, and there isn't much reason to think that anything will change.
There aren't enough talented young players on the roster that other organizations might covet, so a trade seems unlikely. The overall team skill is clearly inferior to every other squad in the NBA, and problems with ability don't get fixed during the season. The elephant in the room also happens to be that the Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie has built a team designed to lose during the 2014-15 season.
None of the above is too promising.
Here's a look at five of the most surprising statistics that have led to the 76ers being as interesting—if that's what you want to call it—as they are.
Alexey Shved Being so Efficient
1 of 5
Alexey Shved was a bit of an unknown coming to Philadelphia as part of a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves this offseason, but he's starting to make his intentions clear.
The man might not get the most playing time, but he gets the job done when he does see the court.
According to Basketball-Reference.com, he is leading the team in player efficiency rating at 19.8 and is doing so in only 16.8 minutes per game. Eight players play more than he does, but none has had the statistical impact of Shved thus far.
A couple of contributing factors are playing into his hand. The first is his assist-to-turnover ratio, which sits at 2.6. That would rank him as the No. 23 player in the league if he had more minutes under his belt.
The next is that he's managed to score 9.9 points per game, which is good enough for fourth on the team. Only Robert Covington, Michael Carter-Williams and Tony Wroten average more. Shved is doing so by getting to the free-throw line 3.4 times per game and knocking down 84 percent of them.
There were no guarantees that the 6'6" point guard would pan out with the Sixers. He was coming off a rough sophomore campaign, but he has proved to be a productive role player during his short time in Philadelphia.
We'll see if Shved can keep up his impressive play.
Nerlens Noel Playing in 21 of 24 Games
2 of 5
Philadelphia sat Nerlens Noel for the entire 2013-14 season while he recovered from a torn ACL, and it's safe to say that the Sixers made the right move.
The idea was simple: Hold Noel out of action for his entire rookie season in order to make sure he returned healthier than ever. His development could have been permanently stunted if he had re-injured the same or opposite knee so early in his career.
Nobody knows this better than head coach Brett Brown. CSN Philly's Dei Lynam interviewed Brown after an early December practice, who talked about Noel and his health:
"I think the lesson for him and everybody is that everybody in the NBA is injured.
We hope to not go a step forward and three steps back because the kid is moving in the right direction. We are going to go overboard making sure his health, as we preach, is of number one importance.
"
There's no question that the plan has worked or not. Noel has played in 21 of the team's 24 games and hasn't had any health-related issues related to his knee.
Not much has gone well for Philadelphia or its fanbase, but Noel's good health is something to cheer about.
Tempering some of the excitement revolving around his knees being 100 percent is important, as we're barely over a quarter of the way through the season.
Still, it's much more positive to see him on the court than off it.
K.J. McDaniels' December Struggles
3 of 5
K.J. McDaniels has gone from looking like one of the NBA's best rookies to appearing more lost than ever. Here's a look at how his numbers have varied on a monthly basis during his rookie year:
| Month | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | PPG | RPG | APG | BPG | TOV |
| October | 16.5 | .500 | .500 | .000 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| November | 25.0 | .462 | .395 | .800 | 10.6 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.9 |
| December | 27.7 | .274 | .152 | .727 | 7.5 | 5.4 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 2.0 |
An increase in playing time has resulted in more opportunities with the basketball, but it hasn't panned out well on the offensive side of the game. McDaniels' shooting percentage has plummeted since being given the key to the offense. There's no kind of rhythm when it comes to his shot selection, as it looks like he's forcing looks all around the court.
His value on the defensive side of the ball remains the same. There's no denying that his 6'11" wingspan is helping him average 2.3 blocks and 1.6 steals per game. The problem with what's taking place on defense is that he's not doing anything on the offensive side of the ball. He's currently looked at as a two-way player, yet he's only performing his duties in one of those areas.
Luckily, McDaniels has plenty of time to turn everything around. It's clear that he recently hit a wall, though.
Let's just hope that it's a relatively short wall.
Scoring 91.3 Points Per Game
4 of 5
The 2013-14 Sixers were an incredibly fast-paced team that scored points thanks to its youth and athleticism. Philly was far from leading the league in scoring, but it still averaged 99.5 points per game.
It was good enough to end the year at No. 19 in the league.
Philadelphia has gotten even younger and more athletic, except there's been a major drop-off in scoring, as the team is only averaging 91.3 points. The craziest part is that the 76ers are two points behind the next closest team, and there's nothing to suggest that a change is coming.
The Sixers are last in both free-throw and three-point shooting, on top of being second-to-last in total field-goal percentage.
A major discrepancy is taking place with Philadelphia.
The roster changed drastically from last year, but much of the core elements are still there. Michael Carter-Williams still runs the show. Tony Wroten continues to look to score, and Henry Sims is doing his best to be an interior presence.
The surrounding cast is entirely new, however, and the Sixers are averaging eight points less per game because of it. It's an incredibly surprising statistic.
Starting the Year 0-17, of Course
5 of 5
Let's be honest: We can't talk about any kind of statistics and not mention Philadelphia's 0-17 start.
The Sixers have managed to sneak out a couple—and by couple, we're talking two—wins since, but nothing is more surprising than being one win away from tying the worst start in NBA history.
Losing 17 games in a row at any point is brutal, but starting the year out with that kind of streak is disheartening.
The beginning of the 2014-15 season dictated how the rest of Philly's year will go. Everybody knew the 76ers would be a bad team, but there's currently no question as to who is the worst squad in the league.
There are obviously still 58 games remaining, but 17 straight losses to start the season makes it difficult to not end up with the NBA's worst record.
That's probably more than OK to Sam Hinkie, though.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
