Team Mentality: The Philadelphia 76ers Still Need a Star or Two to Shine
We all love that the Philadelphia 76ers are playing as a team. It makes them one of the most intriguing teams in the NBA. But with teams like the Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics and now the New York Knicks after acquiring Carmelo Anthony, following the two-star blueprint in order to win, the Eastern Conference is getting crowded with star-caliber players.
So where does this leave the Sixers?
Building a team around two or more star players isn’t a new concept. In the 1980s, the Celtics had a team of five Hall of Famers.
The Lakers had a team of four, including Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabar, and won five titles.
While the method of building these teams may have been a little different than today, more through trades than free agency, the star players of yesteryear envisaged the same exact thing: winning championships.
The past 10 NBA champions (only five different teams) have all had at least two star players.
Philadelphia is playing good, solid, team basketball, and are exciting to watch again thanks to coach Doug Collins. They are a young team that will grow together, but as of now, they don’t have any players that could be considered “a star.”
They have good, solid players, not great players. This hasn’t been for a lack of trying though. When the Sixers added Elton Brand, they thought they were adding a star to the team to play alongside Andre Iguodala, who they also thought was a star-caliber player.
Though recently both have been playing extremely well, if Iggy ever was a star, he isn’t now, Brand is past his prime, and neither is able perform in big situations and force their team to win.
Looking ahead, the Sixers’ star hopes fall to two young players in Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner.
Holiday is having an outstanding sophomore year, improving in every statistical category, and he should only get better.
Turner’s rookie season hasn’t been something to boast about (so far) after dominating at Ohio State last year. But look at last year’s draft class and it’s difficult to pick out any player that will become a star—it has been extremely difficult to draft a star the past few seasons.
John Wall? Maybe, but he’s playing for a horrendous Washington team and it won’t be surprising to see him leave for greener pastures as soon as he can.
Evan Turner? It’s still too soon to tell. We did see some greatness flash in his performance against the Golden State Warriors, in which he scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds, had three assists, and one block.
But more importantly, Turner made some big buckets and got his hands on some key rebounds. If this is any indication of Turner’s growth and maturation process while adapting to the NBA style of play, Sixers fans are going to have something to look forward to for years to come.
The Sixers will need to add a big man to compliment Holiday and Turner, assuming they continue working their way toward a high level of play. It will be hard for Philadelphia to attract talent, as players want to go to teams with a star or two already. But if the team continues to play well with minimal talent, it may be possible to attract a young and budding Center, or trade for one in the next season or two.
As NBA talent continues to gravitate to each other (it’s already clear that a team with two stars might not be enough to win anymore), one thing is for certain; we all look forward to the day where the hardwood floors of the Wells Fargo Center will shine again. Let’s just hope that the stars will align in Philadelphia.
