The Essentials:
76ers (7-20) vs. Wizards (8-17)
7 p.m.
Verizon Center
TV: CSN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Notable 76ers numbers this season
26th in expected winning percentage (.356)
28th in pace (90.7 possessions per game)
17th in offensive efficiency/offensive rating (106.8)
29th in defensive efficiency/defensive rating (111.4)
Pre-game links
Liberty Ballers, SB Nation's 76ers Blog
Philadunkia, a 76ers blog
Depressed Fan, a 76ers blog
Deep Sixer with Philadelphia Inquirer Beat Reporter Kate Fagan
GameDay 76ers
| Tonight's Projected Starters | ||
|---|---|---|
| 76ers | vs. | Wizards |
| Louis Williams | PG | Gilbert Arenas |
| Jrue Holiday | SG | Randy Foye |
| Andre Iguodala | SF | Caron Butler |
| Thaddeus Young | PF | Antawn Jamison |
| Samuel Dalembert | C | Brendan Haywood |
We know the 76ers. It's our old coach, running our old sets. We also played them this year, though you have to add Marreese Speights and Caron Butler (both injured last game) into the picture. With the way Speights is playing, that swap might favor Philadelphia right now.
The other difference? Elton Brand is not starting; instead, rookie Jrue Holiday, who killed us last time, will. Again, probably not an even trade for us at this stage. Brand's upset he isn't playing, but he's not fully recovered from injury and the Sixers need to go small to push that pace (seriously, that team is 28th in pace? What is Eddie Jordan doing? In case you also noticed, Philly's is 29th in defense, after being 14th last year with the same personnel. Ladies and gentlemen, the Eddie Jordan effect!).
Regardless, we know these guys. So I'll jump off our discussion with this question: would you trade rosters with the 76ers in the long term?
Both teams have an overpaid star that's clogging their cap for a while (Gilbert Arenas, Brand). Both teams have an overpaid second banana with a long-term contract that has one fundamental flaw (Jamison and Iguodala, though Iggy is younger and better on defense). Philly has more young guys, but they also have fewer expiring contracts, meaning it's going to be harder to clear salary. I'm very conflicted. Here's the salary situation for the Wizards, here's the salary situation for the 76ers. Which position would you rather be in? We're talking bad or worse here, but it's still a fun discussion topic.
(Note: I'm going out of town tomorrow, so I won't be at tonight's game. I'll be at the OKC game on the 29th. Kyle will have first-hand reporting tonight, I'm sure).
GO WIZARDS!