Power rankings system devised and compiled weekly by Stemshul. “Expert” analysis by paradroid.
How about them 76ers? The battle for #1 continues, with the Warriors retaking the lead from the Suns, but further down the standings are the #13 fightin’ Ben Franklins, trying to figure out what to about this very weird year. They’re not the only team having a strange one. Kyrie Irving is not playing for the Nets because he isn’t vaccinated and that means all games in New York, California, and Canada are out of bounds for him. So all home games and all road games in Toronto, Golden State, Sacramento, both L.A. teams, and the Knicks he would’ve had to sit. Brooklyn said screw it, you just won’t play at all then. Andrew Wiggins was in a similar situation for the Warriors, but he decided to just get vaccinated in time for the regular season, thus solving the problem. I’m guessing he knows the earth isn’t flat as well. The situation for Philadelphia is similar, but for a different reason. Ben Simmons isn’t out because of Covid, but because he wants to be traded. This all started in last years playoffs, when his reluctance to shoot threes and free throws became a real hindrance for the team. He had never shot from deep much at all, taking just 34 threes in 275 regular season games despite being encouraged to shoot more. He also has a career free throw percentage of 59.7%, which isn’t so bad as to be fatal for an offense from a point guard, but definitely on the low side for a star. Shaquille O’Neal shot just 52.7% for his career and Giannis Antetokounmpo, in his first MVP year, shot just 63.3%. But those guys didn’t shy away from contact. The problem for Simmons is that he started avoiding driving to the basket for fear out getting fouled and having to shoot from the line, culminating in choosing to pass instead of attempting a layup with a defender nearby in a much commented-upon play during the series against Atlanta (which they lost in 7).
In the wake of this ouster, coach Doc Rivers responded to a question about Simmons’ viability as a star in light of recent events with (to paraphrase), “I don’t know if we can win a title with Ben Simmons”. He walked it back in later interviews, but there was clear pressure on Simmons to evolve his game to include more shooting and aggressiveness. Simmons, who does many other things well, like playmaking, rebounding, defense, and the ability to play point guard at 6’10”, has never responded particularly well to previous suggestions he shoot more threes to open up the court for he and his teammates. This is not so bad because there are so many things he does well, but in the postseason coaches can really hone in on your weaknesses as a player. Not wanting to shoot from beyond the arc and not wanting to drive for fear of being fouled makes you pretty easy to defend. So Simmons’ reaction to this pressure was to ask for a trade, letting it be known he doesn’t think he and Joel Embiid (the other 76ers star) can coexist well on the court. Philadelphia basically said they’d trade him if they got a good enough offer (which hasn’t happened yet), but until that point he was going to remain a 76er. He reported to camp (eventually, and probably because Philadelphia was fining the crap out of him), but before the season began, he indicated he was not mentally prepared to play basketball. These days mental health is (quite rightly) receiving more attention and is considered a valid “injury”, so the 76ers said to go ahead and take some time to get your head right. After a few weeks of Simmons seemingly not making any progress and refusing to make reports or give any updates the Philadelphia’s medical staff, the showdown (and the fines) resumed. So, with the game of chicken ongoing, the 76ers got off to an 8-2 start, and then lost 9 of 12, dropping them down to #19 and 11-11. But a 3-1 week (including a win over the #11 Hawks, two wins over the #10 Hornets, and a loss to #3 Utah) has bumped them up 6 slots. So, will they make the playoffs? Be contenders? Collapse down the stretch? It’s so hard to know with all the moving parts. Center Joel Embiid is dominant when healthy, but he carries all the weight now, and he’s been injury prone throughout his career. Will Simmons return to the court? He certainly makes them better, but will he change his game? Seems doubtful. Maybe a blockbuster trade? Until they sort out this Simmons mess, I can’t consider them serious contenders.
Quick update on the Pistons: Cade Cunningham was great last week (24.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 4 APG on 43.2/46.7/100.0 splits) and so was Jerami Grant (24 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 4 APG on 46.9/50.0/93.4 splits). The Pistons scored 116.5 PPG on 43.8/44.6/82.9 team splits, and held leads for much of the games against the terrible OKC Thunder and decent Washington Wizards, but lost both in the end. The losing streak is up to 10 games. Lottery pick, here we come!
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