As part of a series of articles produced exclusively for Sky Sports by NBA superfans from across the UK and Ireland, we look at the state of play for every franchise with pre-season now under way ahead of the new campaign
Tuesday 18 October 2022 08:14, UK
Sixers fanatic Ben Glasspool assesses the 2021-22 season for his team and then casts an eye ahead to the new campaign for Philadelphia.
I'm Ben and I run the UK 76ers account on Twitter. My obsession with the Philadelphia 76ers started in early 2018 while I was studying abroad at the University of Texas in Austin.
Prior to arriving in the US, I had always been an avid sports fan – being a Southampton season ticket holder before heading off to university. As most sports fanatics will attest, the more sports you can watch the better, so I took it upon myself to give American sports a chance while living across the pond.
During my travels across the USA, I spent a weekend in Philadelphia, coinciding this trip with a regular season game against the Charlotte Hornets at the Wells Fargo Center on a snowy March evening.
Admittedly, having seen snippets of American sports on TV, I thought I'd struggle to warm to it. I had spent much of my time on the tribal terraces up and down the country in the Premier League and Football League, where passion and raucous atmospheres are consistently on show; it seemed that the atmosphere at NBA games simply wouldn't compare.
From an outsider's perspective, it just seemed to be a rather sanitised affair where people were more concerned with catching a free t-shirt, taking selfies, or getting on the jumbotron than actually willing their team to victory. But after one evening at the Wells Fargo Center, it became clear to me that Philadelphia sports fans are an entirely different animal. They are fans who are as passionate about their team as fans whom I saw at 3pm every Saturday back in England.
Like many football fans, they worked Monday to Friday so that they can get tickets, they support the team on every play, and the minimum expectancy of all players was maximum effort. A mindset indicative of a blue-collar city. It was because of this mindset that Philly fans exhibited that I felt so at home in the Wells Fargo Center, and why I've been following the Sixers ever since.
I'm afraid my picks are going to be quite predictable. First up of course, is Joel Embiid.
Joel has taken a huge leap over the last 18 months. For most of his career his conditioning and attitude to the game has been in constant question. Now we've seen just how unstoppable he can be in the NBA. He's a 7-footer who can score from anywhere on the court.
In the post, he's as dominant as they come, rivalled only by the likes of Shaquille O'Neal and Wilt Chamberlain in terms of low post scoring in the NBA. Embiid has openly said that in his formative years he tried to model his game on the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon and Kobe Bryant, and you can see that when he's putting up near enough 30 points a game – doing so through a variety of Kobe-esque midrange pull-ups, and Hakeem-like footwork in the paint.
What endears Philly fans the most to Joel however, is his sense of humour and larger than life personality. Joel loves to have a laugh, often at the expense of his opponents and we as fans just lap it up, be that when he drops a meme on Twitter or through his flamboyant gestures on the court.
Joel has taken to the Philly fans, has understood what makes them tick, what they demand from their players, and consequently he's become an icon in the city.
Tyrese Maxey also deserves a special mention, in an era where players get so much, so early on in their careers – be that through multi-million dollar contracts, sponsorship deals and the stardom and glamour that comes with being an NBA player.
Maxey remains a bit of an outlier in that whenever you see him take the court he plays with a refreshing fearlessness, somehow always having an infectious smile on his face whenever the ball is in his hands. Whenever he's interviewed, he seems wise beyond his years and you'd never have thought he has only played two full seasons of NBA basketball.
Maxey is a future All-Star for sure, and with his attitude to the game, and his desire to improve, the sky really is the limit.
For the first half of the season the Sixers were in basketball purgatory. We wouldn't be able to make a deep playoff run without trading Ben Simmons, but we also wouldn't be bad enough to avoid the playoffs altogether and get a chance at the NBA lottery.
At the start of the Embiid-Harden era things looked incredibly promising, the pick and roll between these two stars was nigh on unstoppable. The addition of Harden saw the 3-point percentages of Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey (among others) rise too, a testament to his playmaking ability.
But it soon became apparent come playoffs that there were still issues plaguing this team. Harden clearly wasn't the scorer he used to be, and whether this can be something that can be remedied with a full offseason to recover from his hamstring injury remains to be seen.
Additionally, the Sixers bench simply lacked quality. Too often they were beaten on the fast-break due to a lack of athleticism and defensive prowess. This was also coupled with a lack of scoring off the bench, be that off the dribble or behind the arc.
And finally we lacked a legitimate back-up center. When Embiid was off the court, the stats aren't kind to the Sixers. DeAndre Jordan simply couldn't defend the rim like Joel and smart teams like the Miami Heat punished us, resulting in Philadelphia falling in the second round once again.
All these issues were exacerbated by the fact that Doc Rivers was never willing to give young up-and-comers like Paul Reed and Charles Bassey a fair crack of the whip during the season. It gave rise to a common criticism of Doc that he's far too set in his ways when it comes to coaching – with an over-reliance on veterans and an unfair scepticism of youth.
To the credit of the Sixers front office, GM Daryl Morey has diagnosed the issues listed above and in true Morey fashion, he has wasted no time in trying to solve these problems.
He has brought in combo guard De'Anthony Melton from Memphis – a defensive stalwart who can help create offense and shoot healthily from three; Danuel House – a prototypical 3-&-D wing; and PJ Tucker – a hardnosed, proven winner who can defend just about anybody in the league, and someone who can bring a level of grit, physicality, and leadership that this team has quite frankly lacked over the last four seasons.
I'm optimistic that we'll see an improved James Harden. While you've got to take social media workout posts with a pinch of salt, Harden does look in much better shape, and with him taking a handsome pay cut, there can be no doubts that Harden is in Philadelphia to win at all costs.
I firmly believe that in a competitive Eastern Conference, the Sixers, as assembled, have what it takes to mount a serious title challenge. The minimum expectancy of the Sixers has to be to finally reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2001 with Allen Iverson.
Failure to do this, and assistant coach Sam Cassell should be ready waiting in the wings to take the head coaching duties from Doc Rivers.
The Sixers season will undoubtedly be a rollercoaster of emotions, with a title challenge being a very realistic possibility.
With fans on tenterhooks waiting to see which version of James Harden returns, with Joel Embiid being one of the early favourites for the MVP award, and with the constant swirling of trade rumours and touting for coaching changes, Philadelphia is where you want to cast your gaze for the NBA season.
