Debacle in Big D

Throughout the first seven games of the NBA season, the Sixers played an inspiring form of basketball full of tenacity and excitement. Yes, they were losing every game but they fought each and every night. They displayed heart with the desire to make progress and build towards the future, which brought a sense of hope to loyal fans struggling to cope with the feeling of defeat. As the team left Philadelphia for their three game tour of Texas, highlighted by the return of last seasons Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams, all was going as planned. Unfortunately, the team landed in Dallas unknowingly leaving behind everything they ever learned about the game of basketball, allowing the Mavericks to coast to a lopsided 123-70 win over the hopeless Sixers.

Everyone was all excited to finally watch Nerlens Noel play alongside Michael Carter-Williams for the first time since the two played for the same AAU team in high school five years ago, but the Mavs spoiled the season debut for MCW and while doing so, may have also implanted a state of discouragement into the mind of Noel during the process. In arguably the most anticipated game of the season since the opener, the Sixers stumbled into Dallas Thursday night looking like a freshman high school squad throughout the first quarter and things never got any better. Sloppy play from everyone in blue who took the floor resulted in a countless number of simple fast break opportunities for the Mavs. After one quarter of play, the Sixers trailed 38-10 and were on pace to lose 152-40.

Luckily for them it didn’t turn out to be that bad in the end but it was close. The beginning of the second quarter featured Dallas opening up with a 7-0 run pushing the huge lead to 45-10. At this point in the contest, future Hall of Famer, Dirk Nowitzki had 13 points compared to the entire Sixers team only having 10. The once 35-point advantage stretched to a 44-point halftime deficit as the Mavs took a 73-29 lead into the break. Now after sitting through the ugliest first half of basketball my eyes have ever witnessed, I was left to wonder which one of our players moms was scheduled to provide the youngsters with maybe a healthy orange peel or two in the locker room, while Coach Brett Brown walked around informing each player that everyone will be receiving a trophy at the end of the game for showing up.

If you were expecting some fight from the team after the terrible first half, as we all were, our wishes were not granted. The second half was no different. Turnover after turnover, the Sixers hand fed the Mavs with easy buckets. This wasn’t the same Sixers team we’ve had the joy of watching all season. This was a team tonight that gave up. There is no better way to say it. Once they fell far behind at the start, anyone who’s ever watched a game before knew immediately this one was over. Sloppy turnovers, atrocious shot selection, and pathetic effort on defense plagued the team as they suffered their worst loss of the young season and one of the worst losses in franchise history.

As a team the Sixers shot 29.9 percent from the floor, an obvious result of poor shot selection. They turned the ball over an absurd 27 times leading to 32 fast break points for the Mavs, and they only recorded an abysmal 9 assists on the night. As for individual stats, MCW, who hit the floor and immediately threw down an impressive dunk on his first possession, led all Sixers in scoring with 19 points in his return to go along with 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Nerlens struggled throughout the night shooting 2-7 from the floor, accumulating only 5 points and 7 rebounds. As for Dallas, Dirk paved the way with 21 points and guard Monta Ellis got his fair share of the points finishing with 17.

I would say about 85 percent of the Sixers fan base is completely onboard with Sam Hinkie’s plan to tank and rebuild, but this was probably the first night of the Hinkie era that made us wonder, is this franchise actually going in the right direction? One game clearly isn’t enough to ruin a plan but if this style of basketball were to continue throughout the coming months, it could easily draw some attention for concern in the front office. I am behind Hinkie and I believe his plan with eventually result in playoff basketball in Philadelphia but this team needs a hell of a lot of work before anything close to meaningful basketball will take place. Hopefully this was a fluke game and the Sixers will get back to their aggressive fighting style in games to come.

Up next: Friday November 14^th @Houston 8:00pm Tip

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