Eastern Conference Insider: Sixers Underperforming

Among the league's top disappointments so far this season are the Philadelphia 76ers.

This is the team that surprised everybody by going 19-7 during one stretch that spanned February and March last season and surged into playoff position in the East. This is the team that added Elton Brand this summer to fix their biggest shortcoming: halfcourt offense. This is the team that should be right behind the Celtics and Cavs in the Eastern Conference standings.

But a little more than a month into the season, the Sixers stand at 8-11, in last place in the Atlantic Division. To just about everyone's surprise, they're worse than both the Nets and Knicks.

Brand was supposed to help the Sixers' offense (their defense was already very good), but the offense is still where Philly has issues.

They rank 26th in offensive efficiency, even though they rank near the top of the league in both fast break points and points in the paint. The problem is clearly perimeter shooting.

The Sixers have talent in their lineup, but Brand is probably their most consistent shooter and his range only extends out to 18 feet or so. The Sixers rank 25th in three point percentage and only the Thunder make fewer threes per possession.

The lack of perimeter shooting keeps the Sixers from being able to space the floor and give Brand room to operate. Brand is Philly's leading scorer, but the career 50 percent shooter is shooting just 45 percent and he's had some off nights, like Wednesday's 1-for-7 performance against the Lakers.

If Sixers President Ed Stefanski had his wish, he would have a shooter or two in his rotation.

"You cant have enough shooting," he admitted before his team's loss to the Lakers on Wednesday at the Wachovia Center, part of a state-of-the-team media session courtside.

The problem is that Stefanski traded Kyle Korver to Utah a year ago in order to create the cap space that eventually allowed the Sixers to sign Brand, and then Brand's contract left no cap space available to sign the shooter that the team still needed. They brought in Kareem Rush and Donyell Marshall as cheap alternatives, but neither has cracked Maurice Cheeks' rotation this season.

"We threw all our eggs in one basket," Stefanski said, "and that being Elton Brand."

No regrets, though.

"I would do it again in a New York second," Stefanski added. "I think Elton's getting better every game. But we still have areas that we have to improve upon and we didn't have obviously after that, we made a huge commitment and we didn't have the money under the collective bargaining agreement or the cap in order to do any more than that. We have to keep tinkering with this. We're not perfect yet, but that's where we're going. But getting a guy like Elton, there is no question it's helped us."

And of course, the season is not 19 games long. There is time for the Sixers to sharpen things up offensively, even if they don't make a roster move.

"I knew it was going to take us a while," Stefanski said. "We've had [19] games now. We've got to start putting it together. We've had stretches of good basketball. We've got to make them longer stretches."

Still, you have to think that Stefanski's phone is busy.

"You'll never hear patience come out of my mouth," he admitted. "I'm one of the fans, I know how they are, so I'm not going to use that word."

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The news that Sam Mitchell was fired yesterday was not at all surprising to those that have followed the Raptors the last few years. Toronto President Bryan Colangelo inherited Mitchell when he came aboard in February of 2006 and might have brought in his own coach earlier had Mitchell not won the Coach of the Year award the following season.

Many believe that Colangelo likes an open, D'Antoni-esque style of basketball, and some of the roster moves he's made certainly support that belief. But the Raptors were far from D'Antoni-esque.

Last season, the Raptors ranked 25th in pace, averaging just 88.7 possessions per 48 minutes. This season, they've picked it up slightly, ranking 18th at 90.0 possessions per 48 minutes.

Will Colangelo direct interim coach Jay Triano to pick up the pace even more? Beginning with Friday's game in Utah, we'll keep a close eye on the Raptors' numbers.

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The Nets have obviously surprised the pundits with their 9-8 start, thanks largely to the highest scoring duo in the league, Devin Harris and Vince Carter. New Jersey has also got contributions from their young frontline, starting with rookie center Brook Lopez.

Along with where your team sits in the standings and the idea of proving people wrong, the wins benefit the kids' development, as Carter tells it.

"[Winning] helps for teaching," VC said Tuesday. "When you're losing, it's kind of hard to focus, because you're trying to figure it out, how to get it done. Winning helps with the attitude. Everybody's upbeat and they want to learn, they want to get better now, because of it. They want more. Hopefully, we can continue that and it will make for a great season."

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Along those same lines, even if you're losing, it's better to be competitive than not. The Wizards are 3-13, but nine of their 13 losses have been by 10 points or less.

"I'd much rather have a chance," Wizards coach Ed Tapscott said Tuesday on losing close games. "I'd much rather be in games and say, 'There's something we're not doing. Let's search for it. What is it about our formula for winning games that we haven't either accomplished yet, or we need to tweak?'

"So, you want to see progress. I'd much rather see us contest, compete, fight right down to the last possession, and if you don't get it, you've got something to move forward with. If we just couldn't compete, that would be difficult to manage."

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Before Tuesday's win over the Nets, Tapscott was asked about his rookie center, JaVale McGee, matching up with Lopez. Tapscott noted that for once, his guy wouldn't have an experience disadvantage, but he was quick to praise New Jersey's rookie.

"He's so good, he can clone himself," Tapscott said.