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Share2009-10 Roster Review - 8/20/2009
The Philadelphia 76ers will open Training Camp on Sept. 29 at St. Joe’s – below is an overview of the Sixers as they head into camp:
The Coach | Familiar Faces | Back From Injury | New Additions | The Rookie
The Coach
Head Coach Eddie Jordan begins his first season at the Sixers helm and brings with him an offensive system known throughout the NBA as one of the most difficult in the league to defend.
Prior to his arrival in Philadelphia, he spent just over four seasons as the Head Coach of the Washington Wizards, during which time he transformed them from a sub-.500 club into a team that made the playoffs four consecutive seasons, posting a .521 winning percentage over that span. Prior to Jordan’s arrival, Washington made the playoffs once over a 16-year span.
In just his second season with Washington in 2004-05, Jordan guided the Wizards to their highest win total in 25 years and the team’s first postseason appearance since 1996-97. Washington also advanced past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1982.
A number of players flourished under Jordan during his time in Washington, including Gilbert Arenas, who was named to three consecutive All-NBA teams from 2005 through 2007. Additionally, Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler all made their All-Star debuts while playing for Jordan. Players like Larry Hughes, Roger Mason and DeShawn Stevenson also saw dramatic improvements to their outside shooting and overall games.
Prior to joining the Wizards, Jordan served as the lead assistant coach on Byron Scott’s staff in New Jersey. During his four-year stint with the Nets, the team made the Finals in back-to-back years in 2002 and 2003.
And he is now in Philadelphia, where during his introductory press conference he stated that this Sixers team "has a good core group, has future stars in the waiting, and playoff experience for two years” – all of which bodes well for the future of the 76ers.
Patrolling the bench with him will be Associate Head Coach Mike O’Koren and Assistant Coaches Randy Ayers, Jim Lynam and Aaron McKie.
What They Say About Jordan
Rod Thorn - New Jersey Nets President
“I think Eddie is a terrific coach. We had him as an assistant here in New Jersey and there is no doubt that he knows basketball. He has coached on a lot of different levels and has certainly paid his dues to get to this point. He’s not only a terrific coach but terrific person and I think Philadelphia made a great move.”
Jerry West - Longtime NBA Executive
“We had him as a player while I was the Lakers General Manager. He is a hard worker and a student of the game, so it is no surprise to me that he has become a successful head coach in this league. With the talent and personnel that the Sixers have – they’re an athletic team that cuts and moves without the ball - Eddie’s system should fit them very well and they will give other teams problems.”
Jason Kidd - Dallas Mavericks Point Guard
“I think he’s the right guy for Philadelphia. Eddie understands what it takes to win in this league, he’s a great communicator with his players and he will install a great system offensively that will make everyone better.”
Charles Barkley - TNT NBA Analyst (as told to the Philadelphia Daily News)
“I think Eddie Jordan would be a fine choice. They're going to have a good, solid team. ... I think he's a helluva coach. He did a good job with Washington. That team probably overachieved.”
Jeff Van Gundy - ESPN NBA Analyst
“I’ve known Eddie forever and we coached together at Rutgers. He has a brilliant basketball mind and has a personality that gets the most out of players. When I coached against him, I know every time we went in to face one of his teams, I had to prepare differently because of the way he had his guys ready to play.”
Lawrence Frank - New Jersey Nets Head Coach
“I have worked with Eddie and coached against him and I can say he a complete coach. He is an outstanding communicator and teacher of the game on both ends of the ball, plus he has a great feel for how to maximize the use of his personnel and shown the ability to adjust to different situations as they arise. He will be very successful and will do a great job of building on the two consecutive playoff berths while incorporating Elton Brand into the mix and getting the most out of that team.”
Pat Riley - Miami Heat President
"Eddie Jordan was always one of my favorite players. He was smart, intuitive and always one step ahead of his teammates when it came to the X's and O's. I just always felt that when he was a player that he would most likely become a coach. He has proven to be an exceptional basketball coach in the NBA and this is a great position for him."
Familiar Faces
The core of a team that continued to be one of the most athletic and exciting in the NBA returns ready to improve on last season’s second consecutive playoff berth. At the center of this squad are Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young, both of whom were personally invited to participate in the 2009 USA Basketball Men’s National Team mini-camp in Las Vegas this summer. Iguodala added to his impressive resume with USA Basketball, which already included his participation with the 2008 USA Basketball Select Team – which trained with and scrimmaged against the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team in Las Vegas – and the 2007 USA Basketball Select Team that trained with and scrimmaged against the 2007 USA FIBA Americas Team in Las Vegas.
Iguodala will look to capitalize on an ’08-09 season that saw him hit game-winning shots at the buzzer, plus join LeBron James, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade as the only players to average at least 18 points, five rebounds and five assists per game last year. All while leading the league in total minutes played and minutes per game, and finishing 10th in the NBA in steals per game (1.60). He will be joined by Young, who made his mark nationally with the game-winning shot over Dwight Howard in Game 3 of the 2009 NBA Playoffs, and finished the season averaging career-highs in points (15.3), rebounds (5.3), assists (1.1) and steals (1.33) per game. A starter in the 2009 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge for the sophomore team, he reeled off a stretch of seven straight games in which he scored at least 20 points from mid- to late-March.
Lou Williams heads into 2009 Training Camp as the presumptive starter at the other guard position this year, after recording the fourth most assists of any reserve in the NBA last season. Now, he will translate his quickness, court-vision and what he learned during his first four years in the league into a starter’s mentality. "It's a role I'm looking forward to,” Williams told NBA.com. “We've got a lot of young, hungry guys that are willing to listen to each other. We're very open-minded players. Not a lot of egos.
Anchoring the middle of the front court will be returning center Samuel Dalembert and sophomore forward/center Marreese Speights. Dalembert – who started all 82 games for the second season in a row and has appeared in 272 consecutive games (the fourth longest streak in the league) – continued to patrol the paint for the Sixers as he finished 10th in the NBA with 1.78 blocks per game. Additionally, he pulled down at least 20 rebounds in two games last season, which helped him finish in a tie for 14th in the league in rebounds per game with 8.5 per game, and he also recorded 13 double-doubles. Meanwhile, Speights burst onto the scene during his rookie season out of Florida to contribute in a big way last year, finishing with averages of 7.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.71 blocks in 16.0 minutes per game, while recording his first double-double of his career on February 18 vs. Denver.
Joining Williams in the backcourt will be returning guards Willie Green and Royal Ivey, both of whom made an impact last season on both ends of the floor. Green appeared in 81 games last season and averaged 8.5 points, 2.0 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per game, 60 of which were starts. The six-year veteran also recorded an impressive assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.47-to-1 fro the season, up from 1.39-to-1 during the ’07-08 season. Ivey, a tenacious defender, returns to Philadelphia for his second season with the Sixers to continue to provide depth at the guard position. Last season, he posted a steal-to-turnover ratio of 1.56-to-1, which was the sixth highest percentage in the NBA.
Back From Injury
After appearing in only 29 games last season for the Sixers, Elton Brand is back to 100% and ready to return to the court. Brand was putting up impressive numbers, averaging 17.2 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on 45.7% shooting from the field during the first month of the season and then put up a 27-point, nine-rebound performance in a win over Washington, his last game before he suffered a dislocated right shoulder.
Brand, who has been working out in both Philadelphia and Los Angeles, had this to say about the upcoming season: “We're going to have spacing where everybody can use their talents. Andre Iguodala can do everything," Brand recently told NBA.com. "Lou Williams is gonna be able to slash and score. I'll be able to cut into the post and not just be standing there on the block where the defense can get you with a double team.”
Smith also makes his return to the court this season after missing all of the ’08-09 season after tearing the ACL in his left knee during a workout in August of 2008. He has been participating in full-court, five-on-five scrimmages and is ready for Training Camp. He’ll be looking to build on a rookie season in which he averaged 4.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.66 blocks in 76 games played, during which time he scored at least 10 points on six different occasions.
New Additions
Going into Training Camp, an area the Sixers looked to improve on last season – three-point shooting – was addressed in a big way with the acquisition of the most prolific three-point shooter in league history, Jason Kapono. A two-time winner of the NBA’s Three-Point Shootout during All-Star Weekend, Kapono has a career three-point shooting percentage of 45.4% and has hit at least 80 three-pointers in three of the last five seasons. During the ’06-07 season, he drilled 51.4% of his threes, draining 108 of 210 attempts during his last season with the Heat.
Another new addition to the Sixers this season is Primoz Brezec, a 7’1”, 255 pound center from Slovenia who will look to provide more depth to an already formidable frontcourt. Brezec has played in 321 games with 214 starts in seven NBA seasons with Indiana, Charlotte, Detroit and Toronto, during which time he has averaged 7.6 points and 4.1 rebounds. Last season, he played for Lottomatica Virtus Roma of the Italian League.
The Rookie
The Philadelphia 76ers have made selecting the best players available at their pick in the NBA Draft routine. From Thaddeus Young and Jason Smith to Marreese Speghts, these players have come in almost right away to not only contribute, but to also become valuable parts of the team’s solid, young core. The early reports are that the 2009 Draft will follow suit, as the Sixers selected UCLA Bruins guard Jrue Holiday – a player almost unanimously predicted to go in the top 10 overall – with the 17th pick, thus filling a need and looking to the future.
“We think he has a lot of qualities like Thad — his personality and his work ethic. We were very high on that,” Sixers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski said of Holiday on draft night. “He is a very, very solid kid and a very hard worker. He has all the tools.”
Holiday displayed his work ethic and abilities almost from the moment he was drafted, staying in Philadelphia to work out at the team’s practice facility and getting on-court time with new Head Coach Eddie Jordan. Additionally, he went through the Orlando Summer League and then participated in Denver Nuggets Assistant Coach Tim Grgurich’s renowned basketball camp in Las Vegas.
And as he continues to prepare for his first season in the NBA with the Sixers, Holiday will looked upon to contribute on the defensive end of the court and wherever possible – but he expects more from himself.
"I see myself as an impact player,” Holiday said on draft night. “Any time I step on the floor I'm going to contribute, impact the game, and I think that's possible my first year."
