Here's What You're Missing if You Aren't Paying Attention to the Sixers

The Sixers, perhaps even a little worse than expected, have kicked off their season 0-4. In each of those four games, they’ve played between two and a half and three quarters of solid, scrappy basketball. They’ve also turned in a quarter of sloppy, amateur-ish hoops.

We posted this below, but it’s the one highlight you’re going to see all year long, so just look at it again:
https://vine.co/v/OO2gXHbUTr9

After the game, when asked about the block, Noel said: “I waited for him to get to the basket. He was there and I was there and we played basketball.”

Speaking of Noel, amongst players facing at least seven field goal attempts at the rim per game, only Roy Hibbert allows a lower percentage of made shots (Hibbert allows 32.4% and Noel allows 33.3%). And overall, “With Noel on the court, Sixers opponents are shooting only 41.6% from the field. That jumps to 52.7% when he’s on the bench.”

And if you aren’t watching the games, here’s what you’re missing:

K.J. McDaniels, whose exciting athleticism and potential is only worrisome because of his contract, is shooting .500 from two-point range and 6-11 from beyond the arc.

Tony Wroten (11th in APG) is in constant movement. He moves at an average speed of 4.3 mph while on the court (traveling 3.5 miles per 48 minutes, the second-most among players on the court for 30+ minutes per-game), and yes, that is what counts as excitement this season. He’s also scoring 7.3 points per-game on drives, which are the strongest part of his game. The whole team overall is taking most of their shots on drives and close to the hoop:

Through four games, opponents have outscored the Sixers 317-301 in the first three quarters, while the Sixers have been outscored 97-57 in the fourth.

The foreign guys are doing alright.

And the games are worth going to:

There’s that whole court projection thing.

And tickets are gonna be way affordable on the secondary market.

If you aren’t going to the games, and you can’t stand watching bad basketball, just flip the channel over before the fourth quarter, but expect to see some high-energy, scrappy, high-effort basketball. Even if it doesn’t result in a win.