Looking forward(s)

Yeah, it’s off season and few things happen, unless you think that Celtics signing Scott Pollard is breaking news.

So before leaving for vacation (in the picture, Ricky engaged in the main activity he will do for the next three weeks) I thought it could be interesting to take a look at our roster NOW and try to imagine how the 2007-2008 Sixers might look like.

My take is that we have two STARTING spots to cover, small forward and power forward, assuming that Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala and Sam Dalembert are almost a lock to start at PG, SG* and C.

[*= Yes, I consider Iguodala more a SG than a SF (“a shooting guard that can’t shoot”, according to a poster of the Sixers board, which is pretty funny but not accurate), if you don’t it’s ok, but find me a nicer headline for this post, then.]

So here is my breakdown, split into “hopes” and “realistic thoughts”.

Maybe it’s the red uniforms…

… that I have always liked and pushed for, maybe it’s the fact that they are all smiling, and their smiles look for real… but the fact is that I am starting to like the Sixers 2007 draft picks more and more.

Actually, if we talk seriously, some other things made me slowly change my opinion, and starting to see some light. The draft initially left me scratching my head, like Rando Freeman wrote in his Sixers journal but then I took a deep breathe, stopped for a while and realized that:

1) many knowledgeable journalists, fans, posters in the Sixers board and fellow bloggers I trust (see also Jon from Passion & Pride, Brian of Depressed fan) like the picks, and explained very well in their breakdowns that this might turn out to be a very good draft for the Sixers. Even if we couldn’t get the top PF that we need(ed?) and that I’ve been asking for? Yes.

2) to BK credit, he didn’t make a Ainge-ish kind of move, like trading the #5 pick in one of the best drafts in recent years to get a 32 y/o injury prone All star, and this only to please the other complaining 30 y/o injury prone All star… It’s true King didn’t manage to trade up and that the “We have three offers on the table” was another BS of his, but at least he drafted on potential and didn’t go for the quick fix, mortgaging our future.

And Billy King’s plan is….?????

Let me make this clear immediately: I AM NOT – I repeat, I AM NOT – a college basketball expert. I don’t follow NCAA. Ok?

I don’t know shlt about college players except when I (occasionally) watch some game. It happened like 3-4 times this year, so that you know it.

That’s why I won’t break down Sixers’ draft picks, first because in my blogroll you have dozens of sites that do it remarkably, second because I wouldn’t be credible. And as a Sixers blogger I want to be credible.

Let’s stick to FACTS and things that are SURE. 

Fact #1 is this: “The draft concluded with the Sixers eventually acquiring Georgia Tech forward Thaddeus Young (in the picture), Colorado State 7-footer Jason Smith, Vanderbilt forward Derrick Byars and Providence forward/center Herbert Hill“.

All I read about these guys is: Young could be a terrific player but CAN NOT play PF, Jason Smith is a good big man with serious upside (…) but an average rebounder, Byars is a SG/SF, Hill doesn’t count, I guess…

Fact #2 is: Sixers desperately needed (well, actually need) a REBOUNDING PF. They didn’t get any player to solve this problem, that to me was THE priority.

Fact #3 is: we didnt’ manage to trade up, even if we had a lot of assets to do so, such as 4 picks a really good playmaker like Andre Miller + some role players that could be used, Carney, Hunter, Green etc. Billy King’s explaination for failing to trade up is this. Some significant excerpts: