Jump to content

76ers #1 in Hollinger's Power Rankings


 Share

Recommended Posts

Miami should be #1, but Philly is playing well.. frankly that should be expected of them. People slept on them leading up to the season, but they are coming off a breakout season, have all their core parts back, and Hawes is in a contract year. Doug Collins is on pace to win coach of the year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you actually look at the stats, it really isn't a ludicrous statement to make.

 

They have been the best defensive team in the league this season, the best offensive team in the league, have the largest winning margin (by a whopping 6 more points than the 2nd place Miami) and their only two losses both came with less than 5 seconds left, one of which came to a Portland team who is deadly at home and the other a surprising Utah team where they hand the game in hand but made a few mental mistakes at the end that cost them the game.

 

They started the season on a 5 game west coast road trip where they went 3-2. They then came home and won 4 games by an average of 24 points a game (although the Sacramento game from last night wouldn't have been included in this at the time of Hollinger releasing his rankings).

 

I really don't see why it is so ridiculous that he has them at number 1. You can make the argument that the Bulls should be there, but its not like this is some ludicrous, out of left field ranking. The Sixers, at the very least, have been a top 3 team in the league and have just as much of an argument for the #1 ranking as another other team.

 

For those of you who are saying the Heat, why exactly should they be above the Sixers? They haven't been as good offensively, defensively, haven't won by as much, have had an easier schedule (in terms of opponents winning percentage) and have basically the same record.

 

Don't get me wrong, the Heat are likely going to finish the season as the best team in the league and will be the favourites to win it all, but through the first 9 or 10 games of the season, the Sixers have played better.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you actually look at the stats, it really isn't a ludicrous statement to make.

 

They have been the best defensive team in the league this season, the best offensive team in the league, have the largest winning margin (by a whopping 6 more points than the 2nd place Miami) and their only two losses both came with less than 5 seconds left, one of which came to a Portland team who is deadly at home and the other a surprising Utah team where they hand the game in hand but made a few mental mistakes at the end that cost them the game.

 

They started the season on a 5 game west coast road trip where they went 3-2. They then came home and won 4 games by an average of 24 points a game (although the Sacramento game from last night wouldn't have been included in this at the time of Hollinger releasing his rankings).

 

I really don't see why it is so ridiculous that he has them at number 1. You can make the argument that the Bulls should be there, but its not like this is some ludicrous, out of left field ranking. The Sixers, at the very least, have been a top 3 team in the league and have just as much of an argument for the #1 ranking as another other team.

 

For those of you who are saying the Heat, why exactly should they be above the Sixers? They haven't been as good offensively, defensively, haven't won by as much, have had an easier schedule (in terms of opponents winning percentage) and have basically the same record.

 

Don't get me wrong, the Heat are likely going to finish the season as the best team in the league and will be the favourites to win it all, but through the first 9 or 10 games of the season, the Sixers have played better.

 

 

Pshh....nerd.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't read the article, but everyone has to keep this in mind...Hollinger ONLY uses stats when making his judgements. And so far the Sixers have been leading the league in SRS, which is a combination of point differential and strength of schedule. However, if you look at their wins and losses, they lost to Portland and Utah, both of which are playoff teams, and then they crushed a bunch of bad teams (Kings, Warriors, Suns, Pistons, Raptors, Hornets and Pacers without Granger). Using general stats like SRS it would make it seem fair that they are first, but if you look at all the games individually it is clear their work so far doesn't warrant them being rated so highly. The Heat and Bulls have essentially the same record but have more quality wins under their belt, and I'm sure 1-2 WC teams also have the same claim.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...