At Eleven Weeks, Youth Begins to be Served for the Sixers

The Sixers won three times last week. Three times. Yes, they got blown out by Milwaukee too, but ignore that. The Sixers beat three NBA professional basketball teams who are supposed to be better than them. They won almost as many games this past week as they had won all season (three this week, four before that). They've won four of ten. Yes, 4 of 10. The Sixers have 7 wins now, and at 7-29, have to win just three of their final 46 games to avoid that record I was certain they would tie or break. In fact, they are now four games ahead of the Knicks. Yes, four games out of last in both the division and the conference.

The win over the Cavaliers can certainly be attributed to who didn't play. That's fine. The win at Brooklyn was really exciting, though I think most of us agree Brooklyn isn't what they were last year. That's fine too. The win over Indiana is clearly aided by the losses the Pacers took in free agency and injuries this past off-season. Fine, I'll take it. The Sixers won three close, exciting basketball games this week, and they were fun to watch. Michael Carter-Williams on back-to-back nights had a game winning assist and basket in wins. Nerlens Noel slammed home a game winner. This is what Sixers fans wanted, no, needed to see to stay bought in. Try to put down the wins all you want, they are good wins for this team.

Please don't tell me how you're concerned they are winning too much. I get it, but no. Having the worst record is irrelevant in the lottery system, it just means your odds are better at the outset. When was the last time the worst team won the lottery? Yeah, exactly. This is still a lock bottom five team, probably even bottom three team, when the season is over. I feel confident they will pick in the top five next Summer, if not number one. They don't have to give us 70 losses, really.

Obviously i'm watching the development of MCW and Noel, but I'm pleasantly surprised by Robert Covington and Tony Wroten as well. No, neither should be a starter on a contender, but they are making you think about them as part of the plan. They could be rotation pieces that provide valuable points off the bench. Neither has a polished game yet, but I'm beginning to put them into the group to watch.

Next week should be a brutal week, filled with losses and tough stories in the press. Atlanta Tuesday, Toronto Wednesday, New Orleans Friday, and a suddenly hot Detroit team Saturday has the makings of a three loss week, minimally. The Kirilenko suspension story does not look good, and probably won't get better. That's fine. Be happy with the good week you saw, and let's hope this team can continue to show some life on their way to another high lottery pick. Maybe the young guys have something going.