Getty Head coach Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The start of the season for the Philadelphia 76ers has been awful. Terrible. Dismaying. Frustrating. Confusing. Unsurprising. Worrying. Pop open the thesaurus, flip to B-A-D, and rattle off any of the synonyms you’d like. They fit.
It’s not just the fact that the Sixers are 1-4. If the team was 1-4 with a series of fluky losses or close affairs, then we’d be talking about a different story. It’s the fact that Philadelphia looks completely disengaged through the first five games of the season. They’re last in the league in pace, meaning even mediocre teams like Indiana and San Antonio can exploit the Sixers by way of grit and speed. The transition defense is reaching Santa Clausian-levels of non-existence. And Doc Rivers, OH! Doc Rivers. He’s coaching like he knows Darvin Ham’s days with the Los Angeles Lakers are numbered.
After the Sixers’ loss to the Raptors on Wednesday, Rivers unloaded to reporters on cause of the Sixers’ early season struggles.
“[W]e’re not gonna win multiple games until we play right every night. Until we do the right things and get in the right habits. Play at the right pace, spread the floor, move the ball, share the ball. I thought Joel (Embiid) had a clear advantage. I thought we didn’t get him the ball four or five times early in the game. Every time he touched it, something good happened.”
It all sounds easy, right? Not so fast. Let’s take a look at this year’s Sixers through five games against last year’s to see how the two compare.
A Tale of Two Sixers
Last year, the Sixers got off to a good-not-great 3-2 start before rattling off five straight wins (and then five straight losses). Through those first five games, the Sixers were plus-4.4 in points per game, outscoring opponents 110-105.6 per game. This season, though, that figure is essentially flipped, with the Sixers scoring 107.8 points per game but giving up 111 points.
Those figures alone tell two crucial stories: first, that the Sixers’ offense is just not clicking the same way it was this time last year, and two, that the defense is much worse than last year’s iteration. Is it much of a surprise, though? Last season, the Sixers started Matisse Thybulle, who is probably this team’s best defender. But it’s not like Seth Curry is much of a defensive upgrade over James Harden in the backcourt. Ditto for Danny Green, who was often hunted in crucial matchups late.
Elsewhere, the stats are down for the Sixers this season. The rebounding-challenged Sixers last year were gobbling up more boards per game last year (43) than this season (37.6). Blocks, steals, and field goal attempts are also down.
The Sixers didn’t start off hot last year by any stretch of the imagination. But this time around, it’s much, much worse. Thankfully there’s still time to turn things around.
Perhaps a good place to start would be at head coach?
Sixers Fans Roast Doc Rivers After Slow Start
For many fans, the answer for the Sixers’ slow start is simple: Doc Rivers. And yes, the skipper does bear responsibility for the lack of proper game-planning, the team’s awful morale, and poor use of the bench. So it’s no surprise fans are already calling for Rivers’ head.
I am officially in “rooting for the Sixers to lose until they fire Doc” mode
I’m once again asking
unfortunately there aren’t any clear cut examples of a local teams with lethargic effort responding to firing a coach with a ring from the increasingly distant past and replacing him with a well-regarded assistant that the Sixers can draw from
Stop me if youve heard me say this before but the Sixers will never do anything significant with Doc Rivers coaching them
Praying that Border Patrol doesn’t let Doc back into the US
The Sixers should fire Doc Rivers before he leaves the arena
The last time the Sixers played the Raptors they had a worse roster and were in worse health and beat the shit out of em. Now they look like they’ve never played basketball before. Fire Doc.
Stop me if youve heard me say this before but the Sixers will never do anything significant with Doc Rivers coaching them
unfortunately there aren’t any clear cut examples of a local teams with lethargic effort responding to firing a coach with a ring from the increasingly distant past and replacing him with a well-regarded assistant that the Sixers can draw from