lipoli390 wrote:I have no problem with what Hinkie is doing. And I'm not going to join the national hysterics over tanking. Hinkie is implementing a long term strategy, amassing assets intended to ultimately build a championship team. He's not "trying to lose." If that were the case, he'd fire his current head coach who is doing a great job getting the players to overachieve. Losing is simply the natural consequence of Hinkie's long-term strategy. It's a risky strategy because it depends heavily on future draft picks -- which are inherently unpredictable. But it's also a reasonable strategy. In a nutshell, it's a high risk/high reward strategy. If it succeeds, the Sixers will eventually become an elite team in 5 years and remain so for a long time. If not, Hinkie will be fired in 5 years.
Trading MCW doesn't really fit though. That's what doesn't make sense for me.
I suspect that Hinkie concluded that a playmaking PG is not optimal in today's NBA if you can get an attacking/scoring PG like Westbrook. He sees a good chance of landing exactly that type of player named Mudyia in the upcoming draft. And he gets another high lottery pick to fill another need.
lipoli390 wrote:I have no problem with what Hinkie is doing. And I'm not going to join the national hysterics over tanking. Hinkie is implementing a long term strategy, amassing assets intended to ultimately build a championship team. He's not "trying to lose." If that were the case, he'd fire his current head coach who is doing a great job getting the players to overachieve. Losing is simply the natural consequence of Hinkie's long-term strategy. It's a risky strategy because it depends heavily on future draft picks -- which are inherently unpredictable. But it's also a reasonable strategy. In a nutshell, it's a high risk/high reward strategy. If it succeeds, the Sixers will eventually become an elite team in 5 years and remain so for a long time. If not, Hinkie will be fired in 5 years.
Trading MCW doesn't really fit though. That's what doesn't make sense for me.
I suspect that Hinkie concluded that a playmaking PG is not optimal in today's NBA if you can get an attacking/scoring PG like Westbrook. He sees a good chance of landing exactly that type of player named Mudyia in the upcoming draft. And he gets another high lottery pick to fill another need.
I see more similarities than differences between Mudiay and MCW. Both are big point guards that struggle with shooting and turnovers.
Hinkie might be thinking that PG is one of the deepest positions in the league and feels like he'll be able to find a decent PG later in the draft or via trade.
lipoli390 wrote:I have no problem with what Hinkie is doing. And I'm not going to join the national hysterics over tanking. Hinkie is implementing a long term strategy, amassing assets intended to ultimately build a championship team. He's not "trying to lose." If that were the case, he'd fire his current head coach who is doing a great job getting the players to overachieve. Losing is simply the natural consequence of Hinkie's long-term strategy. It's a risky strategy because it depends heavily on future draft picks -- which are inherently unpredictable. But it's also a reasonable strategy. In a nutshell, it's a high risk/high reward strategy. If it succeeds, the Sixers will eventually become an elite team in 5 years and remain so for a long time. If not, Hinkie will be fired in 5 years.
Trading MCW doesn't really fit though. That's what doesn't make sense for me.
I suspect that Hinkie concluded that a playmaking PG is not optimal in today's NBA if you can get an attacking/scoring PG like Westbrook. He sees a good chance of landing exactly that type of player named Mudyia in the upcoming draft. And he gets another high lottery pick to fill another need.
I see more similarities than differences between Mudiay and MCW. Both are big point guards that struggle with shooting and turnovers.
Hinkie might be thinking that PG is one of the deepest positions in the league and feels like he'll be able to find a decent PG later in the draft or via trade.
Q - You might be right about Hinkie basing his decision on League-wide PG depth. Actually I suspect that was part of his decision. But I don't agree that Mudiay and MCW are the same type of PG. Mudiay is first and foremost a scorer. That's not and never has been MCW. Mudiay is the second coming of Westbrook. A tough, slashing scorer with a questionable perimeter shot. Same MO as Westbrook coming out of college.
Lower ticket prices? Giveaways? Because it's clear that they don't care about putting the best team on the court that they can right now. Yet, fans are expected to continue to pay for that?
More and more, fans are being marginalized. Instead of at least a wink-wink relationship where players and franchises pretend to be connected to fans... there seems to be more outright animosity at times. Or, at least... indifference toward fans.
LeBron James was largely heralded for that letter he wrote (or more accurately, his PR staff wrote) on his way to Cleveland. Definitely nationally. It said a lot of the "right" things. But something was missing.
Not once did he "thank" the fans of Miami. One sentence. That's all that was needed. Throw the fans a bone every once in awhile. It shouldn't be that hard.
[note: conversely, for all of his clownish acts... and for me being pretty anti-provincial in my takes... i thought garnett showed (gasp!) some class when he acknowledged his fans in minnesota after winning a title in boston.]
AbeVigodaLive wrote:Has Philadelphia given any relief to its fans?
Lower ticket prices? Giveaways? Because it's clear that they don't care about putting the best team on the court that they can right now. Yet, fans are expected to continue to pay for that?
More and more, fans are being marginalized. Instead of at least a wink-wink relationship where players and franchises pretend to be connected to fans... there seems to be more outright animosity at times. Or, at least... indifference toward fans.
LeBron James was largely heralded for that letter he wrote (or more accurately, his PR staff wrote) on his way to Cleveland. Definitely nationally. It said a lot of the "right" things. But something was missing.
Not once did he "thank" the fans of Miami. One sentence. That's all that was needed. Throw the fans a bone every once in awhile. It shouldn't be that hard.
[note: conversely, for all of his clownish acts... and for me being pretty anti-provincial in my takes... i thought garnett showed (gasp!) some class when he acknowledged his fans in minnesota after winning a title in boston.]
They actually have slashed ticket prices and done a few things for fans. Its about 2/3 or so down that article. They also are investing a lot into their facility with state of the art equipment. If you read the comments at the bottom of that page you'll see a lot of 6er fans are on board.
I also agree with lip that mudiay is a lot of Westbrook. Tough seeing anyone getting to west rooks level though. That guy plays out of his mind.
AbeVigodaLive wrote:Has Philadelphia given any relief to its fans?
Lower ticket prices? Giveaways? Because it's clear that they don't care about putting the best team on the court that they can right now. Yet, fans are expected to continue to pay for that?
More and more, fans are being marginalized. Instead of at least a wink-wink relationship where players and franchises pretend to be connected to fans... there seems to be more outright animosity at times. Or, at least... indifference toward fans.
LeBron James was largely heralded for that letter he wrote (or more accurately, his PR staff wrote) on his way to Cleveland. Definitely nationally. It said a lot of the "right" things. But something was missing.
Not once did he "thank" the fans of Miami. One sentence. That's all that was needed. Throw the fans a bone every once in awhile. It shouldn't be that hard.
[note: conversely, for all of his clownish acts... and for me being pretty anti-provincial in my takes... i thought garnett showed (gasp!) some class when he acknowledged his fans in minnesota after winning a title in boston.]
They actually have slashed ticket prices and done a few things for fans. Its about 2/3 or so down that article. They also are investing a lot into their facility with state of the art equipment. If you read the comments at the bottom of that page you'll see a lot of 6er fans are on board.
I also agree with lip that mudiay is a lot of Westbrook. Tough seeing anyone getting to west rooks level though. That guy plays out of his mind.
Ok. Good. I thought I saw a quote once from somebody (Hinkle) that they didn't really care about attendance right now.
But I know Philly fans are not the most patient either. How much more time do they wait before they rebel? Personally, I think Hinkle is a genius, only rivaled by Flip. He's created a situation where he's buying himself more years on the job. In a profession with a decent amount of turnover, he's taken away expectations immediately.
Now, he's just waiting and waiting and waiting until they get LUCKY in the draft and land a franchise-saving player. If every team was so lucky to convince its fanbase that abject tanking in hopes of getting a ping pong ball was the best course of action...
Abe, Philly fans are passionate, but like a lot of the other four-sport cities, basketball pales in comparison to football and baseball. And the Sixers especially have engendered fan ambivalence for years now, even before Hinkie came into the fold. The Iverson years were probably the last time there was some excitement around here about the Sixers (I live outside of Philly).
In this way, they are very similar to the Wolves. Sure, they have a core of die-hard fans but most average sport fans largely ignore them.
Q12543 wrote:Abe, Philly fans are passionate, but like a lot of the other four-sport cities, basketball pales in comparison to football and baseball. And the Sixers especially have engendered fan ambivalence for years now, even before Hinkie came into the fold. The Iverson years were probably the last time there was some excitement around here about the Sixers (I live outside of Philly).
In this way, they are very similar to the Wolves. Sure, they have a core of die-hard fans but most average sport fans largely ignore them.
Philly has always loved the Flyers much more than the 76ers. I remember them not being able to sell out the Spectrum for playoff games during the Dr. J era. The Flyers however have always been a hot ticket.
The Westbrook comparisons need to get reeled in a bit. Mudiay's more like Evans. No where near Westbrook in explosiveness. Not a knock on Mudiay, but that's just rare territory.
