After getting back from today’s Sixers game, it was hard
to not be happy as a Sixer fan. Sure, it was the Bucks, who have not won a road
game yet this season, but the Sixers, who can’t control their schedule, were
once again able to win. They were able to win without great games from Elton
Brand, Jodie Meeks and Thaddeus Young. They were able to win on a 35 percent
shooting night by Lou Williams. They were able to win without Evan Turner. All
of these factors going against Philadelphia, they were still able to win, and
win comfortably at that, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 94-82 for their ninth
victory in ten games to improve to 10-3 on the season.
No one on the team had a negative plus-minus. Spencer
Hawes had gone 0-3 from beyond the arc before this game. He went 2-3 tonight
and recorded his sixth double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and
grabbing 10 boards. Andre Iguodala and Jrue Holiday both played very well,
scoring 21 and 24 points respectively.
They were up only four points at halftime, but they were
able to come out in the third quarter and turn that turn that four point lead
into fourteen and even when the lead fell to single digits, there was no one in
the arena that was not still confident that the team would pull off a victory,
an attitude not had by Sixers fans since Allen Iverson’s glory days. The team
is oozing with confidence and the fans are buying into it, as they should be.
CSNPhilly columnist Reuben Frank wrote a column before
today’s game discussing the lack of fan interest in this Sixers team. After
going to today’s game, it was pretty clear that the problem was not the lack of
interest—the upper level was near sold out— but the high pricing of the lower
level seats, which seemed to be fairly empty. People want to see this team and
after waiting at the Will Call line for fifteen minutes and watching hoards of
people pack the box office to buy tickets for today’s game, it confirmed it for
me.
When entering the arena and getting to my seats, I saw a
packed upper level, but maybe 25% capacity in the lower level. The official
attendance number was 17,281, much higher than the 13,402 the team was
averaging prior, but after being at the game I have to believe that either that’s
false, or a number of people who bought tickets just decided not to go because
there were not over 17,000 in the stands. Whatever the reason, this team has
gained a much larger following than it has in the past five years. Ratings are
high and the team is playing its best basketball since 2001, but the fact of
the matter remains that the team hasn’t been a true contender for the better
part of the last ten years and to ask fans to shell out over 50 bucks for a team
that hasn’t really proven anything
yet is absurd.
This Sixers team still hasn’t had a true test and I
understand that. Last year, however, with basically the same team, they were
losing to some bad teams: the Wizards, Cavaliers and Raptors, to name a few.
This year, they’re winning the games they’re supposed to win and they’re not
only winning… they’re making statements. And these statements are all in preparation
for their matchups this week. They play Denver on Wednesday, Atlanta on Friday
and travel to Miami to face the Heat on Saturday, a game that could officially
get them on the national radar if they can pull off the victory. But Sixers
Coach Doug Collins won’t let them think that far ahead. If, in a week, this
team is still winning, they might finally be talked about nationally.
If you asked any Philadelphia fan which of their teams
would be in first place in the middle of January, most would probably pick the
Flyers. But most would be wrong. Most need to start “showin’ their luv”
if they haven't already because the first place team is not the Flyers… it’s the 76ers.
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