Monday, July 9, 2007

Sixers: The longest of long-shots (almost)

With so much of the NBA currently congregating in Vegas, I guess it's only appropriate that Marty Burns at SI.com decided to share the current odds for winning the 2008 NBA title. At 100-1, the Sixers aren't last (the Hawks and Grizzlies are both 150-1), but they sure are close.

My initial reaction upon seeing how poor the Sixers' odds were was to think that Vegas must have been vastly overrating some teams. I just didn't believe that the Sixers could really be the third worse team in the NBA. But I started to look at the teams listed ahead of the Sixers to pick out the ones that were ranked too high, and I came to the sad realization that Vegas is probably correct.

The Sixers didn't really pick up anyone this off-season that is going to make an immediate impact (at least so far they haven't, nor are there any indications that they are going to). On the other hand, the teams Vegas oddsmakers listed immediately ahead of the Sixers (Knicks, Bobcats, Celtics, Timberwolves) all made acquisitions that are projected to pay immediate dividends. The Knicks picked up Zach Randolph, the Bobcats acquired Jason Richardson, the Celtics traded for Ray Allen, and the Timberwolves drafted Corey Brewer.

As the season gets closer and opening day rosters become more settled I'll take a closer look and make some predictions, so it's very possible that I'll end up being more positive about the Sixers' chances than I am at the moment, but for now it looks like this coming season is going to be a very long one.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

The 76ers beat the Spurs. If this were boxing we would be the new world champions.

I didn't watch the game but the game recap gave the impression that most of the team contributed. There’s hope for the future.