The 76ers are off to a franchise-worst 0-16 start, but "clearly are working as an organization to get people inside" Wells Fargo Center, according to Mike Jensen of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. The Sixers "sell the future but also the past." The team has been "offering season-ticket holders chances to meet" former NBAer Allen Iverson and Basketball HOFer Julius Erving, and "heavy hitters are escorted onto the court for pregame halfcourt photos." Wells Fargo Center this season has been "far from full but not as empty as you'd expect." Through the first eight home games this season, the Sixers were "averaging 14,173 fans per game," ranking 29th in the NBA. The club also "ranked 29th last season over 41 games, at 13,869 fans per game" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 11/30). In Boston, Gary Washburn wrote the club has a "plan for improvement," but the "growing pains will run deep." Sixers coach Brett Brown said, "We hope that people see the timeline, they see small examples for the patience that they’re showing. That from time to time you see the young guys do something and we can string a few periods and come close in games. It keeps hope alive and it keeps our team’s and the city’s spirit alive.” Brown added fan support has been "surprisingly positive." Brown: "I feel there is an expected and appreciated patience when I bump into people on the street" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/30).
ACCORDING TO PLAN: In N.Y., William Rhoden wrote in a "desire to play on the cheap," 76ers management is "using the draft lottery system as a vehicle to stockpile young players, perhaps for someone interested in acquiring the team." The team is "trying to sell its fans on the idea of a bright future just over the horizon," but many are "no longer buying it." Teams like the 76ers "should not be allowed to manipulate rosters and schedules to put themselves in a better draft position, even if the tactic has a long history." The Sixers’ leadership group, controlled by Managing Owner Josh Harris and President & GM Sam Hinkie, who is "devoted to analytics, will continue to embrace an approach to competition that relies on numbers rather than intuition." However, those numbers "have no way of recording the long-term damage being done to the basketball soul of Philadelphia" (
N.Y. TIMES, 11/28).
A TANK-LESS JOB? In Orlando, Brian Schmitz wrote it is "pretty gutsy" for the 76ers to "foist a pathetic product on a lunch-pail town." The Magic "couldn't get away with doing what the Sixers are doing, considering the hit they've already taken after seasons of 20 and 23 wins." That is why Magic brass "publicly embraced winning more games before this season." The Magic have "merely dabbled in tanking compared to the Sixers' blatant, all-in demolition" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 11/29).
