The 76ers (Part 2)

(11) 1978 Philadelphia 76ers (55-27) vs. (50) 2004 Philadelphia 76ers (33-49)

This team is one year removed from a Finals appearance (losing to Portland’s legendary Bill Walton led 1977 team….speaking of champs…we still have one to go for Philly…or should I say Syracuse…). A whole bunch of selfish stars here…Doc was too nice to fight for shots, as he still led the team with 21-7-4. George McGinnis had 20-10-4, and 4 giveaways. Doug Collins had 20-3-4 (in an almost full year…79 games is close enough…), while Lloyd Free freed the world (heh….how many of you got that…) with 16-3-4, and Darryl Dawkins thundered out 12-8. Jelly Bean Joe Bryant (guess who his son is!) had 6-4.

Iverson (26-4-7) had a good year, and Kenny Thomas (14-10) was his only really half-decent teammate….

(12) 1953 Syracuse Nationals (47-25) vs. (49) 1975 Philadelphia 76ers (34-48)

Finally our first Syracuse team…Syracuse used to have really abusing fans, one of the toughest places to play. They made three Finals there, and won one (we’ll get there….). Who did they have? Dolph Schayes! One of the best early 50s stars…they couldn’t get past Mikan two years, but beat Fort Wayne the year they won…This season had Schayes average 18-13, with Paul Seymour averaging 14-4-4, Red Rocha having 11-7, and George King had 11-4-5…Pretty good team…

Billy Cunningham comes back from the ABA (he’d stay this year, and next year, then retire), and had 20-9-6 this year, while Fred Carter had 22-4-4, and Doug Collins had 18-4-3.

(13) 1986 Philadelphia 76ers (54-28) vs. (48) 1964 Philadelphia 76ers (34-46)

Some positives, but some things are ugly…Moses had 24-12, and paired nicely with Chuck (20-13). Doc had 18-5-3, Cheeks had 15-3-9, and Jones had 7-2-2….But Jones would be gone next year, as would Moses, he was traded to Washington. Toney played 6 games this year, and McAdoo made a 29 game appearance, and was retired the next year…

Not a great year….This is the first in Philly after they realized Syracuse was too small a market. All the small market teams were moving out, Rochester, and Fort Wayne already had. This team featured Chet Walker (17-10), Hal Greer (23-6-5), and Red Kerr (17-13).

(14) 1990 Philadelphia 76ers (53-29) vs. (47) 2007 Philadelphia 76ers (35-47)

The best Barkley led team…Sir Charles had 25-12 this year, Hershey Hawkins had 19-4-3, Johnny Dawkins had 14-3-7, and Mike Gminski had 14-9, while Rick Mahorn had 11-8.

AI (31-3-7) was on a scoring rampage when he was traded to Denver…Iggy was doing pretty good this year, and had 18-6-6…But the rest of the team still sucks…Kyle Korver had 14-4, Andre Miller (coming over from Denver) had 14-4-7, Dalembert had 11-9, and Chris Webber (11-8-3) played 18 games before being released (and signing in Detroit…).

(15) 1984 Philadelphia 76ers (52-30) vs. (46) 1992 Philadelphia 76ers (35-47)

Not really a great job defending your title…They lost in the first round, which basically was the end of the Sixers as a legitimate threat to win a championship…This isn’t a bad team really though…Moses had 23-13, Erving had 22-7-4, Toney had 20-3-5, Cheeks had 13-3-6, and Bobby Jones had 8-4-3…Not too bad.

Barkley’s last Philly year…He had 23-11-4, while Hershey Hawkins had 19-3-3, and Armen Gilliam had 17-8….nothing to brag about.

(16) 1977 Philadelphia 76ers (50-32) vs. (45) 1988 Philadelphia 76ers (36-46) 

Here’s the team that couldn’t get past Bill Walton. Erving did OK in his first NBA year, averaging 22-9-4, while McGinnis had 21-12-4, World B Free had 16-3-3, and Darryl Dawkins had 5-4. Doug Collins played only 58 games this year…

The Round Mound of Rebound had 28-12 in a boring year. Cliff Robinson had 19-7, Mike Gminski (17-11) played only 47 games, and Mo Cheeks had 14-3-8. Andrew Toney (7-2-4), age 30, played only 29 games and wasn’t seen again in the NBA.

(17) 1952 Syracuse Nationals (40-26) vs. (44) 2006 Philadelphia 76ers (38-44)

Our earliest Nationals team. (We miss one Finals team ((1950, in their first NBA year, after jumping leagues…)) because of the 1952 rule…). Couldn’t get past the Knicks team though. Still a pretty good team, featuring Schayes (14-12), Red Rocha (13-8), and George King (10-4-4)…Not bad.

AI’s last full Philly year. It was a really good one too, as he had 33-3-7 (second in scoring to Kobe’s 35 point year…). Chris Webber had 20-10-3, Iguodala had 12-6-3, and Kyle Korver had 12-3-2. Deng Gai (I think its pronounced Dang Guy…), who is Luol Deng’s cousin, played 2 games…

(18) 1960 Syracuse Nationals (45-30) vs. (43) 1961 Syracuse Nationals (38-41)

Straight year matchup…Look how good 1960 is though! Schayes had 23-13-3, George Yardley had 20-8 (two years off leading the NBA in scoring…), Red Kerr had 15-12, Larry Costello had 14-6-6, and Hal Greer had 13-4-3.

It’s debatable if this is better or not…Schayes had 24-12-4, and, in Yardley’s retirement, Hal Greer broke out with 20-6-4. Dick Barnett (who didn’t play much the previous year) had 17-4-3, Larry Costello had 15-4-6, Dave Gambee had 14-7, and Red Kerr had 13-12.

(19) 1963 Syracuse Nationals (48-32) vs. (42) 1959 Syracuse Nationals (35-37)

 The last year in Syracuse…Greer led them with 20-6-3, as Schayes slipped to 10-6-3. Lee Shaffer had 19-7, Red Kerr had 16-13, rookie Chet Walker had 12-7, and Larry Costello had 11-3-4.

Not bad…Schayes had 21-13, and Red Kerr had 18-14. George Yardley came over for 15 games after a trade, and had 17-7….Larry Costello had 16-5-5, and rookie Hal Greer had 11-3-2.

(20) 2000 Philadelphia 76ers (49-33) vs. (41) 1956 Syracuse Nationals (35-37)

An OK year…for AI (28-4-5)…Tyrone Hill had 12-9…

OK year…Schayes had 20-12, Red Kerr had 13-8, Paul Seymour had 11-3-5, and George King had 10-4-6…The defending champs couldn’t get past the eventual champs (Philly).

Part 3 is just around the corner (inside joke).