The Philadelphia 76ers aren't where they were hoping they would be halfway through the season, and it's given fans an opportunity to learn some things about the organization.
It's not realistic to make an accurate prediction that says where the Sixers will be at or near the end of the season.
The Sixers currently sit at the No. 9 spot in the Eastern Conference with an 18-25 record. Fortunately, there is still quite a bit of time to climb up into the eight spots that reach the postseason. From there, anything is possible.
It would be easy to say that Jrue Holiday might be a future superstar, but going out on a limb and saying that he will be one seems like the right thing to do.
The 19.4 points, 8.9 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game has earned Holiday his first trip to an All-Star Game, and it couldn't be more deserved.
If it weren't for Holiday's play, then the Sixers would be near the bottom of the NBA. We're not talking about just an average team, but a really bad one.
One of the best ways to test and see if somebody is a star is to compare them to the other stars at their same position. In Holiday's case, he's one of the four best point guards in the East, and arguably one of the seven or eight best in the entire league.
Everything from size to speed to skill has him in position to finish out the season as one of the NBA's top players.
Thaddeus Young hasn't been in many highlight reels and isn't the subject of interview after interview, but if people cared about efficiency and execution, then he should be.
The first is that this is the first time that he's continually started in games in two years. He's been looked at as a great sixth man for the past couple seasons, and rightly so. He always entered the game and played at a high level that either kept the Sixers in the game or helped move them toward victory. Moving into a starting position is an unfamiliar role and one that could be intimidating to most players.
The second is that he hasn't started one game as a small forward this season—his most natural position. Playing power forward at 6' 8", 235 lbs could be one of the harder things to do, yet Young has thrived in that spot.
The "point forward" position has to be one of the most coveted positions in the game of basketball. It involves being big and strong enough to play against forwards, as well as being a good enough ball-handler and quick enough to play as a guard.
There are only two players currently playing that are able to play at this position. Those guys are LeBron James and Evan Turner.
His averages of 14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game give a glimpse into his skill set. He's finally turned his shot into a reliable one out to three-point range. Defensively, he's a threat because of his ability to guard up to four positions. He can't defend all of them equally well, but he's still a good option to mix things up.
Andrew Bynum hasn't played a game for the Sixers and his absence is easily reflected by Philadelphia's struggles to rebound and block shots.
They rank at No. 23 in rebounds at 49.0 per game and at No. 17 in blocks at 5.1 per game. Those numbers don't seem astronomically bad, but being at the top of the league in both categories generally leads to better defense and more wins.
The solution to this is to either acquire or get a big man back. Acquiring one through a trade isn't the prettiest of options, though, when you've got Bynum coming back from an injury.
The majority of his shots are forced and most people would look at them as bad shots. His 41 percent shooting indicates how poorly he tends to shoot. It's really not because of his ability to shoot the ball, either.
The other edge of the sword is that there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. A potential issue toward his problem is for him to play more minutes. It sounds ridiculous because why would you play somebody more minutes if they aren't going to be efficient with the basketball.
There have been nine games this year in which Young has played at least 30 minutes or more. In those games, he has averaged 16.1 points per game and shot under his 41 percent field-goal percentage three times.
The Sixers are second to last in the NBA with 17.2 free-throw attempts per game. If you thought that was bad, then maybe their 12.4 made free throws per game sounds a little worse.
To put it all into perspective, the Oklahoma City Thunder—who have the best record in the NBA—lead the league in made free throws at 22.8 per game.
Sixers head coach Doug Collins has done a magnificent job at turning Philadelphia into a threat to make the postseason every year. Even last year the Sixers beat the No. 1 seed Chicago Bulls and brought the Boston Celtics to Game 7 and barely lost to go to the Eastern Conference finals.
Unfortunately for Collins, the struggling Sixers have his job on the line, and there is only half a season left to save it.
Saying that his job is on the line could sound like an exaggeration, but it really isn't when you look at the state of the league. Head coaching jobs seem to be on a month-to-month basis.
A midseason firing is probably out of the question, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Philadelphia looking for a new head coach if this season isn't turned around by the end of the year.
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