By: Steve Johnson
Time after time I watch Andre Igoudala demand the ball in the closing seconds of basketball games. Time after time I see him hold the ball, look at the clock, dribble 2 or 3 times to his right, step back and shoot. Never have I seen a player that continues to demand the ball, continues to take the closing shot, and continue to miss that closing shot. This isn't a knock on Igoudala as a basketball player. I believe Andre Igoudala is an excellent athlete, and a great defender. When watching "Iggy", you'll witness him do a lot of things good, but nothing spectacular. Yeah he's exciting to watch, he's flashy, he makes plays where you say "wow that guy can jump" or "wow that guy can run". Unfortunately for every great athletic play this guy makes, he makes two or three bonehead plays where you wonder what he's thinking. This isn't his fault, after the departure of Allen Iverson the Sixers needed a go to guy. Andre Igoudala was there to take the reigns and the money, but that's a different argument. Iggy is not a go to guy, he's just the best option at this point. So why in a large market and sports town like Philadelphia, do they lack a franchise type player? Philadelphia is well known as arguably the best sports town in America. Philadelphia is one of the larger markets in terms of population in the country. However, if you look around the NBA the Sixers are one of the only franchises that fall into either of those categories to not have a franchise type player. Come to think of it, most of these other cities have not just 1 but multiple star players. The countries largest market, New York acquired 2 star players within the last year. The second largest market, Los Angeles are going on to their third straight title because of the high end talent on their roster. Chicago, has done a complete turn around since Derrick Rose has entered the league. We all know what happened in Miami this summer, acquiring 2 superstars to go along with the 1 they already had. Even smaller market but great sports towns, Boston and Washington have their star or multiple stars. So why does the nations 5th largest city, and in my opinion the best sports town not have a star player? It's hard to argue that the Sixers are not playing better. First year Coach Doug Collins has this young group playing hard every night, and playing as a team. That's something that the city hasn't seen in close to 10 years. As good as this team has played, and as hard as this coach has them working, they will only go as far as a star player takes them. At this point, a first round loss is certain for the Sixers. Only time will tell, if this front office can make some type of move this offseason to free up some cap room. Doing so will give this city what they deserve, not just for a title run but a reason to go back down to the Wells Fargo Center and cheer on their team.
