PHILADELPHIA (AP) -There were days in Philly when Maurice Cheeks and the 76ers were the talk of the town.
Those years with Julius Erving, Bobby Jones, Moses Malone in the early 1980s saw the Sixers routinely expected to contend – and even win – the NBA Finals. When the Sixers finally broke through and claimed the title in 1983, Cheeks punctuated the clincher with a dunk in the final seconds.
Then Philly threw the Sixers a celebratory parade the fourth-year coach still can’t forget.
“It was pretty amazing,” Cheeks said. “There was an overwhelming amount of people involved in it, going to the stadium and everything. I tell my guys it happened 25 years ago and you can still know everything about it. I forget a lot of things, but I don’t forget that.”
Twenty-five years later, Philly is still waiting for another championship parade. The Phillies might get there first if they beat Tampa Bay in the World Series, but the Sixers might not be that far away from expecting one of their own.
e last season, this year’s Sixers believe they can make a deep run and at least be in the hunt for a shot at the finals.
“They could be Eastern Conference contenders,” Cleveland star LeBron James said.
The renewed optimism is in place because of the blockbuster free-agent signing of Elton Brand. The two-time NBA All-Star was the centerpiece of a flurry of summer activity designed to make Philly a threat again.
The Sixers proved they could run the fastbreak offense as well as any team in the league during a 22-12 finish that put them in the postseason for the first time in three years. The Sixers (40-42) stretched the second-seeded Pistons to a surprising, somewhat competitive six-game series, including a blowout win in Game 3.
What the Sixers lacked was that solid low post threat that Brand brings with him from Los Angeles. He signed a five-year deal worth nearly $80 million, and his presence should help erratic center Samuel Dalembert while taking some of the pressure off a blossoming starting lineup that includes Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young.
“Just bringing him in was going to make us better,” Iguodala said. “I think we’re starting to understand how to get movement around him when he gets the ball inside.”
knows they’re a bigger threat than at any point in his first three seasons because of Brand, along with free agents Kareem Rush, Donyell Marshall and Theo Ratliff. Lou Williams was dynamic off the bench last season and Willie Green is an able sub.
Andre Miller, acquired in the deal that sent Allen Iverson to Denver in 2006 and jump-started the rebuilding, is coming off perhaps the finest season of his career. He averaged 17 points and 6.9 assists, and deftly made the midseason transition to leading a fun, fastbreaking offense. Miller also is in the last year of his contract and hired a new agent in the hope of signing a long-term, big bucks deal.
Some sweet passes to Brand for easy buckets sure won’t hurt his bargaining power.
“The pulse is built on different guys,” Cheeks said. “It’s not built on one individual, but it’s built on a team. That’s one of the great things about our team right now is that it’s built on a group.”
Yeah, but the 76ers are clearly focused on Brand. He’s become the face of the franchise and his image is plastered around town on everything from billboards to buses.
“It made them a better team,” James said. “You look on paper and they’ve got some very good players. But we’ve got very good players on paper, too. You’ve got to go out and play.”
e players to average a double-double.
However, Brand played in only eight games last season because of an Achilles’ tendon injury. Brand claims he’s 100 percent and ready to go.
“I don’t worry about Elton Brand,” Cheeks said.
What Cheeks does worry about is Philadelphia’s 3-point shooting. They were last in the league in that category for the second straight season (302-for-950) and had no reliable threat on the roster. They hoped Rush would give them a boost but the preseason signs weren’t promising – just 5-for-13 and the opposition made 18 more 3s in seven preseason games.
“All I can do is put the work in to get more attempts to shoot the 3 and convert more,” Cheeks said.
The Sixers open the season Wednesday against Toronto – the same night as the Phillies would play in a possible Game 6. Who knows? The Phillies might be a celebrating a championship the same time the Sixers have started getting serious about winning one.
“I think it’s fun to keep an eye on what they’re doing,” Brand said. “We want to go win one, too.”
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