Photo courtesy of Keith Allison, Flickr Creative Commons
The 2014-2015 NBA season is now in full swing and the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers are struggling early. Things look especially bad for the 76ers, who are going through the worst struggles of any team so far this season.
Heading into Wednesday night’s basketball action, the Nets lead the three teams with a 4-6 record, while the Knicks and the 76ers sit at 3-8 and 0-10 respectively. Basketball fans at Ramapo like junior Marcus Miles have varying opinions on how and if each team can overcome their slow starts.
“The Knicks are running a tough triangle offense,” Miles said. “They need to get it together. With a system like that, you need to give it time. The Nets need a better bench and work on future draft picks.”
According to an article by ESPN’s Ian Begley, Knicks small/power forward Carmelo Anthony is starting to get used to the new triangle offense put in place by Knicks first year head coach Derek Fisher.
However, there is less optimism Philadelphia will be able to turn around their season. Miles said the team needs to rely on their youth and build for a brighter future.
“They’re a young team,” Miles said. “With that situation, you have to give it time.”
The time may not come soon enough for many 76ers fans, as many experts predict that the team will finish the season with a worse record than last year, when they finished 19-63.
According to Andrew Kulp of CSNPhilly.com, the team could compete for the worst record in franchise history, which is currently held by the 1972-73 team that finished with a 9-73 record.
Ramapo student, Jimbo Long, said he would not be surprised if the 76ers tied their all time worst season record, but that the Knicks and Nets have a chance to put the slow start behind them and be competitive for the rest of the year.
“I think the 76ers are going to be the worst out of all of the three; they’re not going to get double digit wins,” Long said. “I think the Knicks are going to pull it around under the triangle system because Phil Jackson is such a good guy. I think the Nets are going to be alright because I like Coach Hollins and they play really good defense.”
Sophomore George Sapp also thinks that the Nets will be OK, but said the Knicks are missing a key piece to their puzzle and that the 76ers need to rebuild and make smart choices in the draft.
“For the 76ers, I feel like the only way they can improve is draft better players instead of making terrible draft choices,” said Sapp. “I feel like the Knicks need a point guard, like an actual good point guard on their team. As for the Brooklyn Nets, I feel like they’ll be okay. They’ll get out of the little slump they’re in.”
jgoldfar@ramapo.edu
