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The shape of the Sixers team is starting to become more clear. Each piece of the puzzle has been taken care of besides Andre Iguodala, which should be coming soon. Ed Stefanki's first off-season as Sixers GM has been ridiculously good. He landed the big fish/low-post scorer we've been needing in Brand, he got a shooter for cheap in Kareem Rush, filled a roster spot with a tough-nosed third point guard in Royal Ivey and drafted an absolute stud in my opinion, Mo Speights. Not to mention he locked up Lou Williams with a very reasonable contract. With the majority of the off-season moves completed, I thought it would be interesting to look towards next season. The Atlantic and the Eastern Conference are no longer the laughing stalk of the league. Especially with the Atlantic's own Boston Celtics owning the Larry O'brien trophy at the moment. So, with Elton Brand, a year under the core's belt and a couple new role players, can the Sixers compete with the NBA champs? It's been said that to be the best, you have to beat the best, so let's compare the teams.

Point Guard: Andre Miller vs. Rajon Rondo
Rajon looked like a flat out star at times during the finals, especially in the clincher. He's much quicker and flashier than Miller, but I'll take the consistent, durable, savvy veteran over Rondo any day. Not to mention, unless Rajon hits the weight room big time this summer Miller can just abuse him in the post. The numbers speak for themselves. In games played against each other last season, here are the lines:

Miller-23 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists on 45% and 3 turnovers a game
Rondo-6 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists on 38% and 2 turnover a game

1-0 Sixers in my book.

Shooting Guard: Andre Iguodala (most likely) vs. Ray Allen
This one's a little tougher to judge. First, Iguodala hasn't played much shooting guard. Second, he'll be the number two option this season, instead of the number one. It remains to be seen how that will affect him, but we all assume it'll be for the better. Ray Allen had a solid regular season with Boston until the last few weeks and the beginning of the playoffs, where people concluded that his career was over. Then, all of sudden the dude played out of his mind in the NBA finals and in my opinion deserved the MVP. So, Iguodala, the young, high-flying player with star potential or Jesus Shuttleworth, the veteran with Hall of Fame-type numbers, the prettiest jumper in the League and newly attained championship ring? Here are the numbers (keep in mind when they played last year, they didn't really guard each other):

Iguodala-22 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists on 49% and 3 turnovers a game
Allen-18 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists on 51% and 2 turnovers a game

Iguodala wins the numbers, but as of right now, I'd take Allen over Iguodala if I had to win a game. I realize he looked like garbage in the beginning of the playoffs, but the finals left a good taste in my mouth and Iggy didn't look all that great in the playoffs himself.

1-1

Small Forward: Thadeus Young (again most likely) vs. Paul Pierce
Finals MVP vs. second year Thad? No explanation needed. We'll also save some embarrassment by not showing the numbers. Like Andre and Allen, they didn't guard each other much either.

2-1 Celtics

Power Forward: Elton Brand vs. Kevin Garnett
This one's tough. Real tough. On the offensive end Brand is much better in my opinion. On the defensive end, KG is. KG's been known to be famously unclutch. He answered the bell a little bit in the finals, but he'll always still have that reputation. Since they did not face each other last season, let's look at their numbers against each other in 06-07 when Brand was a Clipper and KG was a T' Wolve.

Brand-22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists on 59% and 2 blocks a game
KG-25 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists on 56% and 2 blocks a game

KG wins the numbers battle, but this was two years ago and both were on different teams with different offenses. If it means anything, the Clippers also went 0-3 in those games. As much as I tried to look for an advantage for Elton, I just couldn't find it. KG takes this one, hands down.

3-1 Celtics

Center: Samuel Dalembert vs. Kendrick Perkins
Perkins showed some promise in the playoffs, but so did Dalembert. Dalembert's offense is very underrated, especially his mid-range jumper. Last season it was money from 4 all the way to 18 feet. Perk's post game is probably better. Perkins defense is above average, but Sammy's is one of the tops in the league and I only expect it to get better with Brand playing beside him. They're two completely different players, yet similar. Dalembert became much more consistent this season and Perkins is still learning. Some might think it's a little closer than I do, but I'm giving the edge to Dalembert. Here are the numbers (Again they didn't guard each other all the time, since Sam guarded Garnett a lot.):

Dalembert-8 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks on 43% shooting and 2 turnovers a game
Perkins-7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks on 55% shooting and 1 turnover a game

The numbers tell a little different story than my assessment, but Dalembert's offensive numbers were down due to him expending so much energy against Garnett on the defensive end. On the other hand, Perkins was often left wide open due to a double-team or guarded by Thadeus Young, who he outweighs by a solid 60 pounds.

3-2 Celtics

Sixers bench vs. Celtics bench: This match up would be a lot closer had James Posey not left for New Orleans. For the Celtics, P.J. Brown will probably retire, Sam Cassell is as old as dirt and did nothing, but hurt the Celtics during the playoffs, Glen Davis is solid, but is a little undersized to match up with any of the Sixers big men, Eddie House is a flat out stud and Leon Powe is a stud. As for the Sixers, Lou Williams is light years better than anyone on the Celtics bench, Reggie Evans gives the team energy, swagger and rebounding (a la Glen Davis), Jason Smith is a hustle machine and can knock down open jumpers better than most big men, Willie Green can score, but is our version of Sam Cassell, Kareem Rush is a streaky shooter than can play solid defense and if Mo Speights sees the floor I think he can be very effective on both ends of the court. Like I said, throw James Posey back in the mix and we have a close one, but without him advantage Sixers.

3-3

Coach: Mo Cheeks vs. Doc Rivers
Both coaches are very underrated. Doc, not so much anymore now that he out coached arguably the best of all-time in Phil Jackson to win a championship. Still, I haven't heard many give him much credit. Rivers did a fantastic job coaching in the finals with the exception of not playing Eddie House over Sam Cassell. Mo didn't do so bad himself with the Sixers this season. I thought he pushed all the right buttons for the most part, especially in all those comeback wins. Was this a result of good coaching or Stefanksi calling for the young guys? I'm not sure, but either way Cheeks did a fantastic job. I'm going to give Rivers the edge for the simple fact that he has a ring and Cheeks doesn't (as a coach).

4-3 Celtics.

Bottom line is the Celtics look slightly better on paper. None of us know how the new Sixers team will play out, especially in their first year together. In a couple years the Sixers will look like the better team, especially with some valuable playoff experience and team chemistry. Not to mention the Celtics are a lot older. One thing we can't factor in on paper is the C's drive in this upcoming season. After winning their first championship will they play with the same desire they did a year ago? I'm pretty sure they won't. A championship takes a lot out of a team and they'll probably be celebrating into the All-Star break. Back-to-back is the hardest thing to do, so Philly's got that working for them.

The C's won this battle, but I'm as stoked as anyone to see the season play out. It will be a blast going against the defending champs all season.

I also wanted to mention one more thing. Check out the Sixers official website. Does anyone else notice that the colors are red, white and blue? Put that together with Elton posing in the throwbacks, the old poll question on what logo the fans like best and the following header/motto on their website and do we have ourselves a slow evolution back to the old uni's? Ricky from Sixers4guidos might have some answers. Ricky, if your reading, didn't I read something on your website that Ed was addressing this issue on the radio? It'd be awesome if we went back to the old uniforms for good.

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