The 76ers announced yesterday that Elton Brand will be sidelined for the next month. After leaving Wednesday's game with a dislocated shoulder, an MRI revealed that Brand suffered a fractured humeral head (the part of his arm bone that connects to his shoulder) as well as a torn labrum. As bad as it sounds, his injury doesn't appear to need surgery, which means he can begin rehabilitation immediately. It'll be interesting to see how the Sixers respond to Brand's injury. He's been the team's leading scorer this year, but his presence in the lineup is also a big reason why the team hasn't been able to play at a faster pace, which in turn was one of the biggest reasons why Mo Cheeks was let go.
But with Brand on the sideline, this roster will look an awful lot like last year's squad, which got up and down the court in a hurry. Andre Iguodala will resume his role as the team's primary offensive threat, which can only help him snap out of his early-season funk. This team still needs another perimeter shooter, but if they're able to get easy buckets in transition and spend less time setting up half-court sets, that need is somewhat diminished for the moment.
Eventually this team will need to figure out a way to win with Brand, whether it's adjusting their style of play or adding another shooter to the lineup, but they have several weeks before they need to cross that bridge.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-20-2008 @ 4:42AM
Tayman said...
Bring back Jeff Roland!
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12-20-2008 @ 12:53PM
Dave D. said...
The Sixers were going nowhere, struggling to get anywhere near .500. Though their in the 8th spot right now, Chicago, Milwaukee, and, to a certain extent, New York and Indiana have all looked better on the court, so there's not too much more harm this can really do.
What it can do is, as Matt says, give Iggy a chance to get back into a groove. Louis Williams and Thad Young have both regressed this year as well, so perhaps a lineup change back to last year's model will help them as well. More importantly, it gets Brand off of his gimpy knee for a month. He clearly hasn't seemed right this entire season, and when I saw the headline that he'd gone down, I was sure it was going to be due to his knee. Since it's not an aggravation of his old injury, this could work in the same way as, say, Manu Ginobili missing the early part of the season so being "fresher" for the playoffs or Shaq's yearly 20 game vacation.
Obviously, you don't want your best player to go out with an injury for a month or more, but this could be the opportunity for last year's team to wake up and Brand to heal up, and, if they don't fall too far behind in the next month, may help them secure a playoff spot.
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