Now, our roundball attention returns to the rotting corpse laying flat on the hardwood of the Wachovia Center where we once rushed, danced, and gave CPR to a dying sport in Philadelphia. The Sixers have been caught between changing eras, after lameduck coaches Randy Ayers and Chris Ford (ooh, that might get me in some trouble with the Alumni committee) Jim O’Brien brought a tougher defense, and a stagnant offense. Result? Boring team, quick exit to the Pistons in the playoffs.

This season, Maurice Cheeks created a more up-tempo style, relying on the play making ability of Allen Iverson, who averaged more points (33) and more assists (over seven) than the season he won the MVP. Result? Brief bouts of exciting scoring, followed by soul-sucking fourth quarter leads blown because the team doesn’t have the talent to keep up when the opposition plays defense, and doesn’t play enough defense to protect a lead.

I'll finish this post later, but i figured proof that im going to be actually writing more sports stuff in this space should be enough.....and i'll be editing and adding to a lot of stuff. Make sure to click the more button, cause all my stuff is long and i can't post it all or Eric will kill me...

But besides these players being forced to change styles with five head coaches in the last four years, there is another symptom hinting towards a deadlier disease. This team played like the walking dead since February, maybe earlier. GM Billy King has hastily assembled a bunch of marginally talented players, while wasting away the formidable years of the best small guard to ever play the game. Instead of using the 2000 Finals run as a formula for success with Iverson, he viewed it as an anomaly.

True, Allen Iverson does not make his teammates better. He is a average defender, who takes too many risks, and tends to settle for jump shots when he should continue to drive into the teeth of the defense. The Answer is, however, an electric scorer who can carry a team offensively, and with the right pieces be a disruption on the other end of the court. He draws fouls on those patrolling the paint, which makes Sixers’ big men better, he has to be guarded by the fastest, if not the best, defender on the other team, and even when his own shot isn’t falling he can get open looks for teammates, just by passing out of the double team he draws every game.

Further, he cares about winning more than anything else. The immaturity that colored his early career has been replaced by a burning desire to prove to himself, and to critics, that a team with Allen Iverson on it can win a championship. Year after year, whispers of the inevitable lost step or nagging pain becoming a debilitating injury have been silenced by a steady improvement from one of the leagues most popular players. Still, as with any superstar with unique abilities (Shaq for example, though his combination of size and agility are unique, he plays like a guy who is just bigger than everyone else. Lebron James, though bigger than most guards and more athletic than most power forwards, uses his court vision in such a way as to make his talent unique) the system and pieces need to be designed around him, not forced upon him.

To really clarify this point, and dork it up yet again, imagine a chess board. Most professional players will define their strategy around protecting the queen and maximizing her singular faculty to move freely on the board. Pawns work to protect and shield the queen, rooks are powerful for eliminating rows, but the queen is the best piece for pinning down the king and winning the match. The Sixers have one queen, Iverson, one King (or former King), in Chris Webber (his movement is limited, but still views himself as the most important piece), a knight in Andre Iquodala (his own movement is different from others he just needs to be harnessed properly and used more offensively), and a bunch of pawns who are just waiting to be picked off. The only one getting checked here is the fans, and the King that needs to be under pressure is Billy.

Leaving my questionable nerd past behind, I have the solution, as part of my new efforts to not merely complain, but answer my own questions and hopefully become GM of any of the Philadelphia teams (Besides the Soul, I was already offered that job). The Sixers need to trade up in the lottery to get past Seattle and Golden State and draft a player I know all too well: Randy Foye.

Foye could not be a better fit for this team, despite ESPN.com’s love for Shelden Williams at the Sixers spot. Foye is the perfect compliment to Iverson, a guard who doesn’t need the ball in his hands every possession to have an impact. His rebounding and ability to create his own shot is something the Sixers lack greatly, as well as a lock down defender, allowing Iverson to defend the team’s second best guard. Further, Foye’s height has been questioned, especially for a two, but as I have said all season one of the greatest assets he has gained under the four guard system is defending bigger men. With Lowry and Nardi always picking up the two smallest players on the other team, Foye has become the best defensive guard in the nation while being forced into mismatches nearly every game.

With Foye, the starting lineup becomes Iverson at the point, Foye at the two, Iguodala instantly becoming an All-NBA defender at the three, Stephen Hunter as the defensive power forward and offensive center and Samuel Dalembert the reverse. Defensively, you have one shut down guard, one who disrupts the passing lanes better than any other, one forward who can play a team’s top power forward or best shooting guard, and a center who, when playing with fire, is a top shot blocker. Instantly, the opponent’s points per game is under a hundred.

Offensively, Foye has played with an Allen Iverson type small guard. Kyle Lowry’s game is very similar, minus the scoring (because he was asked to pass more) and Foye’s rebounding and hops will lead to plenty of opportunities to score. I see Foye averaging approximately 12 points a game, with seven rebounds and two assists. Best of all, the Sixers are a playoff contender, and Iverson can tutor Foye as he has other Philadelphia guards (I know, he’s from Newark, call it Philly by marriage). Foye is projected as a point guard when Iverson retires, most likely in the next five years, he will be well coached and establish himself as a potential All-Star. Foye compared himself to Gilbert Arenas, but I don’t see that type of scoring ability. I do however, see a lot of Dwayne Wade in Foye’s all court prowess, with a little less under the basket creativity.

My lineup most glaringly does not include Chris Webber. I like him off the bench, because if he goes in and Iverson comes out the Sixers can run the offense through him, which he wants, while resting both aging stars for a grueling season. I would rather trade him and use a hopefully healed Willie Green as a sixth man, with Foye switching to the point while Green is in. Trade Kyle Korver or have him killed Shawshank style, as well as flush the rest of the crap sitting at the end of the bench for some hard nosed veteran defenders. If Matt Szerbiak can last this long in the league...