Brand Injury Lets Stefanski Off the Hook

One of the ironies of the Elton Brand injury is that it muddies any attempt to compare the DiLeo era with the Cheeks era. Or is it the DiLeo/Stefanski era? If the Sixers should struggle for the next month or so, it can be excused because of Brand's absence. If they should find their groove, would it confirm they are a better team without Brand, or that they run more effectively without brand, or that DiLeo's "attention to detail" is paying off? Or would it show that minus Elton, Mo Cheeks could have built on the success that earned him two contract extensions last season? Etc, etc, etc. In any case, it probably gives Stefanski some cover for the Cheeks firing since it's so hard to make any straight-up comparison.

Quick Takes:

The Boston Celtics are looking scary good right now and are on track to be on a 19 game winning streak going into the their Christmas day matchup with the Lakers. The emergence of Rajon Rondo as a scorer as well as a defender, playmaker and yes rebounder has provided Doc Rivers with offensive and defensive balance coaches dream about.

The NBA and the NFL each have seven teams with winning percentages under .300. This makes for a lot of uncompetitive games. Clearly both leagues have too many teams and not enough quality players. If parity is truly a goal of the leagues, they have a funny way of showing it. The NBA in particular should do some soul-searching. Last year, two perennial doormats - Memphis and Minnesota - provided key players (Gasol and Garnett) to the eventual championship finalists, the Celtics and Lakers, while receiving virtually nothing in return. It may be a truism that the rich tend to get richer but this was ridiculous.