Another Look At Elton Brand

Elton Brand Revisited

The Sixers, from the coaching staff to the players, are - surprise, surprise - saying that they will be a better team with the return of Elton Brand to the lineup. It is possible that this will turn out to be true, if not now, then down the road. But what it also almost indisputably true is that the team has been playing easily their best ball of the season in the course of winning seven in a row with Brand out with a shoulder injury. The Sixers are now playing the way they finished last season - loose, running with abandon, aggressive on defense. Contributions are coming up and down the roster and even Sam Dalembert has been getting into the flow. None of this could be found early in the season with Brand in the starting lineup and it probably cost Mo Cheeks his job.

When the Sixers streaked improbably into the playoffs last season and gave the Pistons a bit of a scare in the first round, the conventional wisdom was that the home team had maxed out. For them to go deeper the next time, they needed another piece to complete the puzzle. When Elton Brand became unexpectedly available, it was not unreasonable to think he could be that piece - a blue blood, blue chip player with a low post game. And when Brand joined the club, he did what he is payed to do, a double-double every night and maximum effort at both ends. But the team's chemistry was disrupted and players seemed confused about their roles. Perhaps in the course of Brand's second tour of duty, everything will fall into the place. There is really no good reason why it can't. But there is also the nagging concern that the Elton Brand acquisition could turn out to be a very expensive mistake.

Random Thoughts

The vicious hit suffered by Baltimore running back Willis McGahee late in yesterday's playoff game cast a pall over an afternoon and evening of football. If the NFL fails to implement policies immediately to eliminate such gratuitous violence from the game, it will be a gross dereliction of responsibility.