The Philadelphia 76ers need more out of 32-year old power forward Elton Brand.  Brand has played in 13 games (all starts) for the 76ers so far this year and he is averaging 26.6 minutes, 9.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.3 blocked shots per game.  In his first three years with the Sixers, Brand played in 186 games (161 starts) in which he averaged 32.4 minutes, 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  Actually Brand is not playing too bad as his minutes have been cut this year due to the depth the Sixers have along the front line.

Starting small forward Andre Iguodala is having a rough time so far in this series.  He has started the first 2 games for the Sixers against the Heat and he is averaging 36.5 minutes, 4.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Iguodala is only shooting 26.7% from the floor which isn’t going to get the job done.  The Sixers might want to consider making a lineup change with Iguodala starting at shooting guard (in Jodie Meeks’ place) with the very hot Thaddeus Young starting at small forward.  Young has played in 2 games (0 starts) for the 76ers so far in this series and he is averaging 28.5 minutes, 19.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  The Sixers need a spark in this series and starting Young could be just the jolt they need to get back into this series.

The Philadelphia 76ers have shut down reserve guard Lou Williams for the rest of the regular season to rest his hamstring for the playoffs.  Williams played in 75 games (0 starts) for the Sixers this year and he averaged 23.3 minutes, 13.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.  The Sixers will turn to rookie guard Evan Turner to pick up the pace the next two weeks.  Turner has played in 73 games (13 starts) for the 76ers so far this year and he is averaging 22.6 minutes, 6.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.  The Sixers have been disappointed with Turner so far this year, but this is a chance for him to redeem himself.

The 76ers need more out of 23-year old shooting guard Jodie Meeks or they are going to have to start cutting his P.T.  His only asset on the basketball court is his three point shooting.  Meeks has played in 13 games in January so far and he is averaging 22.5 minutes, 8.1 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.  He is only shooting 39.5% from the floor so far this month but 44.9% from the three point line which is kind of an amazing stat.  Meeks has now played in 38 games (28 starts) for the Sixers so far this year and he is averaging 24.0 minutes, 9.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  Meeks doesn’t like  to rebound, pass the ball or play any defense but for some reason head coach Doug Collins seems to like him.

22-year old shooting guard Evan Turner just has not played well so far this year for the Sixers.  In his last 5 games, Turner is averaging 26.0 minutes, 8.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  He has now played in 40 games (12 starts) so far this year for the 76ers and he is averaging 24.7 minutes, 7.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.  Turner is only shooting 39.5% from the floor and 31% from three point range so far this year.  If  Turner continues to struggle with his shooting he’s going to see his playing time diminish over the second half of the season.  23-year old power forward Craig Brackins is currently in the D-League where he can get some P.T.  He has played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Sixers so far this year and he is averaging 10.5 minutes, 4.0 points and 1.5 rebounds per game.  I see Brackins coming back to the 76ers at some point this year as he’s a very talented player.

26-year old starting small forward Andre Iguodala has been ruled out of the next five games to rest his right Achilles (tendinitis).  Iguodala has played in 25 games (all starts) for the 76ers so far this year and he is averaging 37.6 minutes, 14.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  31-year old Andres Nocioni will be replacing Iguodala in the starting lineup.  Nocioni has played in 28 games (11 starts) for the Sixers so far this year and he is averaging 19.4 minutes, 7.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  Nocioni’s last start went pretty well against the Suns as he scored 22 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and he dished out 2 assists in 41 minutes on the court.  I have a feeling that Nocioni will do a good job for the Sixers as long as A.I. is out of action.

23-year old PF/C Marreese Speights is in Doug Collins’ Dog House.  This is starting to become a problem with Speights as he has never seemed to get along with a coach of the Sixers.  Speights has played in 20 games (0 starts) for the Sixers so far this year and he is averaging 12.8 minutes, 5.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  His shooting has also been off as he is only hitting 44% from the floor and 65% from the free throw line this year.  If Speights wasn’t so talented I think I would suggest that the Sixers deal him.  But if he ever finds a coach that can get through to him the Sixers would look bad by getting rid of him.

Doug Collins says that Spencer Hawes will remain the starting center for the time being. Hawes played in 13 games (all starts) for the 76ers last season and he is averaging 16.2 minutes, 5.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. It’s not like the Sixers have a lot of alternatives to Hawes anyway as they just aren’t too good of a team right now as evidenced by their 3-10 record right now.

Rookie shooting guard Jodie Meeks has been awful since coming over from the Bucks in a trade at the deadline last month. Meeks has played in 9 games (0 starts) for the 76ers this season and he is averaging 4.9 minutes, 1.6 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. He is only shooting 21.1% from the floor for the Sixers which just won’t get him on the basketball court. Meeks does have talent but it might take some time to develop as he looks overmatched right now.

The Philadelphia 76ers need to start cutting 31-year old Elton Brand’s minutes as he is starting to look like a old man on the basketball court. Brand has played in 57 games (38 starts) this season for the Sixers in which he is averaging 30.7 minutes, 13.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. The Sixers should be giving a lot of Brand’s minutes to Marreese Speights who is a up and comer.