“Trust the Process” has been the never-ending mantra from Philadelphia 76ers management to every Sixers fan for the past few years now. Now, the real question is - did the Sixers give general manager Sam Hinkie enough time for the process to work?
The answer is no.
The Sixers had been a unique organization in terms of their openness to Hinkie’s ideas use of analytics and the big changes that meant within the team. Comparing the Sixers to other NBA teams that have gone completely for analytics, it seems that Hinkie wasn’t given enough time and that his rebuilding would take a few more years to start working.
Hinkie, the GM that Philadelphia had brought in from the Houston Rockets in 2013, quickly helped make the Sixers into one of the major pro sports franchises that most embraced analytics.
Last April, however, he was pushed out and technically resigned, given only three years to work with the Sixers.
Before the Sixers, the Rockets had brought on Hinkie in order to implement analytics with their team in 2006. After his first season with the Rockets, they went from 34 wins in the previous season to 52 wins. In both the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Houston had made it to the playoffs but lost in the first round in their conference tournament.
Three years prior to the Rockets hiring Hinkie, the team had fluctuated with their winning records and had made the playoffs two of the three seasons. According to Basketball-Reference.com, the team had averaged a win-loss percentage of .578 with Hinkie.
After Hinkie’s arrival in Philly, he brought in Ben Falk as his vice president of basketball strategy and Sachin Gupta as his vice president of basketball operations. Falk, a University of Maryland graduate, had left his job with the Portland Trail Blazers as their analytics guru and Gupta, a Stanford MBA graduate, had previously worked with the Houston Rockets with their analytics team and with ESPN.com by using advanced metrics to create the popular “Trade Machine.”
The big difference between the Rockets and the Sixers was that Houston could rely on key players, such as Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. Hinkie wanted to rebuild the Sixers and completely started from scratch with the team.
Hinkie had this idea that it was better to be the worst team in the league rather than being a team in the middle of the rankings in order to get the better draft pick.
Before Hinkie, the Sixers were seen as a team that would make the playoffs once in a while and usually lose in the first round. Since they were this kind of team, they usually would be at the lower end of the lottery or just outside of it, making it hard for the Sixers to ever get better.
Hinkie’s philosophy started out by trading the players that were making the Sixers win games, such as Jrue Holliday and Michael Carter Williams, for draft picks.
By taking these draft picks, the Sixers were able to start from scratch and essentially became to be known as “the process.”
After Hinkie’s first year with the Sixers in the 2013-2014 season, they had ended last in their division. The Sixers ended up being No. 2 in the field goal attempt rankings with 87.2 but ended first in the turnover ranks with a whopping 16.9 average a game.
---
In 2014, the Sixers were a part of a 3-team trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Sixers traded Thaddeous Young to the Timberwolves for Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved, the Cavaliers traded Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins and a trade exception to the Timberwolves and the Cavaliers traded a 2016 first round draft pick to the Sixers. This would be one of the biggest moments for the Sixers, as they would have three first round draft picks in 2016.
The Sixers ended their 2014-2015 season with 18 wins and the following season with only 10 wins, one of the worst winning records in NBA history.
Keith Petersen, a long-time Sixers fan and avid believer of the “process,” believes that Hinkie thought he would be able to transcend and transform sports into the way he was working with the Sixers. However, this really wasn’t possible and was essentially forced to resign.
“Hinkie was forced out by the league, in my opinion,” says Petersen. “The last thing the league would want is for every team to feel this way of teams not wanting to try if they’re not in the playoffs.”
Petersen also says that Hinkie had wanted the Sixers to lose certain games so he would change the lineup in order to make it harder for them to win.
“The league was very afraid of that,” says Petersen. “The league made the draft lottery system so that teams wouldn’t want to tank.”
Essentially, Hinkie was fired because the league didn’t want him to test their draft lottery system and the only way to stop him from doing so was to kick him out of his position.
---
The objective Hinkie had coming to Philadelphia was to start over fresh. He had drafted Joel “The Process” Embiid in 2014 but he was injured and did not get to play until the current season. The Sixers had the No. 1 overall draft pick this summer, Ben Simmons, but he was quickly injured in training camp and his return is still unknown. Both of these players are key components to the process and without one of them, it has been hard for the rebuild to work.
Without Embiid and Simmons, they team had struggled. Now that Embiid is back, he is averaging 18.5 points a game and has helped the team grow in just one season. If both Embiid and Simmons were able to play on the court, the Sixers would have so much more potential than they have right now. These two players are essentially the “process” that everyone has relied on and without one of them, their potential is not 100 percent.
When Hinkie came on in 2013, a big trade happened between the Pelicans for Nerlens Noel. Noel has been a key player for the Sixers since his arrival and helped fill the gap when Embiid was out.
Now that the team is working well with Embiid and (hopefully soon) Simmons.
These same numbers similarly continued in the following seasons. The Sixers did not seem shy when it came to shot attempts but the problem is that they were just not making them. Their analytics did not seem to really be focusing on shooting strategies but primarily focused on the future.
---
Aside from the Philadelphia Sixers and the Houston Rockets, other NBA teams have taken it upon themselves to incorporate analytics into their organizations. The Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs both have an analytics team that they have been utilizing.
Mark Cuban, the Mavericks owner, had brought on an analytics team in 2000 and overall has averaged 54 wins a season. Recently, he has invested millions into new technology and a “psychology coach” for the team.
Since the use of analytics were implemented, Dallas has made the playoffs almost every year since 2000, with an NBA finals win in 2011. So far, the analytics have worked for the Mavericks and Cuban has been taking steps to improve the program as the years continue.
San Antonio is a lot different from the others, since they are more secretive with their analytics use. Their analytics are mostly used by helping out with their shooting, such as seeking out more corner 3-point shots and working on their offense.
Coach Gregg Popovich has helped the team excel with their shots and impressively win five NBA finals, one the year after he started with the Spurs. Overall, analytics have worked greatly for the Spurs, whether or not they have been very open with their logistics.
---
Now that Hinkie is gone, there is worry that he has ruined the Sixers “brand.” According to an ESPN.com article, Hinkie was better of a technical business kind of guy and not so much the “basketball guy.”
Despite their record losing streak, the fans had loved him with their “In Hinkie We Trust” or “Hinkie Died for Our Sins” posters after he had been fired. The appreciation the fans had for his ability to have the first No. 1 overall draft pick for the Sixers since 1994 is iconic and the team has a lot to thank him for.
So what is next for the Sixers?
Petersen says that the 2016-2017 season is another “process” year for them, even though Hinkie isn’t involved.
“The Sixers are getting [injured] players back,” says Petersen. “The Sixers need to be a young team, who has that one guy who has a veteran presence and hopefully that someone is a big name.”
Petersen also says that we’re going to get good draft picks this year and securing someone like this is a possibility for the Sixers.
There still is no word when Simmons will return to the Sixers.
For now, it’s safe to say that we just need to trust the process for now.
Sixers Sports Data Reporting - Fall 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK - Many student-athletes are given the stigma that they aren’t dedicated to their studies and are only focused on their sport.
For Taylor Bleistein, her dedication to both her coursework and lacrosse team breaks this stereotype and proves to those who doubt student-athletes that it is possible to be great at both.
“When I first committed here, I knew that there were the three S’s – school, sport and social,” says Bleistein. “I feel like I have been fortunate enough to find a good balance of all three.”
Bleistein is currently a senior defensive middle on the Penn State women’s lacrosse team, along with being a triple major in Criminology, Sociology and Women’s Studies and studying for the LSATs. On top all of that, she is also a teacher’s assistant for a Sexual and Domestic Violence course.
Balancing all of these activities during her last year at Penn State has been especially hard for Bleistein but credits her professors, coaches and friends for all of the support they have given her this year. From supporting her when she has to miss class for a game to understanding the stress studying for the LSATs entails, Bleistein could have not asked for a better core group of people to keep her sane during this difficult time.
Steph Lazo, a senior rehabilitation human services, is Bleistein’s best friend and teammate. Lazo says that Bleistein’s independence has tremendously helped her with her strong work ethics and ability to jumble her activities all at once.
“Taylor’s really good at managing her time,” says Lazo. “Her being as independent as she is, she’s been able to manage everything really well.”
Bleistein has been able to prioritize her schoolwork and studying but still has been able to enjoy her senior year in a social aspect. By being able to study or finish up homework between her classes or practice, she has so far been able to keep up with all of the work and hasn’t fallen behind on anything.
“Being an athlete means prioritizing what is important to you,” says Bleistein. “At Penn State, we are surrounded by incredible resources, such as an athletic advisor, free tutors for any class and a strong presence of being a student before an athlete.”
Bleistein says that without the resources she has been given at a student-athlete at Penn State, she wouldn’t have been able to juggle all of the activities she has going on. She also says the Morgan Academic Center, the new academic center for Penn State athletes, has been at tremendous help with her successes and is a really productive environment for all of the student-athletes.
Before coming to college, some athletes do not realize the commitment and dedication required to be a member of a sporting team at the collegiate level. For Bleistein, she realized that having three majors, applying to law school and playing a sport would be possible but it would be a difficult journey along the way. However, the “community,” as she calls it, of students, fans and even professors have made her want to work even harder to be able to accomplish all three tasks.
“Being a student-athlete on this campus, the most rewarding experience I have had so far is seeing all of the support from the community and other teams,” says Bleistein. “Our community, professors and students love athletes, which makes our lives a lot easier.”
One of Bleistein’s favorite moments that has impacted her time at Penn State was when the women’s lacrosse team went onto the football field to be recognized for their Final Four appearance.
“For recruiting purposes, we get to go on the field which just gives you chills every time you step on it,” says Bleistein. “I have never been so shocked to see people actually care about what we spend so much of our lives doing.”
Moments like these encourage Bleistein to strive for greatness in everything she does. Abby Smucker, a senior bio-behavioral health major, is Bleistein’s roommate and also teammate. Smucker says that Bleistein’s drive on and off the field is remarkable.
“It’s hard to always be consistent on field and in the classroom,” says Smucker. “Taylor often makes it look easy.”
Besides Bleistein’s ability to dedicate herself to so many different involvements, there are days when life does get challenging and uncertainty of herself gets in the way of focusing on what really is important.
“My hardest struggle as a student-athlete was probably the self-doubt I had felt when I didn’t play,” says Bleistein. “I wasn’t doubting about whether or not I should be playing but I was doubting my capabilities. I think this is something that a lot of people face in other things besides sports.”
At some point in every athletes lives, the self-doubt overcomes their confidence and sometimes it can get in the way of realizing what is truly important in the moment. Bleinstein says that she has learned in her experiences that if she doubts her own capabilities of something, then others will start to do the same. At the end of the day, she realizes that she wouldn’t want it any other way than what she has right now.
“I have never imagined myself as anything other than a student-athlete,” says Bleistein. “Whenever I am worn down and exhausted, whether it be from traveling or conditioning, I am so fortunate to have the experiences that I do and that the hard work I put in is always worth it.”
She says that going into her last season on the team, she is “petrified” and nervous about balances all of the things she has going on all at once. Lacrosse has been Bleistein’s “crutch” throughout all of these years and her way of relieving stress and keeping things off her mind so life without it will be a bit challenging for her for a while.
However, the excitement about her graduating and attending law school after graduation has really helped Bleistein stay motivated. She says that no longer being a student-athlete will be a new experience for her and she’ll have more time to dedicate to her studies, as well as the ability to do more things that she has never had the time to do before.
With senior year slowly dwindling down, Bleistein has been able to maintain a social life and still is able to have fun with her friends. She says that to have a social life, she knows that she needs to stay on top of her school work so she doesn’t have to cram last minute.
“Taylor’s really good at knowing when it’s time for social activites,” says Smucker. “She works really hard in all aspects of life.”
Bleistein says that Penn State has given her the ability to know that she will do something amazing because she will not settle for anything less. She also says that she has never been okay with settling, which is why she probably has three majors. Bleistein credits Penn State as being the biggest encouragers to not only be the best on the field, but also out in the real world too.
When it comes down to it, Bleistein takes great pride in being a student-athlete at Penn State.
“I know that is mushy, but it’s true!” says Bleistein. “This place is seriously amazing and I have never doubted that this isn’t where I belong.”