A Sixers Interview with Jared Bilski

Our coverage of the Sixers has always been lacking here at BSB, and to help remedy that problem we’re going to bring in a friend of BSB, Jared Bilski, for an interview about the team’s season so far, and where they might be headed in the future (you know, besides the bottom of the standings and the top of the lottery).

Jared is the biggest Sixers fan I know, which doesn’t necessarily put him on par with the biggest Eagles or Phillies fan I know in terms of overall craziness, but suffice it to say that he has an Aaron McKie jersey, he watches the majority of their games every year, and he once spray-painted his mom’s basement in celebration of a mid-season overtime win.

When not watching Sixers games, Jared can often be found performing at comedy clubs all around the Philadelphia region, and beyond.  He’s currently involved in a Comedy Competition, of sorts, sponsored by Magner’s.  Click on this link, watch his clip (he’s “Jared B.”) and if you think he’s funny, give him “3 Pints.”  If you don’t think it’s funny, just accept the fact that you don’t have a very good sense of humor and vote for him anyway, cause he’s a good guy.  You can vote once a day up until December 17th.

Finally, Jared has upcoming shows in Baltimore (Jan. 7-8), Lancaster (Jan. 14-15), and State College (Feb. 11-12).  For details, find him on Facebook.

(Editor’s Note: We started this interview about two weeks ago, which explains the 3-10 record mentioned for the Sixers, and perhaps Jared’s enthusiasm for Evan Turner.) 

BSB:  So Jared, expectations were definitely pretty low for the Sixers this year, but a 3-10 start is even worse than most expected.  You seem to have an infinite amount of optimism when it comes to this team, so let’s try to start with the positives.  There seems to be a hope and belief within the Sixer organization, and in the fan base, that the young backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner could eventually be the backcourt for a good team, maybe even a contending team.  Do you think that’s true?  Have you been happy with Holiday’s progress this season, and what have you seen from Turner?

Jared:  Believe it or not, there are definitely some positives. The abysmal 3-10 start is a little misleading because the Sixers were very close in most of those games — save for an embarrassing road loss to the Spurs. I mean this Sixer team could (and should) have 6 or 7 wins at this point. True, a loss is a loss, but the fact that the Sixers are able to compete for four quarters gives fans a reason to hope Collins can get this group to close out the tough games down the stretch and significantly improve upon last year’s record.

Another positive: Elton Brand. Ok, he’s cooled off a bit in the last few games, and he’ll probably never live up to that $80 million contract, but he’s averaging around 16 points and 8 boards, as well as close to 2 steals a game. More importantly, he’s playing like he’s got something to prove. He knows he’s not the same guy that he used to be, so every game he’s fighting for boards, hustling for loose balls, and taking hard fouls to earn his points on the foul line. Considering how young this Sixer team is, it’s good that Brand’s stepping up and providing a strong veteran presence.

Ok, since that wasn’t even close to answering your specific questions about Holiday and Turner, I’ll move on. Do I think Holiday and Turner could eventually be the backcourt for a “good team”? Absolutely. Watching these guys has been the most exciting thing for me this year. Even though they don’t completely gel when they’re on the court together, Holiday and Turner seem to be getting better each game — both in terms of their numbers and their assertiveness.

Holiday seems to be picking up where he left off at the end of last year. With a number of double-digit assist games, Jrue’s passing has really impressed me so far. And he’s already dropped a career-high 29 points, as well. Most importantly, he’s a solid defensive player (most of the time), which the Sixers desperately need more of. Holiday definitely needs to make better decisions at the end of the game though.

After a disappointing Summer League performance, Turner has been steadily improving. At the start of the season, he seemed very hesitant whenever he got the ball. Now he’s much more aggressive. He looks like he wants the ball — and looks to score whenever he has it. On top of that, he can rebound. Turner averages around six and a half boards a game, which is really impressive for a guard. Doug Collins said the challenge with Turner is getting him to feel like he belongs with the team. According to Collins, once he feels like he belongs, it shows in his play. It’s starting to look like Turner belongs. Of course, he still has a lot of room to improve. For one thing, he can’t shoot very well. His FG percentage is pretty bad, and his 3-pt. percentage is downright shitty. But hopefully that’ll improve with experience.

Despite the positives, there’s a ton of negatives when it comes to this Sixers team. Instead of touching on the myriad of negatives, I’ll just talk about the one thing that pisses me off the most. That thing is Spencer Hawes. What a piece of shit that guy is, right? I never thought I’d miss Dalembert so much. Sure, the guy didn’t understand the basic rules of the game (3-seconds, goaltending, etc.), and he got into foul trouble 30 seconds into most games, but at least he had talent — and made the occasional big play. Hawes has no inside presence whatsoever. He can’t score; he can’t defend; he can’t rebound or block shots; he can’t do shit. I can’t remember who said it, but this statement sums up the major problem with this Sixer team: “You can’t expect much from any team that has Spencer Hawes in the starting lineup.”

BSB:  You try to hide your love of Sammy Dalembert, but I know you never wanted them to get rid of him, if only for the unintentional humor factor. This isn’t defending Hawes at all, but how many good centers are there in the NBA right now? Dwight Howard’s a monster, Joakim Noah’s becoming a pretty good one. That’s about all I can come up with.

Anyway, it’s a bleak time for Sixers fans, it’s been bleak for a while, and we won’t really pretend that there’s much light at the end of the tunnel. But, we have two promising young guards in Holiday and Turner and we have Brand playing hard. Give us one or two more reasons the Sixers are worth watching this year.

Jared: Yeah, you’ve got a point. I will always have a soft spot for Sammy. Before I got kicked out of my mom’s house, we used to watch the Sixers’ games together, and my mom had a huge thing for Mr. Dalembert. A part of me always hoped that the stars would align and they’d end up together. Can you imagine how amazing it would be to introduce Sam to my old-school Italian family around the holidays?  “Hey, Uncle Carmen, there’s someone I want you to meet. This is my stepfather, Sam Dalembert. He’s from Haiti, and he plays center for the Philadelphia 76ers. I’ll leave you two alone; I’m sure you have a lot to talk about.”

I’d have to disagree with you about the center thing. On top of Noah and Howard, there’s at least another handful of dominant centers out there: Al Horford, Andrew Byum (when he’s healthy), Lopez from the Nets can be dominant and Andrew Bogut is constantly improving. Oh, and for right now anyway, Gasol is handling the Center duties pretty nicely for the Lakers. It’s not that I expect anything great out of Hawes, it’s just that I expect something. Despite my low, low, low expectations for Hawes going into the season, he’s still managed to let me down. Anyway, to wrap this up, here are two more reasons why the Sixers are worth watching this year:

1. To see just how good of a coach Doug Collins actually is. Collins knew what he was getting into when he took this job, and I don’t think he would come onboard if he didn’t believe he could actually improve this team. I don’t think Collins has any delusions about bringing this Sixer team deep into the playoffs, but I do think they’ll be a better team than they were last year (granted that’s not very hard). One positive sign: One quarter of the way into the season, Collins is still very optimistic about this team. I remember watching some of the previous Sixer coaches showing subtle signs at press conferences this early in the year that the Sixers were a hopeless bunch. That’s not the case with Collins.

2. To see some of the most creative and mind-boggling ways an NBA team can lose basketball games. Up three with 8.7 seconds to go, a win against the Wizards seems an absolute certainty here. But what do the Sixers do? Foul John Wall in the act of shooting … FROM HALF COURT!!! Result: Sixers lose in OT. This is the team we’re dealing with right now. A team that, against all odds, with everything in their favor, some how, some way, finds a way to lose at the last possible second. Why watch the Sixers this year? Because you have to see with your own eyes how these losses occur to actually believe it.

BSB:  Who do you see winning each conference and the title this year?

Jared:  I think the Magic will come out on top in the East, and San Antonio will win the West — probably the last time for a while. In the end, I think the Magic will end up winning the NBA Championship over the Spurs.

BSB:  Thanks for taking the time, Jared.  Readers, remember to check out his clip, vote for him, and go catch a show some time!