Are we all still here, Mayans? Good!

Here’s your $64,000 question: What’s wild and woolly, hard to make sense of, and a troubling sign of uncertain days ahead?

What’s that? Andrew Bynum’s hair, you say? No, I’m so sorry. I was going for the Philadelphia 76ers season!

That’s especially true lately. The Sixers have been trying to hold it all together with would-be-superbig Bynum’s health status increasingly uncertain. Philadelphia went Bowling for Bynum this summer, taking what was then seen as a low-scale, high-profile risk for a young, potential Grade A superstar who was preparing for a non-invasive procedure on his gimpy knee in time for the start of an exciting season.

Fans were apparently sold on the prospect: the team’s attendance is Top 10 for the first time since the Iverson era. Today, they are increasingly convinced that the Sixers, still pilloried for the returns from trades of Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, and Brad Daugherty, just tossed another gutter ball. A report on Bynum’s status is due today. But unlike the off-season, when season tickets were heavily pushed, no promises of a timeline for his return to the court are expected.

With a sprained right foot shelving their leading scorer and playmaker, Jrue Holiday, for the past five games, the crack in Philly’s bell continues to widen. They’ve dropped all five games without Jrue, making their record 2-9 in December after an encouraging 10-6 start.

Evan Turner has been able to help produce some offense in Holiday’s hiatus, averaging 17.8 PPG and 5.2 APG in the first five games of this month. And thank goodness for that, as there’s no one aside from Turner with more than 1.5 assists per game on the roster. But now Turner is potentially sidelined, too, with a sprained ankle leaving him a gametime decision. You’d have to imagine at least one of Holiday and Turner will make an appearance on the Wells Fargo Center floor tonight. Without their two leading scorers and assist-makers, they’re left with The Youngs (Thaddeus and Nick) and the restless.

The only other traditional lead guard is former Hawk Royal Ivey, and he’s not getting much attention as he’s struggling with a strained groin. Coach Doug Collins was trying instead to shoehorn preseason star Maalik Wayns, an aggressive driving guard who had nine assists and no turnovers at Dallas on December 18, into the starting role. He was pulled after just 14 minutes against Houston (2 points, 1-for-5 shooting, no assists) on Wednesday. If Collins doesn’t trust his small guards, he’ll lean instead on his wings. The Youngs, plus Turner, Jason Richardson, Dorrell Wright and ex-Hawk Damien Wilkins, combined for 19 assists and just six turnovers against the Rockets.

The Sixers play at a low pace (90.3 possessions per 48 minutes, 24^th in NBA), but they get the fifth-most shots (84.0 field goal attempts per game). Taking care of the ball (11.9 turnovers per 100 possessions, 2^nd lowest in NBA) allows them to maximize their opportunity for a shot, even if it isn’t a terribly good one.

The passes in this offense are mostly for long-range two-pointers. The 76ers take the third most long-two shots (23.8 FGA per game from 16-to-23 feet) in the league. Almost everyone is in on the act, including forward-centers Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen, each taking as many shots taken from here as they have within 10 feet of the rim. Including starter-by-default Kwame Brown, the bigs themselves are not strong passers, either, and it’s tough to get them to participate fully in any pick-and-roll schemes.

The injured pair of Holiday and Turner represents Philly’s their most reliable defensive options as well. The wings will swipe and dive for steals, but beyond that, they’re having a tough time stopping people. They gave up a whopping 125 points to Houston, the third straight game a Sixer opponent went for triple digits. The Rockets managed 36 free throw attempts. Philly’s opponents have had at least 20 free throw shots eight times through ten games this month, after just six occasions in the first 16 games of November.

To match the versatility of Josh Smith, they’ll need a big game from Thaddeus Young (whose Twitter handle is ‘yungsmoove21’). His rebounding and shot blocks are up marginally, but while he fills up most of the stat sheet nightly, the longest-tenured Sixer really isn’t doing much to emerge from a leadership standpoint. We’re not one to criticize, but Thad’s free throw shooting is around 59%, down from 77% last year.

Without being able to generate many turnovers from Philly, Atlanta will have to deploy a steady rotation at the 2 and 3 spots, ready to defend all those Sixer spot-up jumpers from 15 feet and beyond. Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver will have to provide the defensive energy necessary to keep Sixer guards out the lane. In the frontcourt, the Hawks need to limit Philly’s second-chances, and attack the paint persistently to thin out their options.

Go Hawks!

~lw3