Deep into the Sixers schedule

Alright, so the Sixers schedule has been out for a few days now and I've already voiced my opinion on the lack of Nationally televised games, so we'll leave that alone, but I thought I'd dig even deeper into the schedule to see what we have to look forward to and what not to look forward to. I got this idea from the popular Portland TrailBlazers' blog, "Blazer's Edge". I saw their schedule breakdown and decided to put my own twist on it and break down the Sixers' schedule. Here it is:

October and November

Home games: 9

Away games: 8

Back-to-backs: 5 times

Division games: 4

Against teams with records at or above .500 last season: 7

Against teams with records below .500 last season: 10

Predicted record: 11-6

Degree of difficulty: C+

December

Home games: 6

Away games: 8

Back-to-backs: 4 times

Division games: 2

Against teams with records at or above .500 last season: 9

Against teams with records below .500 last season: 5

Predicted record: 8-6

Degree of difficulty: B

January

Home games: 8

Away games: 7

Back-to-backs: 4 times

Division games: 3

Against teams with records at or above .500 last season: 9

Against teams with records below .500 last season: 6

Predicted record: 9-6

Degree of difficulty: B+

February

Home games: 7

Away games: 5

Back-to-backs: 2 times

Division games: 3

Against teams with records at or above .500 last season: 5

Against teams with records below .500 last season: 7

Predicted record: 9-3

Degree of difficulty: C

March

Home games: 7

Away games: 8

Back-to-backs: 3 times

Division games: 1

Against teams with records at or above .500 last season: 7

Against teams with records below .500 last season: 8

Predicted record: 9-6

Degree of difficulty: B-

April

Home games: 4

Away games: 5

Back-to-backs: 3 times

Division games: 3

Against teams with records at or above .500 last season: 5

Against teams with records below .500 last season: 4

Predicted record: 4-5

Degree of difficulty: B

After adding up all my predictions, the final tally comes out at 50-32. That seems like a reasonable record. Keep in mind we're still a long ways from the season to start and we still have to go through training camp and pre-season. You never know what can happen, between now and the beginning of the season, just like Jason Smith's injury. You also cannot account for how team's will play next season. I'm sure before last season, no one predicted the Sixers and Hawks to be in the playoffs and the Heat to have the NBA's worst record, so take the record prediction for what it's worth.

Looking at it right now, the schedule looks pretty balanced. The toughest stretch seems to be in December and January. That could either be a good thing or a bad thing. Last year our toughest stretch was in March, which prepared us for the playoffs and helped us go in at our best. The worry with having your toughest stretch too early is an early peak. The Sixers are young and hungry though. I'm sure they won't be "cruising" at any point in the season. The toughest road trip comes in March anyway. It's a west coast trip and consists of trips to Staples to play the Lakers, Phoenix, Golden State, Sacramento and Portland. That should be a nice measuring stick on how good of team we are.

October can't come soon enough!