I figured I just do a Brotherly Link Love post today since it has been pretty depressing reading the Philly boards and comments coming off the whoopin’ Detroit laid on the Sixers last night. And I really don’t want to waste my time typing up game 6 adjustments since it’s pretty clear Mo Cheeks doesn’t make any. So here is a blend of 76ers and other posts of interest for you to check out.
The Mavs fired coach Avery Johnson today. This was a no-brainer for me. I have never thought of him as an elite coach, yet he was in charge of a high payroll team with championship potential. When it comes down to it, 0-9 in playoff road games since their 2-0 lead in the finals against Miami. That is enough to get the axe in my book.
Who is your NBA MVP this season? If you are still on the fence between the two front runners Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul, check out the write-up I did on our basketball blog Hoops State of Mind. That should set you straight.
If you actually want to read a decent game 5 recap that wasn’t as piss poor as my uninspired post from last night head over to Sixers 4 Guidos and Passion and Pride for a Philly angle. Or if you’re into reading what the enemy (just for this series) is talking about, hit up Need4Sheed for 35 little Rasheed Wallace heads worth of game recap. Natalie has some good quotes from post-game including a close up of Sammy’s head and explanation why decided to go Mr. T on us.
Enjoy.
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Not much to say after getting manhandled like that. This was the first game in the series the 76ers looked like they were completely out of their league and had no shot of winning.
Quick thoughts on the game:
Samuel Dalembert’s Tribal Warrior hair cut, as Pete called it, was good enough for 4 points and 6 rebounds in 30 minutes. I guess he was more prepared to go hunt some wild animals than play competitive basketball.
Great offensive execution by the Pistons combined again with poor pick-and-roll defense killed the 76ers in the half-court all game. Worst of all, it helped get Chauncey Billups back on his game with open jumpers and driving lanes. He had 17 points and 7 assists in the first half alone. He finished the game with 21 points and 11 assists, effectively quieting the people ready to take his nickname away.
Andre Iguodala was back to his regular season form. 21 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds on 61.5% shooting. Too bad it was soured by his 6 very bad turnovers and poor team performance. Let’s hope that doesn’t deter him from continuing to play better on offense in game 6.
Andre Miller was off. He had good looks especially in close. Just one of those games. Nothing more to it.
Detroit’s offensive execution was pretty much unstoppable - props to the Pistons for coming out and playing a very strong game.
The Sixers 3pt defense was especially horrible. I don’t think anyone closed out on shooters.
Was it me or did it feel like 12 points was the threshold the Sixers could never overcome?
How the hell does a team shoot 80% for an entire quarter?
The Sixers shoot 79% from the line, get 12 steals, force 17 Detroit turnovers, are even on the boards and lose by 17. That is just scary.
I knew it was bad when I started playing poker online and stopped paying attention to the game.
But the series is only 3-2, and we still have another game to play. The Pistons did what they were supposed to do now; it’s the 76ers’ turn to hold serve at home. The more I think about it the more I like the proposition of playing a deciding game in Detroit. For one I don’t think our young guys feel any playoff pressure at all. They seem pretty immune to it actually. All the pressure will be on the Pistons. A first round exit could mean the firing of their coach and thoughts of reworking their aging roster. And I wouldn’t put it past them to implode if the game is close or they trial throughout.
I again will be at the Wachovia Center for game 6 cheering hard for the 76ers to force a 7th game back in Detroit. Hope everyone has or is getting their tickets to continue the support. You can still get great tickets on StubHub.com! That is where I bought mine. If you will be at the game come check me out in Section 103, row 15.
Feel free to vent or focus on game 6 in the comments.
Let me start by saying that the Eagles have earned my trust in the draft even if they don’t do what I think they should have done. Why? Because 18 of 22 starters in 2008 will be players they have drafted, and it could be 19 of 22 if Victor Abiamiri beats out Juqua Parker (formerly Juqua Thomas) for the starting DE spot. They have built primarily through the draft and have been more consistently competitive than 90% of the NFL since Andy Reid took the reigns. If I was a Lions fan? I think I’d be a little more critical if I disagreed with a pick. Right now - I’ll give my opinions, but wait to see how things play out before I get too upset. OK - on to the analysis
Pick #19(1st Round) - Traded to Carolina for Pick #43 (2nd Round), Pick #109 (4th Round) and Carolina’s 2009 1st Round Pick.
If you followed the mock drafts and rumors leading up to the draft, you were absolutely certain that the Eagles were going to take OT Jeff Otah here. I was even excited we didn’t have to trade up to get him. Instead, the Eagles manage to shock us once again andtrade out of the first round for the 2nd straight year. Personally, I was disappointed we didn’t take Otah, who would clearly fit a need. That is, until I saw what we got. I’ll let Sports Illustrated’s Peter King take it from here:
The Eagles always ask for too much in trade. Always… They were able to auction off the 19th pick in the draft for a mind-boggling sum, which they got from Carolina — second- and fourth-round picks this year andthe Panthers’ first-round pick next year. On the draft-trade chart, the 19th-overall pick is worth 875 points. If you assign Carolina an average 2008 season and give them the 16thpick in the first roundnext year, this trade will be worth 1,546 points on the trade chart — almost double what the 19thpick is worth.
And that’s only IF they Panthers are decent next year. Personally, I think they could be terrible and that pick may end up top 10. Otah would have been nice, but you HAVE to make that trade, that was highway robbery.
Pick #43 (2nd Round) - Traded to Minnesota with Pick #152 (5th Round) for Pick #47 (2nd Round) and Pick #117 (4th Round)
Move down 4 spots, get the same guy you wanted, and move up 35 spots in the later rounds. I like these trades.
FINALLY! After about 5 hours of drinking, I mean, waiting, the Eagles fans have a player. I recently graduated from Notre Dame, and don’t miss a single play, so I can honestly say I’ve seen every down of football Trevor Laws played in college. Here is what you are going to get: A very, very strong player with an incredible motor who NEVER quits on a play. During ND’s disastrous season last year, Laws played every down like it was the BCS Championship and as a result led the team in tackles as a DT and led the nation in tackles by a d-lineman all while being keyed in on by opposing offensive lines. He was “unblockable” at the Senior Bowl, and has an incredible knack for blocking field goals, with 3 blocks last year. During my time at ND, the only better d-lineman we had was Anthony Weaver, now on the Texans. Laws was better (at ND) than Victor Abiamiri (Eagles), Justin Tuck (Giants) and Derek Landri (Jaguars). DT might not have been a big need, but Eagles fans will love Trevor Laws.
Pick #49 (2nd Round) - DeSean Jackson, WR, California
I love this pick. Jackson is so fast and has such playmakingability, he was projecting in the first round the entire year despite his ridiculously small frame (5′9”, 169 lbs). Jackson will immediately be a game changer in the return game, and could very well develop into a Santana Moss-type threat. Scouts Inc. had him as the 26th overall prospect, and the 3rd best receiver, so getting him at #49 was a steal - and will also put a big time chip on his shoulder to prove himself.
Pick #80 (3rd Round) - Bryan Smith, DE, McNeese State
Meh. I know I said to trust the Eagles because of how many of their starters were drafted by Reid, but, let’s look at the schools from which their starting defense was drafted. Cincinnati, Florida State, USC, Oklahoma St., Tennessee, Nebraska, Clemson, Boise St., UCF, South Carolina and Cal Poly. That’s 10 D-1A schools and Chris Gocong. The only other player from a small school who saw the field last year was undrafted LB AkeemJordan. My point is not that you shouldn’t draft small school players, but I don’t think you should reach for them in the 3rd round when there are other quality players available andyou can likely take the same player in a later round. There were a lot of good defensive backs on the board here and I was disappointed they didn’t take one. Smith is very small and could be a good situational pass rusher, but I’d be surprised if he ends up being worthy of Pick #80.
Pick #109 (4th Round), #184 (6th Round) and #230 (7th Round) -Mike McGlynn, OT, Pitt - Mike Gibson, OG, Cal - King Dunlap, OT, Auburn
I bunched these guys all together because they are all now in the care of one of the Eagles best assets, OL Coach Juan Castillo. Castillo has taken many low round picks and turned them into good offensive lineman in the past, and I’d bet he can do the same with one of these guys. The most intriguing of these is Dunlap, who is absolutely MASSIVE human being, at 6′9” 310. Apparently his technique is poor, but he has a lot of potential.
Pick #115 (Round 4) - Traded to Miami for Lorenzo Booker, RB
This was another good Day 1 move. Booker went in the 3rd Round just last season, had a good year for rookie RB and we get him for a 4th rounder. Booker is extremely talented, he was the #1 player in the country coming out of high school but his college career fell short of expectations due to a horrible O-Line and O-Coordinator at Florida State. He has good speed and can line up in the slot as a RB. His versatility makes him an immediate upgrade to our running game and I think this move has the potential to be a real steal.
Pick #117 (4th Round) - Quintin Demps, FS, UTEP
This was the only 2nd day pick I liked. Demps has the athletic ability to be a starter in this league, and safety was definitely a position where we need somebody we can develop for a year or two. And judging from his comments upon being drafted, he certainly isn’t short on confidence.
I am a playmaker. If the Eagles wanted a playmaker, they got one as a steal in the draft. I am going to take what I can from Dawkins and just come in there to play with passion. I am not a Pro Bowl player; I’m a Super Bowl player. I am ready to go. I am fired up.
QUINTIN DEMPS IS FIRED UP! If he’s this fired up on draft day, he might injure someone on the first day of training camp.
Pick #131 (4th Round) - Jack Ikegwuonu, CB, Wisconsin
I’m not really sure how you can defend taking this guy here. Ikegwuonu is currently facing a felony charge of residential burglary and criminal trespass, but it’s OK, because he’ll have the entire year to get that sorted out while he is recovering from the ACL surgery he just had. Andy Reid said that this guy has the talent to be a 1st round pick, and Tom Heckert said he would have been a 2nd rounder based on talent, so they clearly think they got a steal here. However, we need CB help THIS year, andwho knows whether or not his legal problems are fully behind him and/or he can make a full recovery from his surgery. Had they not used their 3rd rounder on a project as well, I would probably feel a lot better about taking a risk here.
Pick #200 (6th Round) and Pick #203 (6th Round) - Joe Mays, LB, North Dakota St. and Andy Studebaker, LB/DE, Wheaton
OK - HERE is where you should be taking flyers on small school prospects. Chances are neither of these players will ever see the field for the Eagles, but I don’t mind taking these kind of players this late. You never know how their game will translate, and you might end up witha diamond in the rough. Considering you probably have a better chance of finding a gem in the unsigned FA pool, might as well take a chance here.
Overall Thoughts: I really liked the Eagles first day of the draft. If you had told me going in that they would end up with DeSeanJackson in the first round andTrevor Laws in the second, I would have been OK withthat. But, we managed to get both of them while also picking up a 1st, 2nd and 4th ndpick. I also think the trade for Booker was a solid move. On the second day, the Eagles picked up too many developmental prospects. This team went 8-8 last year and isn’t quite as well off as the Front Office seems to think it is. Grabbing a player or two on day 2 that could help in 2008 would have been smart. Finally, the Eagles lose some points for not yet trading Lito Sheppard. There is no way this is going to work out if they keep him. The longer they keep him, the worse it will get. Hopefully they can get the rumored deal with the Jaguars done.
Winning game 5 in Detroit is critical for the 76ers’ upset bid mainly to avoid the pressure of having to win a game 7 against the PIstons on the road. I hate thinking about that scenario for our young Sixers who missed an opportunity to show their killer instinct Sunday night.
Although I have very little confidence that the 76ers will make significant adjustments for game 5, here are my thoughts if I was Mo Cheeks.
Line Up
Strongest: Samuel Dalembert - Reggie Evans - Thaddeus Young - Andre Iguodala - Andre Miller
Early on most people liked this line up in order to hopefully get Tayshaun Prince off of Andre Iguodala. I like this group because it may be our most effective “big” line up and I think we can dominate the boards with it. Also, it forces Flip Saunders to make a host of decisions. Like poker, when you force the opposing coach to make multiple adjustments and decisions, you increase the likelihood that a wrong move is made. Do you keep Prince on Iggy and just double Thaddeus in the post? Take your chances with Rip guarding Iggy? If you were Saunders how would you defend this line up?
Extreme: Samuel Dalembert - Reggie Evans - Thaddeus Young - Willie Green - Andre Miller
Wow, no Andre Iguodala in the starting line up? Why not? Nothing is working to get him out of this funk, if we believe that’s all it is and not that he simply isn’t good enough. Let’s see if he can come in and play the Manu Ginobili role in game 5. Would it work? Who knows, but I gotta think it’s worth a try. My only concern is with his confidence. I don’t really know the type of player he is and how he would respond to this. He could sulk and stink it up even more. Or hopefully he would take it as a reality check and a challenge and play better. Your guess is as good as mine, but I figured I’d throw the idea out there. I thought about starting Jason Smith instead of Reggie, but I am more concerned with rebounding than anything else. And I am worried Smith would get pushed around.
Offense
First and foremost we need to start the game going to Andre Miller and Thaddeus Young in a variety of ways.
Andre Miller in the post
Thaddeus Young on the perimeter against a bigger, slower defender
Let’s see if Detroit 1. can stop either of those match-ups one-on-one and 2. if they double team and free up guys for open jump shots and cuts to the basket.
Pick and roll/pop with Miller and Young.
I love this because I don’t see how Detroit can effectively defend it. If they trap the pick and roll like they have been all series, I’d rather have Miller making the passes in hopes of less turnovers and better decision-making. That will then open Young up for open 15-17 footers, which he has been hitting. If they switch it well, I would first go to Thad in the post on Billups. If we can’t get it in, I like Miller taking the big off the dribble all day.
If we are going to try and get Iguodala going, Mo Cheeks and the Sixers need to learn some lessons from what the Atlanta Hawks did in the 4th quarter to free up Joe Johnson. Whenever they set a high ball screen they used Mike Bibby as the screener. That forced Boston to either switch and give Johnson a big mismatch on Rondo. But what happened more often was Rondo was scared to leave Bibby open so Johnson got a little edge on Ray Allen and killed him. Plus, wouldn’t we like Iggy kicking out to our best passer and decision maker if they do double trap?
Defense
Cheeks needs to make a decision on how they are going to play the pick and roll defense. The optimal strategy would be for our perimeter players to fight hard over the screen since all the Detroit guards can hit the three. That means Sammy, Reggie, Smith and Young must aggressively show high and force the ball handler to go away from the basket until our guards get back in position then close out to Sheed and McDyess hard. Those guys have yet to pump fake and drive to the basket. They don’t want to do that. They prefer to shoot that jumper. Let’s take it away and see how that works out to start.
Keys to a 76ers Victory
Energy
Rebounding
Defense
Those factors put the 76ers in the best situation to play their style of ball. If the game grinds to a halt like it did in the 3rd quarter Sunday night, I don’t think they can win that way in Detroit. That is unless Andre Iguodala can summon a Joe Johnson or Kobe Bryant-like performance from last night.
OK, guys, I just got back from the Sixers game tonight, and I am still a little hot by the way they played in the second half. This game was the classic tale of two halves, and the 76ers picked the wrong one to show up for. Best way to describe this game is - missed opportunity. They had the Pistons by the balls, and tonight was the game they needed to squeeze the crap out of them. Instead they let a dangerous Detroit team right back into this series giving the home court advantage right back to the Pistons.
What’s so frustrating is how they can play a near-perfect half of basketball then never really come back out of the locker room after halftime. How did they take a 46-36 lead into the half? The defense was phenomenal. Everyone contested every single shot the Pistons took. They helped each other out when a teammate got beat, and the rotations were flawless. That defensive intensity held Detroit to only 36 first half points and 37.5% shooting. Unfortunately, the first half is all they decided to play.
Thoughts from the game
I have never in my life heard and seen a crowd go as nuts as the Sixers fans did when Andre Iguodala hit his first jumper. That in of itself should tell you how bad he is playing right now.
Reggie Evans came back to Earth and had his worst game of the series. In 19 minutes he had 2 points, 3 rebounds and 3 turnovers. What’s worst was his horrendous defense especially on the pick and pop. Evans looked like a chicken with his head cut off, literally running around in circles trying to find his man. He was completely lost, like he didn’t know his rotations, and that left Rasheed and McDyess wide open for easy jump shot after easy jump shot. And they nailed them. Sheed’s three’s were like daggers to the heart in the 3rd quarter.
Jason Smith played great in limited action in the first half.
The fans didn’t come back for the beginning of the second half which didn’t help the Sixers cause as the Pistons started out on fire.
At first glance I thought the Sixers were horrible from the free throw line. But in actuality it was really just Andre Iguodala who sucked. Take his 4-9 out and the rest of the team shot 83% from the line. Take out Iguodala’s dismal 4-16 shooting the rest of the 76ers shot a whopping 53% from the field. Why his this dude still shooting? Why did he play 46 freakin’ minutes? Your guess is as good as mine.
The Pistons came out in the second half and played their style of ball. Physical on defense and methodical on offense. Their traps on the pick and roll were suffocating and helped force 11 Sixers turnovers in the second half. On offense they went in to Sheed, ran Hamilton off 15 million screens (by the way, respect Rip Hamilton! He is easily the best off-the-ball offensive player in the NBA), and ran the pick and pop with Billups and Sheed to perfection.
I have read a bunch of people ripping Samuel Dalembert. Why? He had 12 points, 12 boards shot 6-6 from the line and all on only 5 shot attempts! He didn’t get the open 15-footers because Detroit made the necessary adjustments. Like I said their traps were better and that allowed better rotation to the shooters. And it wasn’t Sammy that Sheed was scoring on; it was Evans. In the first half Sheed was only 2-6 with Dalembert on him much of that time. He was 0-2 in the fourth quarter with Sammy defending. It was the third quarter he went off, when Reggie was in the game.
Key moment in the 4th quarter came when we were down 13 points and finally stopped Rip from scoring on great defense by Willie Green forcing an air ball. That started the break where Andre Iguodala bulled right into Hamilton, who actually got back after his air ball unlike Iggy did in the previous game. Took the charge and likely ended the Sixers comeback push.
Finally, why the hell did Cheeks take Willie Green out of the game with 3:36 remaining after he had just broke down Rip for two straight layups? Answer: to put in a rookie (Rodney Carney) for a designed play to get a three. Bad coaching In my opinion. 1. Why go away from the guy that is semi-hot? 2. Why run a designed play for a rookie in a pressure sitation when Green could have served the same purpose? The result was Carney forcing up a horrible three-point attempt that nearly broke the backboard. That’s what happens when an inexperienced player is asked to to do too much. Instead of realizing he didn’t have the shot and deviate, he acted like a robot went through with it even though it clearly wasn’t there.
After the aforementioned situation I saw Willie Green, who was visibly pissed he was taken out, cheering the team on in the huddle and patting guys on the head spurring them on to not give up. That was about all the leadership I could find in the game, and it came from the guy most Sixers fans despise.
Tracking Andre Iguodala
After the 76ers’ game 3 win I talked about Andre Iguodala’s offense. I don’t feel the need to repeat what I said already. Tonight he did nothing but further prove his inadequacies on offense.
Tayshaun Prince is 19-21 from the field in the last two games. Now as a basketball player the first thing I think when I see something like that is: “Who the hell is guarding that guy?” Answer: Andre Iguodala. So let’s talk about his defense real quick.
I will make another bold statement Sixers fans probably won’t like: Andre Iguodala is NOT one of the best defenders in the NBA. He is a decent defender at best, but nothing special by any means. And certainly not consistently good on the defensive end. I think people are still living in the past regarding his defense. When he first came in the league he was a very good defender with the potential to be great. Why? His role and his focus with the real AI on the team was to be a lock-down defender and help protect Iverson’s size disadvantage and gambling style of play. As his offensive responsibilities increased his defense has decreased in kind. He often takes plays off on defense (he definitely did tonight), and he doesn’t work very hard off the ball on defense at all. I think we can stop making excuses for Iguodala at this point. His man is having no problem scoring and playing shut-down defense on him at the same time. Simply put - Andre Iguodala is flat out getting exposed in all aspects of his game during this playoff series. And with that I bet he can see dollar signs quickly flying out of his next contract. As he should.
Unrelated to the team, let me just rant about the fans (if you can call them that) who sucked.
With the 76ers down 13 and just over 3 minutes remaining in the game half of the people (NOT FANS) began to leave the Wachovia Center. I was in complete shock when I saw this and since I was sitting in an end seat I started screaming at them “THERE ARE STILL 3 MINUTES LEFT” as they looked at me like I was the crazy one. Disgraceful. I was sitting in section 102 which is behind the Sixers’ bench, and I could see the players watching everyone filing out of the arena. As a player that is deflating and doesn’t make you look forward to coming home on Thursday when the home crowd blatantly gives up on you. We need to coin a new term for fans like that. Do you guys have any ideas?
I don’t know about you but I am already looking for tickets for game 6 on Thursday whether our team wins or loses on Tuesday in Detroit. I know what most people are doing. Waiting to see if they win in Detroit before they even consider buying tickets for game 6. Why? No faith, no belief and no confidence in the Sixers.
This is what happens when you only play 24 minutes of good basketball in the playoffs. I was amazed how fast our 10-point halftime lead disappeared in the blink of an eye. But let’s move on to the current situation. We are back to the beginning again. Now we have a 3-game series with Detroit holding the home court advantage. Steal one on the road again like they did in game one. (Note: I do not mean steal one from the almighty Detroit Pistons who are sooooo much better then our often called scrub Sixers.) Then come back Thursday and take care of business at home. The Sixers can beat them, but our guys need to put together full games and Cheeks has to make the necessary adjustments in order to do it.
I just saw this commercial during the Boston/Atlanta game. It was the first time I saw one with a Philly player so I figured I would share it with you guys.
And by the way, this is what he should have said on PTI the other day.
Do you think the Detroit Pistons and their faithful have changed their tune about the underdog Sixers after last nights blasting?
ogrady500 on the ESPN Detroit Pistons message board:
“No respect is deserved. The Sixers are a little more than a collection of scrubs, but at least they are putting forth an effort, which is more than I can say for the disgraceful Pistons.
This is about the Pistons playing like complete A-Holes and has almost ZERO to do with anything the Sixers are doing.”
“They’re not supposed to be where they’re at,” Pistons guard Chauncey Billups said. “They’re up 2-1 against a team nobody thought they could beat. I could understand why they’re happy.”
Umm, 11.3ppg, 4.7apg, 3.3rpg, 31% from the field and 25% from three. Mister Billups, I think you need to check yourself because looking at those numbers it appears YOU’RE not supposed to be where you’re at!
The Piston Post is calling last nights game - Humiliation. But may be changing their tune regarding how much better Detroit is than the Sixers.
This has been stressed, and I agreed with it: The Pistons are a better team than the 76ers, they’re just not playing up to par. Well, now I’m not so sure. How good can a team be when it works so hard to grab a comeback, statement Game 2 win, only to get absolutely annihilated in Game 3.
Was there no lesson to be learned? Or are the playoff-seasoned Pistons just too experienced to have any lessons left to learn on the playoff stage?
The fact that the Sixers were able to destroy the Pistons with our leading scorer ending the game with only 10 points and 6 turnovers speaks to Detroit’s deterioration.
“i respect the philly team and the philly coaching staff immensely. i just don’t respect philly basketball fans right now. they’ve had one of the BEST stories in the nba all season and they still haven’t shown up. even one of the 76ers beat writers admitted today that he didn’t expect this from the team so he had a vacation in disneyworld to go to for games 1 and 2. what kind of “alleged” basketball city is that? the truth of the matter is philadelphia doesn’t deserve this sixers team. and the sad part is that detroit fans don’t deserve this sham of a pistons squad either.”
Guys any idea who that 76ers beat writer is if that comment is accurate? That is pretty sad if it’s true.
———————
I give the 76ers 100% credit for beating Detroit. They have been given nothing. The Sixers could easily have been that inexperienced team that goes down 15 in game one and folds. Then go on to get swept and think it’s not a big deal because no one expected them to win anyway. They didn’t and are giving the Detroit Pistons the business right now.
With that said I think most of us agree Detroit is the more talented team, although this series is proving that to be slightly less true. But I think Detroit fans needs to face facts. The Pistons don’t come to play every game anymore, and you can’t win like that in the playoffs. The Sixers are very young and don’t have as much experience as Detroit, but they sure do work harder. And there is something to be said for effort beating out talent, especially in the NBA where everyone is a pro. That used to be a signature of the Detroit Pistons, but not anymore, evidenced by 1-6 in the last 7 playoff games to perceived lesser opponents. No need for Piston fans to jump off the ledge just yet (wait until after the game on Sunday), but I think Detroit fans should finally come to the realization that they can get beat in this series by the same thing that made them so great during their title run - hard work and defense.
Where do you start when your team comes off a disappointing playoff loss and plays the best game you could have asked for? I am beyond proud of our Philadelphia 76ers after tonight’s performance. The Sixers came out right from the tap and jumped all over the Detroit Pistons. They completely dominated every aspect of the game for 48 minutes. The result: a 95-75 dismantling of the Detroit Pistons.
Game Notes
This game was unlike either of the first two in that the Sixers finally maintained their great start. They opened up on a 6-0 run with 5 offensive rebounds in the first six minutes and never really looked back.
A few things really stood out to me:
Detroit looked slow, sluggish, unmotivated (except Hamilton and Prince) and overall like they could just walk into our building and win without putting forth maximum effort. Sorry, Detroit, we don’t get down like that here in Philly. If they expect to beat the Sixers, they will need to bring their A-game as they did in game 2.
The defensive intensity for the 76ers was at a very high level to start the game forcing 11 turnovers in the first half. Then got even better in the 3rd quarter. The Sixers suffocated the Pistons into 2-12 shooting for the quarter, and the Pistons were unable to convert a field goal for over 12 minutes going into the fourth quarter. This was by far the best defensive performance I have seen all year. The key: active hands and, more importantly, relentless contesting of shots. The thing I noticed all year watching the Boston Celtics’ defense was they contest every single shot not matter how open a shooter looked. The Sixers did exactly that in the 3rd quarter tonight. Detroit had decent looks at times, but in the corner of their eye was a 76er player flying by with a hand up. When a team has more turnovers than assists at the end of the game you know you played as well as you could. It was a pleasure to watch that type of effort and focus on the defensive end.
It was back to their rebounding ways for the Sixers. Winning that battled 43-34 and holding Detroit to only 7 offensive rebounds while grabbing 11 of their own.
I could go on and on about everything the Sixers did well, but I will let you guys discuss in the comments.
Reggie Evans, Reggie Evans, Reggie Evans!
Why is he playing out of his mind right now? Maybe because the last time he was in the playoffs with Denver in 2005 his minutes decreased from 23mpg to 13mpg. He averaged a remarkable 8.7 boards in only 23mpg in the 26 games playing for Denver after being traded from Seattle. He was a major reason the Nuggets even made the playoffs that season. Then he had his starting job taken by Thaddeus Young and his minutes decreased at the end of the season this year. Can you say chip on his shoulder? Evans is the ultimate “glue” guy, and at only 27-years-old, I now feel much more comfortable that we have him locked up for three more years after this year.
Samuel Dalembert - Look who finally showed up
When Samuel Dalembert is playing with this face:
You know he is on top of his game.
Sammy had 22 points, 16 boards and played outstanding defense all game. The Sixers dominated the battle of the paint with our bigs outscoring Detroit’s bigs 21-8 in the first half and 43-12 for the game.
The game was never in question
Detroit started the 4th quarter with 5 team fouls in the first 2 minutes and 36 seconds. Combine that with hot-shooting Rip Hamilton on the bench with 5 personals, and it was a wrap. Now it was just a matter of how much would they win by. This was probably the most relaxing playoff game I’ve watched of a home team in recent memory.
Now for the bad…
Was it me or did the crowd SUCK to start the game? They provided no home court advantage whatsoever in the first half. Thank god for Reggie Evans’ energy to start and maintain the momentum during the game. We definitely need to do a better job out the gate as fans in game 4. I’ll be sure to do my part since I will be on hand to watch us go up 3-1.
Tracking Andre Iguodala’s Offense (lack thereof)
First Half
0-4 on Jumpers (2 air balls) (bricks lead to two fast break dunks)
0-1 on Post ups (horrendous fadeaway)
1-1 on Drives
1st half summary: 1-6 from the field, 5 pretty bad jump shots, 2 air balls and 4 points given up by not getting back on Prince after forcing up terrible top of the key jumpers.
Second Half
0-1 on Jumpers
0-0 on Post ups
1-2 on Drives (not technically a miss but a dropped (easy) alley-oop that would have gotten the crowd (finally) fired up and given the Sixers a 12-point lead)
2nd half summary: Let’s just thank Andre Iguodala for not shooting much of the second half. Instead he decided to work his turnover total up to 6 for the game.
Ok real talk. I am going to say it - Andre Iguodala is an extremely overrated/not that goodoffensive player. His inability to not only get a good shot but make a shot in 3 games in the playoffs is not only incomprehensible but completely unacceptable. Does he have a strong defensive player on him? Sure, but so does Andre Miller. Billups is a very good defender and strong as well, yet Miller is able to get any shot he wants in this series.
Not only is Iguodala’s offensive skill set (ball handling, post up and overall shooting ability) inadequate, but I have to question something everyone seems to believe is a strong point of his. Basketball IQ. His shot selection is poor, he doesn’t use screens well and he doesn’t know how to adjust his game when 1. his shot isn’t falling and 2. he has a good defender on him. I honestly can’t come to any other conclusion except that Andre Iguodala simply is not that good. Forget being a #1, 2, 3 whatever, he has been incapable of doing anything productive to help this team win. Thank god the other guys realize that and have basically moved on without him.
Player of the Game: Samuel Dalembert
This was more than another wake up call for the Pistons and their fans. It was a clear message that the Sixers have come to play and are not going anywhere. This is a series. If you didn’t think or believe that after the game 1 win there should be little doubt now. And not only is this a series, this IS the Sixers’ series. I view this as the turning point. The opportunity to officially move from the depths of mediocrity to the heights of an elite team in the Eastern Conference. Can you feel it?
Back in December, I listed the things that I really wanted for Christmas. #1 was that in the off-season, the Eagles trade for a true top-flight receiver and give Donovan McNabb one last chance with a wide array of weapons.
Clearly, as of yet, the Eagles have not done so. But what’s worse than not getting what you want? Being told you MIGHT get what you want, about a million different times, getting your hopes up, and then crashing violently back to earth. Let’s recap:
“Moss was almost an Eagle,” March 3rd
The Boston Herald is reporting that Randy Moss came within a hair of signing with the Philadelphia Eagles. Quoting a source, the newspaper’s Web site said that Moss and the Eagles negotiated throughout the weekend and that Philadelphia thought it had him locked down at one point.
Larry Fitzgerald rumors, March 8th
The Larry Fitzgerald-to-the-Eagles trade scenario takes on new intrigue daily, with a report surfacing Friday that the Eagles have submitted a trade offer to Arizona to obtain the Pro Bowl wide receiver. The Cardinals and Fitzgerald have hit an impasse in contract renegotiations, according to The Arizona Republic, which also reported that the Eagles have offered cornerback Lito Sheppard and wide receiver Reggie Brown as trade bait with hopes of forcing the Cardinals to deal away the wideout if they can’t reach an agreement to restructure his contract.
What about the other, now underpaid, Cardinals WR?
The Cardinals’ salary spotlight shifted instantly to wide receiver Anquan Boldin, who is scheduled to be paid considerably less than his receiving counterpart. Last season, the Cardinals offered Boldin a contract extension, and here’s the key fact to consider: Boldin told them he wanted to wait for Larry Fitzgerald to finalize his new deal. Now that he has, it dwarfs Boldin’s, whose average annual salary is three to four times less than Fitzgerald’s. Philadelphia, Washington and Dallas have explored the possibility of acquiring a big-name wide receiver, only to find that there aren’t any readily available. Now those teams could wind up exploring Boldin’s availability.
Roy Williams? Apparently he should have been traded this week.
Mike Quick who is the analyst for the Eagles games with Merrill Reese says there will be news about Roy Williams before the week is out. Mike Quick says he thinks the Birds are going to make a major move at the wide receiver position. He talked about Roy Williams and the potential that the Eagles will make a deal to acquire a wide receiver. He says there will be news on Roy Williams before the week is out. That means the Cowboys, Redskins or the Eagles will probably wind up with the receiver before the week is out.
What about a WR DEMANDING a trade? Mr. Ocho Cinco?
The Bengals have not only rejected the Redskins, but two other NFC East suitors — the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles — have been informed that there has been no change in the team’s position that Johnson’s contract will remain with the Bengals.
Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald, Roy Williams, Anquan Boldin and Chad Johnson. Those are 5 of the top 10 WR in the NFL, and the Eagles made a play for all of them. Each time, each rumor, Eagles fans hearts leapt, and they got visions of the pre-Super Bowl offseason when we acquired Jevon Kearse and Terrell Owens. Each time the rumors didn’t amount to anything. Can you remember any team, any off-season being linked to SO many high-end players and landing none of them?
It’s nice to know that the Eagles did make this a priority, but to those of us who religiously follow the rumor mills, it has certainly been an offseason full of disappointment. Considering there is a 90% chance the Eagles will package picks and overpay to move up and take an OT in the first round, things aren’t looking like they will get much more exciting.
Guys, I need some help here. I had a championship basketball game last night at 8 p.m. in my winter bball league. Meaning I missed the entire first half and 3 minutes into the third quarter.
What the hell happened?
When I finally got in front of a TV, the score was 58-38 with about 9 minutes and some change left in the 3rd. Luckily we won our championship game so I wasn’t as pissed as I would have been looking at the final score of 105-88. I can’t exactly do a real game recap and analysis without watching the entire game, but looking at the boxscore, highlights and going through the play-by-play here are some thoughts:
The Sixers needed to win some key battles that they clearly didn’t last night.
Rebounding - Overall they were out rebounded by 8. They did a great job on the offensive boards (19), but judging by the score and number of field goals (32) that didn’t equate to significant second chance points. My next thought is they grabbed all these tough offensive boards inside then got fouled. But they only shot 65.7% (23-35) from the line, so even if that were the case, they didn’t convert at a high rate. This could kill the Sixers. They got to the line 20 more times than the Pistons, yet they continue to leave free points on the table.
Fast break points - 10-7 in my book is not an advantage especially when this area is more important for the Sixers than it is for the Pistons. 10 total fast break points for a team predicated on running simply won’t get it done against a motivated Detroit team playing tough half-court defense.
Defensive intensity - How do you go from giving up 86 points in game one to 105 in game two? Holding Detroit to 39% from the field to 55% in game two? Sure, the Pistons probably executed better, but a 19-point difference and 16% increase in field goal defense screams a lack of effort on the Sixers part at that end of the floor. Only one guy who played 25+ minutes on Detroit shot less than 50% from the field. That is simply disgraceful.
Could someone please let Andre Iguodala know the playoffs have started? PLEASE. My god, man, 1-9 from the field, 4 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists in game two. Did he do anything in this game? 5-24 in the first two games combined. Way to pick the perfect time to hit a slump. Rather, remind everyone why you aren’t a number 1, or even half a max-deal player. I could go on and on about this dude. But I will wait until after the season when it’s really time to evaluate the team in the summer. But he said something on PTI yesterday that bothered me. They asked him if a part of him was surprised they beat Detroit in the first game. Iguodala’s first response was “Going into the game I believed we can win.” But then he wavered with a few comments about Detroit and said “It had a little bit of a surprised feeling.” I am probably overreacting, but that is a punk ass statement I would never want to hear from a player on a team I support. Let alone the so-called best player on the team. Here is the clip if you missed it:
Did Mo and the Sixers make any offensive adjustments for game two? Didn’t look like it to me. Same ol’ thing: give Andre Iguodala the ball and expect him to score one-on-one against Tayshaun Prince. That is not going to work. He isn’t good enough to win that battle consistently. Every shot I saw him take was contested by Prince’s long arms. The fact that the Sixers only had 10 turnovers but scored so poorly says the current offensive strategy isn’t working very well. And if it wasn’t for all the offensive boards we would have been beat by at least 30. I’d rather not rely on offensive rebounding and fast breaking alone in the playoffs. I’d like to feel more confident that guys can get good shots, and in my opinion, that will need to come through better strategy execution. Not one-on-one play.
Game 3 Adjustments
Mo must find a way for Iguodala to get matched up on Richard Hamilton more often. How? Set more guard-to-guard screens where the Pistons are more likely to just switch that screen rather than Prince fighting through it. Do that block-to-block so Iggy can get down in the post and get easier shot attempts over a smaller defender. Change the line-up. Put Iggy at the two and Thaddeus Young at the three. I wasn’t big on this at the beginning of the series, but now I think we have a better reason to do it. Now you force Flip to decide which guy Hamilton has to guard. I think Young can score on Rip in the post and may even draw a double team. Or Saunders would play the traditional defense of SG vs. SG and just match up Rip on Iggy - that is the match up we need.
What was the feel that you guys got from players? Did they look like they were just content with getting the split in Detroit and had already started thinking about getting back to Philly? That is something I definitely thought about and could see from an inexperienced team who has yet to develop a killer instinct in the playoffs.
The good thing: We still stole one in Detroit and now have the homecourt advantage. It will be up to Cheeks and our poor man’s #1 option to make sure we maintain that advantage. That worries me.
Winning game 5 in Detroit is critical for the 76ers’ upset bid mainly to avoid the pressure of having to win a game 7 against the PIstons on the road. I hate thinking about that scenario for our young Sixers who missed an opportunity to show their killer instinct Sunday night.
Guys, I need some help here. I had a championship basketball game last night at 8 p.m. in my winter bball league. Meaning I missed the entire first half and 3 minutes into the third quarter.
