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.
5 comments ↓
I’m just furious at Cheeks for not trying different things. When the other team is on a run, it doesn’t hurt to try and throw a different player in.
We’ve all discussed the line-ups, but I agree it’s pointless at this point.
The refs are jobbing the Sixers in this series, calling charging fouls on the Sixers when they are on a fast break is complete nonsense. In none of those instances had the Detroit defender established position. How can they, in a fast-break situation, where everyone is running as fast as they can? That’s the only way the Pistons can get success out of the Sixers running, when the refs reward them for getting in the way!
The Sixers simply failed to stay with Detroit, they stopped executing on offense, and got very lazy. Andre Miller having an off-game wouldn’t have been so bad, if Cheeks had substituted for him! He continued to make mistake after mistake, trying to force things.
Jason Smith and Thad Young both deserve more minutes than they are getting. Cheeks should really try that big line-up with Smith and Dalembert to keep Maxiell off the boards.
I like having Rodney Carney in the game, his size and athleticism seem to bother Detroit’s guards.
If Andre Miller had a good game, things might have been very different, the Sixers depend on him too much, thanks to Cheeks holding back Lou Williams. You have to substitute out a player who’s struggling, it never hurts the player to step back for a minute and think things out.
If you want to stop the Sixers, all you have to do is stop Andre Miller. It looks like Detroit figured that out, or maybe Andre just had a bad game.
I’ll be at game 6 tomorrow as well, 1st row, Section 212.
This game the Sixers backs are to the wall, it’s time for them to respond, they need their resiliency now more than ever.
Rick - I think you nailed it with this line “If you want to stop the Sixers, all you have to do is stop Andre Miller” I agree whole heartedly with that comment.
I do think he just had an off night missing shots he normally hits inside 16-feet. And I think he got hit many times he went to the basketball as well. But what Detroit did in this game that I didn’t notice in the previous was go under every ball screen with Miller. And he couldn’t get clean penetration, it was all under heavy duress and he forced it a bit.
If Iguodala keeps his game up and we get the normal performance from Miller the Sixers will have a good chance if someone else steps up and they figure out how to defend the Piston’s great pick and roll offense.
dalembert’s haircut was great, though it may have taken away his game focus.. haha..
I don’t know what to say men…….it’s a mohawk thing….lol
I personnally know Dalembert in montreal….if he would’ve done that hair cut back then his mom would’ve killed him, i don’t know what happen to him at that point in the series…..i mean ….dude….it’s serious……i think he has loss a lot of credibility for that mohawk thing……it doesn’t reflect his personality at all…..
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