Who would have thought after being down 15-points on the road, playing against a championship-caliber team, getting 4-16 shooting by our best player and having a roster filled with playoff newbies, the 76ers would be up 1-0 in their first round playoff series against the Detroit Pistons? Well, surprise, surprise, that’s the unsettling reality everyone in Detroit must face, most importantly Flip Saunders and his “experienced” Piston players.
In the first quarter the Sixers came out with tons of energy and attacked. After that initial burst it became clear Detroit was the more experienced team. They executed well on offense and looked under control at all times. What was also clear was that the Sixers had no plans of backing down.
The Good
Without question the key to the victory was team defense. The Sixers held Detroit to 39% from the field and only 35 points in the second half. Everyone on the floor for the Sixers was locked in on the defensive end. The main reason for the 15-point deficit wasn’t lack of defensive intensity but rather ice-cold shooting in the 2nd quarter. If they can play that kind of defense throughout the series Detroit fans will be in for a rude awakening.
Andre Miller did what he does best: get the 76ers back on track when things get out of control. He took it upon himself to get good shots on offense in the second half and (along with the Sixers’ defense) was the major reason the Sixers were able to come back. You could see Detroit had no answer for Andre Miller’s penetration and mid-range game.
Reggie Evans effort was infectious. He had 14 boards including 5 on the offensive end. He played fantastic defense on whoever he was guarding. And in the 4th quarter Evans made two big free throws while Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups struggled at the line. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got the start in game 2.
The Bad
Andre Iguodala could not get any good shots with Prince all over him. I said after the Cleveland game that he was settling for way too many jump shots and that it was cause for concern in this series. Although the victory was clearly no fluke, I don’t think we can win this series with Iggy consistently shooting 4-16 from the field.
What everyone was afraid of happened. Jason Maxiell killed the Sixers inside with his relentless pursuit of the ball. He had six offensive rebounds and was the leading rebounder for the Pistons in 30 minutes.
76ers’ Player of the Game: Reggie Evans
Game 2 Adjustments
The Sixers must do a better job of controlling their defensive backboard. The Pistons had 20 offensive rebounds, a team that only averaged 11.9 per game in the regular season. What that may mean is less minutes for Thaddeus Young. The rookie played well but had a hard time keeping Sheed, McDyess and especially Maxiell off the boards. As I said in a previous comment, Jason Smith has no place in this series. He can’t guard anyone in the post and often times gets out muscled on the boards. He should only see the floor if our bigs are in really bad foul trouble.
The 76ers are the only lower seeded team to win game one. And if history holds true are now 83% favorites to win the series. Big turnaround from a 4.8% chance, wouldn’t you say?
Detroit should be worried, very worried because what they did was give this young Sixers team a taste of victory. Gave them even more confidence and belief that they can win this series. Combine that with the effort and hustle of the 76ers, and it just may be enough to create a huge upset.
Can’t wait to read all the Detroit Piston blogs to see how they are 1. taking the loss and 2. whether they think it is a fluke and has no barring on the predicted outcome of Detroit winning this series in 5 games.
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Disagree with Jason Smith having no place in this series. He played surprisingly well against Detroit this season, and tonight he played a critical role – for some reason, with him on Maxiell, Maxiell wasn’t able to create as much havoc as he did in the first half. Any open jumpers he makes would be a bonus. Notice how Mo has been pulling him aside recently, trying to teach him? And I think Jason getting a ton of minutes in that last regular season game in Charlotte has helped.
I also think Jason Smith should be in the rotation, I am not a big believer in the +/- stat but his +9 means something this time
Reggie Evans won’t score that much again, while Jason Smith can at least keep his man busy with his shooting range. God knows how much we need some scoring by our big men, Sam couldn’t finish last night and drove me nuts…
Iggy has to step up as well, his decisions down the strecth were questionable (a turnover coming from a time out, the pass to Sam that led to the charge, missed fts etc)
anyway great night and huge confidence boost !!
I like Jason Smith, just not that much in this series. He played 9-minutes mainly because Sammy had some foul trouble. That is when is how I expect Mo to use him. If Sammy wasn’t in foul trouble do you think Smith would have played at all?
I wish I had the game tape so I can go back and watch the 9-minutes that he played to really focus in on his impact or lack thereof. Game one he did a pretty good job, the only time I saw him really get bullied was an offensive rebound and dunk by Theo Ratliff mid way through the 3rd quarter.
But what concerns me the most is I just don’t think he can guard Sheed or McDyess in the post if he gets matched up with them. Mo did a great job of avoiding those match ups in game one. If I was Flip Saunders everytime Smith was in the game I would set big to big screens with Sheed and Smith’s man to get that match up. Good thing I don’t think Flip Saunders is really that smart of a coach!
Ricky – I actually like adjusted +/- as on overall indicator, but when we are talking about specific match-ups I would need to see the +/- against that particular team in this case Detroit.
I actually think Reggie Evans could very well get us 8-12 points a game just from hustle on the offensive boards. Sammy doesn’t play well with foul trouble so I am going to go out on a lim and assume he plays better next game. And what Reggie doesn’t duplicate in scoring Dalembert will pick up.
I am really worried about Andre Iguodala right now though. I just don’t trust him in the playoffs yet. Missed dunks (maybe he was fouled), bad turnovers, bad shot selection. Did he really think tossing the ball over his head in a crucial moment was a good idea? I think he kind of got bailed out on that foul call, especially when you consider playoff basketball is allowed to be played more physical. I don’t think he can get good shots on Prince the way they run their offense. That just scares me.
I meant to add another Game 2 adjustment – Mo needs to put Iggy in better positions to score. Not giving him the ball at the top of the key and expecting him to break-down Prince (a great defender). Let’s try him in the post. I didn’t see very many good, solid pin down screens where he was open when he caught the ball around the foul line. So screen needs to be much better as well.
I think they can win the series with that kind of effort, but I’m not ready to go crazy yet. I still think they have things to work on.
Dannie, agree on Iggy’s offense not helping us at all, I don’t think he should be taking any jumpers over Prince. One-on-one, you can shake Prince, but due to the Sixers’ lack of shooters and Flip Saunders being somewhat competent, the Sixers shouldn’t expect that lane to be open this series. I think Andre Miller’s mid-range game is just what the Sixers need, I think that could be Iggy’s adjustment, pull-up jumpers closer to the basket than what he was taking. We gotta show Detroit that we’re adjusting to them clogging up the lane.
If there was ever a game to highlight why Iggy should not be considered a #1 go to option, it was this one. Smothering defensive games like this on our best star makes us really appreciate how easy AI made it seem the previous ten years to score at will when we needed a bucket.
I don’t think anyone needs to be concerned though…he just seemed jittery to me, I think he just had first game-in-the-playoffs-as-our-star nerves. And honestly, I don’t think he looked that different then usual. He’s always has a tendency to jack up some ill advised shots…as he’s slowly accepted the role of “go to scorer”, I wouldn’t exactly say his shot selection has been a thing of beauty for when he decides to shoot 3’s. I think his lack of general aggression, and having to spend too much energy just to get open was the only negative…I’m sure he will come out of the gate more hungry in game 2 (which the Sixers will lose).
This game also highlighted our MEGA need to have not just a backup PG, but a PG of the future to be grooming. We all love Andre Miller, and him vs. Billips is probably one of the more interesting one on one matchups in the playoffs. That said, he turns 32 (I think?) soon enough…and if Stefanski resigns him for a modest 3-4 year deal, we need to have someone learning the ropes while he ages.
I know you guys have heard me rail on Sweet Lou before, but I’ll say it again: if Lou Williams is ever a full time starter for the Sixers, we are in big trouble. I expect him to be an amazing Bobby Jackson type for years to come…but I do not in any way trust him to run our team from the PG spot. He could barely face the basket last game against Lindsay Hunter. Given that most of the talented bigs will probably be gone right before the Sixers pick this June…I’ll be very curious to see if they hold off on a big, teach Thad the 4 spot, and go for drafting an Augustine or a swingman shooter instead (not saying they should do that, just curious to see what Stefanski does).
Sixerzguy, maybe even a little dose of Rodney Carney to spread the defense as well.
I think Mo should consider setting some guard to SF screens block to block to get Iggy matched up on Billups or Hamilton in the post. As well as using guards on pin downs so when Iguodala comes up he can shoot over shorter defenders. Ultimately I think it will be up to Mo to make the right offensive adjustments to put his guy in the best situations to score.
As a side story to follow – we also get to really evaluate Maurice Cheeks as a big-game coach. Is he really the answer long-term for the Sixers? I think so. But, this series will begin give us a better idea of that.