Today Pete and I, as well as a few other fellow bloggers, had the opportunity to speak with new Sixers head coach Eddie Jordan in a special conference call. This was just like the one we did last season with Ed Stefanski.
We had a good 30 minutes give or take to basically just fire off some questions. I was dead tired from two basketball games last night and feverishly writing down notes because I didn’t have time or the equipment I needed to record the call like I did last time so hopefully someone else picks me up this time.
From what I could hear the people on the call were:
- Brian from the Depressed Fan
- Derek Bodner from realgm/Philly Arena
- Ricky from Sixers 4 Guidos
- Chris and Anthony from Heard from the Cheap Seats
- Jeff from Philadunkia
I will link to their posts when they have up their recap of the call.
Call Notes
Note: All responses are paraphrased. I will use quotation marks for any direct quotes I could capture.
I’ll start with my two questions and thoughts on his response for now and finish up the rest later.
What do you envision Samuel Dalembert’s role offensively and defensively will be?
Eddie Jordan: He has to buy in. He has to be unselfish and care about his teammates. That’s always been the knock on him. That he can be a selfish player and is up and down. Defensively he has proven himself as a great shot-blocker and rebounder. I think he usually leads the league in rebounds per minute – I think. He is a good athlete so he can run the floor in transition “when he puts his mind to it.” “The offense can run through him or around him. But he has to buy in”
My Thoughts: It’s pretty clear Jordan’s impression of Samuel Dalembert and his reputation around the league is exactly what we all talk about day in and day out. He took direct shots at Sam and didn’t really beat around the bush about it which is great. While it’s nice he told us that, if he doesn’t follow it up with the same direct approach in the locker room with Sam (and others), his comments here are for naught. Sam has some good physical tools and some talent, but they’re often negated by his poor attitude and lack of basketball IQ. If the rest of league has this opinion of Sam (which I believe they do), I think it’s pretty clear why Stefanski has been unable to move him.
How would you assess the strengths and weaknesses of the roster, and how do you plan to address them with the few open roster spots we have via the draft and free agency?
Eddie Jordan: I haven’t had much time to discuss the roster with the front office; I just got the job Friday. But we did talk about the need for three-point shooting, a point guard and another defensive front court player. In terms of strengths I think we have a bunch of guys that compete every night, have two rounds of playoff experience, good talent coming back from injury in Elton Brand and Jason Smith as well as the other guys on the team.
My Thoughts: My impression is he won’t have much say in player personnel decisions. By all accounts he has a good working relationship with Ed, and I am sure he will toss out his 2 cents. But I really don’t see it being more than that. He will coach the guys Ed gives him – period. I like that he believes they still need to add another defensive front court player to fill Theo’s vacant role. In my opinion that indirectly says he doesn’t view Speights or Smith as providing much (until proven otherwise), AND at no point since he became coach has he mentioned Reggie Evan’s name that I can recall. He certainly didn’t on this call. I could very easily see Reggie being the odd front court player out under Jordan.
More later…
The Rest of the Eddie Jordan Call
The rest of Jordan’s responses I will order by topic discussed rather than chronological order of question asked. Just makes more sense for scanning.
Defensive Philosophy
Eddie Jordan: The first thing defensively is 1-on-1 containment. If you can contain the first dribble, that’s 80% of the battle. Because that first dribble happens so quickly that is where all the openings occur for kick-outs and drop-offs inside. Need to 1-on-1 containment. The second thing is you need defenders and athletes who can move their feet. With them you can pressure the ball to the point of even taking away the dribble and forcing turnovers. Third is rotations. He will emphasize this a lot “Don’t stop rotating.” You gotta keep coming in rotations, pass after pass after pass. Run guys off the three-point line and keep coming on rotations. Fourth thing is finish the possession with a rebound. Many opens shots are the result of offensive rebounds and kick-outs for open perimeter shots. So we need to get on the defensive boards.
My Thoughts: Sounds good. Show me.
Offensive Identity of the Sixers
Eddie Jordan: This will be a high possession team. Number one, we have terrific athletes. Iguodala can run, Thad can run, Willie Green can get out and run the floor, Dalembert is very athletic, Jason Smith was very athletic when he played. So there are lots of guys that can run. Number two, this team has shown it can defend, rebound and force turnovers which they run off of. In Washington, Arenas and Jamison were very quick shooters so the offense went that way. When they were hurt, we had slower guys in there, so the offense slowed down. There aren’t the quick shooters here, but with the athletes I envision we will be a high possession team.
My Thoughts: Good, take advantage of early offense especially early on in the season because I envision the half-court offense is going to start out slow as guys learn and figure out where they are supposed to be and the proper reactions to how the defense is playing them. If they can get more organized in the half-court offense, shore up their shooting efficiency by having the right guys taking the right shots and still get out on the break with regularity this team will win more games.
Playing Time Allocation Between Offensive Players and Defensive Players
Eddie Jordan: There needs to be a balance. If you have skill to score the basketball, you’re going to play. I mean, you can’t win 0-0. If you have a weaker defender, the team defense can cover for him. If you have strong offensive players on the court, then you can carry one or two defenders who are less talented offensively. I think championship teams start with solid, veteran defensive front line.
My Thoughts: Ugh. It’s the nature of the game I know not everyone will be great two-way players. What scares me about this comment is how well Jordan is at balancing it. Luckily for him this team has a few defenders in the core (Iguodala and Brand) who are also good offensive players. But again, I believe that the handling of role players time is critical. I fully believe he will always tend to go with more offensive players than defenders.
What is Louis Williams?
Eddie Jordan: We feel Louis Williams is a combo guard. (As for him being the starting point guard) This offense is about having 2 guards. You can fit multiple talents in those slots. But that is what training camp is for. We will see how Lou Williams handles it.
My Thoughts: For once I would love for someone to flat out say, “NO, Lou Williams is not a viable starting point guard option.” Could he take over Willie Green’s position as the bench player, starting at 2 because we have no legitimate starting shooting guards on this roster? Sure if you want to go that route.
Can Andre Iguodala Play Shooting Guard?
Eddie Jordan: Yes, Iguodala can be a 2 guard. Back in the day we would call a player like Iguodala a swing man because he can flow from two to the three. With that said I like to think he’s a three-man first. I played 6′11 Jared Jeffries at the two who wasn’t a great perimeter shooter on a team that went to the second round of the playoffs. If one of our big men (Smith or Speights) can earn time, then Iguodala will play the two. The system allows for flexibility so it depends how the roster fills out.
My Thoughts: Makes sense. Iguodala is clearly a three-man first by nature. But this offense doesn’t have hard-coded positions. There are big front court players, wings in the front court and guards. What I am hoping to see if Jordan puts Iguodala is less jump shooting situations off the dribble and more catch and shoot situations when it comes to his perimeter shooting. Of course we want him driving as much as possible and improving his post offense because we can certainly use him in the post to run this offense through as well.
Thaddeus Young’s Potential
Eddie Jordan: (Could Thad turn into an Antawn Jamison type player?) That’s a very good comparison. Jamison started out as an interior player, then he really worked on his mid-range game and now he is able to shoot three-pointers. When I spoke with Dean Smith he talked about that a lot. How Jamison never shot the ball like that before and how much he has developed. I think Thad can do the same thing if he works hard. I see him as an interior player first then moving out by improving his mid range game and out to the three.
My Thoughts: I can see that offensively. Jamison has worked himself into a nice inside-outside player. Thad could be better on the perimeter because he is quicker, but he needs to hone his handle and tighten up his footwork. Where Thad would really need to work to catch up to Jamison is on the boards. He is not the rebounder yet. Jamison is a career 20-8 guy who doesn’t turn the ball over at all considering his minutes played. Defensively let’s just hope Thad doesn’t follow in Jamison’s footsteps.
How Will Elton Brand Fit?
Eddie Jordan: Elton will be fine. We will move him around on offense. You will see him on the block in the post, facing the basket at the elbow and logo area, he will be involved in two-man games, pick-and-rolls with guards and forwards. I know he likes the pick-and-pop. (When asked about fitting players into the system or adjusting the system based on the players you have) Good coaches tilt the system to fit the best players. Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler were the highest scoring trio in the league. Before Butler got there, Arenas, Jamison and Hughes were the highest scoring trio in the league. That’s because we tilt the system to for the best players. He also said that Brand will definitely need to defend the post well.
My Thoughts: I agree as long as Brand is healthy he will be fine. I don’t know if he will be a 20-10 player again, but he should be very close to that production in Eddie Jordan’s system. Getting him moving and players moving around him will be the key. Now while I agree that you should build around your best player(s), I think the system should be tilted to not hinder the best player(s) and maximize the role players. I say that under the assumption if you have a great player they will be good enough and smart enough to be successful in any system (that’s kind of why they are great right?), We saw in the Cleveland-Orlando series: one great great player, who puts up ridiculous numbers still isn’t good enough to win it all. They are going to get their numbers no matter what. Sure the system could help them some, but more than anything it’s their great talent and ability to adapt that leads to their numbers. But what about the other guys? Those are the guys the system needs to help get easier shot opportunities and put them in positions to adequately support the best player(s). I think that is the harder part of implementing a system.
Addressing the Need for Perimeter Shooting
Eddie Jordan: We need to address our 3pt shooting. Willie Green, Andre Iguodala and Louis Williams could all improve. In the past we have been able to improve players internally. DeShawn Stevenson became a 40% three-point shooter. You assess who can become better shooters, who will put in the time and work to do it. And you also look at bringing in guys as well, but that is up to the front office. We are looking into having a full-time shooting coach. I’d like to have one.
My Thoughts: There should be no reason Dave Hopla doesn’t join Jordan’s staff as the full-time shooting coach and player development coach. I fully believe you can improve guys internally with a shooting coach and guys with strong work ethics. Looking at their form it isn’t so broken to the point they are hopeless, just need to put in the work. That should get us out of the basement in three-point shooting. But we still need to acquire high-caliber shooters to move up to average and above going forward.
Veteran Leadership
Eddie Jordan: You always like to have solid veterans in the locker room to keep everything professional, to keep a work ethic, to keep a focus, to keep a serious mindset of going to practice everyday, and that’s very important. Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler were great leaders in our locker room in Washington. You like to have responsible veterans to be there and keep our young guys focused. It is a relatively young team, but I do think our young guys are very serious and they have great work ethic. I’m talking about Thaddeus Young and even Andre Iguodala is still very young and has great work ethic and a serious mindset. That is a big part in the NBA.
My Thoughts: This is a big part of the NBA and by all accounts this team has good pros. They just need their work ethic focused on the right things. With that said, we do not have a proven winner on this squad whether it be the coach or a player – that hurts.
How Did You Coach Against the Sixers?
Eddie Jordan: Number one when you’re going against the Sixers you want to prepare to not turn the ball over. They’re a very fast team and if you turn the ball over against the Sixers than they can get out on the fast break on you and score on the open floor. So number one, limit your turnovers. Number two you can’t allow them to get offensive rebounds. Samuel Dalembert and Andre Iguodala can both hit the glass and they both pose problems on the offensive glass. I also think that the bench with Lou Williams coming off and Willie Green was coming off the bench at one time, I think the bench had a lot of risk takers but they turned you over. You’d have to keep the energy off their bench. Now as far as us as a team when I’m coaching them I think you have to be a lot more organized and a lot more often in the offense. I think that’s a big key for us this year.
Loading ...
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 87 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the fact that he Called out Sammy for being selfish! But he’s wrong, no offense can run through him.
Dannie– My only question for Eddie Jordan is his philosophy on DEFENSE. He has better defensive pieces in Iggy, Brand, and Dalembert, as opposed to his Wizard teams.
Our team can be similar to the teams Jordan had in NJ, in terms of the athleticism. The Sixers are more athletic, more defensive, and are far better than the Wizards teams that Jordan had. I love his response about Iggy’s shooting by using Jefferson as an example of an improving shooter. When asked about Miller’s offense, he came up with counter-response of Jason Kidd. If Jordan can help Dalembert, the same way he helped Haywood, then it’s possible. Also, I want Andre Miller back now that Jordan is our coach! The Sixers need shooting guards the most this season (one starter, one or two reserves).
The Sixers could possibly look for good players that have played in the Princeton Offense and loved it! There are plenty of great options the Sixers can choose from and get for the minimum like last year!
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-09-10
GO SIXERS!! ENJOY THE FINALS EVERYONE!!
Imo, a big impact coach would’ve discussed the roster (perhaps contrarily or challengingly with Stefanski and associates) and learned of any organizational plans or intentions for off-season restructuring or player role realignment BEFORE taking the job. That he hasn’t had “time to discuss the roster” says something about the nature of the hire and a lack of authority as he assumes the head coaching position.
Nice summary, despite the lack of technology tools at your disposal, I think you got most of it.
I have my post up on the call now and there are some similar observations . I think the most telling statement was in regards to Sammy D. He essentially put him on notice in saying that he absolutely needs to commit to the philosophy and his teammates. In addition, I might be taking a leap here and reading too far between the lines but I think he had some telling signs on Andre Miller. He continually highlighted the need for combo guards in this system and also pointed out the need for a three-point threat. Miller does not fit in either of those scenarios. It seems that given the offensive system in place and the needs of this team, Miller will not be donning a Sixer uniform next year.
The Real Rob, I actually did ask him about his defensive philosophy. His answer was pretty standard. Basically, he said you need to defend dribble penetration to prevent kickouts. His feeling is that stopping the first dribble is the most important. When you do get beat, the rotation needs to be fast and consistent. Like I said, nothing earth shattering. In my opinion, it will be about how well he gets players to buy into the philosophy more than the philsophy itself.
What do you guys think of Wayne Ellington for the Sixers?
I’d love Ellington. He’s a great shooter, can handle, and is a far better athlete than people give him credit for. I could see him being very similar to Michael Redd.
Questions for Jordan:
1) Does the team’s mentality concern you, seeing the 1st round meltdowns in the last 2 seasons after jumping out to early advantages?
2) Does the historical lack of playoff success on the part of key veterans - Iguodala, Brand, Miller (if he signs on) - worry you or indicate a need to look elsewhere for leadership?
3) Isn’t it great and a near-miracle to be drawing nice paychecks from 2 clubs at once, given your losing track record?
jjg: I beg to differ about Brand, when he was with the Clippers. They beat the Nuggets in 5 Games with Homecourt Advantage and nearly beat the Suns in 7 Games. Brand, in his first year in the playoffs, had no jitters whatsoever. Who would have thought in 05-06 that the Clippers would be the third best team in the Western Conference and better than the Lakers. Brand was in that conversation for MVP that season. (Nash won it again). If you’re talking about Conference Finals or Finals experience, then no, but he has gotten further than many of his other Sixer teammates.
Maybe Jordan sees Reggie Evans as our Jared Jeffries and he will use him also at the two, like he reminded us today :-)
Great job Dannie and I hope we’ll have more of these soon.
The Real Rob, You’re right, at age 26 Brand had standout individual postseason numbers (25 & 10 in 43 min) against 2 average defensive squads, 13th & 16 (of 30), but I don’t consider 7 wins – 5 losses, 1-1 in series outcomes, in 10 NBA seasons much playoff success.
Comment I liked from EJ:
His specifically highlighting the need for the defense to rotate properly. While obviously this is important in any defense, certain coaches accentuate certain aspects of defense more importantly then others. Who knows if EJ said this because he knows enough about our team to know this was an issue, or that’s something he likes to particularly concentrate on, but this was an area of enormous inconsistency for us last year. Let’s hope EJ makes a pointed effort to make that happen.
Real Rob: Would LOVE Ellington on this team. His steady improvement from his freshman to junior seasons are extremely impressive. And while we all know he can shoot the lights out, the one thing that impressed me this past year were two things:
a. Better decision making, and a much better eye for passing the ball than his first two years.
b. Ability to take smaller guards down in the post and score on them.
He’d be a great fit, and anyone that is successful under Roy and the UNC tradition I tend to trust has a work ethic.
It seems like Eddie Jordan and the Sixers want Andre Miller back. It will be all the more reason to draft Wayne Ellington!
I agree w. all of you. ellington would be a great draft pick. I really do think that Miller’s best days are behind him. But w. the unfornate pu of Eddie Jordan as our head coach we need Miller fo at least one more yr. Granted we will have to sign him for 2….but this would give us time to develop Ellington into the guard that we need. This approach actually does give me a little bit of hope….just a little. Anyway my first time on this site. I like it I’ll probably be more of a regular. I like the fact that you cover all philly sports and that there is actual intelligent conversation. G
By all accounts it sounds like the front court for the Sixers will be Brand/Thad/Iguodala. Unless Sammy “buys in and is unselfish” or one of the young guys proves they deserve to start we might as well start thinking about what that means.
Also I think the two guard positions are completely open at this point. If they resign Miller which I know they want to do (hope not) then you can pencil him in. I don’t think Willie is a lock at the 2. I think he will have to compete with Lou and maybe two other players (free agent/rookie).
I think Ellington would be a nice fit.
Dannie, it seems like Jordan!s comments on dribble penetration would imply he doesn!t want Miller here, what imput does he get in that situation? Ellington seems all over the board on draft sites, I can!t see him not going 15 to 25 range. And reading about the Warriors bringing in Derozen and T.Williams with all their other wings sure makes them a good trading partner with us for one of their 2 guards.
Suede – I don’t think Jordan’s comments imply that at all. You have to place different weights on what he says based on what we know about him. Every coach wants to limit/stop dribble penetration it’s a core defensive principle. But I think Jordan’s offensive tendencies trump anything he says about defense. So when he said in the press conference that no rookie can some in and replace Andre Miller that holds more weight for me in his opinion of Miller’s being here or not than him saying they need to stop dribble penetration. Also, he said that you can cover for a weak defender who helps the offense by playing better team defense. That also holds more weight with me with regard to whether he would want Miller here.
Interesting note about A-Miller’s agent: Andy Miller is also the agent for Eric Maynor, apparently. Stefanski certainly doesn’t seem like a guy to be swayed by ridiculous agent propoganda, but I think it’s interesting that the same agent might be pushing for us to both resign our own PG, and draft a new one to mold in the same summer, both that work with him.
Suede: I’d be real careful about getting what you wish from G-State. What SG/SF would you want? Remember we need shooters, not just talented guys that can play the two. Captain Jax is a nice versatile player and brings a lot to the table, but he’s not an efficient 3 point shooter. Jamal Crawford might be able to hit the 3 well, but he, IMO, is THE DEFINITION of the total me-first gunner that brings “bad shot selection” to a new level. Monte Ellis is not a shooter, and very doubtful the Warriors would part with him. Corey Maggette has always been a slasher, and while his shot has improved, he’s certainly no 3 point specialist.
That leaves three people: Kelenna Azuibuke, Anthony Morrow, Marco Bellinelli. Marco seems to be all 3 point shot and nothing else, similar to Korver, which I actually don’t want our team to acquire…shooters-only players give way too much up on defense, and don’t bring anything else to the table. Morrow I like, he’d certainly be a big help.
Azuibuke though I think is an ideal fit…I would grab Azuibuke or Rasual Butler from the Hornets in a heartbeat to have off the bench. Both can hit 3’s, both play defense, and they have good size and can rebound.
That is who I would want also.Morrow is intriguing also but who knows what their new g.m.!s opinion of his roster is.With Nelson possibly leaving soon he can!t have too much say. Dannie, what you say makes sense, offense and than defense, the opposite of what most of us wanted.
Lawson looked good at today’s workout. Courtney Witte raved about him and Lawson said he’d like to be here, whether it’s as a starter (if Miller leaves) or Miller’s backup. He’s grown an inch (to 6-0), weighs 198 and bench-pressed 185 14 times. Meeks also shot the ball well.
Tom, how did T.Douglas look and was he much bigger than Lawson? Thanks for the info.
Sure. Douglas is a little bigger than Meeks. He looked pretty good. Ironically, he’s the only one of the five we didn’t talk to (no writers/TVs asked for him). Philly native Stefon Jackson is very thin.
All I am saying is if Lawson is there at pick 17 and we don’t draft him I will be beyond furious whether Miller is here or not.
Jay Wright on 950 ESPN yesterday was asked if he was drafting for the Sixers at pick 17 and Johnny Flynn and Ty Lawson were available who would he pick. He said Lawson.
Totally agree, Dannie. Lawson is tough, quick and works on his game. His shooting improved every year at UNC — he was much better at 16- to 17-footers last year and shot 47.2 percent on 3s.
I went to Syracuse and would take Lawson without question. Even if Miller stays, they have no other true PG on the roster. He’d be the heir apparent in two years.
Tom, Sorry to hear of your undergraduate suffering but it’s good to know that your head is now clear and you’re able to discern the best point guard prospect for Sixers. Ty Lawson’s pro career will surely exceed Pearl Washington’s, but will he best Sherman Douglass in the long run? Heading back south, do you think he’s closer to Phil Ford or Joe Forte?
He’s likely to best Douglas. Would think closer to Ford.
Was joking with some writers today that, based on SU history, at least you know Flynn will hit the big free throws with the game on the line. I was there in New Orleans in 1987 when Coleman missed the front end of the 1-and-1 preceding Keith Smart’s shot.
Hey guys,
I saw that EJ said that they would look for a defensive big to fill out the roster. I was thinking what about Sheldon Williams? He is an unrestricted free agent. He can defend, bang, block shots, he is a strong presence and he is smart. Perhaps a guy like EJ and his staff could turn him into a Brendan Haywood? Plus, he might help you get Anthony Parker as the wing shooter we need. That is his brother-in-law, after all.
Thoughts?
Sad news of ‘78 All-Star Game MVP Randy Smith passing today. Was a
great two-way 6′ 3″ guard who played alongside a young McAdoo in Buffalo, and would stuff both Andre Miller & Andre Iguodala in his gym bag. Played for Jack Ramsey. In NBA annals/PR, is truly underpublicized/underrecognized for the elite player that he was.
Sean, Sheldon Williams can’t play. He is a less paid Kwame Brown, and possibly a poor mans Kwame.
Dannie and Tom, we’re all in unison on this one. Lawson is the way to go. But I want to find out more info on Maynor because It wouldn’t be a shock if we picked him. Also what about that Mills guy, would it really be shocking if the sixers pick someone out of the blue?
Tom, Based on that assessment, a no-brainer for Sixers if he’s on the board.
D.C. unplugged. Ouch!
I wouldn’t mind Ty Lawson or Eric Maynor as Andre Miller’s backup. And that would certainly be the case if Maynor shares the same agent as Miller with Andy Miller, all the more reason to have them together in Philly.
This Sixers team is built more like those Nets teams from 2001-03 than the Wizards teams 2003-08 with the athleticism, interchangeable parts, and some guys that are already committed to defense. Perhaps the Sixers can offer the “Philly Max” or the “Princeton Max” to attract those free agents that love to play that style.
The one Wizards team that was interesting in the Jordan era was the 2004-05 season. They had three former Warriors on that roster (Jamison, Arenas, Hughes) and advanced in the second round only to be swept by a great Miami Heat team. Larry Hughes and Jared Jeffries were those athletic players with the long arms on the defensive end.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/WAS/2005.html
Last season in 2007-08, the Wizards were one of the few teams to beat the eventual champion Celtics 3 out of 4 games.
These are just some things to consider! Eddie Jordan just has to add defensive principles or a defensive assistant coach and I should be cool with it!
GO SIXERS!!
Given Stefanski saying they’re looking at perimeter players, the only way it wouldn’t happen is if a shooter they have ranked higher drops. He’d be a real good fit here.
Jumpin, watched Randy chase around D.Collins live one afternoon, talk about speed.The basketball fraternity lost a great defensive backcourt this year in Van Lier and Smith.
Couldn’t we use one of those two. Loved Van Liers game. Tough as nails. Van Lier and Sloan in the backcourt, I believe. Doesn’t get more ornery than that.
I wish we could just make a jump ahead to june 25th because Lawson according to all mocks across America is right in our cross hairs! What a dream it would be to have him running a hellactious fast break along with Iggy and Thad!
Andre Miller needs to take a walk. No defense and no Jumper means you gotz to go.
Draft: I’m with Dannie and others: a giant collective kick to Stefanski if he doesn’t take Lawson at 17, if available. I think Jonny Flynn edges Lawson out as the better NBA prospect, and feel he is a better natural distributer and has a better knack for the position, for most NBA teams. But for OUR team, given Lawson’s jaw droppingly good D, and the fact he excels in the open court game, makes him the automatic pick imo.
If we don’t resign A-Miller: It would be awful to only have Lawson come in, we’d obviously need a vet to split time with him and show him the ropes. One guy I think would be a great addition that would come at a laughably cheap price tag is Brevin Knight. No, he can’t shoot a lick, but there couldn’t possibly be a better, more poised, professional, true pass-first PG leader out there to play backup. Be a great guy to have around to teach Lawson some tricks, and he’s always in great shape. Earl Watson would be another solid option.
If Stefanski doesn’t give this guy a look, I will throw a tantrum rage in two years when he starts to blossom on another team as an underrated gem of a bench player: Morris Almond. I cannot say enough about this guy. I babbled about him for two years watching him at Rice, and after absolutely mauling the entire D-League for two straight years, he hasn’t gotten PT as he’s buried on Utah’s logjam of SG/SF’s (Kirilenko, R. Brewer, CJ Miles, Kyle Korver).
He is a lights out shooter that has an extremely poised, veteran type game. Improved his handle and passing each year, can hit three’s from anywhere, and has a good midrange game too. Knows how to take and make big shots as well, as he was relied on as the offensive cog of his team for 2-3 years in college. Maurice Rice is going to be the next Anthony Morrow for anyone lucky enough to sign him for $1 million and throw him playing time.
I have no clue why GM’s do not take harder looks at ex college players that were great in college, and couldn’t get PT on NBA teams due to logjams, and when playing in Europe or the D-League, kick ass.
Almond was the Willie Burton of the D league. I would love to have that guy.
Nice reference Greek! We should start a game to award points to people that can work in names of Sixers from our horrendous mid 90’s era. 10 points for sliding Weatherspoon in somewhere, 5 points for a Vernon Maxwell, 3 points for a Rex Walters. And probably 100 to the person that finds a way to incorporate Kebu Stewart into any discussion.
Really think it takes a couple years for some players to adjust to the strength & skill level of the NBA. Von Wafer comes to mind. I really think Almond is one of those guys. I also think Calathes from St. Joes will come to the NBA in a year or 2 and be successful. Some players are just not physically mature enough coming out of college.
suede, Would’ve like to have watched that cat-and-mouse duel with Collins up close. Former Braves GM was quoted as saying Smith usually won battles with Walt Frazier; of course “Clyde” was a little past his prime then. Randy Smith: NBA’s fastest guard during his era; and was not ’pee wee’-sized. Little Ernie DiGregorio of Providence College, one of Smith’s backcourt mates; the presumed second coming of Bob Cousy, the Steve Nash of his time – fine rookie year (15 & 8 assists, 90% FT), then flattened out … forget the circumstances … may have been a knee injury.
Norm Van Lier: St. Francis College (Of Loretto, PA) teammate of Cardinal O’Hara’s Joe Hazinsky (who was Tom Inglesby’s HS teammate and a fine, natural 6′ 3″ guard; was better than Inglesby in some respects of game). Van Lier, Sloan and long-armed, smart 6′ 5″ Matty Guokas – a tremendous defensive backcourt. Bulls averaged about 50 wins during Van Lier’s first 5 seasons.
What our current offense could use is some T.Boerwinkle screens, Jumpin. That Bulls team would be tough to beat in today!s league.
,,, and some “Butterbean” O! Clifford Ray was a big dude and instrumental too.
Speaking of Doug Collins– the Sixers should now have him as a color commentator who can also do the national games as well! Zumoff + Collins= Great Broadcasting/Analysis!
Why would Collins want to reduce himself to local color man with his old organization that passed on him for head coach when he’s got a network gig and professional pride & respectful standing re coaching? Might make for an improved Comcast broadcast, but makes no sense for Collins.
With E.Snow doing N.B.A. T.V. gig maybe he takes Salmi!s job. But than again he may not sugarcoat things but it would be refreshing and a way for him to “keep in touch” with people league wide to make his eventual jump to coaching.
JJG is absolutely right…why would Doug Collins voluntarily demote himself to do a local broadcasting job, when his paycheck is about 100 times higher at TNT, and he stays more nationally relevant if he wanted to enter the coaching scene again by the sheer fact everyone hears how astute his analysis is week to week. Who would give that gig up?
I’m sure Eric Snow will be joining Larry Brown’s staff as one of his major assistants starting in the 09-10 season, and has aspirations to be a head coach someday. Can’t see him sticking around NBAtv for too long.
SFW: You make a good point in that many players are not ready for the physicality, raised level of athleticism, and higher level of game the NBA presents…but Morris Almond is not one of those players. I’d put him and Chris Douglas Roberts in the same category: guys that were immediately ready to step onto an NBA court and contribute, that happened to be drafted by teams that already had a huge glut at their respective positions. CDR and Almond didn’t get time not because their games aren’t ready…it’s because the Jazz and Nets already had 3-4 SF’s ahead of them in the pecking order.
Trajan Langdon would be a good example of a guy who wasn’t ready for the NBA’s game…he clearly wasn’t ready, his minutes rightly diminished (and I think he had injury problems), all he could do was shoot, bigger players ran all over him. He seemed overwhelmed. Fast forward eight years: he’s been one of the perennial top players in both the Russian Premier League and the Euroleague for about five years straight; has developed his overall game to become extremely versatile and improve his PG skills, his IQ and court savvy are through the roof, and right now he’d be more than ready to pull an Anthony Parker and earn a nice $4 million a year NBA contract. Probably the only reason he hasn’t is tha he’s treated like Kobe Bryant in Russia, he’s on a perennial contender every year in two leagues, and his salary is probably about three times as high as what he’d get in the NBA.
TY Lawson quote about possibly playing for the 76ers under Andre Miller yesterday:
“He’s a good player. I’ve seen him play in this league for a long time. He would teach me a lot of things about playing the point guard position and help me grow. He would be a good mentor.”
Perfect attitude, and Ty is already a guy that has proved his doubters (me being one of them!) that he has the work ethic to improve his game and his weaknesses. We would score a coup if we picked him up this late in the draft. He is so far superior to what the other “score first, athlete type” PG’s have shown…I’m praying all the teams that need PG’s in the lottery start falling in love with T Evans, J Holiday and B Jennings in workouts so that the real PG’s keep dropping.
Dave, I thought Almond was a bit on the thin side? Strength is not an issue? If not, I agree bring him on board. Although, not sure if we are committed to a shooter & point in the draft if there will be room for him.
Suede, I’m sure ESNOW wouldn’t have instant amnesia if he was doing the games.
I like John Celestand and hope he gets a shot.
Dave T: How many points do I get for noting that, though hard work, Willie Green has turned himself into a rich man’s Trevor Ruffin?
jjg: Guys have done color commentating on both local and national television. Marv Albert and Mike Fratello do the Nets games. Mike Breen for the Knicks games. All those guys do the national games as well. Diversifying would not be a problem, plus Collins is family (in a Sixers sense), plus his analysis is great without stroking an ego!
Dei Lynam has an intriguing article about Sixers looking at Jason Kidd as a PG alternative:
http://csnphilly.com/pages/blog_lynam
But for me, just draft Ty Lawson and sign Andre Miller to a reasonable contract and put a HUGE check mark on the point guards!
Real Rob, you mentioned “reasonable contract” for A-Miller, which is an excellent point to start bringing up.
I’m curious as to what people think should be the line where we should walk away if A-Miller asks for too much. Does a 3 year, frontloaded deal in the $24-25 million range sit well with people? Do you guys think he’d push for up to $9-10 million per year? Do you think he’d settle for $7 million?
Morty: Good call with the Trevor Ruffin, that’s a name I haven’t thought of in years. Worth more points than V Maxwell for the greater obscurity! What the hell happened to T Ruffin by the way…he had that one year where he scored 11-12 ppg, 4 asts and all those 3’s for us, and then just evaporated from the NBA. I guess the notion of him getting slaughtered every day in practices by the Iverson-Stackhouse combo was too much for him.
For a 2 year deal(max term), I would jump at Kidd. He has size to cover 2 guards and could certainly play together with our rookie point guard. Provide veteran leadership. Bring people into the building. Prefer him over AMILL but 2 years max at his age. I think his 3pt shot has also improved.
Of course I regard 36 yr. & 2 mos. old Kidd highly as a competitor and fine winning player, but don’t know if the twilight signing (35.6 min., 9 pts, 8.7 assists last season) would be a good thing for Sixers. Remember Terry Cummings, Jeff Malone, Scott Skiles, Orlando Woolridge, Tom Chambers? Guile takes you far, but eventually young roadrunners leave you in dust, especially at PG. A lot of miles logged;
how much tread is left? The wall can’t be far away.
That said, I’ll take Kidd over Miller if ES insists on a geriatric leader.
If Kidd can help the youngins get this offense it would be a good thing but I wish Theo was back to help Marreese and Jason in the art of protecting the rim, who better to mentor those two.
Morty, Ruffin comment was a low blow. Break, referee’s warning, and “keep ‘em above the belt.” (By extension, Brand is a rich man’s Andrew Lang.)
suede, Theo cooked his goose by goose-neckin’ his opinions, however valid they might’ve been. Got a little too big for his britches as the season wound down as I saw it. Might’ve had good reason. Usually played hard. Mentors require receptive students; does Speights fit that description? Am not sure.
I’d prefer Kidd to Miller. He has a better shot, better d, and would be a better vet. People might not realize that Miller has not exactly been like Jaime Moyer during his stay here. Lou and others have said that he really doesn’t speak much to them off the floor. Kidd would be that teacher Lou and Lawson would need.
Also, I still think that Sheldon Williams could work as a cheap 4th big man here, especially if Sam is on the outs. He is a offensively savvy Reggie Evans-like banger who can also block shots.
Back in the playground days, I used to call a friend of mine Trevor Ruffian, in tribute to his black hole/ gunner tendencies. This year Willie was able to sublimate his past desire to shoot every ball he touched. Mind over matter. Kudos…
Re: Andrew Lang. Lets hope not!
Morty, I’ll pass along your mild compliment to the former Detroit Mercy flash … when I decide to purchase a ticket again.
Lang started and stopped, as did Brand (though one had an excuse).
Meatloaf, no potatoes or gravy.
Eddie Jordan will be talking with Sonny Hill in 9-10 hour this morning on WIP 610 AM radio. As both are Sixers employees, expect a compliment toss-and-catch and, just maybe, a Princeton offense mention.
Jumpin, thanks for the headsup!!!
jjg: Thanks for reading that as the mild compliment it was. Best I can do. You and me both regarding tickets. I’m still waiting for a response from Sales regarding my request for a full refund for the Nets game where they scored 9 points (?) in the 4th.
Bynum,Howard,Nene,Ilgauskas,Dalembert
Gasol,Lewis,Martin,Varejio,Brand
Ariza,Turkoglu,Anthony,James,Young
Bryant,Lee,Smith,West,Iggy
Fisher,Nelson,Billups,Williams,Miller
hmmmm!!!!!
You’re welcome, suede. Whatcha think of the conversation?
Morty, While you may not have received a refund yet, you’ve spurred marketing dept. to next season’s promotion: “Double Digit Gains Every Quarter – Our Princeton Promise!”
Jumpin, 2 things stood out; 1] Sonny saying J.Smith is a top 5 pick in this draft and 2] As of now Willie and L.Will. would be their starting backcourt. They have VERY high aspirations for their players, it seems. A lot higher than us.
Gotta load up on the optimism, I guess, before reality of training camp & exhibition games sets in. Interesting that Jordan noted the lack of summer playing togetherness that has hampered Sixers some. That many scatter in early May to different locations until Sept. serves no team development purpose. Sounds like he’ll try to effect change there.
JJG: *blowing whistle* Flagrant 2 foul on number 00, JJG, for using a player’s name of the caliber of Elton Brand in the same sentence with Andrew Lang…
PG talk: If we draft a PG in June, our three options thrown out so far:
a. Resign a 33 (34?) year old A-Miller to a relatively fair deal. He starts for two years while teaching/metoring the newbie.
b. Sign a 36 (turning 37?) year old Jason Kidd to a two year deal, so start, and teach the youngin some tricks.
c. Sign a good, solid veteran backup PG to an inexpensive deal, splits time with rookie PG, while teaching him vet tricks.
None of those three options exactly seem steller, do they? It’s very hard for me to justify throwing a good size chunk of money to A-Miller or J-Kidd given their respective ages, and the fact they are in the twilights of their careers. Especially Kidd. That said, the importance of a vet PG to mentor the incoming rookie cannot be understated…tough choice.
The real questions seems: do people actually feel confident we’d be in contention for a championship with A-Miller or J-Kidd at the helm? I’d say: no. If that’s the case, then we are signing them SOLELY as a vet to mentor a younger guy…and if that’s true, I’d rather have Kidd as the PG, or go for a solid, but inexpensive veteran backup.
(I love Andre Miller and what he’s done for our team the last two years…THE cog to keep us affloat and in the playoff hunt…but he’s a 7-10 best PG in the league and will just be fading from here on out…not sure how wise an investment, even a three year one, is with him just to keep our team from not sliding, but also not contending).
Dave T, Your rules, “commish”; only flagrancy that occured is changing ‘em on the fly for personal expediency. Your devised “mid-9os Sixers-mention” league will fold in no time with such capricious supervision.
A knee-jerk defense of Brand suggests his playing caliber. Greats stand alone and tall - on merit, not on the raving of one fan (& the hyping of one organization). To emphasize Brand’s regularness, a few ‘per 36′ comparitive numbers:
rebounds: Brand – 9.6, Lang – 8.2.
blocks: Brand – 2.0, Lang – 2.6
turnovers: Brand – 2.4, Lang - 1.6
career FT %: Brand – .736, Lang – .744
Surgeon General’s warning: adjust your lofty ‘09-’10 EB expectations; rooting for phantasmagorical stars is dangerous to your health.
a misspelling occurred on line 1, post 71
a missigning occurred on July 10, 2008
JJG: If I’m the commish of the Mid-90’s Sixers Mention League (MSML), I reserve every right to change rules on the fly for personal expediency. Just following in the great David Stern’s footsteps.
In all seriousness, I’m not actually a defend Brand to death guy. I’ve always thought Brand is best served as a very good 2nd banana guy, who would be well suited to play with ball dominating guards that can be “the man” (Kobe, T-Mac, Iverson, Baron, etc), so Brand can put up his 18 pts 10 rbs – 20 pts 10 rbs and just worry about the dirty work and defense. He’s no savior, and is not a guy that will lead any team to a championship.
That said, he’s certainly no role player, and we are talking about a guy that was once in the range of the 4th – 6th best PF’s in the league and is a great high post, and often times low post, presence. I really do think last year was flukey for four major reasons:
a. He was coming back from a major injury, and his game had rust and a huge lack of timing (as noted by his complete incompetance of his reactions when double teamed…usually his passing out of the post is a strength).
b. He was put into a system (Mo Cheeks) where there WAS no system. Those first 15-20 games under Cheeks was just truly, truly awful in every respect. Cheeks knows the game inside and out, and imo that was just a pitiful effort in teaching his team how to run what he wanted. Cheeks had plenty of time to prove he could stamp his own offensive identify on a team…he didn’t do it Portland, he didn’t do it in Philly, the player’s suffer.
c. The players on the Sixers roster had/have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE how to move & screen without the ball when the offense was trying to be run from the inside-out. What on earth could Brand possibly do when he is passed the ball in the mid block area and nobody moves, cuts or screens properly?
d. He was injured and didn’t even play 20 games; imo the ship would have righted a little bit and Brand would have looked better out there as the season went along.
Reasons for optimism:
1. Brand’s injury had nothing to do with his leg; it allowed him to do cardio work, and he should be in peak physical condition entering the season. And from a mental standpoint, Brand should be less hampered by the leg injury (now two years ago), and trusting his body more on a psychological level. That kind of mental hesitation stuff can really effect a player’s overall game.
2. The players around Brand, especially Iguadala and Thad, all have a much higher confidence level going into next season. Iguodala I think really believes in his own talent now and is ready to take his game up a notch (as he proved in the playoffs); Thad is just ripe to blossom. I think we will be a better team solely from internal improvement and another year’s worth of chemistry having been together.
3. We will be putting an offensive system in place that utilizes more ball movement, the extra pass, a more intelligent game, and lots of weakside cutting and screening. This style will really, really help cater to how Brand plays basketball. He’s got a real good IQ and I expect good things from him under EJ from everything I saw with how Jamison was used on the Wiz.
4. Everyone in the media has ridiculed our free agent signing, thinks Elton Brand’s best days are behind him…this means he’s coming into the season with a HUGE chip on his shoulder. He’s going to want to prove a lot of people wrong…and unlike Jermaine O’Neal who tries to do that every year and fails miserably, I think Brand actually has plenty of gas left in the tank.
I’m not saying he’s going to be this 26 pts and 12 rbd beast that launches us into the E. Conference finals…but I expect solid scoring (18-19 ppg) and a great rebounding effort (10-11 rpg) while establishing himself as a presence in the high/mid post that will open the floor up for EJ’s offense.
That said, did we massively overpay him? Hell yes we did, and I share the same concerns everyone does, and he might very well have not been the right signing. But I really don’t think we saw enough last season to make in stone opinions yet, so until half a season goes by, I’m going to reserve judgement until we see what these guys can do (I think the goal for the year should be 46-48 wins and making the 2nd round of the playoffs).
Dave T, Distilled, your reasons for Brand’s disappointing play last year (a regurgitation of his apologists’ list):
a. rust and its ravages
b. poor coaching; no offensive system
c. inferior, no-clue teammates
d. lack of time to incorporate non-system & to mesh with inferior,
no-clue teammates
Your reasons for optimism re a Brand resurgence next year:
1. maximum shape; psychological healing re injuries
2 . teammates’ improvements; chemistry gain
3. coaching upgrade; a favorable offensive system
4. motivation [80 million dollar guaranteed influx may subdue that "burning drive" a bit, I venture to say]
“Great high post presence” & “great rebunding”?? At this point, he’s not great at anything until he proves to be. My assessment of his game: 3rd banana … w/bruises.
But time will tell the full story.
(Nice post.)
correction: rebounding (from rebunding)
Great read JJG.
Dave it would be a disservice to this blog if we didn’t mention Tim Mccormick.
Also no, i wouldn’t be cool with Giving Andre Miller 3 years and 24 million. First off, I don’t want him back. But if we have to take him back I wouldnt go any higher the 2 years and 10 million. That’s it, don’t like it Andre then hit the road.
Brand desperately needs an outside shooter on the court with him to help spread the floor. With that in mind, I was surprised neither coach played Kareem Rush, who was bad but has knocked down 3s with other teams, with Brand for more than a minute or two here and there.
This is a huge year for Brand. Perhaps he’ll be more healthy (Achilles) than he was last year, which was why he didn’t move that well or get up/down the floor. I think he’ll play a lot of center, which is good at the offense end but tough on defense.
Have to say that based on what I’ve seen, I’m leaning more toward jjg’s point of view than Dave’s.
Tom–Which free agents do you have mind for the Sixers? Last year, Stefanski signed many role players to minimum contracts, which was brilliant on his part in case things do or don’t work out for certain players.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-09-10
They won’t be able to use the MLE if they re-sign Miller, so it’d be minimum-salary guys. They could do worse than Anthony Carter backing up the point. Ivey will likely pick up his 2009-10 option. Joe Smith would be nice as another big guy who can knock down the 17-footer, but he may not be interested.
Tom– nice article you’ve written!
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/126/2009/june/05/jordan-feels-his-style-will-be-eltons-brand-2.html
All I can say to everyone is let’s give Brand another chance!!
It’s amazing how the Brand signing was a “bad move”. We were in love with the move last year. He should get a pass for last year, he barely played.
As for “overpaying” him, we paid market value. Remember he had a better offer and came to Philly.
Thanks, Rob. Even if Brand gets a pass for last year, he must stay healthy and produce this year.
dre, Though generally true, “we were in love with the move” isn’t entirely accurate. I’ve never been starry-eyed about Brand. Readable proof: 7/12/08 thread, posts 63 & 73.
Spinning off a popular retailer’s advertising tagline, Sixer fans got “the ‘Min’ for the (Philly) Maxximum.” I didn’t buy the LA-imported product then; don’t buy Brand now, another year (and speed & reflex declination) down the line.
A 2-year separate (and significant) injuries-induced hiatus from a physically-demanding profession (at ages 28-30) is not advised by career planners. His ascent would shock, but I’ll be watching.
Perhaps the Sixers can offer the “Philly Max” or in Eddie Jordan’s case, “The Princeton Max” to other free agents. This team needs some guys who have played this style on both ends, and guys that might be intrigued by it. When you look at the Magic’s struggles thus far against the Lakers or when the Cavaliers lost to the Magic–they could use a Princeton style type of offense. The Wizards this season were one of the few teams to actually compete and beat the Cavaliers a couple times. Last year, the Wizards had bragging rights and were able to beat the Celtics 3 out of 4 games. This Sixers team could actually be better than the Heat or the Hawks, but they just have to wrinkle out a lot of those mental mistakes, get an established offensive plan, and improve on the perimeter (on both ends of the floor).
Andre Miller could actually have a time of his life personally as the PG of the Princeton Offense. Now, the rest of the team has to make plays besides the Andres. Constant ball movement and a healthier frontcourt would have actually made the difference in that 1st round series with the Magic.
Nice!
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/76ers_trade_Evans_for_Kapono.html
Just saw that and was coming on to post it, Randolph. Good trade. It has begun. Can’t wait to see what the 2009-10 roster will look like.