Kate Fagan is reporting that Elton Brand might be the odd man out of a starting line-up change.
She tweeted during practice today and has her summary up with some choice quotes from Eddie Jordan and Elton Brand. Check it out to read between the lines.
This is highly curious for one big reason: Marreese Speights is out.
The clear choice for insertion in the starting line-up was Speights who offensively has been a beast and has been rebounding the ball well also. That’s no longer an option, so why the hinting at a change now? (coach cluelessness might be a good reason).
Jordan has two very obvious ways he can go:
- Small line-up
- Traditional line-up
Let’s take a quick look at the options for both.
Small Line-Up
You have three guys who could be inserted into the starting line-up in that category…
- Willie Green
- Jason Kapono
- Rodney Carney
I would have said Jrue as well, but we all know Jordan wouldn’t do that unless his hand was forced by Stefanski.
With any of those choices in, it would push Thad back to the power forward spot.
I hate the small line-up, as does Brian over at the Depressed Fan. It’s just not effective for the Sixers anymore.
Judging by the line-ups Jordan has preferred over the first 10 games, this option in general looks like a 70% chance of happening. What’s still up in the air is who the starting wing will be. But Kate did report that Carney was running with the first squad.
I hate it for a few reasons:
- We will get killed on the boards
- Defensively we are weaker (is that even possible?)
- We have zero inside offense
Obviously if he goes this route, we’ll see if it works out well pretty quickly come Wednesday, but it’s unlikely in my opinion that it will work.
Traditional Line-Up
Starting Jason Smith is really the only way to maintain some size in the starting line-up, and he was running with the first team in practice today as well.
Is Jason Smith really better than Brand right now? Is Jason Smith really an NBA starting-caliber big?
I am not a fan of Jason Smith, and I know many of you are. Either way he isn’t a starting-caliber player. He does nothing exceptionally well, and the only thing I could see him doing is playing a Reggie Evans hustle man role. But does that really add anything?
His rebounding as been weak so far this season on a per-minute basis (5.9 per 36 minutes) so no help there. Defensively he leaves much to be desired, although Jordan did say he was better than Speights, which isn’t saying much of anything.
The one thing this news does is make the next game much more interesting and worth looking forward more to than before.
If he follows through on this, I will be completely shocked that he has basically given up on Brand after just 10 games. I said a few days ago it was just the beginning of the end for Brand under Jordan and the beginning of the frustration that will follow. This is just the next logical step. It’s just even more of an indictment of Brand that Jordan would do this with Speights sidelined.
Player and coach clearly disagree on Brand’s healthy and preparedness to compete at a high level for 40 minutes. I can’t wait for the soft spoken, usually polite Brand to lash out. And we are only 10 games in.
But I really shouldn’t that surprised considering I have already given up on Jordan as a coach in that same time period.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I wanted Brand to get some time with the second unit to improve his confidence… and then ideally return as a starter replacing Sam. But that was before the Speights injury. IMO benching Brand at this point would be hard to explain.
Wow. The dumb get dumber. Never mind the on court uselessness of “small ball,” If Jordan does really bench Brand his trade value gets even worse. This season should be all about rehabilitating Brand and Lou’s respective trade values, and also developing Thad, Speights and Jrue. Stefanski has really been striking out.
Dannie, I agree it hurts us on the boards but if Carney is the choice, are we worse defensively? Thad may cover 4!s better than 3!s and with the 4!s we have been playing [G.Wallace next] Elton has trouble athletically. Carney/Iggy are our best defensive wing combo, in my opinion. That being said, it makes no sense to me whatsoever. Elton seemed to be making strides, baby steps if you will but maybe playing 2nd teamers helps.
Actually it’s Boris Diaw Thad will be facing at power forward next game and if you remember last year Thad had a hard time with him inside.
Then:
I think you get the picture. Thad covers a select few of undersized 4’s that are like him. But is that likely what he will face most games? I think the list above speaks to that.
Also I really have no clue why people do not factor defensive rebounding as part of the overall defense conversation more. I think with the small line-up it’s pretty clear we are weaker on the defensive boards. That means more shot opportunities for our opponents and more possessions for our weak defense to try to defend.
And as indicated above are we just going to double the post every time it goes down into a guy Thad can’t handle? Let the threes continue to rain then.
Small ball just doesn’t make sense to me and I’d love for someone to show me a great team that played that way. Show me any team that was consistently successful playing small ball.
I am cool with new strategies and all that but this one I gotta stick with the traditional.
Dannie, I find the timing real odd and don!t agree with it and wonder what Jordan holds against Elton; is there some past history there?
Eddie Jordan is slowly creeping into Bob Salmi territory with the fans.
Why bench Brand. Let him play his way back into game shape. It would also raise his trade value the more he plays.
Morty, To rehab Brand’s trade value, Brand would need a fresh body. Organization can talk smack, he can talk smack, but if opposition is smackin’ your shots back rather than being victimized by power ball … .
You can’t rehab Williams’ trade value; as per performance none has ever been established.
On Thad, Speights and Jrue: While I see positives in their play, I believe the potential of each is less than some think … and that these particular players are subject to ‘mirage in desert’ happy evaluations and projections. Granted, all show athleticism and some spunk; but all have obvious holes in their game that affect final results. Forget age. They have what they have. Will naturally develop some. But this is pro basketball, not a petri dish. Court goodness, not greatness – unpromised ceiling of three, imo.
The season should be all about generating excitement and gathering fans in the present and for the future, in whatever form that takes (Iguodala trade?). Right now, it’s simply about Jordan (or his successor) assembling a respectable product (not yet visible) with limited parts in inventory. One thing I’ve noticed this season: Sixers’ opponents tend to have better basketball players. Conclusion: upper management, the poorest shooters in the building.
yeah this makes absolutely no sense if Speights is out.
Conclusion: upper management, the poorest shooters in the building.
Best line I have seen on this blog in a long time.
It almost looks as if Jordan is trying to get fired. I can’t see how Stefanski can stick with him after the season if this shit keeps up. You can’t fire the players (and they don’t deserve to be, yet) so you can the coach.
I hated the EJ move after Cheeks was fired and the rumors started, I hated the EJ move in the spring when it became real and I hate the EJ move 10 games in.
If Brand has lost it, then he’s lost and you have to do whatever you can to move him. Dannie, her’s a trade scenario for ya, trade him to Sacramento for a box of mal-o-mars. Just shit-can the season and start making moves to contend for a title within the next 5 years.
Too much young talent on this squad to ruin it with a coach who can’t draw up a defensive strategy to keep my fat ass out of the paint.
Well, it looks like Samuel Dalembert will be a Sixer a little longer now. The Bobcats acquired Stephen Jackson and Acie Law IV from the Warriors for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic. The Sixers were actually one of the teams in talks of pursuing Stephen Jackson.
Now, the Sixers will see Stephen Jackson and the Bobcats on Wednesday.
I read your blog all the time and I agree with you on almost everything, most specifically the Ty Lawson mistake, and the coaching ineptitude, and this is the first time that I have posted in a while because I simply could not resist. Am I missing something? Elton Brand missed an entire season two years ago, misses half of last year, and the coach gives up on him about 3 games into the season? I say three games because I feel like he has not played in the fourth quarter since then. Elton Brand is the ultimate professional and if there is one Sixer whose character and resilience I believe in, its his. He has looked rusty the first couple of games, there is no denying it, but was this to be unexpected? You get better with more reps and taking away these reps will only hurt his cause. When i was watching the Bulls game I thought I saw some good signs in Elton’s performance most specifically on the defensive end, and he seemed to have more jump in his legs on the majority of his jumpers. I have seen some people comparing him to Chris Webber which is completely ludacris, Webber didn’t have functioning knees and had a pissy attitude. I think its a disgrace the way Eddie Jordan is treating Brand. Eddie Jordan is an ego-maniac with a know it all attitude, who has a career winning percentage way below .500. Your quote sums eddie jordan up, essentially stating that we need to keep score with the suns and nuggets of the league.I consider myself to be a big sixers fan and I am completely dumbfounded by this “coach” and this “princeton Offense” that has Samuel Dalambert taking jumpshot after jumpshot. Until Eddie Jordan is fired, or Stefanski has a meeting with him about how unreasonable he is being about the Brand situation, were screwed.
If I were the coach this is the line-up I would throw out there….
Pg Jrue Holiday Sg Andre Igudola SF Thaddeus Young PF Elton Brand C Sammy D…
I like this lineup because its a solid defensive lineup, and I like Lou coming off the bench a lot more. With that being said I would have Kapono on the floor with Elton during one of the rotations, so that if elton is doubled he can hit Jason up. I fell like Eddie is messing with rotations way to much and its tough to get any type of chemistry when you do that. I would have lou and jason play a good amount of the bench, maybe let smith and carney get a few mins, and no willie and Ivey would not get time. This isnt a fantasy land video game where you try to score as many points as possible, its called the NBA. O and I would let Brand play in the fourth once in a while… what a mess
Steve – Well said.
Sixer small ball – Is the silliest, stupidist, dumbass most gimmicky thing you could possibly try to do now with Speights having just been hurt. Brand needs to be inserted into the starting lineup. NOW. J-Smith gets 15-20 mpg behind Brand and D-Bert, Brezec the rest. I’d start playing Willie Green even less and make Rodney Carney and Holiday are main 6th and 7th men for the guard spots. Do not want Thad or J-Smith as our regular starting PF. And no WAY I want Kapono sliding into the SG/SF spot. Ugh.
jjg: Hard to argue with much of your comment, although I can quibble. Given the large investment in Brand, the team has an obligation to see if he can work himself back into shape – certainly more time than 3 games. In any case, he’s the best big man on the team with Speights out. The team also has an obligation to see what it has with their rookie – no one learns by sitting.
Either Jordan is a complete jack-ass, with his stubborn handling of Brand as a most telling example of this;
or, Brand’s abilities are WAY worse than his box scores suggest (they’re not great, but they’re not frightening either) and we just don’t see it because we’re not at the practices;
or, Jordan and Stefanski have decided to create a very public rift between player and coach, one that makes the coach temporarily look like a real jerk so that they can go to other GMs and say, “Brand is fine, but Jordan and he aren’t getting along. How’d you like to make a trade?”
Anyway you slice it, though, the organization continues to look like a circus act, like a bad soap-opera, like a team that no real competitor will want to join–six coaches since 2003; the Iverson insanity; Robinson; Weber; a GM change; Dalembert’s mohawk; Ratliff and others, after the playoffs, ragging to the media about the total lack of accountability with the team; entering a season without a true point guard; this Brand-Jordan drama; a defensive coach (Lynam) who’s pushing 70 and has been in and out of this organization since 1987, with roles from head coach to GM to assistant coach (can you say “JOKE” or, perhaps “INBREEDING”?).
Looking at these players, over the last SEVERAL years, I am appauled by their attitudes. On the court, at half-times, after games, in postgame interviews–I see guys that, to me, look entirely unphased by getting their asses handed to them, by barely sweaking by undermanned or less talented teams, acting like idiots when they actually win a close game or make an important shot (think, Iggy’s ‘I’ve got giant testicles’ gestures), and seemingly reveling in the team party line of “Hey, we’re a young team and we’re still learning a system so give us a break.” We’ve been seeing and hearing this stuff for YEARS.
Long and short of it, for me, is that there’s a total cultural problem in 76er land. I don’t see attitude, I don’t see balance, I don’t see “position” or “role” players, I don’t see progress, and I don’t like the way the organization is managed. And I don’t mind saying I’ve felt this way since, roughly, Larry Brown left. This team is rudderless.
TRADE RUMOR ALERT! TRADE RUMOR ALERT! WE MIGHT GET…
BRIAN SCALABRINE!!! KENNY THOMAS!!! TONY ALLEN!!!
Here are the details:
Philly gets the above-mentioned holy trinity.
Boston gets Andres Nocioni.
Sacramento gets J.R. Giddens and Samuel Dalembert.
Quick take: we’ll need a center… and some Dramamine – if you thought coach EJ’s substitutions were dizzying before, wait ’til those 3 get here…
Zack – I am on it.