Simple question to discuss today while we await the Sacramento game.
You look at who the Sixers have beat. Mostly bad teams. The only quality victory prior to last night came in unexpected fashion against the Celtics. How did they follow that up?
3 straight losses.
Now they just beat a solid Western Conference team on the road, how will they follow that win up?
I no longer can look at wins like Boston or Portland as meaningful with this team. What’s meaningful is how they follow them up.
Some people will point to games like the Boston game and Portland win as the potential for this team. This is how they could be playing every game. It’s a glimpse of what could be with this team.
Uh, uhn. Not so fast.
That is NOT what games like that suggest – at all. It just proves this is the NBA and on any given day a previously bad team can shake things up and win a game against a superior opponent. That’s it.
See what people overlook or just decided to blatantly ignore is single victories and performances mean nothing more than 1 win in the regular season where playoff implications are not on the line.
What DOES matter is consistent performances of that nature over time. And winning games against Boston and Portland don’t mean jack if you turn around and lose to Washington, the Clippers and the Kings.
Those are the games that demonstrate what this team is really about. And until they start stringing wins together, beating weaker and average teams, thinking wins against Boston and Portland are more than random variance and that the Sixers are capable of ANYTHING is little more than lunacy.
Harsh?
Probably but you guys know me by now, that’s just how I tend to write sometimes.
So that’s my take. What’s yours?
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What I take out of last nights win? That out of the 4 main reasons for victory [Elton,A.I., Iggy and Sam] 3 are hoped to be out of here by our fans and our so-called young core had nothing to do with it other than a couple of Spieghts buckets. That we will never get to see if this group, as currently assembled could succeed under the right coach and it is a shame.
I agree with you take, Dannie.
Another gem for the EJ quote book:
Portland star Brandon Roy, remembering losing both games last season to the Sixers, said he was taken aback by the Sixers’ poor start.
“They have good players,” said Roy, who began the day averaging 22.8 points a game. “I was surprised by their record. I don’t even look at them, like, I don’t approach this game looking at their record, I approach it as, ‘Look, this team is good and they have talented players.’ ”
At yesterday’s shootaround, Sixers coach Eddie Jordan dismissed Roy’s comment, which seemed somewhat innocuous.
“That’s his opinion,” said Jordan when asked if he felt his team had more talent than its record indicated.
I agree that they need to find consistency before we jump to any conclusions
With the games at Sacto and LA Clippers they have a nice chance to prove they are on their way to become a half decent team, otherwise these “quality wins” will remain just episodes, good only to piss off fans thinking “what could have been if…”
To me, the Blazers game to the very least proved that Jordan is still an idiot and that the team is really deep.
Think about it, guys that were initially supposed to be in the rotation (Kapono, Smith and Carney) basically didn’t play, Green was out and Thad took a night off. Still, we outplayed the Blazers with a great team effort, with at least 4 guys having an excellent performance
I’m sure you’re gonna get to this at a later time. But the Kings game SCARES ME. I have been nothing but impressed with the way they are playing especially at home. They took the Lakers into double OT and if I’m not mistaken, they beat the Nuggets last night.
As for the victories against the Celtics and Blazers… I really try not to look into things too much. We’ve been on the edge of beating really good teams numerous times… we just haven’t made the plays down the stretch. Every once and a while this team will make those plays and win an impressive game. But I still think we will see more of the “Nuggets” type of games, than the “Celtics” type of games. More often than not… we WON’T make the plays down the stretch in my opinion.
Guest – Sacramento’s last three games:
OH and Guest why does the Kings game “scare” you? Sixers aren’t expected to win that game.
Really looking forward to Iguodala defending Evans though.
Evans didn!t even play in their win over Denver, they must be saving him for us. Westfall is doing a good job.
I would give them Thad for their other #1 pick of last year, Casspi. He is a hard nosed defender with a good touch. Seems those European players, for the most part, play with a bit of an attitude. Jerebko does the same.
“I would give them Thad for their other #1 pick of last year, Casspi. ”
He was the 23 pick in the draft last year. I’m hoping Thad is worth more than that, given you can usually just buy picks in that range.
Jordan, need’s to go soon, like now, right now… The new coach will need time to work out a trade to benifit the Team, before the dead line.
Lou Williams, needs to be traded….Willie Green should go with him…
Looks like to me, that Young and Speights should be bench players till they learn to play better defense.
Smith and Carney need steady min. so they can be sharp, when used as subs for our starters. It keep’s are starter’s legs fresher, in return, at the end of the game our starters, can play at a higher level to win. I would leave Sam and Elton, out of trade talks and let them play together in the starting line up. We may have something with Sammy, Elton, Iggy, Iverson. There is chemistry here and it could grow, We need, One, good player to gel with this starting lineup, Should be able to get something for, Lou and Willie. All is not lost, IF, Stafanski, rights his wrong and fires,,,,,,,, Eddy Shithead Jordan…..
Would like to know what tradable player you would like to get before the deadline… ?
tk76, I hope you are right but toughness and feel for the game are 2 things some guys never get. I saw recently a comparison of T.Outlaw and Thad, to me that is a very good one.
Wall 16 assists, 1 turnover today.
Suede, your concerns are legitimate, especially if the team plans on using Thad as their starting PF. But I do think Thad has a lot of trade value if they decided to move him. I’m not ready to give up on him, but I’m also not happy with him starting at PF.
Tk76, I don!t want to be right and I don!t mean as a 4 just as a player, he is a good kid and has shown flashes but I hope he is more than a 6th man type, which means he has to defend and help in other ways. I can!t believe he isn!t shown things by McKie that don!t translate to the floor defensively but playing for all these coaches can!t help. Dannie, watched Atlanta and Cleveland tonight, D.West took the game over in the 2nd half. Josh looks huge compared to his rookie year, he must be 240 lbs. With Crawford he rarely got touches tonight, in fact they went scoreless for most of the 4th quarter, Cleveland is getting real good defensively.
Can someone explain to me when Thad was EVER projected as a PF?
Last game Thad looked horrible in all his attempts to pass the ball on the move.
He simply is a one-dimensional player. He overall game is still like a raw college freshman who scores a bit.
If you go back to the Draft, Thad was pretty much seen as a prospect. he Played inside his whole life, and then tried to learn the wing in his one year of college, where he looked raw. it was hoped he could eventually apply his athletasism and hgood basic shooting form to become a wing player- while still having his innate post scoring skills from growing up as an interior scorer.
The problem has been that the Sixers saw he could make an immediately impact as a stretch PF who scores and raises the tempo of the game in exchange for no rebounding. This sometimes works next to an exceptional defensive rebounder like Sam. (Sam’s career def reb% is 24.6%, Shaq 23.6%, Brand 19%, Thad 12%)
But Thad is still a long way from being a good wing player. I remember when he first tried the wing in Summer League he looked as awkward as a JV player with absolutely no handle. He has come a long way, but its unclear where he will end up. Especially since every coach starts with him at SF, but then is enticed by the fact that his game is more polished as a PF, despite his MUCH lower ceiling at that position.
So your guess is as good as mine as to whether he has a future at the SF position. He still has a high ceiling, but very well may never get the basics down to where he can tap into his athleticism, balance and touch. If not they should move him soon while his value is high and he is still 2 summers away from being a RFA.
tk76, I wasn!t rippin Thad as much as liken Casspi; he was talked up leading up to the draft as a tough , long, good wing defender that can shoot and seems to be doing well. I would love our team to finally get an overseas talent because they seem to be ready to produce and are well rounded, that is why J.Vesely intrigues me this year if we pick in the 8 to 12 range. Gallinari seems to be producing well and the Knicks, by the way, have held 11 straight opponents under 100 pts., take that E.Jordan!!!
It sounds like Evans is doubtful for tonight, I really wanted to see him. That means D.Greene may be their 2 guard again, lets see Lou try to cover a 6!11″ guy.
I wish the Sixers had the money to go out and buy some late 1st and early 2nd round picks like the type of player you mentioon. Portland does it. It rarely pays off, but there are some interesting prospects every year.
Would have liked to get DeAndre Jordan, Buddinger, Meeks, Big Baby, Kaponnen, Landry… all of these guys were available for a price.
It pisses me off also because Fasenko would be a nice young big to develop and 2nd rounders aren!t that expensive. Looking at past drafts today and L.B. and Michael couldv!e had B.Lopez and C.Lee instead of Augustine and Ajinca. For a coach that values defense a Lopez/Okafor/Wallace/Lee and Felton 5 isn!t bad.
Just goes to show a lot teams, GMs and scouts are not good at the draft.
The whole Thad thing just speaks to the organization having no clue or direction with this roster.
AND I feel like their player development is below par as well.
I think there is a disconect between the front office and the coach. They draft projects but then have the coaches be in win now mode. Thad should have been being prepped to be a SF instead of being started at PF.
Similar story with Lou. Do all you can to maximize what he can do as a PG. Don’t send him out there and tell him to just be a scorer…. Sure there are limits to how you can develop guys. Obviously Lou never will be a pure PG. But having coaches telling him to just score because that’s what he does best is disconnected from what the team is trying to develop long term.
On top of that, the GM tries to win now and build for 3 years down the line at the same time.
I think part of it is the culture of failure and rapid turnover. The coach and GM are afraid to focus on a long term vision. So the coach has to win at all costs and the GM takes a short cut and gets guys like Andre Miller and Joe Smith for AI and then sells a number 1 pick instead of getting all prospects and taking the long road.
They never should have let a lame duck like BK be the one who traded AI. Now Ed after his Brand and EJ moves is a lame duck, but he’ll be trying to make a quickie salvage job because he has to turn things around fast or loose his job.
All part of being a bad organization from the top down.
ES is trying to use a football philosophy as a basketball GM. I’m not an eagles fan by no means. However the eagles are notorious for getting rid of aging vets to maximize on young talent hoping they can build for the future while staying competitive right now. They always seem to have a 3 year window of young talent and veteran players to build with. Well maybe the Sixers thought they could implement the same style of team and roster building. Well the eagles have 53 players on the roster, not 13. They can’t expect to win now and build for the future when the future players are not very good. They are recycling players just like coaches which I think is a big mistake. Now I like Ai coming back but Carney, and bringing back ivey, Lynam, Ayers. This stuff isn’t working.
I see this more as a project not a plan. My son has projects, put it together watch it explode laugh and hope to get a good grade. Sixers need a plan, something we all can look at and see this is the direction they are going and it looks good. I hope to see more of the Portland game tonight. Kings are playing good basketball. That’s a team I can look at and say they have a plan.
Wesley Johnson – 20 points (8-16 shooting), 19 boards, 5 blocks last night vs. Seton hall
Philly doesn’t mean as much to Boston as Boston means to Philly (it’s kinda like the Eagles & Cowboys rivalry terms). In midst of long winning streak, Celts weren’t into the game. And Wallace, of course, was definitely out of it, early. When “Veal” hit the table with 4 min to go in 3rd, knew Sixers had their “meal” opportunity.
Philly plays Portland well, for whatever reason. Rose Garden crowds & atmosphere seem to jack up emotion-thriving, Kobe-understudy Iguodala.
Fearless AI gave Sixers the fuel and veteran know-how/production to rise for one night from their streak of humiliation and heartache. Portland had won 4 straight against strong competition; a Trailblazer sag in readiness to get after it at that point in schedule, vs. lowly Sixers, not surprising.
RRose, I agree. When you look at most top teams they are comprised of 5-6 vets between 28 and 35 and 1-2 good to great young players ages 23-25.
The Sixers rotation features four players ages 19-23, Iguodala(25), and 3 vets (Brand 30, Sam 28, Green 30.) Last year than hasd another older vet in Miller.
You don’t have to have a bunch of vets on the floor at all times to win, but it winning with so many young players on the floor at once rarely happens in the NBA. ES had the best of intentions last year trying to win now while keeping most of his young core. But trying to have it both ways has blown up in his face since not only could they not win, but the higher ticket vet (Brand) will limit what they can do financially for many years.
Dannie, I just hate not knowing if the “cuse” guys can defend because of that zone but he is definitely worth a look. Drafting another wing, sound familiar? Who would be your top ten college players , based on possible “star quality”.
tk76, Saunders sounds enamored with the “foundation” his predecessor left him.
If you look at Rashard Lewis and Elton Brand, Elton has a chance to impact this team as much but the difference is, what he has here to influence. That is why I think some G.M. may bite if he gets close to a championship if Elton finishes with an 18 and 9 type of year, there is always a gambler out there [Cuban?]
David West is VERY available, so I thought I’d have some fun with the trade machine…
First you go to the Hornets and offer Jason Kapono + Primoz Brezec + Rodney Carney + lottery-protected draft pick for David West, and then hope the Hornets don’t get any better offers. Leave that on the table until the trade deadline, and then at the very last minute, bump that up to Thaddeus Young + Kapono for David West.
The first deal is a money-saver for the Hornets. They have to keep Kapono for just one more season, but Carney and Brezec are expirings. It’s a garbage haul for the Hornets, so you have to entice them with the first-rounder. Coach EJ, I dare you to continue with the small lineups with David West AND Elton Brand on the team. The second deal is a little less imbalanced – the Hornets get a young guy with some upside who doesn’t need the ball and should thrive alongside Paul.
With the second deal, we’ll have West as a starter instead of Young and continue to bring Elton Brand and Speights off the bench. In crunch time we run with Brand and West, Iguodala, Iverson, and whoever. Needless to say, our lineups with the first deal would be even better. Good enough to win the East with West, I’m not sure, but we’ve added more talent at a reasonable contract and it solves the small lineups problem (a problem according to many fans).
Suede – Remember Johnson did play two seasons at Iowa State before going to Cuse. I’d like to see some of the tape from those seasons to gauge his defense.
From what I’ve read he has all the physical tools to be a very strong defender (like Iguodala) but needed to add some strength, toughness, coaching and like most young players focus on that end of the floor.
As much as I hate players that play zone all the time in college, it doesn’t necessarily mean guys that come out of those programs can’t defend (think Chaney’s Temple pros were good defenders).
Boheim is a very very good coach and I actually think Johnson transferring to play under him makes me like him as a prospect more than if he stayed at Iowa State.
You can tell from his blocks, steals and defensively rebounding numbers that he is extremely active and focused on that end now. That’s the first step and I think that comes from playing under Boheim who won’t let him lose focus and not contribute defensively even in the zone.
He is probably the exact opposite of Jrue defensively right now. Jrue looks to be a stud on-the-ball defender and developing off-the-ball guy. Johnson looks to be a stud off-the-ball defender and rebounder on the wing and an unknown on the ball defender.
I really like what he is doing right now and he would be my pick if Wall isn’t an option.
But it’s an interested question if say we end up with the #2 pick.
Take Favors even though we have 2 PFs who play a lot now?
If you do take Favors I think you would have to trade Brand or Speights.
OR Trade down to take Johnson and get another pick or cash.
I don’t think you can answer that question until we see Favors go through ACC play. He is having just an okay season right now. Nothing spectacular from him yet.
But the ACC has some teams with premium big men that will give him a chance to show his true potential as an NBA player.
Zack – So you play a team with a glut of power forwards (albeit talented) just to force the dumbass coach to play a bigger line-up and make the floor spacing and perimeter shooting significantly worse?
Oh west doesn’t help the passing game much either.
OH and the Hornets wouldn’t do it. They need salary relief THIS season to get under the luxury tax. Those deals don’t do that this season or next so it doesn’t make any sense from their side.
You have to understand they aren’t trading West to try and get better, West is an All-star you aren’t going to get a better player back. They would move him 100% for financial reasons and the Sixers are not in position to partake in deals where the other team wants cap relief.
dannie,
i dont live in philly. but i know that the media has really killed McNabb and Reid in the past. i realize you have addressed this before, but why is there no scrutiny of the EJ, ES or the Sixers in general by the press ? is it because the phillies and eagles are really good so they are happy ?>
Dannie, that’s actually not the problem I saw with my trade proposition, it’s that we’d be losing Kapono’s expiring for next year, and how it affects the Sixers’ long-term plans. Also, Thad has the potential to become an All-Star next to Chris Paul, while West is 29 and has 3~4 years left on his contract.
“floor spacing, perimeter shooting, passing game” – are you really concerned about these? I wish we could talk about these problems with this team, that would mean they’re past the following issues: toughness, strong mental attitude, defense, rebounding, half-court scoring, basketball IQ – these are all things West would bring. Didn’t Stefanski try to address the floor spacing and perimeter shooting w/ Kapono and Carney? And it’s not like Thad at PF was helping with the perimeter shooting, spacing, and passing, either (BTW, Mr. Young is doing his and -like-that-he’s-gone! disappearing act again, I’m changing my personal nickname for him from “Spider-Man” to “the Great Vanishing Thaddini”).
Are you saying that if the Sixers acquired West, it would be compounding one mistake (dumbass coach) with another? I don’t think West would be a mistake, I think he’s just the mirror this team needs in that he doesn’t take shit from anybody, and on this team of bullshitters he’s not gonna put up with any, not after having played with Chris Paul. That New Orleans team has great chemistry, and he’s one of the reasons. He brings Reggie Evans without the Euro-acting. He’s Elton Brand with bigger balls. He’s a Speights without the brain 9-year old.
Plus, these are our useful bigs: Sam, Elton, Speights. Only Elton can’t play center (Eddie Jordan: yes he can!). A lot of teams at crunchtime don’t play someone center-like, opting to go undersized, so I don’t see how West and Elton can’t pair up in the 4th.
But in the end, YES, I play a team with a glut of power forwards just to force the dumbass coach to play a bigger line-up… YES, outside of firing EJ, it’s come to thinking about stuff like this…
David West & Elton Brand – redundancies. Why would you want the pairing? Both “brutes” tend to shoot away from lane traffic, from left side of court, anywhere from 10-20 ft. West, corner & in, Brand likes elbow angle (his straight on 20 ft. shot clock-buzzer beater vs. Wiz – all fiberglass & net!). Not enough room on court to accomodate that tandem. West, the better player now (sorry suede).
Zack, Agree with your West traits assessment. Saw him up close for Xavier (at LaSalle); liked him a lot then, still do. Bring him on … if ya can get rid of Brand.
Dannie, from TrueHoop:
“Yet the Hornets are currently $3.3 million over the tax line and remain prepared to send away Brown in a deal that brings back no guaranteed money, as seen over the summer when New Orleans felt it had to essentially donate Rasual Butler to the Los Angeles Clippers because of the tax benefits.
There is a belief among some rival executives — or perhaps it’s more accurate to call it a hope — that the Hornets will not be able to resist moving All-Star forward David West before the Feb. 18 trading deadline to ensure that they get comfortably under the tax threshold.”
The difference between David West’s and Jason Kapono’s salaries is a little less than $3million. It doesn’t bring New Orleans comfortably under the tax threshold, but it’s the best the Sixers can do.
Jumpin, I am not sure about that. Chandler is not the same player since leaving C.Paul and Elton looks a lot better with A.I. or Jrue on the floor with him. Zack, I believe 3.3 mill. is the magic number for any Hornets trade, they want to take back 3.3 mill. less in any trade to not pay the tax. Our Sixers may be doing the same next year if the cap goes down. I long for the days when trades were about talent and not cap space.
suede, Chandler, paper tiger C. West, lionhearted F. West will find his place anywhere he goes.
West has 1 more year and a player option on a contract that is actually decreasing in cost (player option year is only $7.5M).
If West decides to stay that last year he would have the most coveted expiring contract in the NBA. So I am less worried about losing Kapono’s deal.
Thad will never be an All-Star. My VERY strong opinion on this has not changed.
Chris Paul isn’t going to make him a better defender, rebounder, passer or make him tougher. Thad might score more but that’s about it. And right now the Hornets BIGGEST issues are defense and rebounding neither or which Thad adds to their team.
Floor spacing, perimeter shooting and passing are foundational aspects of good half-court offense, along with cutting and some individual playmaking. West doesn’t bring any of those things as compared to Thad. In fact he makes the floor spacing and perimeter shooting worse, so how exactly is the half court offense better trying to play two PFs together in a finite area of space, neither of which are strong passers? Sorry just doesn’t make much sense to me.
West adds rebounding – yes. Toughness and mental attitude? Probably. Defense, maybe. How is he contributing to that end on the Hornets right now?
Good enough to win the East? Your not sure? I don’t think that is even a consideration and the answer is a resounding – no.
Thad actually does help the floor spacing because his game extends out to the three point line whereas West’s doesn’t.
I would think defending a line-up with Brand and West on the floor with non shooter Iguodala wouldn’t be all that difficult.
Is Chandler that much better than Okafor defensively? Why the difference in their play this year?
Exactly my point, the best the Sixers can do isn’t good enough.
Besides that, you can’t trade Kapono straight up for West. So the Sixers would have to add another player making the cap relief for the Hornets much lower.
Elton has yet to solve the double-teaming riddle. Portland missed that boat.
In the history of the luxury tax, has there ever been a team not willing to pay it challenge for a title?
Winning teams? Top 5-8 teams?
“A lot of teams” doesn’t mean much to me if they are losers.
Also going undersized doesn’t mean playing two nearly identical style PFs. If they do go undersized it’s to create some sort of advantage OR their personnel calls for them to do so because they don’t have size to begin with.
Suede – I think there are two different questions…
I think you have to be very lucky AND very savvy for option 2 to work.
For example only having one major salary on the books and having a super stud player on a rookie deal like the Heat did with Shaq and Wade. Their total payroll was only like $60M the year they won the championship. Shaq’s $20M then the next largest contract was Jason Williams at $7.5M.
The Spurs would be an example of the savvy team. Their payroll the last time the won was something like $65M.
Just a different league now. Example the payroll on the last Bulls Championship was like $63M. Jordan made up half of that at $33M and now player made more than $4.5M. Scottie only made $2.77M. Scottie didn’t start making real money until he left the Bulls the year after their last chip.
I think the luxury tax started in 2001 but I am not 100% certain.
The Sixers will be sellers not buyers of talent. They will not make any move that involves taking on more salary short or long term. They are going to be over the tax next year and are lousy. So ES will be under orders to shed salaries.
So don’t expect the Sixers to make trades that are basketball decisions. Expect them to try and give away players or picks in order to stay under the tax. Last summer they let Miller go solely becasue they wanted the 10M in cap relief. They did not use their MLE despite being 6M under the tax becasue ES is under orders to save money.
To be fair, this is what most teams do. As Suede pointed out, contenders go over the tax. Comcast was way over the tax during the AI years. Everyone else puts $’s first and basketball decisions second. So they will not make any move that involves taking on more salary short or long term. This is why Brand’s growing Phillymax contract kills them.
Dannie, I think you’re underestimating Chris Paul’s leadership abilities. I’ll give you that what I’m saying is pure conjecture, but “…make him a better defender, rebounder, passer or make him tougher” are all skill areas in which players can work on and get better at, and Thad is still an impressionable young guy who hasn’t earned his contract yet. You’re slotting him in for a niche already, but I think he’s not that close to finding his place in the NBA yet. I think Chris Paul’s the one who can show him exactly what he needs to do to earn that payday. Paul, a winner, will need all the help he can get without West, and I can totally envision him using Thad and his abilities to get those W’s.
Theoretically, Thad should help the floor spacing, but it just seems like when I’m watching the Sixers I’m never, ever, marveling at how much floor spacing he provides. I feel like it’s a battle we always lose to the other team, so concede it and try to win the other battles so that we can ultimately win the war. Linking back to the topic of this post – didn’t we make the run agains the Blazers with Speights, Brand, Iguodala, Iverson and Ivey? I didn’t watch the Celtics game – was Thad a big part of that win?
About West’s defense, I could swear you’ve written about that (defense in general) before – doesn’t that have to be a collective, concentrated team effort? What’s the point of having a Shane Battier if Lou Williams or Andre Miller is constantly letting other guards penetrate into open space?
About how easy to defend West + Brand would be, I can’t tackle this, I think you’d need some sort of essay discussing different offensive theories and philosophies in order to cover this, something I just don’t have the time or knowledge to do. But I think this is a good time to ask something I’d always been curious about – can someone explain to me how the Bump and Thump Sixers were so successful? Looking back, it seemed like a horrible combination: G-Man, Barkley, Mahorn, Hawk & Dawk. I was surprised we lost to Chicago, and very disappointed. Dannie, didn’t you hate Michael Jordan when he lined up against the Sixers? I know I did.
Dannie and tk, it seems to me , as a franchise in this economy, the best strategy is to get the #1 pick in the draft by any means , if he is a J.Wall type; which means whereever we draft [#5?] we should package whats necessary to move up and try to strike gold. Dannie, I am surprised to see so many titles at so little cost. Guys, on philly,com sixers forum some good Pistol Pete videos, including HORSE against McAdoo and Gervin. Walton said D.Brown watched all the film from Pistols L.S.U. days and he would have averaged 13 3pters. and 57 ppg. by today!s rules.
Never hated MJ. He was the only player for me that transcended home town favor and when the Sixers weren’t winners I was routing for the Bulls because I liked Jordan AND all their players.
Short answer to your Bump and Thump question. Because the rules back then allowed for that style to be successful and that Sixers team had some of the best bump and thumpers.
People were afraid of Mahorn assaulting them in the lane. You can’t defend that way anymore,.
JJG… have you been watching Brand latley.. enough with the constant bashing
By the way Dannie I really like Devin Ebanks for this team personally, unbeliavble rebounder, tough, makes plays at the end of games to win them, improving jumpshot, tons of potential but defenitely has the work ethic to reach it. Could run the floor with Igudola and Speights as well.
Ebanks = absolutely not. He is the name of the day right now because of the shot he made against Marquette and the 22-17 game he had against Seton Hall.
I see him as nothing more than a another terrible shooting, turnover prone athlete. He would be AT BEST a tiny upgrade over Thad if that.
If I am going to draft a perimeter player I would rank them:
Well thats not why I brought him up I actually go to WVU and have been following his game since his New York high school days. He has to work on his shot but he really does rebound at an amazing rate.. him and Thaddeous Young arent even similar.. Young is soft.. Ebanks is tough. Your right though…the Seton Hall game was the first good game of his career. Talk about a hot name and thats exactly what Wesley Johnson is. No one was talkign about him at Iowa State but now because for Jim “lets stand their with our hands up and not move our feet zone defense” Boheim everyones in love with him. I like him too.. but he is being a bit overrated becuase he plays for Syracuse.. if it was Craig Brakens that transfered to Cuse instead I have a feeling the same thing would happen. Again I do like him I am just not close to of sold on him as you seem to be, not yet at least. John Wall is clearly the cream of the crop he is one of the best prospects in a while with his combination of athletisicm and passing skills. He is also a really good kid despite the fact he plays for coach cal. I like Bradley a good amount more then Henry, I am seeing a little more versaility, I like the way Bradley attacks the rim. Henry is a very smart player and picks good spots to shoot the ball but he is not as athletic and doesnt have the potential Bradley does to me.
I like Bradley but am turned off by his size. He is another undersized shooting guard.
Reggie Evans was tough and rebounded. Sorry. Give me skilled players not raw athletes. Had enough of ‘em.
Also, you are wrong about Johnson. Scouts were bubbling over him after his freshman year at Iowa State.
Something happened in his sophomore year and he had a down year – injury to his foot that he played with, team wanted him to be more of a PF and play inside, while he was working on and wing game and fell in love with the three.
Then he transferred to Cuse and immediately everyone was back on him. And he has been nothing short of fantastic this season.
He is actually rebounding at a better rate than Ebanks and his shooting numbers are astronomical. And he is blocking more shots and getting more steals than Ebanks.
Clearly your WVU bias shows in your comment about Boheim and their defense. It’s not as active as Chaney’s zone was but it’s still very good and very effective.
Chuck, Kiss my keister. Who made you editor? Outside of Morgantown, blogs are free expression vehicles; opposite and divergent opinions are permitted. We like it that way. Hot Rod Hundley would’ve never ordered desistence.
To answer your question: Yes, I’ve seen Brand lately. Too much actually. He feasts occasionally on neurasthenic front lines and proceeds to affectedly lick his fingers as though he matters in the NBA season long haul. Granted, is warming up a little as his teammates are beginning to trust his ability to make something positive happen when he gets the ball. I’ll let you know when I’m impressed.
Be proactive, not censorial. Argue Brand’s case for his 14.8 million this season (to be followed by annual increases at 32, 33, 34) along with the internal organization/team attention that he consumes in scratching out 13 & 7 in 30 minutes. Caveats: Avoid mentioning his foul shot vs. Portland that skimmed the south side of the front rim; will not score any points. Also avoid mention of his having amassed 3 rebounds twice in the last 4 games, despite playing minutes of 28 & 36; will dilute your story.
Yeah Dannie you make some real good points about Wesley Johnson.. I do like him I guess I just need to see more of him. Bradley could use a few inches I guess I just like the way he attacks the rim.. he seems like he would be a good scorer in the NBA. As for my bias… not so much.. Ebanks isn’t even close to one of my favorite college players I just thought he may be a good fit and bring us some things we are missing… and I have an uncle who went to Syracuse their actually one of my favorite teams I just dont like their defense never have… Ive always been a man a man defense type of guy.
As for JJG ive been told by other members who follow Dannie and Pete that you are the cynic, as you have continually ignored my posts defending Brand during the whole Eddie Jordan/ Brand situation.
Jumpin, did you check out the Pistol videos [#56?]
Can’t say that I have, suede. Do have smokin’ “Pistol” footage on a couple dvd’s though, including his Christian testimony at a private party in Texas following his NBA career (died at 41 after a California pick-up game with group that included reknown televangelist Dr. James Dobson). Recommended video: Pistol: Birth Of A Legend (1990, VHS or DVD, Amazon). Great biographical movie of father & son, basketball, trials & triumphs. I liked it better than Hoosiers.