Dei Lynam is reporting it is a 3-year deal. Press conference for the announcement tomorrow around noon. Comcsst reported the actual introduction of Eddie Jordan wouldn’t come until Monday.
Hmmm….
Here was my initial post on Eddie Jordan and you guys can see in the left side bar only 4 out of 251 people were in favor of Jordan. With that said I was and am prepared to give anyone a fair chance.
I will leave it at that for now. Need to relax after working out, eat some dinner and gather my thoughts.
Get the conversation started in the comments and I will chime in.
Something to look forward to…
Ok let’s talk some Eddie Jordan.
Do I like the decision – no not really. If you were going to go with a tenured head coach I think Jordan was at the bottom of the list when compared to JVG, Johnson and Collins.
Am I surprised by the decision – not even a little bit. I won’t say I knew for sure this was the move, but at no point did I believe it wasn’t Jordan’s job to lose. And really, how could he lose it through the interview process? By all accounts Jordan is an excellent, well prepared interviewee with a foot already in the door having been one of Stefanski’s guys from New Jersey. The fact that Stefanski didn’t interview any of his related peers (head coaches with 4 or more years head coaching experience) says he didn’t want to pit him against equal competition which really would have made this a decision rather than a forgone conclusion. Doing so would have really been doing his due diligence not just a dog and pony show of due diligence.
I saw first-hand the immense impact Eddie Jordan had in helping the Nets reach two NBA Finals and as the head coach in Washington, he consistently put his teams in a position to win on a nightly basis. He embodies all the qualities I was looking for in the next head coach of the Sixers and we are very excited to have him in Philadelphia. – Ed Stefanski
I have to say I am not comfortable with Ed Stefanski making all the basketball decisions. I think the ideal situation is when the head coaching and GM work harmoniously together with regard to the direction of the team and personnel decisions. I don’t think a dictatorship from the GM position is ideal nor do I think the head coaching having too much or all the power is ideal. Right now I just don’t get the feeling that workign partnership in all basketball related decision between the coach and GM is going to happen.
So What Does This Mean?
Let me answer one of the biggest questions. I am 100% sure Stefanski and Jordan will make every effort possible to bring Andre Miller back for a few reasons:
- First and foremost Stefanski has never said that wasn’t the plan all along when asked.
- Job security. Losing for even a little bit or starting slow again is not an option. The fans won’t be giving any slack and neither should the ownership. After this summer Stefanski will have made enough roster moves and major basketball decisions that anything but success (aka improvement both in regular record and playoff advancement) should put his job on the line. Having a rookie starting point guard won’t be enough of an excuse either.
- You need either smart players or an unbelievable teacher for this offense to work. I actually think you need both so lets hope Jordan fits the bill on his end. And that is before we even get into the talent level and style of player necessary. Andre Miller is the type of point guard capable of running this offense, directing players where to be when they inevitably get out of position, making clean passes at the right time, using non verbal signals and stoppages in play to make adjustments and calls on the fly without needed the coach dictating every possession. No he isn’t a shooter, but Miller can be maximized by making him more of a facilitator than scorer, putting him in the post as a passer to see all the weak side action to make the right decision AND putting him in back cut situations with his changing of speeds and basketball savvy.
- Something most people have neglected to mention: Andre Miller is a unrestricted free agent. Meaning he goes wherever he wants to go. Doesn’t this hire make it much more likely Miller would want to return to Philly? Offensive coach who will rely on his veteran point guard to steer the ship. Think about it.
The Draft
This does put extra emphasis on drafting a shooter. The Sixers still need a young point guard and preferably that would be one who can shoot and defend. More than anything they probably need a versatile, impact shooter who can play multiple positions in order to make it easy to find him minutes. Steph Curry would be ideal because he can play the point and off guard and is easily the best shooter in the draft. But the Sixers would have to make a serious move to get high enough to make that happen.
What the Hell Do You Do With Samuel Dalembert (on offense)?
First let me ask, is Sam really worse than Brendan Haywood? I mean that was Jordan’s starting center in Washington and he made it work offensively. I think he can make sure Sam stays out of the way offensively, utilize him as a screener and probably position him for more lobs. Sam won’t be getting involved in very many of the two and three man games that dominate Jordan’s offensive system.
Speaking of Defense…
My concern is on the defensive end. In my opinion what held Eddie Jordan’s previous teams back was lack of consistent defense.
- 2008 – Wizards were 24th in defense
- 2007 – 28 in defense
- 2006 – 22 in defense
- 2005 – 19th in defense
- 2004 – 20th in defense
- 1998 – 22nd in defense in Sacramento
You bench Sam or trade him for a non two-way center (offense only) don’t we become much more like Wizards less the three point shooting? I really don’t think that is a good thing at all. I do think having Elton back will help defensively but he can’t play center (at least I don’t think it’s a good idea). And I don’t think Smith or Speights can step in and be two-way players either. All that is amplified if Andre Miller is back as well. The Sixers will need another shot blocker back there to make up for his perimeter defensive deficiencies. If you can move Sam for a center that is just adequate for this system offensively and a good defender by all means DO IT. Can we sign Marcin Gortat for the mid-level if we let Miller walk? But I won’t be comfortable with the idea of the center position being manned by just Speights, Smith and Brand.
Pertaining to Eddie Jordan specifically, I’ve said this before, can he get a team to commit on the defensive end? It’s not as simply as pairing him with a defensive lead assistant. At the end of the day the head coach must make sure the players buy into what that assistant is selling and be the enforcer when they do not. He just hasn’t proven he is capable of doing that thus far and that is a big concern for me.
Offensively We Should See Improvement
If you watch the video above you can see his offensive philosophy and start to fit some of our current players into the spots he has those guys in. Here’s are just a few things I took from it:
- We absolutely need at least one legit shooter on the court at all times. This helps to keep the defense truly occupied in all the strong side and weak side movement. Without one you can almost just play a zone against all the movement packing it in and forcing the option cuts out to the perimeter. Also a shooter or two is necessary for any consistent backdoor action to be effective. You rely on the defense having to stay close to a guy coming off a screen or cutting to the perimeter.
- Brand will get low post touches. The difference with Jordan is guys won’t just be standing around watching. Two things worry me though:
- Is Brand a good enough low post passer to make the most of this offense?
- Even with all the movement will the lack of perimeter shooting nullify it’s impact in terms of spacing and low post time to operate?
- Thad should get more touches since he won’t be standing around on the perimeter as much.
- Our quickness and athleticism should be maximized.
- Less purposeless dribbling – thank goodness
- I am sure in his interview with Stefanski he spoke to how he would make Thad and Dala work and Brand work as well. And probably is already drawing up wrinkles customized to the expected Sixers roster.
I have to say I am extremely excited to watch what this team can do offensively. Because to this point they have been very tough to watch in the half court with their lack of movement, spacing and organization.
Who Will be Jordan’s Assistants?
Based solely on who his past assistant coaches were here is a list:
- Mike O’Koren – Jordan’s Associate Head Coach and right hand man for many years in Washington and part of the New Jersey Net years as well.
- Randy Ayers – This was Jordan’s defensive coach his last full season in Washington I believe
- Wes Unseld Jr. – Son of…
- Phil Hubbard
- Dave Hopla – Shooting specialist and player development. EDDIE JORDAN MAKE SURE DAVE IS ON YOUR STAFF!!!!!!
- Ed Tapscott – Took over as interim when Jordan was fired finishing the season 18-53. He was a player development guy on Jordan’s staff in Washington
Do we want Randy Ayers back in Philly as Jordan’s defensive guy? He did tutor under Larry Brown. Just sayin’. Will he go outside of who he has already worked with? I think he should pick his assistants based not only on his previous relationships with them but based on who is best suited for this roster.
Give Eddie Jordan a Chance
At the end of the day this is our coach for a while. Support him now and let’s start to pass judgement after seeing an adequate number of real games played.
I still have thoughts percolating in my mind so don’t be surprised to see something added above if not in the comments.
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{ 158 comments… read them below or add one }
Terrible move…I have a friend who is a big Wizards fan and he used to tell me pretty much everyday about how he hated Jordan and why. I can’t understand how a guy with the talent he had in Washington couldn’t do anything. There were three guys I would have liked ahead of him but whatever I guess.
probably 5th or 6th on my list. kind of disappointing.
I guess 4 out of the 251 people who voted on the coach are pretty excited…
I will be extremely curious if Tom Thibodeau gets a head coaching gig in Sacramento. If not I will be extremely curious as to why this guy keeps getting passed over. I give him the benefit of the doubt because everyone raves about him. But something clearly is turning other GMs off. What is it?
Swing and a miss. A month for that outcome? Birds of a feather flock together. ES just sealed his GM doom. Eddie Jordan has the dynamic energy and charisma of wet cardboard. Coming to an arena near you: more of the same, sprinkled with a lot of BS. Greatly disappointing choice.
JJG – Are you giving him a chance? How long you giving him?
I wasn’t one of the five who voted for Jordan, but if he can hold Lou Williams accountable for his quick shots and Thad for his defensive lapses and maybe even get consistent play from Sammy, then he’s my man!
Does it say anything about the Sixers if the Magic, who beat the sixers in 6 and who beat the Celtics in seven also beat Cleveland in 6 games?
Great move by the Sixers, I have a lot of respect for Eddie Jordan!
I posted this on Depressed as I was waiting for Dannie to work his magic.
I anyone remembers the Mutumbo era in New Jersey then It’s happy days all over again because the Jordan Hiring means that Sammy Shit-Birds days are numbered. You can’t have a stupid, butterfingered, terrible passing big man in this system.
Duracorr – I’ve seen a few other ppl trying to talk about the Sixers in relation to the Magic who are playing well against Cleveland. I think it says only one thing about the Sixers – they match up well. We play 2 small forwards in the front court and that matches up well with Orlando who also plays two small forwards. Cleveland is having a tough time with their traditional front court big guys trying to guard Lewis on the perimeter and sometimes Hedo. I mean Orlando has won 11 of the last 16 games against the Cavs.
Also I think it’s a matter of playing up and down to competition.
I am not happy but also not surprised, my #1 question is who runs the defense and my 2nd question is are these players capable of playing in that offense and finally does E.S. resign Miller to give Jordan a veteran p.g. to initiate said offense.
Jordan’s inheriting a flawed roster with a lot of things that need to be figured out. Who will be the starters at point and shooting guard? Can two natural threes (Iguodala and Young) play together? How can he get more out of Brand? Can Williams bounce back from a down year?
This sucks ass
Sorry guys….beers
*sigh* him? yikes.
Well, it is who it is so we might as well get over the coach thing and begin to fret over the roster.
In the perfect world, AI, Thad and Lou all spnd the summer improving their jumpers so that they each improve their shooting % by 5%. Speights spends his summer learning to defend the post and the Sixers draft a talented young PG.
While I’m dreaming, Lou comes back in October under control and shows he can play the point.
Of course it might have been better if they had worked on those things during the season after Brand went down instead of trying to make the playoffs.
It”s a solid pick Stafanski made, not my first choice but it is what it is can not wait to see who his helper”s will be. Jordan”s not a idiot he will not tolerate some of the Sixer players bullshit.I will give him a chance and hopefuly we can do better than last season.We have alot of option open to us in the draft and free agency we all could be pleasantly surpised
In that video clip, no way are they dumping the ball into the post for Sammy Dummy bear to go to work with it. Throwing to him in the post is more like throwing it in the toilet. Bullst shots, bullsht passes, bullsht moves. Trade Sammy for a sonic sandwich and slushy.
Can we get an equally overpriced shooter for Sammy?
Being from New Jersey all of my friends who are nets fans loved Eddie Jordan. I remember chiding them that when he left, they lost there best coach. Give him a chance folks.
Talk all the ish that you want, but come december your all going to be praising this guy. This guy made an allstar out of Caron Butler, he turned Brendan Haywood into a player. Jamison played his best ball for Jordon.. I remember once reading the greatest article about Jordon, about how is such a great leader. I’ll try to find it.
Some pro’s and con’s for EJ…
Pros:
-Excellent at utilizing a half court offense. Eddie believes in lots of ball movement, good floor spacing, weakside screening, and players taking action to find seems and gaps…and utilizing screens to make seems and gaps…when they DONT have the ball. He favors an offense based on movement, cutting and passing. All these things are arguably our biggest offensive weaknesses right now.
-Getting wing players to fulfill their potential. Being in DC for a while, I cannot overemphasize how much EJ has helped Caron Butler’s career. Caron obviously improved his game, particularly his shooting and passing, with hard work on his own…but by all accounts they had a wonderful relationship, and EJ really developed an offense that allowed an ultra athletic, rebounding, versatile talent like Butler’s to blossom in.
-Utilizing versatility of offensive players: Gil Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison have one thing in common…versatility. Sometimes Gil played point, sometimes off guard. Sometimes he dominated the ball, sometimes not. Caron Butler was used effectively both as a pure slasher, a pure shooter, and a decoy to get other people open. Jamison was effectively used 50% of the time on the wing, and 50% of the time as a back to the basket PF on the block. This bodes very well considering Iguodala and Thad’s versatility and skills on offense.
-Plays effective inside out basketball. One thing I always thought DC fans underrated was how much Jamison was used in the post. Despite the fact that the Wiz were a run n’ gun, often perimeter oriented team, EJ always understood the importance of getting Jamison and Haywood touches on the block. He used a lot of sets where the ball was dumped inside, and the wing players would run cross screens or backscreens for easy dump passes and open fifteen footers. EJ will REALLY know how to use Brand on offense, from everything I’ve seen of the Wizards, this is a lock.
-Great relationship with his players. Washington’s “big three” were all huge fans of Eddie Jordan. From everything Ive read, this definitely was not in the “player’s coach way”, where he just let them run all over him. I mean EJ was great at COMMUNICATING. One of the biggest reasons we’ve had a lot of Sixers malcontents the past few years is the lack of the ability of Jim O’Brien and Mo Cheeks to carve out clear cut roles, and be vocal to the players about understanding exactly what it is they need to do. This is a strength with EJ.
-Run n’ gun/half court: The man loves the running game. The man loves a well run half court set. A coach that can let our athletes (Iggy, Thad, Speights, Sammy, W Green) go nuts in the open court and push the ball is absolutely essential. I like the fact he preaches running when possible, and to slow down for a well run shot clock when something isn’t there.
-EJ & accountability: This is a tricky thing with him. He does an EXCELLENT job of holding the bench players, young players, and non-all-star starters accountable. He’ll yank a guy off the floor in a heartbeat if he doesn’t like what he sees, and he is extremely open minded about changing lineups and tinkering around when things clearly aren’t working (another thing that has plagued the Sixers the last few years).
-Personality is blunt, and he is a no-excuses type of guy.
Cons:
-EJ talked improving defense every year; sometimes it would happen hardcore in spurts, and the Wiz looked scary when doing it. But this never held up for long term. Granted, Arenas and especially Jamison are not especially defensive oriented…but I certainly think it’s reasonable to expect a far better team defensive effort than EJ’s Wizards showed the city for five years.
-EJ & accountability pt 2: While EJ had a great relationship with Gil, Butler and Jamison…I wouldn’t say he exactly cracked the whip with them either. I won’t go so far as to say he “coddled” his trio of stars…but he certainly gave them different, and more lenient, treatment then bench players and role players. EJ apparently was always very honest and blunt with them, but his actions as far as playing time, and his demeanor with them during games is sometimes underwhelming.
-Sometimes has a habit of over-tinkering…aka: he’ll fall in love with a minor piece for a two weeks, then that guy will get a string of DNP’s, and then a string of 10 mpg’s, then all the sudden be thrown in to play 25 mpg. So sometimes his use of versatility on offense and going 9-10 deep can be a negative.
-I have no idea if stats can back this up or not, but I’ve found that he is very much more a “1st half” of the year guy, than a “2nd half”. I don’t mean just wins/losses…I mean his energy, personality, how emphatic he is about things. I’m sure he’d never admit it, but he sometimes looks just real worn out by the end of the year. That said…his Wiz teams will often bounce back from bad stretches with REAL zest and a nice spurt of wins.
-His team’s offense can be VERY Jekle and Hyde teams at times. I know all teams are like this, and on any given day sometimes you look good, sometimes not…but trust me when I say the Wiz look like a contender one night and then a lottery team the next on a regular basis.
…should be a very, very interesting year. Honestly if EJ can actually get a defensive assistant that does the job, or walk the walk with what he preaches defensively, this could turn out to be a great hire given his offensive philosophy. After watching numerous years of this guy in DC, I’m very curious to see how he does with our Sixers. He’s certainly got great strengths, but definitely some flaws…I hope the strengths outshine the others with our rag tag crew.
If Eddie Jordan is the Sixers head coach, then he better get a great coaching staff to join him (including a defensive minded one)! Anyway, he deserves another chance as a head coach. His teams make the playoffs and seem to overcome those numerous injuries. The Sixers are a more durable team (especially the Andres).
DaveT- great breakdown. A few things to add:
1. A Wash blogger (Jake the Snake) said EJ fell in love with talentless effort guys like Ruffin for long stretches- playing him in front of more talented, but less consistent young players. So I fear Reggie getting minutes over Speights.
2. Its eirie to see EJ coaching the teams with the abosulute worst starting SG for the last few years (Stevenson and Green.) I’m hoping Green does not get many minutes next year.
3. Dannie, you say Miller, but I think another FA PG is the natural choice to help implrment the system… Bibby. Not sure if they can get him, but I’m betting EJ will be BEGGING Bibby to come here for the MLE or force a sign and trade. Unlikely though.
4. I’m willing to cut EJ some slack. His Wiz squads won when the big 3 were healthy… at least in the regular season.
5. I wonder if the Princeton Offence (NBA version) is ill suited for defense. It has to be hard to maintain disciplined floor balance and get back when your guards are ften making deep cuts off the ball. In college the bigs can cover and get back, but not suure that works in the NBA. If both your guards are below the foul line its next to impossible to deny early offense to the opponent.
6. Bold prediction: after J.OB is fired next year the Sixers will trade to get Murphy in a trade involving Sam (similar contracts.)
TK76 – I see absolutely no reason to believe if the Sixers are going to sign a veteran point guard it’s not Andre Miller. Especially with Stefanski calling the shots.
Doesn’t Rick Adelman run his own version of the Princton offense with that strong defense Houston team? His is a bit more read and react from what I know but still similar.
I’m not sure what differentiates the Read n React from the Princeton. I was hoping for either Elston Turner (or Thibs.)
I’m sure having a plus defensive roster and the after-effects of the JVG years helps Houston defend. Not sure the aftereffects of JVG don’t wear off after a few years. Did Adelman’s teams defend well when he was in Sac or Por? They certainly won a lot of games.
The Sixers should try to draft Eric Maynor…out of all the PGs in the draft he has the best combination of point guard skills and 3-point range….
…and out of all the PG’s in this draft, Mayner is by FAR the least talented actual Point Guard. Taking him over Flynn would be an enormous blunder. Mayner is too much of a scorer and is very used to dominating the ball and being able to shoot to his heart’s content. Good player, but Flynn and Lawson are two levels up from Mayner.
Well, let me start with the positive, he’s better than what we had. Now the negative, there were better options available, however, I’m not sure the Sixers could have gotten them. I think the way Ed conducted this search turned some of the potential top candidates off. First, he announced that everyone would love to coach in Philly and he would have no problem getting a coach. Then he started his “cattle call” approach which, I believed, turned some of the higher profile coaches off. There was the rumored money issue, and the rumored unwillingness by management to allow the new coach input into personnel decisions.
As far as what happened with Tom Thibodeau, obviously, I don’t know for sure, but my educated guess is that during the interview process, Tom was very candid in his opinions of our roster, an what changes needed to occur, which conflicted seriously with Ed’s opinion. I expect that Tom wasn’t nearly as high on our talent as Ed would have liked. Ed thinks this roster is loaded with talent, I’m not sure others agree.
Overall, I’m not impressed with the way Stefanski handled this. This is the kind of hire I would have expected from Billie King. He should have used the Pat Croce model. Identify the best coach available and do everything possible to land him. Instead it appears that he tried to play hardball and it didn’t work.
As a final thought, don’t you get the feeling that sir charles’ endorsement made this hire, now that is a scary thought!
Come on guys lets get some positivity here, “Terrible move”, “kind of disappointing”, “Swing and a miss”, “This sucks”, “I’m not impressed with the way Stefanski handled this”.
Remember this is a NBA coach we’re talking about. In this league the players steer the ship while the coaching staff navigates.
The questions should be can he TEACH and MOTIVATE the players to play the right way? Vinny Del Negro? Who thought he would get Chicago to play so well in the playoffs?
This is a star driven league not like college where the coach is the first star on the team. Let’s relax a little and give the guy a shot like Dannie said. The pressure is all on Ed Stefanski to get the roster in shape and on the players that stay to improve their game.
C.Laettner[20 M.P.G.],O.Polynice,JahidiWhite,B.Haywood,E.Thomas; These have been his centers as a head coach.And the infamous Kw.Brown. Sam doesn!t look bad next to them.Guys, answer me this; it seems Princeton always had bigs that could make good decisions with the ball, Elton may be our best 5 option in that respect,although last year he didn!t show that. A Brad Miller type [he is too old] would be a good fit and may be harder to get than a p.g. . Is Mullins a high post threat and good decision maker, if so drafting him and getting a veteren p.g. [Miller,Bibby,Sessions or Udrih] may allow this offense to work.
that was a great post Dave T. are you a wizards fan, or do you just live in DC and watch a lot of wizards games? or did that analysis come from somewhere else?
Mike:
Thanks for the comment. Have lived in DC almost a decade now…and hopefully will not ever become a Wizards fan! I’m a Sixer guy for life, but hard to escape the Wizards / Georgetown /Maryland / UVA bball news and gossip having lived here for so long now. Still weird to me living in ACC-land after having grown up with the Big East and A-10 for so long.
Luckily the past two years I’ve been able to find some friends that have NBA League Pass where I can catch a lot more Sixers games then I have in the past, but before then, I had to resort to whatever TNT, ESPN (only showing Sixers 5-10 times a year) and the local DC stations showed me (all Wiz games) to get my NBA fix.
Also, being in the area there’s just easier access to the sports scene and how it covers the Wizards…I listen to DC sports talk radio a lot, and read a lot of the local beat writers that cover the Wiz from the Washington Post and Washington Times, and have seen far too many pre and post game interviews of: Eddie Jordan, Gil Arenas, Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, DeShawn Stevenson, Brendon Haywood, and Etan Thomas than I’d ever care to for the rest of my life.
For the naysayers: I really don’t see any reason to panic. Eddie Jordan is a fine coach. People need to really go back and look at just how decimated by injuries the Wizards have been for the past three seasons running. Probably the Wiz, Bucks, Charlotte and Houston are in the top 5 teams to have major stars just killed by slews of injuries the past few years…I give huge props to their coaches (EJ, Adelman, Bickerstaff, and JVG a bit) for keeping those teams competitive. There are times Eddie Jordan has had his team make the playoffs with basically Caron Butler and four other pieces of turd playing at the same time.
Count me in the camp of: ”He’s no Popovich, Phil or LB…but honestly there are only a handful of those out there, and EJ is certainly an immense improvement over Cheeks/DiLeo. He brings MANY strengths to the table, and some glaring weaknesses, but IMO the strengths are far more numerous than what he’s not good at.”
A year off, change of scenery, and different group of players might very well benefit EJ to improve his coaching ability this time around. If he could succeed with the Wizards after he failed with the Kings, and that with multiple injuries, I don’t see why we can’t give him the benefit of the doubt and see why he can’t improve with the Sixers and fix some of his past mistakes with the Wizards.
(for the record, I cannot believe I am defending this guy to the level I am considering I was and still am staunchly in the camp of wanting to hire Avery Johnson).
I’m Ok with it cause it will be nice to have an offensive scheme and watch the team execute it we just need to make sure we hire an assistant coach who is a defensive guru like TT. If we do that I’m fine with the choice.
Mo Cheeks and Dileo didn’t have any type of plan they just do pick and roll and dump it into the post. With our players movement and cutting is a must so hopefully we can get the most out of our players with him as coach.
Sam ha no chance in this system Brand, Speights, and Jason Smith better report to camp early.
Also we still need outside shooting to unclog the paint no point in cutting if there are five guys in the paint.
Will wait and see, I am not surprised as EJ and ES have a history together.
That Celtics site made me laugh. Everything in that article was completely true. But I am more than willing to give Jordan a chance. I do want to try and trade up though. We have a couple of people that we have been looking to get rid of and I would try to get rid of them for a higher draft pick. I wonder how high other teams value Lou Williams? I know that if you have 50 people on a blog site saying “Lou still stinks” after every game, that you probably aren’t that good. But it seems like everyone else around the league (broadcasters, analysts etc.) think he is a very talented young kid.
gotcha Dave T. i will say your post made me feel a lot better about this hire.
I’m not a big fan of the Jordan move, but considering we have to make the best of it, what are the chances of the Sixers signing Rasheed Wallace to a 2 yr deal at the mid level ex? Then somehow turn our pick, Speights, and whatever else necessary into Stephen Curry. Now we have Curry, Iggy, Thad, Brand, and Wallace running the Princeton offense, with Williams giving the spark and Ivey, Smith, and Dalembert coming off the bench for some D. I’m not sure if keeping Miller is possible in this situation, but either way, I’d like to watch that team run a back door offense all season.
Sheed said he wouldn’t play for less than $8M. If he doesn’t get it, he is retiring. I don’t see how he gets that so it will be interesting to see if he holds to his word.
Also I am not confident Sheed at his age would want to play a ton at Center and I also don’t know if he would be interested in coming home and therefore giving a home town discount.
Always willing to give the benefit of the doubt, but I was also hoping for a more defensive focused hire.
That said, I’d say that the quality of the upcoming season will have more to do with Elton Brand’s play, and what happens personnel-wise in the backcourt, than Eddie Jordan.
I wonder if Sammy is boning up on his passing skills? LOL, I would love to know what that clownd does in the off-season
Tom please ask Jordan on Monday about what his plans are for Sammie. Tell him that he doesn’t like to give up the ball once he gets it, and that also he struggles to make passes that are as short as 2 feet!
Players benefiting most from the coaching change:
-Andre Iguodala
-Thad Young
I think EJ will be the first coach that Iguodala has had to really start using his passing skills and eye for the court in a way that maximizes his ability. Iggy’s always had a natural knack for court vision (even if the actual timing of his passes can get sloppy, he really knows how to read situations well), and I felt the lack of off ball movement is what hampered this ability to shine the most.
With Thad, I’ve always thought Antawn Jamison’s game was comparable to his in the sense that Jamison has a legit, back to the basket game where he utilizes his quickness, agility and footwork to sneak by bigger defenders with crafty finishes around the hoop. Thad Young already has some of this with that quick left hook move, and his quickness in his dropstep moves and turnaround baby hooks is sometimes startling. I think EJ will really know how to include both Thad’s post game and his ever improving perimeter game so that he can be one of the only true hybrid 3/4’s in the league (Marion and Jamison are really the only true legit ones, and both are getting up there in age).
Ty Lawson on 76ers at the combine:
“I met with them, and I’ll probably be working out for them later on in June,” Lawson said. “They have a lot of interest in me, so I’ll be happy to go there.”
I think Flynn is the better PG prospect, but I would be absolutely thrilled if Lawson fell to us. He’s exactly the kind of player that is set to bomb at the draft skills combine (where they barely actually PLAY basketball anymore)…and as is always the best route, ES should completely ignore the combine statistics and measurements because they only measure athletic ability…AND NOT BASKETBALL. I’ve seen more picks fly up and down drafts at this thing, and it’s laughable how many true great college players slide down the ranks for untalented athletes that are garbage. I hope we take advantage of those that slide.
Hey Dave T,
Do you think that he might use Iguodala as more of a point guard in this offense, much like he used Butler when Arenas wasn’t available. If they do that, then that means they might be open to drafting the best (shooter/defender) guard available no matter if he isn’t a pure PG.
I hated this move when I first heard about it, but EJ could work. We’re not contenders by any means, but as someone mentioned above, he should really help the offense. I don’t see an improvement on defense, but I don’t see our turnover-based defense getting worse either. It’s still a snoozer of a choice, though. Notice the wording of the positive commenters (here and at other places): “give the guy a chance”, not “Woo-hoo!” or “This rocks!”. This is the complete opposite of “This move has got me completely hyped for next season – I can’t reserve my season tickets fast enough!”
I’m with the Ty Lawson pick. I don’t doubt that Jonny Flynn could become a fine NBA point guard, but this franchise really needs that marquee-player shot in the arm, and Flynn’s not that. I love Stephen Curry more, but for some reason he’s shot up on the mock boards, and Ty Lawson has gone down. I don’t think Boring Ed needs to do much brain flexing with this draft – get the well-known name so people have a reason to come down to the Wachovia Center.
Also remember that the Nuggets, who have one of the brightest basketball statistics minds working for them in Dean Oliver, loves Lawson and wanted to take him last year. So there ya go, Boring Ed – another team did your homework for you already – take this kid, he’s gonna be good.
Plus, you’re not gonna have to worry about motivation with Lawson (Dannie, correct me factually if I’m wrong about what I’m going to say). During his time at UNC, he’s been fairly heavily criticized for a variety of reasons – not good enough as a point guard, needs to score more, needs to work on his outside shot, doesn’t take over games enough. So unlike Thad, Lawson hasn’t had the red carpet to the NBA rolled out for him. He’s had to deal with the big-ass spotlight that comes with playing at UNC, that comes with playing point guard and being the leader of an elite college basketball program that was expected to win the NCAA title every year he was there. Him dropping out of the lottery is ludicrous – it would be “…with the 9th pick in the NBA draft, the Boston Celtics take… Paul Pierce…” all over again. Boring Ed doesn’t need to make a handshake deal with this kid like he did with Speights asking him to – in essence – not get fat.
And thinking along those same lines, we should try and pick up Tyler Hansbrough, too. Did you guys see the combine numbers? He’s got legitimate power forward size! Trade Speights or Jason Smith for the guy. Unlike those two, he would be totally relevant and being a “Rocky” type of figure, I think Philly would eventually come to embrace Hansbrough if he landed here. I know he’s been an AP player of the year, but this guy’s been hearing those “typical college star/iffy NBA role player” whispers his whole career, and if what people say about his work ethic is true (tremendous), then he will be out on a mission to prove everyone wrong his whole career, much like Lawson will.
If the Sixers get those guys, they’ll be the first jerseys to have any sort of meaning since Iverson. Why not other jerseys?
Elton Brand: “Wow, when they pass it to that guy, everyone else just stands around and waits for him to do something, and then he gets double-teamed so he passes it back out to someone who takes a bad shot. No, I don’t wanna be that guy.”
Andre Iguodala: I’m Top 10 in adjusted plus/minus! Go ahead and tell me that’s not sexy… That’s right, you can’t. Don’t look at the jumper, don’t look at the drives right into the middle of traffic, and don’t look at the diminishing defense – it’s all about the +/-! When I’m trying to be intense and making those weird faces where I look like I’m smelling a fart and shooting accusatory looks at random people, I’m actually trying to add up my +/- up to that certain point. That’s what I’m all about. Get my jersey!
Lou Williams: “I’ve actually watched games where he doesn’t play Milwaukee or Washington.”
Zack,
Both Speights and Smith may end up being better NBA playres than Hansbrough.
It will be interesting to see how all these guards in the draft are rated as we approach the draft. It may change again. Can we be sure trading up makes any sense if the same players end up flip-flopping draft positions because of opinions and workouts. Today’s favorites may end up in the mid-teens. If we can’t get a top five player, moving up may not matter.
Zack - You are right. Apparently NBA ppl are not high on Ty. And that’s even with him dominating an entire NCAA tournament and was clearly the best player in the entire tournament. And this season he did everything possible to increase his stock if you look at his numbers year-to-year. Flat out he is a winner.
I AGREE!! I have been high on ty lawson since his freshman season and i have always wqanted the sixers to draft him. To ften gm’s and scouts get enamored with physiacl attributes, athleticism and individual workouts (kedrick brown, dajuan wagner, patrick o’bryant i could go on forever but i’m sure you get the idea)! what it comes down to in the draft is one simple thing… Can the kid play basketball? 90% of the time what you see is what you are gonna get, If deandre jordan can’t rebound at texas he aint doin it in the L no matter how athletic and tall he might be. If ty lawson has improved every year he has played significantly and he has proven to be a winner and a tough as guts all round player year in year out then that’s what he will give you if you draft him.
I think he could step in instantly and give us a great decision making point gaurd who can hit the 3 and lead a team. He isn’t phased by the big stage and is a proven commodity. I think it’s a joke that he is listed so low.
As fo ej I’m not to keen but a fresh approach is what’s needed. i would have preferred another coach but this is what we have so we will just deal with it, some people in the know seem to like him, so i’m willing to give him a chance, i think he will utilise eltons skills in our offence well.
Sean:
Iguodala’s passing ability will definitely be utilized, absolutely…just as Caron’s was, as you mentioned. What I’m excited about is that the way EJ runs his offense (he takes a lot of liberties and puts his own twists on the video shown above), EJ favors a system that favors each player having a position on the floor, and set patterns to follow based on reading the defense, as opposed to just running things by position (PG does this, SG does this, etc). He’s much more similar to a college coach in this way; Dean Smith, Bob Knight and a zillion others became famous for these kind of motion offenses.
Not only did EJ have Caron regularly have the ball as a point forward even when Arenas was healthy, but he would pull Jamison out to the high post and run the offense through him a lot where Caron was cutting off backscreens, and DeShawn would be setting cross screens for Arenas to get him open on the weakside.
While I still would have had Avery, the above is one reason im VERY confident EJ will really be able to maximize Elton Brand’s ability in the high post. EJ knows how to teach people to effectively move, cut, and set screens away from the ball when it’s dumped into Elton or Thad on the block or high post. This was THE biggest offensive weakness we had…our players were literally inept with how to space themselves and move off the ball when Elton would get it.
What’s nice about the Princeton offense, once you get away from the basics and into reading situational plays more, it’s a wonderful offense because it basically mixes three things:
a. Motion offenses (movement, screening away from the ball, five players active at all times)
b. Triangle offense (many little three man isolation games…low block, free throw line extended wing, and the corner)…and the IQ associated with reacting off what the defense gives you.
c. Carrill’s obsession with the lost art of backdoor screening.
Many of us bemoaned the fact that we had all these athletes that didn’t MOVE. EJ will fix that. That said, I am petrified about the defense, and about the fact that as good of a communicator, teacher, and as blunt and to the point EJ is…he’s not exactly a guy that will light a fire under his collective team’s ass. No inspirational Stan Van Gundy, Adelman or Avery speeches from this guy…this is worrisome given our lackadaisacal nature.
Zach I was the one who said give him a chance folks because I know a lot of fans here haven’t seen his system first hand like Dave T and myself. And on a board where people were dying to trade Thad for a bag of peanuts early on in the season I just wanted to try and cushion the blow.
I am pumped as hell for Eddie Jordan to be our coach. Just as I said in post #20 Talk all the ish that you want, but come December your all going to be praising this guy.
Eddie Jordan is the man, great choice for our team even if most of you don’t know it yet.
Fellas lets get real, our real season starts in 2011-2012
That’s the season we get rid of Sammy “you can’t with with him Dalambert,” The Greek said.
Getting rid of that cancer plus Willie steamin Beamon and Reggie triple spin Evans will save us 21 million off of the cap.
2 more years, then we roll. Until then it’s all about progress. If Thad turns out to be the rock star that I think, and if our pg that we get through the draft is a hit then maybe we could sniff and eastern conference finals in 2010-11
i’m interested in this move only because it could lead to the possibility of us landing agent zero
agents zero= gilbert arenas
don’t want to insult your smarticleness but it is early in the morn’ (well at least where i am)
Interesting interview with J.Lynum on Sportsnet this morning. Compared how they will use Elton to C.Webber.Not quick perimeter and not quite post but more on the foul line elbow [pinch post]. Said Webber was one of the best at that to ever play and from what he said, I believe this was one of the main selling pts. with Jordan, making this group work with their main investment incorporated. Lynum, who coached with Jordan for 2 years, also said he is not a one demensional coach and was a key ingredient on those good defensive nets teams.
Agent 0?!!!!! No Thanks he is the ultimate thief, people on this board are complaining about Elton Brand at least I know he will do his best to get back on the floor. He signed the biggest offseason deal last year than promptly told the Wiz he needed another surgery. Could you imagine if that happened here in philly we would hate the guy more than Sammy. Gilbert has played like 15 games it seems like in 3 years. He is Allen Iverson 2.0 in terms of attitude and thinking he is bigger than the team, but he doesn’t have a fraction of the heart on the court that Allen did.
Durocorr – There is only one point guard to move up for – Steph Curry. There is zero chance he drops into the mid teens. That is the only player anyone is talking about moving up to get because he fits the bill for a elite shooter at the point guard position (with size).
This is the Lawson interview someone brought up earlier he was asked specifically about the Sixers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waOhAebymOA&feature=player_embedded
Dannie, the one thing I hear more than any on Lawson is the injury issue. If the choice is going up to get Curry and losing assets to staying at #17 and getting Lawson, I am all for staying at #17.Detroit could be the !wild card! in all this .Rumors of them going after Boozer and Gortat may let them draft a p.g. in front of us, I hope it is not Lawson. The one other p.g. I would move up for would be Holliday, when its all said and done I think he is going to be a star.
Jordan!s best center to date [Haywood] isn!t much better than Sammy offensively, hopefully Jordan can find a niche for Sammy; and NO Greek it won!t be selling popcorn in the stands,lol!!!!
No way in the world I move up for Holiday. I do not think he will be a star and he doesn’t fit the Sixers needs. If I am moving up the player needs to be really good AND the right fit. The only way I move up without the player being an ideal fit is if he isn’t potentially a star, but IS a star and franchise player (i.e. Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant etc. etc.) and in that cause all those players are an ideal fit.
I like Holiday’s size and athleticism. But I think people see Rajon Rondo type potential because the type of play is very similar. I don’t.
Curry makes too much sense now that we know Jordan is the coach. He has the shooting ability and basketball IQ for his offense. I have to imagine Ed and Ed had this discussion during the interview process and during the “you’re hired conversation.” I think the decision to go with Jordan as head coach made having him in place before the draft more important since his offense needs certain types of players.
That isn’t really the choice. Getting Lawson isn’t guaranteed. So it’s better stated “maybe getting Lawson.” Also it’s not about having assets. It’s about having the right assets, the right players that fit what you are trying to do and having better assets. Moving up to get Curry, let’s say 5th spot with Washington’s pick would be much more guaranteed than Lawson actually falling to 17 in my opinion.
Basically what I am saying is make the attempt to move up if not, try your luck at 17.
Suede – I made that point about Sam and Haywood in the post above.
Dannie, To answers your questions of yesterday: (1) No, I’m not; he’s had 2 chances and has proven conclusively to be lacking. (2) O days; deluded thinking serves no productive purpose. (Of course I’m always willing to have my mind changed BY RESULTS.) ES announces hiring on a Friday night as journalism goes dark for the weekend? Does that tell you anything? Nothin’ but happy spin will occur until rubber meets road again in Oct. “Princeton offense” - the magic pill? Hardly; it’s a blueprint for undertalented players and encoded X & O jargon, interview and cocktail party patter for: “I’m a relative of basketball genius and a member of the sport’s elite. How do you like that?” And wait’ll fans see the ”Dartmouth defense.” ES, Gen. Not-Mad Anthony Dileo, Courtney Witte (Knight’s 1st juco recruit; seldom-used) & John Nash (he of the Phily-DC-NJ transient executive connections) comprised the mock-interview team. Jordan shoehorned in after ES interviewing charade. And Lynam (& McKie) will be back, with daughter Dei vociferously providing the ”objective” Comcast analysis for Daddy’s team. I’m sick of the organization as presently constituted. Local yokels; inbred thinking; producers of more years of mediocrity than I care to remember.
Dannie: correction: questions of Fri. night.
i would hate to draft Curry i think he won’t tranfer when he comes to the nba mainly because people will actually defend him and he’ll actually have people around him that can also play so i think he might be a bit of a ball hog but eh, you never know?
and about my comment earlier i’d like to say yeah you’re right agent 0 would be a bad fit.
in the draft someone i’m actually interested in getting (mostly because i’m a big beleiver in draft the best available player) is Damar Derozen (or what ever his name is) another USC product which if you look at last year might be a good thing, although its USC so he’ll probably get convicted of taking in illegal benefits from USC (that sadly is not a joke)
I”m hoping to get going on my new site and if you could help me i’d really appreciate it,
http://webstarts.com/PhillyCentralNews
email me suggestions at PhillyCentralNews@yahoo.com
this is just out of curiosity but how do you think Tyler Hansbrough will do in the NBA i kind of see him as a mix between Adam Morrison, J.J. Reddik and Ed from ed, edd, eddie
but what do you think?
ed of course didn’t do as bad as the others but he is still white (don’t get mad i’m white too)
Dakota, I think Curry shot and dominated the ball out of necessity and will most times in the N.B.A. only have to beat his man rather than the double and triple teams he faced at Davidson.
I actually think Hansbrough would be a good fit here now that he measured out well. Comparisons to D.Lee have been floated around. If you look at Spieghts compared to Hansbrough strictly on talent you probably take Spieghts but in a coming off the bench role, supplying energy and physical play along with better defense next to a finesse player like J.Smith, Hansbrough may be a better fit.
Dannie, I apologize. After the initial post I jumped to the comments, just read it, well done and informative as usual.
well me personally i’m not a big fan of the small NBA players (SMALL) i like the old school big physical players not the run really fast and do a jump hook players ow! he tapped me thats a foul!
Dakota – Honestly not sure if you watched much Davidson games. He was defended by at least 2 people every game and still found the hole with regularity. Defenses will be much more lax in the NBA because he won’t be keyed on as Suede said. Curry will be fine. And he isn’t a ball hog even a little bit.
I am about drafting the best basketball player first, then best fit then best talent. I hope you understand the distinctions between the first and third groups.
Derozen falls in the third category. He is an athlete with a very much still developing basketball game. I think the Sixers have enough runners and jumpers at this point.
DRAFT for SKILL and NEED.
Dannie, what is your opinion of T.Douglass and C.Jurrells. If the Sixers resign Miller and draft a s.g. would either of these guys possibly fill a Lowry type backup role. Douglass seemed fearless in the games I saw him and unlike L.Will. is willing to defend. Portland has 5 2nd rounders, I believe.
Suede – I like Douglass. Seen him play enough in ACC land. Don’t know much about C. Jurrells. I think Douglass is a combo guard not a true point. Which leads me to this question:
If the Sixers do resign Andre Miller and use their 17th pick on the best shooter available and are able to get another pick should they be drafting best available, best fit or a pure point to back up Miller? A lot of the second round guys are a bit of combo guards and I am not sure how much time they would see with Lou on the team. Either way the back up point should be able to shoot it as contrast to Miller. With that said here are some names I do like (in no particular order):
Dannie, hopefully Jordan can solve the “what is L.Will.!s role” question. He makes bringing in a backup p.g. difficult because you hate to draft a guy for size just to match up with L.Will. if a more talented guy is there, I hate undersized guys at wing positions. I keep waiting to here McNeal is moving up the boards. He and Thornton were on a lot of teams workout schedules and ,yes, he would look nice here.
Greek, I can’t believe my little theory about “seasoning” worked out with LeBron James in this playoffs. I thought for sure we were destined for Kobe-LeBron in the finals, and that LeBron’s talent would be enough to carry Cleveland. If you think about it, it makes some sense – why would all these guys bust their asses so that LeBron can hog all the glory make more Nike money. Dwight Howard, on the other hand, had his seriousness about the game questioned by that one Sports Illustrated article, and Stan Van Gundy has periodically gotten on Howard’s ass about being more dominant. It’s not a big motivational advantage, but it probably helped some.
Regarding the combo guard to backup AMILL, Brooks on Houston wasn’t a traditional point in College. He kind of just bombed away. Did whatever he wanted. I think it comes down to aptitude, attitude and of course skill. I agree. If Ed can find the right point in the 2nd round with a 2 guard(shooter) in the first that would be great. I like McNeal and Douglas.
Dannie: I could not be more 100% with you…I think whichever team lands J McNeal is getting the bonafide steal of this draft. Laughable this guy is probably going to slide into the 2nd round…kid can flat out ball. He’s tough nosed, defensive, a workhorse, and brings all the intangibles Lawson brings. THE PERFECT combo guard off the bench, has improved his shot every year, one of the craftiest scorers in college, a HUGE clutch play maker…love the guy.
JJG: ”The Princetown offense is an elitist junk that hides behind X&O mumbo jumbo?” Umm…actually, I’d argue it, along with the triangle, epitomizes what basketball should be about at the highest level. TEAMWORK, and SELFLESS PLAY based off five people playing TOGETHER IN A UNIT. To me, it’s the pick/pop, ISO play, stand around and watch type of playing in the NBA that has destroyed much of the action. If more teams ran offenses like EJ, Phil Jackson and Donnie Nelson (another motion offense where Nellie lets them do their thing but controls the positioning and cutting of where they should be based on situations) the NBA would be a much improved, and far supreme sport then it’s current state. Why would you think this offense is elitist?How can any offense be that, it’s just a tactic. It’s actually a lot less complex than most offenses and individual plays called by other coaches. Or rather, it’s complex in that you need good IQ and to be taught how to play it, but once learned, it’s like a smoothly flowing river with the right group of guys. Basketball is jazz like, and intuitive by nature…the less coach’s dominate with playbook’s, and the more movement is taught, the better. At least in my book.
Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Demar Derozan: Athletes that have not proven themselves ready in ANY way shape or form for the NBA. These guys are all 3 years away from even making a dent. They all have crappy shot selection, don’t have the IQ yet to really understand the game, aren’t good shooters, and (with the exception of Holiday more then the other two), are not fundamentally sound. People always fall in love with slashing athletes and their “limitless potential”. Teams will regret choosing them. Even if one or two of them pay off, not at all worth the gamble. I also think Brandon Jennings is being a bit overhyped, given the fact that he was a trigger happy high school baller, and even though the year in Europe I’m sure has benefited him immensely, I’d go for the sure thing in Flynn/Lawson over his not-exactly-a-distributer type of game.
IMO: Flynn > Lawson > Mayner. I think for OUR team Lawson is the best choice, given his tenacious lockdown on ball defense, and his ability to run the open court. He will fit in with us the best. Size means nothing for the PG position as long as you are 6′0, and Lawson is. As Dannie said, he’s a winner, and brings the exact qualities to a team that we desperately need. His muscular and stocky stature will allow him to be a whole lot more durable than a PG that’s not that high but is smaller stature wise like TJ Ford.
But I think Flynn is the purest PG of the bunch…it’s in his blood. Lots of others disagree with me, but I think Flynn is going to be the best PG of this year’s draft (not including Rubio, who really no one knows how he will fare, although he’s got my curiousity peaked). Flynn to me just seems like by far the best distributer, by far the most creative in traffic, by far the best court vision, and by far the best at running a half court system. He might overdribble a bit, but he’s a guy that looks to get others involved first, has otherworldly handle, and makes great decisions as far as when to pass/shoot. Shot is solid and improving…just love his game and toughness.
Tony Douglas: Would make a nice backup PG, great shot, great confidence, great slasher, poised vet…but I’d take McNeal over him in a heartbeat. I’d also opt for Ellington or Budinger as a backup SG/SF instead of a backup PG if we can’t move up or land Lawson.
Who are the SGs that the Sixers should look at?
And Eddie Jordan’s press conference will be tomorrow at NOON on CSN!
Thornton & Ellington would be the 2 guards I would look at closely. Ellington seems athletically to be Willie G with a shot.
Kind of thinking that Taj Gibson will move up into round 1 now that he measured almost 6′10” with an extremely long wing span.
Dave T, You misquoted me. I said the Princeton offense is a blueprint for undertalented players [to compete against superior ones]. I also said that it’s not a magic pill, a cure-all for a pro team that has difficulty in halfcourt sets. There’s no hiding involved on a court; an offense
(whatever it may be) is either executed smartly and with some precision or it’s not. The rest of my commentary on the subject (obtusely worded evidently) simply referred to some who drop the name of “Princeton offense” (as glistening coin-of-the-realm) in coachspeak circles in efforts to co-opt its presumed catchet. It’s just one of many strategic options from where I stand. If you have 5 Bill Bradleys (smart, disciplined guys who can shoot), the offense can be a thing of beauty (albeit a half-step slow). 5 Andre Iguodalas? The jury is out on that one, though the mere idea brings about a prospect of comedy.
On a different subject, I agree with you that basketball carries a jazz element, with exciting excursions based on feel. That’s part of what makes it a great sport to both play and watch. Unfortunately, there a wide range of NBA jazz and Sixers are riffing badly on an intermittent basis during winter concert schedule and decidely in Spring Finale (see Orlando Game 6 improvisations). That the Eddie Jordan Quintet is planning to record in the Fall somehow doesn’t have me running to my discretionary fund bank.
I think Stefanski made the right choice in hiring Eddie Jordan out of all the coaching choices that are REALISTIC, as opposed to gossip. Avery Johnson, Jeff Van Gundy, Doug Collins, and Mike Fratello appear to be more comfortable being color commentators and analysts on local and national television.
Eddie Jordan’s system will make things better for the Sixers offensively because as a team they must learn to move the ball and make plays (except for guys not named Andre). Defensively, that is the question mark, but it will be much better than what Eddie had to deal with in Washington though.
I ask about the SGs in the draft is because the Sixers need a veteran PG who can handle the Princeton offense. That style is meant for players with high IQs. This would lead to a bigger indication and a bigger reason for why Andre Miller should be resigned now that Eddie Jordan is our coach. But we shall wait and see, if not Miller, then someone who is NBA ready and with a high IQ.
Now, that the Sixers coaching position is filled, now they need a color commentator. They better go for Doug Collins. Marc Zumoff & Doug Collins.
GO SIXERS!!
JJG: Didn’t mean to mistake what you meant in your first post, your second post cleared it up a bit. But…I actually think Andre Iguodala is an ideal player for this kind of system. Many people said before last season started, myself included, said that to compensate for the total lack of shooting we had, we would have to have a fluid offense where people weren’t just standing still that would allow for the slashing ability of our athletes to create easy hoops for others.
If you have a lack of shooting, the perfect offense is one that involves tons of activity off the ball. It caters to backdoor layups, drives where people collapse in leaving open men weakside for easy dump passes, and high post jumpshots (Brand’s specialty)…a team that knows how to run it properly will be able to more effectively deal with a lack of ability to shoot. Obviously, we still want and need improved shooting as that will help any offense out, but I think, at least offensively, hiring EJ is a step in the positive direction from the ghost offense that Mo Cheeks tried to teach this team for two years.
Amusing that after 2-3 years with Cheeks/DiLeo, still not a single fan I’ve talked to or analyst I’ve heard can successfully describe the type of offensive team the Sixers were when we didn’t have a fast break from a steal. Not good.
By the way JJG, your ability to connect everything in life to out of left field analogies never ceases to amaze me haha.
Dannie: Wondering if it might be column worthy to post about some destinations that might make sense to move Lou to, just a “tossing trade ideas out” column with him? I’ve heard a number of people on here mention the huge disparity between analysts, columnists and other coaches speaking about Sweet Lou’s game versus our own jaded (and rightfully so!) opinions on here. I think it’s safe to say most of us would rather punt Lou off the team and replace him with a combo guard for 1/4th the money on a rookie contract from college (McNeal, Teague, Douglas, M. Thornton, etc).
Would be interesting to eyeball team’s rosters and see who needs some backcourt scoring punch (New Orleans, Toront0, Sacramento, LA Clippers) or who have styles that are more open that would fit well with Lou’s supposed “game” (NYC, G-State) and see what kind of realistic trade proposals people could come up with.
Some kind of swap with the Hornets might be entertained…it’s been reported that they had preliminary talks with Pargo about returning from his stint in Russia. If that’s true, that means they would be looking for an instant offense type that they are ok with jacking up shots that plays backup PG, and some off guard. They also have a glut at the wing spots (Peja, Posey, Mo-Pete, Rasual Butler). Doubtful something could be worked out, but man would Rasual Butler look nice in a Sixers uniform as the backup SF to hit some threes and play some good defense.
Dave T, ”Left field”, huh? From the one who grossly distorted and misrepresented what I actually had written. Perfect irony. Swish.
JJG: Wrote that wrong; I meant “connect everything in sports” to “other things in life” analogies. Meant it as a compliment!
Dave T, Well, then thanks. The “ha ha” threw me off. Digital age short circuiting I suppose. (The ubiquitous “lol” is another doozy.)
If someone could answer a question for me I thank you in advance.
Can you trade a player (Sammy) to say Portland for two second round picks? Does it have to be player for player + picks?
Dre, I think a trade has to include roster personnel swap due to salary and cap concerns, but I’m not sure.
lol, I love being the dude to answer this one. Yes you can trade Sammy for just draft picks as long as that team is under the salary cap enough to absorb The haitan Thiefs salary. At this point no would would take him off our hands ala Camby. We’re stuck with him for 2 years.
Dave T, JJG, while you guys are so eloquently discussing the virtues of the Princeton Ofense Sammy is playing Battleship in his bath tub. Rumor has it the rubber ducks are making an advance on the north end.
How do you not even interview Avery Johnson?! The guy made the Mavericks the best team in the NBA for several seasons, made the playoffs every season as a head coach, fastest coach to 100 wins. Come on Stefanski, you picked a guy who is barely a career .500 coach?? Guess I’ll have to get myself geared up for another disappointing season…
“The Admiral” II. Knew he’d work on his game after minutes were cut.
Noon press conference introducing Jordan will be broadcasted by WIP 610 AM radio.
@ Dave T. At least I won’t have to watch the Sixers run the 3-man weave at the top of the key. How was it that both Dileo and Cheeks ran the same offense and plays is beyond me. So was Dileo really coaching or just moving his arms and mouth and appear to say something. I’m sure it was hard for him to find his way out that invisible box. Or fighting against that stiff wind in the Wachovia Center.
I don’t care if they call it Princeton, UCLA or the West coast. This team needs fundamentally sound players with as you say a High IQ. Miller had it, offensively. Defensively his IQ dropped from a sprint to a low brisk walk. I hope they go in a different direction than Miller, nice player but his days are closer to the end. This is a team for the future, not today. Trade Lou and WG for a young veteran true PG. Draft a shooter.
lol, yeah the Admiral! JJG you should check out the article that Depressed just wrote, it might make you feel better about Jordan.
I love the fact that were going to have a structured offense this year for the first time since, damn I have no clue because I think decades have passed by since we have had structure.
The Greek, I know what you mean, but what good’s structure and open Js if players can’t knock ‘em down? The offense is predicated on an assumption of discipline, smart decision-making and good shooting proficiency, things we all know the Sixers lack. Easy back door baskets won’t be plentiful unless Sixers add shooters. Why would a defense extend on this bunch? Iguodala, for one prime example, is not very good at all at motion-catch-turn-shoot; needs space and his feet under him for decent accuracy. Miller is like the fiery ol’ geezer in long pants at the playground aiming at a perforated backboard & chain nets; no way he catches and quickly fires. Offense is geared for guys like Doug Collins, Hersey Hawkins and Korver (to name a few) - not great at creating own shot; knew how to move, use picks, quick releases; outside threats.
Thanks for the reading recommendation.
“24-48-82″ … take a hike already.
“Two superstars already” … whew! … it’s flyin’!
Jordan kissin’ the ring of Sonny Hill 20 min. in … this is not good news.
Greek: If I read a headline on Hoopshype.com one day that says, “Sammuel Dalembert, former 76er center, 1981-2009, was found lying dead in his bed yesterday morning. He appeared to die peacefully in his sleep, causes still unknown,” should I just assume this is your handywork? You’ve got it out for the guy!
JJG: Ah, you bring up an interesting point with “lol” and “haha”. My “haha” is actually my little personal stand against “lol”. I think “lol”, like Twitter, is flat out stupid and refuse to ever incorporate it into anything I do or type. Yet apparently in my world “haha” is ok to use, and this is my replacement if I’m trying to express amusement or laughter. Gotta love the 21st century.
Chad Ford: Has officially gone insane. Please check out his PG rankings today, and why there are five people listed as better NBA prospects than Ty Lawson. (although for once in my life I think Chad nailed putting Jonny Flynn that high exactly right). I cannot believe GMs are telling Chad that Lawson is falling so low. Lawson is a freakish athlete, that when healthy, has shown a dominance at the position this year that made him an automatic top 3 PG in the country (along with Flynn and Curry). Tyreke Evans is not a PG. Jrue Holiday, is not a PG. Brandon Jennings, is not a PG. Right now these are all shoot first, pass second, terrible shot selection players (obviously Jennings I can’t comment about, but scouts seem to have the opinion of “he’s improved immensely, but still has a scorer’s mentality in a negative way).
Lawson is unquestionably the best PG in the country (in college) in the open court. A surprisingly good finisher in traffic. Has improved his shooting. Shown leadership, poise and intangibles. Has absurd quickness with his first step to blow by anyone. Hugely improved his distributing ability this year and being able to thread the needle better. Defense is OTHERWORLDLY. And all this praise is coming from a guy that was hugely negative on Lawson before the year started, as to me, he was far more “athlete” than basketball player, and I didn’t feel he had proved himself capable of running things in the half court well enough.
Anyone that lists Jeff Teague as more capable of playing the PG position, or Tyreke Evans who has no IDEA how to play the position and is just a freak athlete that was allowed to do whatever he wanted last year (and shot TERRIBLY!), is out of their mind. The lack of common sense of GM’s is amazing. The mere fact that players are STILL moving up and down come June is ridiculous…it’s like people that are still waffling their opinions about presidential candidates after two years of watching them campaign, during their 3rd and final debate. A college player already has all the resumes you need to look at before any of the workout-combine nonsense…EVREY TAPE OF EVERY GAME IN HIS COLLEGE BASKETBALL CAREER!
That’s funny Dave, but it’s his salary slot that I wish I could murder not the clown himself! As far as Chad Ford rating Lawson a little too low, I’m all for it because we’re all going to have a throw down party if happens to fall to us.
JJG, you make good points dude but the way I see it is that were not going anywhere until we do get shooters. We need to be able to do things like swing it to the open guy and bury a jumper. We’re still building, and like I said before until we shed that 21 million in 2 years it’s all about progress.
Our team last year was a freakin joke on the perimeter, that’s why it’s so important that the Quiet Man Andre Miller takes a hike.
Nice to see Aaron Mckie will be on board. Lord knows Lou William needs all the help he can get from a solid veteran that actually understands the game of basketball.
Greek: Exactly. 2 years, 21 mil. Sammy, Evans, Green. Goodbye and don’t let the door hit you…
Eddie Jordan has stated that he does not want a rookie to be his starting PG. For the Princeton offense, we need a veteran savy PG like Andre Miller. The Sixers want Miller back. Now the question is, does Andre Miller want to remain with the Sixers?
With that said, who should the Sixers draft in terms of a SG? I think Wayne Ellington would be one to consider.
If we end up getting a starting SG from free agency, it should be Anthony Parker. This guy moves and plays very well with a high IQ.
The press conference was interesting, especially with the talk about the Princeton offense and how to somehow integrate Samuel Dalembert. Now the one question that I have as well as every other Sixers fan is this–what about the defense? Now, I am pleased to hear from Jordan about having some defensive minded guys already on the roster (Iggy, Brand, and even Dalembert), unlike his Wizard teams. But it is all about taking it to that other level.
How much did the Sacramento Kings offer Jordan or did the Sixers offer another “Philly Max”?
Tom– did you manage to speak to Jordan? If so, what questions did you ask him?
And how about those glasses worn by Iggy. The guy already thinks he is an All-Star. Well, all I can say to that is, keep working with Kobe on your game and mid-range jumper.
GO SIXERS!!
I asked Jordan where he sees Iguodala playing and he said forward, at least for the first part of the season.
Also, Sixers having first workout Friday at PCOM for potential draft picks. Tenative list includes North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson and Kentucky shooting guard Jodie Meeks, along with Florida State’s Toney Douglas, UTEP’s Stefon Jackson and Louisville’s Terrence Williams.
Stefanski was quite defensive afterward. Guess negative reaction in media and from some fans bothers him.
Jordan had four playoff teams in five years with the Wizards, but only won one round and opponents outscored them and shot a higher percentage in four of his five seasons.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Jordan starts Iguodala, Young and Brand in frontcourt. Dalembert doesn’t have the offensive basketball IQ to excel in Jordan’s system.
Greek & Morty, 2 years and 164 games is a significant swatch of life. You guys are mighty patient if you’re satisfied with the hiring of Jordan (Mr. 44%) and the waiting for those mentioned player contracts to expire (as though Sixer basketball glory is just a matter of time). When the 21 mil is cleared, do you trust Stefanski to sign the right players based on what you’ve seen? – - Iguodala for absurd franchise money, a downsloping Brand for a 2nd diamond mine, Williams for speculative money (much higher than his earned pay grade), Rush taken on and not utilized, 3 coaches in 2 years, a near-mutinous end to past season, a dubious interview process followed by a crony hire … he’s a GM whose Sixer decisions have been eyebrow-raising to say the least and whose direction is seat-of-the-pants from some indications. Though I initially thought he’d do a good job, I don’t see sound reasons for optimism now with Stefanski calling the shots; too much has been bungled.
Real Rob: 100% agree about Anthony Parker, he’d be an ideal signing with his all around game and great IQ. Not to mention his shooting.
With defense…the thing that concerns me is that EJ DID have about as many good defensive players as our current squad. DeShawn Stevenson can be a great lockdown defender when healthy and giving his all; Caron Butler is a good defender as well, and despite the total offense ineptness of their three headed monster at center, Etan Thomas, Brendan Haywood and Michael Ruffin were all certainly good at defense. EJ also had Antonio Daniels, one of the better PG defenders in the league, and usually several people off the bench to play a defense Willie Green like role.
They had no excuse for the team defense not to be better…I’m really hoping it was just lack of commitment from Gil and Jamison, and that EJ can hold his own here with us. But…it’s a concern.
On the “Iguodala thinks he’s an all star/all that” note…if this guy starts prancing around doing his little showboaty dances like the end of last year…count me out. He looks completely out of character, unprofessional, and frankly goofy when he does that crap. He just doesn’t have it in his personality to be that cocky guy that intimidates the other team with his antics, so I’m hoping he steers clear of that this year and just lets his on court play do all the talking.
First impression: The A, B, C shooting zones tutorial; the 24-48-82 declaration; the “we have two superstars” revelation; the overstatement and rapidity (skimming speed) of responses to questions … unpoised, trying too hard, a little embarrassing, nearly amateurish. Hope the timeouts go better.
As for his homage to Philly basketball, why didn’t our wonderful heritage bring him to accept Billy King’s offer in ‘03-’04 before King settled on Ayers? (Jeff Van Gundy rejected an offer to coach too, according to Wikipedia.)
And why was Stefanski huffing and puffing to start the show? Ridiculous. Certainly not in the tradition of Jack Benny.
jjg: Back then in 03-04, people were afraid of coaching the original AI and those were big shoes to fill (Larry Brown’s shoes). Now the Sixers have an AI that is coachable. Our core thus far is an attractive one in Iguodala, Young, and Brand (hopefully Miller will be the 4th in order to have a Fantastic Four).
Here is a Wizards article about the Princeton Offense:
http://www.nba.com/wizards/news/princeton_061228.html
Now, we fans should and could hopefully campaign for the right assistant coaches for Eddie Jordan. This team needs a defensive specialist, someone who will do the heavy talking on the defensive end. Any suggestions?
Hey JJG:
To correct your statement about Stefanski, he did not pay Iguodala max or close to “Franchise” money. Fans who spout this nonsense just crack me up. Dala is maybe making top 40 money, half to 2/3’s of what many Franchise guys are making in this league. The Brand signing was still a good thing, the only downside was that, in order to clear the space, they got rid of the shooters(Korver and Carney) Mo Cheeks’ offense needed to make it work. Then the man had a fluke injury, completely unrelated to his previous issue.
As far as the hiring of Eddie Jordan, he was the best offensive coach available, and this team needs an offensive overhaul. Every coach on the market had warts. You choose to believe it to be “cronyism,” I think it was more of a case of “tie goes to the runner.” If Jordan ran even, he was in the lead.
I like the hire, and look forward to next season watching an enjoyable and hopefully winning brand of hoops in this city. To each their own.
Sean, 6 for 80 million plus incentives may technically not be “franchise” money, but ES blinked last summer and crazily paid Iguodala more than he’s worth, not only consuming cap space unnecessarily, but sending an errant message to a “warted” Iguodala that he’s the man. Not wise. Fans who approve of Iguodala’s attitude and performance drink the kool-aid imo.
jjg: Not sure where you read patience, approval or optimism in my comment.
I will give Jordan a chance, the guy hasn’t coached a game yet, but yesterday’s conference certainly does not lead me to believe that he and Stefanski are aimed at a championship. Not when you pine for Andre Miller’s return, and pump up Willie Green’s non existent shooting abilities. Seems more like they are aiming at actually winning a round in the playoffs.
A good thing from the conference? Iggy will be a forward to start, not that I want Iggy there but the fact Jordan may,other than the last 2 coaches be able to put HIS ideas out on the court without being told what to do.
Morty, I thought it a bit ironic that Flynn and Holliday, two possible draftees of ours both said learning from a vet like A.Miller would be good for them, like they both felt he would be here.
JJG, I have been a big fan of Eddie Jordan since his Nets days. Give the dude a chance. I’m not one for patience but I see the big picture. Whether we like it or not, it is what it is. We have 21 million dollars of dead money, so the most important thing over the next 2 years will be the development of Thad, Speights, Iggy, our future PG, and Smith. if Thad turns out to be the beast that I think he will be then Brand won’t have to lead us in scoring.
JJG, Sammy getting the smack down from Jordan makes me love the dude even more. I just hope and pray that Willie Greene doesn’t start for us this year once again.
Greek: If a third coach in a row starts Willie Green, I’m giving up.
Morty, Willie sure did show up early to give Eddie a big old kiss on the ass yesterday. It’s scary how well liked he is as a person by the media and the coaches.
Projected starting lineup on opening night:
PG: Miller
SG: Green
SF: Igoudala
PF: Thad
C: Brand
Yet again, 2 guards who can’t shoot, and an undersized PF playing C.
Greek: Green uses the talents he has, right?
I don’t like that line-up at all. I see no reason why Willie would need to be in the starting line-up. I think he could actually thrive off the bench under Jordan. We hurt ourselves on the boards no question, but I think we also put Brand is jeopardy of foul trouble and limit his defensive impact.
But then again this would probably be a line-up based on offensively-only thinking given who the head coach is.
Dannie: Just my gut from reading the Jordan articles. I don’t like it either. I’ve been on the drop Miller bandwagon for a while. And I will have to see it to believe it that Brand can handle playing C.
I’d be OK with Brand playing a little Center, as long as the other guy getting big minutes at that position is a big, tough, body-up defender… and that ain’t Sammy.
Morty - I agree you definitely could cull that from his comments for sure.
I am hoping he goes in another direction one that would include Speights and Jason Smith fighting it out with each other for Sam’s starter minutes if Sam doesn’t or is incapable of getting with the new program.
JJG –
Iguodala’s contract is actually fair value. He is not underpaid or overpaid. He is much better than Deng, who signed a slightly smaller deal just before him. He is not in LeBron’s league, who also makes much more. He is not the highest paid player on the team. So, just because you don’t like the guy, you decide to be negative. That’s cool, I guess. IMO, if he plays at the beginning of the year at the level that he finished, then he is an all-star. He is a unselfish, multi-dimensional two-way impact player. I guess you are just missing out.
Brand can be matched with another PF/C like Speights or Smith.
I don’t see how they can send out Brand at C and Young and PF. You can’t get away wiuth being undersized at both front court positions. In fact, defensively you are giving up even more with Young at PF than you are with Brand at center. Brand can at least rebound and block shots on par for the position.
I am looking forward to seeing a Princeton style offense, but I don’t understand this teams never-ending obsession with small ball.
Sean -
You want to support the type of salary paid to the type of player Iguodala is, be my guest. (Most NBA vets get paid wacky money; the factor of scale isn’t justification for stupidity - the 6 yr. lock-in of an athletic, erratic tryer.) As for me, I’m not contributing to the propagation of a manufactured “star” whose game (and attitude) includes a lot of junk. The organization invested deep in him for some reason (oh yeah, AI’s exit, lack of other talent), and, unfortunately, it seems the odd romance shall endure another winter.
So just because you like the guy, you decide to be positive. That’s cool, I guess.
Dannie: I agree that big opportunities could be in store for Speights and Smith. Both players seem to have high IQ’s, at least on the offensive side of the court.
With this style of offesne, the Sixers need an Andre Miller to make this system work. Plus, I am looking forward to seeing a pick and roll between Miller and Brand. I think that is something we could have used against the Magic and perhaps win that series in 7.
I want to look back at the Sixers series with the Magic, the eventual Eastern Conference Champions of 2009. I think the Sixers did a better job on the Magic than the Cavaliers did, especially when defending Lewis & Turkoglu, while intentionally making Howard do all the scoring. Yes, the Sixers could have used Brand and Smith, both scoring bigs. It’s funny how that big shot from Turkoglu became a punch in the stomach for the Sixers and that Dwight Howard should have been ejected in Game 5, then things would have certainly been different.
Then, the Magic beat the Celtics, who were also missing some frontcourt player in Garnett and Powe. Basically, the Magic were lucky and won the EBless and KGless Sweepstakes, capitalizing on those golden opportunities.
The Cavaliers decided to double-team Howard endlessly and ended up paying the price of allowing SO many threes and still letting Howard dominate (including 40 pts in Game 6).
Also, it’s funny that Ratliff called out the coach staff after the Sixers Game 6 loss about the lack of toughness and accountability. Stefanski acknowledged it and Ratliff is shown the door.
But, anyway aside from perimeter shooting and extra defense, the Sixers need to get off to better starts in the season, be mentally focused for 24-48-82 as advertised, work on those close games, be more consistent from the free throw line, and not be rattled when calls are missed or other strange circumstances (lights going out).
GO SIXERS!!
Morty, Missanelli was talking today on 950 AM about a rumored deal: Speights & (didn’t hear the rest) for Minnesota’s number 2 pick in order to draft PG Rubio.
Where did I read patience, approval or optimism?: In your seconding
(“Exactly”) of The Greeks’ 98 post: “we’re still building” and “it’s all about progress.”
If Willie starts for a third consecutive coach, you may have to reassess “the property.”
Glad to see you back on the board.
JJG I like your style. If Willie starts again we should all start an anti WG rally outside the Wachovia. I’m sure that we’ll have more people supporting this then are actually paying to go to the game.
The Greek, Since it’s you calling for temperance of judgement, I feel compelled to pause and give Eddie Jordan a chance … NOT! Two words to explain his (and Stefanski’s) New Jersey success: Jason Kidd. But I appreciate your enthusiam; I just don’t share it.
Sam got smacked down by Eddie (our fresh Wizard) after Eddie was given license to smack him down by Mister Ed (“Old Baldy”, our executive horse and horsetrader).
JJG I am only preaching patience because it’s needed. We need to get the sh*t stains out of the carpet. And Sammy’s, Willie’s, and Reggie’s stains will take 2 years.
In the “enthusiam” of my writing I forgot to type ‘enthusiasm.’
Sean, I agree with you completely. People tend to find the negatives in Iguodala when things aren’t going swimmingly, including myself. His contract is reasonable, he has a huge impact on the team in several ways and his game is often overshadowed by rainbow clankers.
I’ve come down a bit from hating this move, I really wanted TT, anything short of that I wouldn’t be happy. On the flip, I think that this SHOULD help our offense tremendously. It will all depend on the players ability to comprehend the system and their desire to execute, and of course Brand’s health as he will be the focal point on the block.
I would of much rather them went in the way of defense, I think that the current roster is more suited for that direction, minus A. Miller. I get more enjoyment watching a team play solid, lock-down defense than watching any player posterize someone, and the end result is usually better.
any word on the SI reported trade of Speights & our 1 for Memphis 2 and Yaric? I don’t if I do this deal without knowing what Jason Smith gives us off the injury and without a #2.
The Greek, Thanks for the compliment. I’m sure your organic commentary and piquant sense of humor makes more than just me laugh.
Since you mentioned Sam & stains, thought I’d quote Wilt on bad 7 footers: “I get bent out of shape when Bol–or Nevitt or other seven-footers who can’t really play–take up space on a roster. They’re not professional basketball players. They’re sideshows. … It cheats everyone–fans, other players on the team, players who are kept off rosters because of these no-talent seven-footers.” (“A View From Above”, 1991) Of course, Sam has some talent but its held in check by the space between his ears and the echo chamber in his chest (re basketball).
TT32, Memphis is touting Rubio to get Sacramento to bite; supposedly a #2 for J.Thompson and #4 is a possibility. Memphis is in no man!s land,needing a p.f. but hoping to trade down a few spots and get J.Hill. Jaric makes way more than Spieghts, that can!t happen and Memphis only wants to drop a few spots.
The Real Rob, Wasn’t Aaron McKie hired as a defensive coach? Or is he just an interning backseat generalist for now?
TT32 – There is no reported trade. It’s just some columnist doing what we all do here – propose stuff we think might make sense (this one doesn’t under the cap as we can’t take on more salary). We need to be strictly givers of players and receiver of a pick that’s it. Get Washington’s pick and drafting Curry is the move that should be discussed. How to make that happen.
I can’t believe all the hoopla is over the small section in this Ian Thomsen (don’t really agree with much of what he says most of the time) article.
The Real Rob, Nice ‘Princeton’ feed - thanks. Dick Jerardi (of the Philadelphia Daily News) addressed the offense today in a smartly written piece – recommended.
They should draft Elena Delle Donne, she would instantly be the best shooter on the squad.
Morty:
I agree with TK was saying…I think we’ll see a lot of Speights and Jason Smith at C, keeping Elton at PF. Small ball is nice to use sometimes, but Elton, as tough nosed as he is, and when healthy is a very good defender, just is too short. Unless you are Don Nelson (aka: half insane) who was fine for playing Ronny Turiaf at C for about a quarter of the season…most teams aren’t willing to take that gamble.
Two “EJ”isms that I saw a lot with his Wizards’ teams:
1. EJ is willing to play a PF at the Center spot…IF they are tall/wirey/have long arms, and athletic. When Etan Thomas and Haywood would come down with their regular injuries or inconsistant play, EJ regularly played Kwame Brown, and then Blatche (Kwame Brown IInd, as far as potential and lack of consistency) in the middle, sliding Jamison to the 4.
2. EJ has a tendency to fall in love with hard workers that are tough and can bang…he has a bit of Larry Brown’s blood running in him that way. I cannot over-emphasize the amount of sheer hostility Wizards fans directed at him for the amount of PT he gave Michael Ruffin and Darius Songaila instead of giving more time to the young guns to develop. What does this mean for the Sixers? EJ will be using Reggie Evans at least 15 mpg. Even with Jason Smith back.
3. EJ is a fan of athletic swingmen at the SG/SF spots that can defend. See: Butler, Caron. Jeffries, Jared. Hayes, Jarvis. He would basically use Jeffries as a completely interchangable part, much as the Pistons would put T Prince on just about anyone they needed to wreck havoc defensively. Wiz fans also came down REAL hard on EJ for the amount of PT he gave Jarvis Hayes purely for his defensive effort…especially given the fact that Hayes shot was non-existent one year and streaky the next. What this means for the Sixers: EJ will enjoy Willie Green. Let’s just PRAY Green comes off the bench…where I actually feel he can be a good asset.
The guy I’m most curious to see how EJ carves out a role for is Lou Williams. I have no idea what he’s going to do with our underachieving Lou. I’m hoping EJ starts laying down the law about him being more of a slasher that creates driving into the lane then just chucking up jumpshots. Hopefully he will recognize Lou is not a PG, cannot be a PG, and will not ever be a PG. Which makes his role non-existent as if Willie Green will be used, no need to have two SG’s off the bench that aren’t amazing at any one thing. I’d keep Green in a heartbeat over Lou…and am praying Stefanski finds a taker for Lou’s contract.
Dannie, if you are Cleveland!s g.m. would you have any interest in a Sam for Wallace swap? Howard isn!t going anywhere and Sam, along with drafting a long wing [D.Green,Casspi] at #30, would go a long way with helping them get past Orlando and maybe keeping Lebron in Cleveland. We could buy out Wallace and get a Heytvelt in the 2nd round and finally move on. I worry Sam will be a distraction that this team doesn!t need with all the learning it has to do this year.
Suede – No, doesn’t make any sense. You have to understand why Cleveland lost. It wasn’t because they couldn’t stop Howard – no one can stop Howard. They simply don’t match up with Orlando very well. You could easily go as far as to say LeBron’s production trumped Howard’s production. With that in mind what was the issue? They don’t have enough offensive firepower around James. Mo Williams turned out to be a fraud as I said before the season he would be. West can only do so much. Boobie has a game or two but basically they gave him a contract this off-season to sit on the bench but refused to give West (the starter) any money – ridiculous. Then what else do they have on that team offensively? Big Z is a spot up shooter now. They don’t have front court player that scores inside.
They need more two-way players in the front court. Guys who can play defense and also not only not be a liability on the offensive end but actually be a contributor. Right now teams to load up even more for LeBron and Cleveland has guys everyone in the world know can’t shoot and refuse to shoot on the court at all times so that puts an easy man to leave open on the court. How in the world does Sam help that? He is no better at all than Wallace, in fact he probably is worse offensively simply because he will actually want the ball some and won’t know how to stay out of LeBron’s way.
LeBron’s usage is too high. In a tough playoff series sure he is going to get his numbers but he will be tired and beat up every game. They need someone to handle some of the ball-handling, someone to get touches in the post and score so LeBron can conserve some energy throughout the game. The biggest difference between Cleveland and the Lakers is the fact that Kobe can take 10-15 shots and the Lakers are capable of winning easily. Cleveland can’t and that isn’t they way to a championship.
I think for now we are reserved to the fact that Sam is here for this season, MAYBE an almost contender would take a look during this trade deadline but I doubt it. I am think we have him this season through the following season’s trade deadline.
Don’t worry, suede, Sam has enrolled at Princeton for 6 credits of summer classes: “Sixty Million Intricacies Of Positive Motion” & “Haitian Calculus: Tao Of Seven Pro Coaches.”
To learn is to vivify, to leap in a gym in July is undue exertion.
- Confucious
I love Sammy’s parting words, ” I want to make myself a factor on offense next year”
Has there ever been anyone in pro sports who “gets it” less then this guy?
Yes while it’s often a cliche to call him dumb(BB I.Q.) You really can’t stress how dumb he truly is. I honestly think that he is one of the dumbest players in the history of the NBA, no doubt top 3.
Philly Inquirer: Ty Lawson, Tony Douglas, Terrence Williams, Jodie Meeks, Stefan Jackson working out for the Sixers this Friday.
Jodie Meeks is a player I am VERY intrigued by, and along with J. McNeal, believe him to be mistakenly sliding when he is in actuality a 1st round talent. This is a guy that if he returned to UK to play next year would be an automatic top 15 pick, IMO. Especially because this draft is so lacking in the SG/SF/scoring department, I’m shocked there is not more buzz about Meeks.
This is coming from a guy that entered last college season thinking Meeks would be an 11-12 ppg scorer, tops. Instead, he came out of no where (I don’t even think Gillespie saw it coming) to become a true offensive force for a team that lacked perimeter players, and was known for their frontcourt (Patterson, Stephenson). For those that aren’t aware, his stat line from last year:
23.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 46.3% FG, .902% FT, .406 3pt%, 117 3’s made, and an average of 3.25 3’s made per game.
Those are some absolutely absurd shooting numbers. Throughout the year, he put up some staggeringly high scoring games (a 54 pointer against Tennessee, two other 40 point games, and a bunch of high 20’s against quality SEC teams. Dropped 28 on Louisville). While he’s not exactly Mr. Versatile (not a strong passer, turnover prone), I was particularly surprised at his polish and efficiency given his numbers, and god knows shooting/scoring is exactly what our Sixers need.
This isn’t a guy just jacking up shots with wreckless abandon (like Tyreke Evans or Lou Williams). He really looked like a true scoring veteran in the best sense out there, and proved to be able to beat anyone guarding him off the dribble as well as hit shots right over a defender with a hand in his face. I have a feeling if Meeks does do well at workouts, GM’s aren’t going to talk him up to much because they don’t want his name spread like wildfire in the media.
I’ve said this before, but I REALLY think the Sixers should consider dealing for a second 1st round pick. This is not a good or even deep draft…but for our particular needs, this draft happens to be perfect for us in that we could land a future PG with the #17 pick, and then a bench shooter/scorer with a potential pick in the #18-25 range.
…if we did trade for a pick in that range, Sam Young would be another excellent pickup for us as a backup SF that can spread the floor as well as score from slashing.
I like Sam Young as a player but the last thing this team needs is another small foward….
jjg: Gotcha. I meant “exactly”solely to the Greek’s pointing out that we have $21 mil tied up for 2 years in players that have almost zero help value. I am pretty pretty down on the entire Sixers organization.
Thanks for keeping the flame going. I’ve been reading, but haven’t felt like I had much to add.
Jurnee:
If Iguadala and Thad start together at SG/SF, which they should, we don’t have a single backup SF on our entire team except for Donyell Marshall. If we were to go in the direction of getting a bench SF in this draft to get some youth, a Budinger, Ellington or Sam Young would only be helping our team out as they can all hit 3’s.
I didn’t realize you had Iggy starting at SG…I am all for your plan if it means Willie Green is no longer a starter…i’ve been he would get out of the starting five…he’s had to have been among the worst starter in the league the last couple of years….
Jordan said Iguodala would begin the season at forward and hoped he’d play some shooting guard once he gets the hang of the Princeton offense in “December or January.” There’s a chance Lou Williams could start at one of the guard positions, despite his sub-par 2008-09.
What about Thad’s role Tom?
Someone needs to hook up Dannie by being a guest poster, between scrolling down all of the Phillies posts and 151 comments it reminds of Narduccin’s blog before he went into hiding.
JJG, Dave T, Suede, Morty, go for it.
Haha – I just leave a post so we inflate the comments. I have a post coming sometime today depending on my workload today. We just did a conference call with Eddie Jordan I will have up the notes from that later.
And as always guest posts are always welcome.
Notion of Williams starting doesn’t surprise at all. Stefanski loves him, invested in him, and dreams big on him; in part, his GM rep resides with LW succeeding, or at least improving a notch from devastating to harmful. Despite his limited game, LW is gonna get a lot of opportunity with the Eddie & Ed duo.
On radio following press conference the other day, Billy King offered unequivocally and “without politicking” that both Iguodala and Young were small forwards/3s, suggesting an organizational logjam and conundrum. (He neglected to numerate Sam.)
The Greek, If we get jilted again by a blogmaster, then it’s time to pause and unlock our diaries for fresh reflection and insight.
Cool Dannie, looking forward to it.
JJG, If you and I had a blog somehwere in the name would have to be ruthless, Sammy, Clown, and colossal turd! We would have to bring in Rob to balance us out. Now Dave T and Suede, there smack dab in the middle of that spectrum.
Damn old computer and it’s no spell check, I spell so much better on my laptop.
Lawson versus Maynor versus Teague should dominate our time for the rest of this month.
Greek will start draft coverage this weekend for sure. Been reading up and wanted to wait until after all the official measurements and testing came out. I will be curious to see if the Sixers actually talk about how the workouts went after seeing some guys tomorrow.
Greek: You will most definitely be hearing an earful from yours truly if Stefanski picks Teague if Lawson or Budinger are available. I may have to start a separate blog if we pick Teague.
Teague is a better Lou Williams. He is THE classic SG in a PG’s body college player, of which there are dozens every year. In Teague’s case, he happens to be VERY good. But we’d basically be drafting a guy that is not a future PG, but is good for sparkplug scoring. aka: another Lou Williams. I’d be fine with replacing Lou with Teague…or a guy like McNeal, Meeks, etc…but if we have Lou AND a guy like that, we have a logjam.