Sorry for the corny headline, couldn’t resist.
Kind of says it all doesn’t it?
Well not exactly.
That forecast probably doesn’t even account for the fact that Louis Williams is definitely out and Elton Brand, if he isn’t out will probably be completely ineffective with a bum hammy against the size of Boston.
Speaking of Brand, should they even let him play? If he suffers a more severe injury that would almost guarantee the Sixers spiral to the bottom of the NBA. Wait, isn’t that what most fans want anyway? I don’t. I have the idea of losing and I hate even more the idea of having players stuck losing all the time. It tends to deflate the competitiveness of weak minded players (that of which the Sixers have plenty) and sometimes they never get it back.
So I would sit Brand down and let him have a day off and be back Friday at home against the Hawks.
With that in hand, I am thinking that the the chances are probably more like 1%.
Either way I am looking forward to the game. I like watching the Sixers face good teams. We have the hope that they will play up to the level of the competition and give us maybe a half a game of decent basketball.
Boston’s just built perfectly to destroy the Sixers. They have a ton of size inside and attack the boards aggressively. They are by far the best in the league defensively. They have a bunch of top notch shooters on the perimeter. They have a guy that loves to penetrate and dish. They have Pierce who can do it all. Regarding Pierce, who defends him?
Long odds there for sure.
The good news:
Although it’s still a couple of hours before game time, look for rookie Jrue Holiday to get the start in place of Williams. ~ Kate Fagan
That is enough to get excited about. Get to see the rook play 30 minutes of meaningful basketball against a really good team and a really good point guard. This will be a true test of his defensively capabilities. I can’t wait.
I should be around to chat for the game.
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{ 75 comments… read them below or add one }
Tom Moore seems to think Willie will get the start. If that happens I can’t say I would be surprise. Eddie Jordan IS a moron.
But I really see no real reason for that to happen. Even if you thought Willie was a marginally better player than Jrue, the added bonus of instilling confidence in your PG of the future and getting him some real on-the-job training would outweigh that for a losing team waiting for young players to develop.
Dannie, experience aside Willie is just a bad matchup on Rondo, who may run circles around him.
Great pass by Jrue too bad Sam is not a good target for high level passing.
Jrue recognized that lob late but still got it there. On the job training
Thad is defending Perkins ugh.
That was a terrible pass by Iguodala and he turn around like it was all Thad’s help. I guess that’s how you act when you think you are one of the best all-around players on the floor.
Damn I wish I could watch this one. The radio will do.
Effort is there so far tonight. They are battling.
Dala is guarding Sheed.
This is just crazy.
Did Bill effin’ Green take 3 straight shots on 3 straight possessions?!?!?!? what the F!
And Iguodala says, “You think Bill Green’s shots were bad, get a load of this!”
But here’s to the boys for putting up a fight! Don’t wanna be too negative, this is FUN!
So far so good. Boston is not shooting well from anywhere right now. Sixers are making shots and taking good ones.
…and Sam is defending well.
For everyone that thinks Thad can play PF please watch the defensive end of the court. He can NOT defend any PF who posts up.
Sam is doing his job. Needs help on the boards though.
Kapono is hitting tonight. Need that.
He doesn’t exactly guard the 3 very well either.
Oh and KG is clearly not the same player. He isn’t at bad as Brand but his physical decline is extremely noticeable.
Quick stat: Jrue Holiday has 5 assists but 4 TOs.
Jrue has 4 turnovers in the first half, not good. 5 assists are nice but the ratio isn’t good.
I swear to God, does anyone on the Sixers outside of Sam even try for a defensive board? Anyone at all?
Good defense not letting Pierce get the ball.
Boston is starting to lock in. Sixers need to stay poised and get a good shot out of this timeout.
Jrue still looks unpolished going to the basket. Needs to make more decisive finishing moves.
Jrue is not shooting the ball today at all. 1-7 from the field
nice dunk Holiday~
Foul trouble developing. 4 on smith and jrue
Who in the hell was that pass to Dala. Stop jump passing my god.
There was no reason at all for a double technical. Either call nothing or just call it on Garnett who clearly started an continued everything
Boston is starting to get some home town calls. Sheed elbowed Sam too. Should have been a double.
Joey Crawford going overboard with the whistle as usual when a T happens
Jesus christ no one touched the ball that possession but Willie Green. He is a straight jacker and ball hog when he is given the ball at the point.
Kapow? Really?
Sixers are out shooting Boston right now. That is the difference.
Perfect time 4 Bill Green to have a good game
Hahahaha. Ed R. That might become a new Zumoffism.
6 point lead going into the fourth – who is confident they pull this off?
I am not confident that we can pull it out, I have a feeling the Sixers lack of depth is going to get to them this period. Would be a huge win and confidence booster thats for sure.
As for the Zumoffism, it is definitely one of the better ones I have heard in a little while.
Dala what are you doing with the 20 footers?!?!
Ivey’s letting House shoot way too many uncontested 3’s
They have had plenty of uncontested shots. They have just off for three quarters.
Rasheed uncontested 3 buried
Jason Smith overhelped on that last Sheed three. Green was over the screen fine.
My god this team is feast or famine from three. 11-15 tonite.
Damn Thad. Use your right hand. It’s there, trust me.
Rondo is in a zone.
This would be a demoralizing lost given how they played the first three quarters.
Got a break on that foul call on Rondo. It wasn’t a foul at all, clean steal.
Celtics making shots now. Sixers need to DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE and get to the line.
Compete reversal of last night Dannie…3 bad 1 good…Here 3 good 1 bad collapse….Can I get a made Free Throw
Rondo is dominating. Ill-advised shot by Jrue. Damn need a stop and a run now. They have 1 minute to get back into this.
Get a defensive rebound!
ill advised 3 Iggy
Now he is who should be taking threes.
They are keeping us in it. Two straight missed lay ups by Rondo. Gotta convert these Dala.
What the hell. Get under control. No idea why they didn’t set up that last possession when Thad got ripped. In no hurry there. They panicked.
That was a dagger.
Stop posing you are still fucking losing you loser!
Still have a shot. Plenty of time. Get Kapono a shot here.
Smart by Rivers. That has always been my college coaches strategy. Up three, send them to the line.
They need to try and force the inbound to Rondo somehow
ehh N/M he’s inbounding it
Rondo is always the inbound man. 33% from the line this season.
Too easy right there Ivey.
Game over. Best shooter is the worst FT shooter on the team right now.
Heart breaking. Gotta wonder how much fight this team has left in them after losses like this the past two games.
Dannie, just curious but given Lou’s injury and Ivey being basically useless, would you give any consideration to bringing A.I back? Would definitely put bodies in the seats, and improve the team. Now granted this team isn’t exactly good, and even Iverson of old probably won’t turn this team around on his own but why not? You get him for the veteran’s minimum? I personally never really liked A.I but I do see what he could do for the Sixers.
Ed – I wouldn’t mind it at all. My only criteria would be that Jrue still gets regular minutes. His minutes can’t be cut with any perimeter player addition.
When you aren’t a contending team player development becomes priority.
It would put people in the seats no doubt about it.
Dannie, I was disappointed in Jrue!s slight indecision when finishing in the lane but he seemed to try and get everybody involved , a good sign. He seemed to play good team defense and for the most part I was pleased.
Yawl need to lighten up on Jrue. He’s a 19 year old rookie. He’s going to make these mistakes, including the turnovers. This was a great experience for him; he can defend, he will definitely need to develop a consistent jumper, but he has good court awareness, is pass first and rebounds well for a point guard. Eddie S better realize that he is going to have to move that punk Andre or Thad next year so the real Jrue and Lou show can go down! That’s the backcourt we should be running because Lou is shoot first and can’t defend me, but together there’s some promise.
it took Lou Williams getting injured to get me re-interested in the Sixers. pity he had been playing better of late. i just had to seee the Holiday start.
so far we know he has good instincts, lazy passes, good anticpation on pick and rolls, good defense and shoots like a true 76er. hope he continues to start; one positive thing to take away from this season at least.
hmm injuries are creating opportunities; Speights goes down-Elton gets his first 40min. game, Brand goes out-Jason Smith gets to show his nice touch from the outside, Lou goes down-Holiday gets to play point. who’s next then? Thad? (knock on wood)
i hardly believe the Sixers are gonna shoot 60% from the 3pt land in their next game, so just bcos they had a good shooting night and almost beat Boston in impressive fashion doesnt mean they will be able to topple Atlanta (which is playing very well by the way). I have a feeling they are thinking just that. very sixer-ish
for anyone still hung up over the Boston game; we lost once Thad, Jrue and Dala combined to miss 3 of 6 FTs. no chance after that.
I can see why Atlanta came in and beat the Celts ,along with Orlando; they seem to be showing their age slightly , defensively, and the young athletic teams can really make them work.
Interesting p.g. matchup last night with Collison getting the better of Jennings. With our habit of going small it was interesting to see the lineup P. Westphal went with against the Knicks small ball last night, nobody smaller than 6!6″ in the starting group. Pete, your boy D. Cunningham is getting minutes with Outlaw out and had a nice game last night.
dssuede: Garnett looks good only half the time, Rondo takes shooting lessons from Reggie Evans, Ray Allen is a diplodocus, and Perkins’ act seems to have grown old – refs are calling it much more.
Pierce is pretty good defensively though.
Looks like Lou is out for the next 8 weeks. It’s time for Jrue to step up. Here’s his chance.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4691884