Philadelphia 76ers 10 Games In

We can all think of a number of words to describe the Sixers’ start to the 2010 season.

• Disappointing
• Frustrating
• Infuriating
• Expected?

That last word is the one I am struggling with.  I fully expected the Sixers to start slowly.  I fully expected them to struggle with offensive continuity and chemistry.  But I did not expect them to play and look this horrible.  I mean they have not shown any indication that there is a decent team in that locker room or that this is just a “slow start.”

This is much worse.

The Record

• ‘08-’09 record: 5-5
• ‘09-’10 record: 4-6

One game difference.  Not significant.  They won the 4 games against teams they should beat.  They lost 4 games against teams clearly better than them.  But they lost games against a depleted Pistons team and the Bulls.  Those two games are the ones they needed to win to show us they aren’t the same ole team.  They didn’t.

On top of that, the play has been piss poor even in the 4 games they won.

The Stats

• Overall Defense – 23rd in the NBA
  • FG% – 25th
  • eFG% – 27th
  • 3pt% – 28th
  • Turnovers – 9th
  • Defensive rebounding – 19th
• Overall Offense – 19th in the NBA
  • FG% – 7th
  • eFG% – 12th
  • 3PT% – 25th
  • FT% – 17th
  • Turnovers – 20th
  • Offensive rebounding – 23rd

Two things I noticed regarding the three pointers.

First, not only are the Sixers 28th in opponents’ three point percentage, but they are 3rd in opponents’ 3pt attempts.  This speaks directly to the lack of discipline and rotational issues the Sixers continue to have.  They simply don’t defend the three well, and they give up far too many open looks.

The bigger problem is the coach who refuses to acknowledge that it’s even a problem.  Proof of coach cluelessness.

Second, the Sixers have actually done a pretty good job of putting the ball in the hole in general, as evidenced by their FG%.  The problem is not just that they are 25th in three point percentage at 30.3%.  The bigger problem is that they are 14th in three point attempts and one fourth of all their shots are three pointers.  They are compounding their perimeter shooting problem by jacking up more prohibitively low-percentage threes.

The killers: Andre Iguodala and Louis Williams.  These guys have attempted 66 threes combined (34 and 32 respectively and 40% of all attempts) and are shooting a combined 27.3% from three (32.4% and 21.9% respectively).

Conversely, Jason Kapono has attempted 32 threes and is shooting 40.6%.  If you take out Jason Kapono, the Sixers would be shooting 27.8% from three as a team.  Ugh.

Is it that hard to simply pass up shots you clearly aren’t capable of making at a successful rate? Especially when at no point in your career have you shot the three well.  Proof of player cluelessness.

The Big Problems

Where to start?  Let’s just get a list of the top 5:

1. Defense
2. Coach
3. Elton Brand
4. Rebounding
5. 3pt Shooting

I thought about covering all these points, but this post would get way to long (probably already is) so I’ll just talk a bit about the defense for now and come back to those other points in separate posts.

The Defense

Jrue Holiday made a quote in the first 10 games that was extremely telling.  He said:

“I think it’s about the rotation,” said Holiday. “I think we help too much. I know there were times when I was stuck down low with a big man because I was waiting for my man to come back. Maybe sometimes we need to be a little more selfish and keep our eye on those outside shooters.” – Jrue Holiday

The kid is right and hit on two important points that I have been saying that for two years now.  Over-helping and lack of individual accountability are two of the biggest reasons the Sixers’ perimeter defense and overall team defense is horrible.  I talked about that at length last season.

The problem is three-fold and really happened before the season even started.

1. Our existing players don’t know how to play individual or team defense. They over-help because they instinctively think that is what they should be doing and aren’t disciplined enough to stop.  What’s worse is they clearly see it isn’t working and continue to get burned by the same mistake over and over again.  That’s actually considered insanity.
2. Our coaching staff is clueless when it comes to teaching proper defense.
3. Our general manager, the basketball man of the organization, also didn’t address this with his coaching hire. He put a premium on improving the offense AND attempting to cover up for his Elton Brand signing mistake by bringing in an offensive coach with a “system” that would work better with Brand.

Stefanski assumed we had athletes and the defense would just work.  Doesn’t work that way.  While we have athletes they are rather dumb, have poor instincts especially on the defensive side of the ball, lack discipline and have not had a coach to maximum their raw ability.  For example Lou is quick offensively and can be effective because he gets to dictate the action most of the time.  But defense is highly anticipatory and reaction-based.  Those are two different types of “quick.”  A good coach could help him translate his raw ability on the defensive side of the ball if he is willing to buy in.  He might not become a great defender, but he could be better than he is.

Also, putting a premium on a offensive “system” over a defensive “system” or someone who can teach and get players to play effective defense is critically flawed thinking.  The most impactful improvement you can make to any offense is putting better shooters, passers and efficient scorers on the floor, not wrapping mediocre offensive players in “system.”

What Would I Do If I Were the Coach?

My starting line-up would be:

1. Jrue
2. Kapono
3. Iguodala
4. Brand
5. Sam

I want strong defense at the point of my defense.  I want at least one pure shooter in my starting line-up.  Substituting Jrue for Lou in theory takes away some offense but is a significant upgrade defensively.  Substituting Kapono for Thad weakens the defense but adds proven shooting to the offense in a clear area of weakness.  Right now Thad and Iguodala score in a very similar fashion. And Thad adds nothing from a play-making, passing or three-point shooting standpoint.  That bothers me a lot.

Thad fans go ahead and cry.  But having good players coming off the bench isn’t really a bad thing, and in the end, I don’t care about individual players or their egos.  I just want better play and more wins.

Having Speights, Thad and Lou coming off the bench should make for a stronger second unit and hopefully add some sense to the substitutions and player rotations.

My top reserves would be:

1. Speights
2. Thad
3. Lou
4. Carney/Green/Ivey/Smith – situational subs

I very rarely play with a small line-up (Thad at power forward).  I pair Jrue and Lou more.  I want Jrue as the play-maker and Lou off the ball doing what he does best – scoring.

I play Speights with Sam more often along with minutes with Brand.  What I don’t do is leave him on the court as the lone big in the front court.  He simply gives up too much defensively for that to be successful over time.

I look to post up Brand a bit more with entry passes coming from Kapono.  IF teams plan to double Brand, which surprisingly they have in the few touches he’s gotten, I want them to make a decision:

• Leave Kapono to help quickly
• Send help off someone who is further away

If they leave Kapono, I want him catching and shooting 100% of the time. No pump fakes, no passing up shots.  His 3pt % is simply TOO good for him to pass up those shots ever.

If they send the help from further away I actually practice different cuts and rotations out of double-team situations on both blocks.  I don’t want the double to come and the pass out of the post to be a long cross-court pass that allows defenses to recover.  I want a cutter down the lane for a scoring situation individually or for the quick dump off to Sam for a dunk if the opposite big helps.

I nix that predictable post pass, cut baseline for a hand-off that never works.  It actually slows the offense down and makes it easier for the defense to trap the post player.

Sam gets zero back-to-the-basket post touches.  It just doesn’t make sense.  All his shots should be dunks, offensive rebound tap-ins or wide open 15-foot and in jumpers. Period.  I will tell him not to hesitate shooting those open shots because I don’t want him pumping and trying to make plays off the bounce EVER.  He’s been doing that too much when he catches the ball at the elbows.

If you can’t shoot threes you shouldn’t be taking them.  I see no reason why the coach can’t tell his players that.  My college coach did.  Play to your strengths.  When you have always been a poor three point shooter and have shown no indication of that changing, you are only killing your team by continuing to shoot them.  So Lou and Dala – cut that shit out!  Those two guys are taking 6.6 threes per game.  That number should be cut in half.

Defensively

Man-to-man accountability.

Very little switching (no switching at all simply isn’t realistic or an optimal strategy).

Game-to-game scouting report dictates how to handle different players in pick-and-roll situations (over or under the screen or trapping) and post double-team situations (who to leave, how to rotate to funnel shots to weak shooters).

The way I see it this stuff isn’t being covered by Jordan or whoever is responsible for the defense.  Currently the Sixers play defense haphazardly and they just aren’t smart enough to be left to their own judgment in my opinion.

Overhelping stops.  I attempt to solve that problem by practicing defense by funneling perimeter players towards shot blockers on the outskirts of the lane.

The mantra is: Ball never enters the paint either on the pass or the drive.  That will be the staple of my defense, and I drill it to death.

Playing time is 80% determined by defense, 5% offense and 15% effort.

If you don’t like it you can sit or leave.  Do what I say, and you play.  Do your own thing, and you sit.  If I have issues with guys not buying in, I talk to Ed about getting them out of here.

From my seat it looks like Jordan plays guys who are scoring well.  Doesn’t matter if they are rebounding or defending.  That’s a big reason why Brand isn’t playing. He hasn’t been productive offensively so he sits.  Even if he was defending and rebounding well, he sits.  Same with Sam.  So instead we see Jason Smith out there to shoot threes and Speights out there to shoot regardless if he is getting ate up on the other end.

“You’ve got to be able to keep pace with certain teams in the league, whether it’s Phoenix, Denver, New York or a few others,” said the Sixers’ coach Monday. “They have a knack of scoring. If we match them basket for basket, we win.” ~ Eddie Jordan

This is a terrible strategy and sends the wrong message to the team. More coach cluelessness.

The Sixers are a damn mess. And even last year when they started slow they didn’t feel or look this bad.  In the first 10 games they have shown no reason to be optimistic and no signs that they could turn it around or become a good team.  And with Speights out 6-8 weeks things look even more bleak.

Look I fully understand the talent on this team is not great.  But it’s also not completely horrible either.  This team can do a better job with what they have.  But…

There needs to be more discipline, more accountability, more tough love and more leadership coming from the head coach.

Until that happens we will continue to be forced to watch a bunch of guys running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

November 16, 2009