I used to be torn on this question, now that isn’t the case.
On one hand I hate losing and assume everyone else does as well. I also believe that habitual losing is detrimental to the development of young players and the psyche of players in general, and I didn’t want to wish that on our Sixers.
This train of thought developed a couple years ago. Now after two weak playoff appearances that haven’t shown positive impact on the following seasons my mind has change.
Now I am 100% in favor of significant change, and I just don’t see that happening unless this team hits rock bottom.
Do I want them to lose? No, of course not, but what options do we have given what we know about ownership and management? I honestly believe one of two things about Stefanski…
- He still believes in this roster and the work he’s put into it and/or
- He is not willing to admit his initial plan and moves were mistakes and are destined to continue to not work.
Both of those are bad. If he still believes in this somewhat talented, but simply not good enough roster, mediocrity will continue. If he isn’t willing to admit his initial plan and moves were mistakes and keeps running with the same squad because of pride, not because he thinks they are good enough, he should be fired immediately. There is no place for that.
I had a lot of confidence in Stefanski for whatever reason. Maybe just because of what we had before him, I thought anyone would be better. He has quickly made most fans look at him with the same disdain we all had for Billy King.
The Sixers have won 4 in a row vs. some weak opposition. That IS a big deal because they hadn’t done it in past opportunities this season, and now they have. It doesn’t matter that the competition was sub-par and battered. They’ve had perceived positive stretches at earlier parts of the season as well and could come away with 3 straight wins. Now they are up to 4, with the next 2 games (maybe even three) looking more and more winnable (Minnesota, Toronto and Miami).
With the East still so disgraceful, that puts the Sixers 4 and a half games out of the playoffs with 32 games left to play. Playoffs are now something that can be mentioned without laughing out loud or being ridiculed, and I just wonder if that really is a good thing.
So I turn it to you.
Do you want the Sixers to continue to win, find a way to sneak into the playoffs?
If so, what’s your reasoning?
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Suns are really interested in Andre Iguodala apparently.
That’s nice, but why would we want Stoudamire? He is an expensive scoring-only player. With some player development, Maurice Speights could be that at 1/4 the price. I think the best route is to emphasize player development for the rest of the season, which hopefully will net a high draft pick to add more young talent.
Dannie, Pheonix has been on T.V. a lot lately and look real good since the Lopez for Frye move and for some reason I think they want Iggy, but NOT for Amare. They have enough 3 pt. shooting in Nash, Frye and Dudley to insert Iggy at the 2 guard if he is acquired. Richardson and a couple of #1 picks would be my guess for Iggy. His contract is up the same year as Sam and Willie so it would resemble a plan of sorts by our G.M. . Sam just doesn!t make sense for Pheonix unless he was paired with Amare. As far as your question, I wish this group of players got a chance to play for a good coach and if given the choice of spending on a top coach or trading for better talent with this coach, I prefer the 1st option.
So losing works for me if it gets the organization to acquire a good coach and upgrade in talent but I am resigned to the fact that if they don!t want to spend than we can!t win.
Suede - I think they want to keep Amare but at a reasonable rate. Everything I’ve read is that they want to discuss contract but he wants max money.
What we don’t entirely know is if they want to do a deal for Amare 100% for the expiring contract. It seems that way but the rumors also said they want some talent back as well.
That confuses me. Are they trying to rebuilding fresh or make a lateral move that only slightly improves their cap situation?
Yea, tough to get a read on their logic but Nash!s window is closing. Hill is playing well and I honestly feel, as they are, they can beat anybody out west, except the lakers.
simple answer, no, no, no no no dont stop losing now we are so close to john wall. if we could get rid of iggy and sammy’s contrats as well, that would be great. I am not sure how alive the houston deal is for t-mac, but that is something possibly that we should be more interested in. amare>t-mac at this point in their respective careers and it is in my opinion that we could possibly lose more games by essentially trading iggy for cap space.
So at all cost we need to be heading into the summer with the #1 pick and cap space, that is the only imediate way to improve our team. any other scenairo would take 2-3 years and i dont know about you guys, but we have been waiting 5 or 6 years for the sixers to be good again. any way that is just my take on it.
as for iggy to the suns, i could see that being good for both parties, but i would rather have a t-mac expiering contract then amare expiering contract.
dannie would u want stoudmaire on the sixers? I know people get on stoudmaire because he doesnt play defense but the suns dont really ask him to either they dont force on him come to think about it for the last i say 5 years the suns as a whole havent been asked to play defense just to out score everybody. Stoudmaire does have impressive numbers in my opinion just curious to know what u think about that dannie.
I personally dont want to trade iguodala or sammy d. 1 reason is i am going to my 1st sixers game on feb 19th against the spurs and would like to see iggy play up close. i think we should benefit from sammy d expiring contract not another team plus i dont think we going to get fair value back if we trade them. I dont believe iggy or sammy d is the problem i believe the problem is the coach and the gm. to answer your question should we root for the sixers to win or lose? i would have to say i rather see them win but i know if we win were not improving as a team and we probably stay with the same management. i just like seeing my team in the playoffs i hate seeing other teams there and mines are at home. if we lose and that causes for eddie jordan and stefanski to get fired i say we lose and hopefully get a good pick. as u can see i am in the middle.
The way I look at it is, they’re going to try to win, it’s their job, so if they’re capable of winning games, great, I love it, if they don’t, well, there is always the lottery. So, either way, I’m OK with the outcome. The reason why this works for me is because, unlike most of the people who post here, I think that we have a lot of young talent on this team, and we’re not too far away from being a good team.
However, if there is going to be a trade, the only guy who I would want to leave is Andre Iguodala, and I would only consider trading him if we could get a top flight 2 guard who can shoot in return. Currently, I don’t like any of the deals out there now, and that includes the Suns, Kings, Portland, Dallas, Cleveland, So, I’m inclined to pass on trading any of the players, and fire the coach instead.
Another factor for being apprehensive about a trade is Ed Stefanski, I just don’t have confidence that he wont get taken to the cleaners. I would prefer another coach have a chance at developing/evaluating these players before we start shipping bodies out. In my opinion, the main reason for the team under performing is Eddie Jordan. So now that we’ve won four in a row, who knows what the future will hold, this could be season 2007/2008 all over again. But, even so, I still disagree with his coaching techniques, such as: his substitution patterns, his playing one big and four smalls so much, his in-game strategy. In fairness, I must say the defense is getting better, and it appears that the ball is moving better since Allen has been out. In spite of this I’d still prefer Jimmy Lyman taking the team over, now.
Being as that I follow the Suns and Sixers I have been thus following this potential swap a lot. From what I have read the Suns are very interested in Iggy and are willing to take Dalambert as well to get Iggy. But that they would also insist that the Sixers take JRich, which would mean the Sixers would then have to ship little used Jason Kapono or Willie Green(the two names I have heard so far) so that the math works out. The article that you linked above may say all of this already.
To me it is a very different strategy than the one the Suns have employed over past years which is to cut costs and try and get their pay roll under the luxury tax limit. But I think the Suns are so enamored with Iggy, as they were when he was playing at U.A that they really think he can be a key to that team’s future success. I think they know what they have isn’t good enough to win them a title. Losing Amare certainly won’t make them better but I think adding a guy like Iggy who can score 20 points for you, but more importantly can also play shut down D against some of the West’s elite guys, something they haven’t had since the Matrix and Raja Bell were traded away really makes this trade work for them. Add to it that Sammie would probably do very well with a guy like Nash who is obviously one of the best floor generals in the game. Offensively speaking of course. The Suns brass is also pretty high on Earl Clark as Amare’s replacement. He certainly can’t step in there right now and put up his numbers, probably can’t do it in a year or two, but down the road when Iggy is coming to the end of his contract and will be up for renewal, the Suns will have a pretty good core of Iggy, Dragic, Clark, and Lopez.
Personally I think this is a great deal for both teams. It allows the Suns to stay contenders in the West while as for the Sixers, assuming Amare opts out, which, I honestly don’t think he will, then it at least gives the Sixers cap space the following year. And allow them to basically hit the reset button. This trade will not make the Suns better this year, and certainly not next year if Amare opts in, but down the road, which, is really all this team has left, then I think it can be a good thing for them.
But then again, if Eddie Jordan is still the coach then none of it matters from a Sixers perspective as they will continue to be awful.
Steve, I like our talent also, but our vet talent to me [Sam. Elton, Iggy] is this teams strength and the young guys I am not sure could get minutes on a good team. To me the best player I hear that we may get back is Hickson , who is young and playing well now but otherwise all the teams seem to not have what we need.
People might go at me for saying this but in my opinion if we give up iggy and sammy d to me thats to much for stoudmire. Think about what i am saying stoudmire already has reached his peak and hes injury prone yet we have to guys to are rarely out im sorry but i just dont like the trade for the sixers i say stay as is just get a different coach and maybe a new gm.
If the Sixers are going to make a deal, they need to trade for cap space or an elite player. Since teams usually don’t trade elite players unless the player forces them to I don’t see that as an option. So they either need to stand pat or go for immediate cap space.
We shouldn’t be trying to trade Iguodala at all and certainly not to get rid of Sam’s last year. That would be moronic in my opinion.
I think their focus should be on moving Brand and getting from underneath that contract. He’s probably not enough of an impact player to keep at that salary giving the rest of the talent. Plus this year should be a PF heavy draft if they want to go that
They need to focus on getting cheap talent via the draft so getting a top 5 pick should be a priority.
If they keep Iguodala they need to build with/around him properly.
I am not as sold on the “young talent” as some people are. I just don’t really know what people see there. Yes, they are young. Yes, they have some talent. But do people really think they have Eastern Conference Finals talent? If so when will that start to show in the win column? While these players are young, we only have one rookie. Speights is in year two, Thad year three, Lou year 5 and Iguodala year 6. With all the time being played together so the chemistry from a player standpoint should be gelling pretty damn well right now.
I am not a believer that EVERYTHING can be blamed on Eddie Jordan.
No, I want a housecleaning, excluding Willie Green, flexible flyer, and Thad Young, who’s a likable kid going though growing pains, and Marreese Speights, who can fill it up but needs remedial schooling on defense and must improve his board scores, and Rodney Carney, who runs like a racehorse and jumps like a jackrabbit and cares. The genuine AI can stay too if he wants to, with proviso of reduced PT. Same goes for Royal Ivey, marginal talent but hard working team player. Rest of ‘em – heave ho and bon voyage! And thanks for any unrecognized efforts. The circumstance that will lead to major changes is a collapse from present lower shelf, therefore, a 19-63 finish is music to my ears. Keep shootin’, Iggy. Chuck up another leaner, Lou. Jump, Elton, jump! Jrue, go Western Conference, young man … will do you good.
Marcus – I don’t want Stoudemire for Stoudemire. I like his expiring deal, whether it’s this summer or next it’s still much shorter than Iguodala’s.
My problem with any Iguodala trade is, there seems to be high value for him in general around the league. So if I was the GM I am trying to parlay that value into a team taking Brand as well. I’d even be willing to give up some cheap talent (Speights, Thad or Jason) as well to make it happen.
In the end I would like to see this current group play under a different coach but I just don’t think they will be much better than .500 or slightly above that and not at all a lock to get out of the first round of the playoffs. So with that in mind some major salary/player must be moved and this roster needs to be reshaped.
correction: through, not though (post 13, line 2)
JJG – You are already okay with moving on from Jrue as a Sixers piece?
Iguodala & Brand moving would be ideal, if it could be pulled off. Would address the lingering question of management haziness and deliver to the franchise and its fans a much-needed hopeful view of future with an array of fresh directional and talent possibilities.
Answer to the thread title—NO!
Dannie i aslo agree with u as well I say leave the current group as is unless u can trade say willie green lou williams or speights for a star but u like u said thats not likely. I also believe we keep jrue as well he could be something special in the long run
Dannie, I am. Nothing against the kid. Seems to want it. Style preference. I like a shooting threat up top. Defense is good but a little geeky; works at 20 but it’s the kind not built for long haul. He’ll have a respectable career if blessed with health, but I wouldn’t make him my keystone. Brass got too cute with that pick imo.
JJG – I am not at all happy with his shooting thus far. It’s quite horrible actually. He is looking more and more like a lower usage, more pass first version of Russell Westbrook.
I’ll give him one more season to see if his shooting numbers improve or at least show some signs of improvement, but there is no hiding from 37.2% from the field and 42.9% eFG, I don’t care how good defensively you are.
He is by far the worst shooter on the team right now, has the second highest turnover rate, with marginal usage and he hasn’t shown the offensive compensatory ability that Rondo has as a weak perimeter shooter himself.
Not everyone is going to be a dead-eye shooter but you still need to be productive on offense and he is very far from that right now.
I am still willing to give him at least one more year, 2 max.
Dannie, Agree with much of your take. I don’t believe in wishful makeovers or transitions, though patience as you suggest may pay off. Year 1 you could see Cheeks was a player for the future. Not so from my view with Holiday. His playmaking skills have been overstated and his game is hurried.
jjg, what do you mean: Defense is good but a little geeky; works at 20 but it’s the kind not built for long haul. It sounds contradictory in that older players usually make better defenders because of their “geeky” accumulated basketball wisdom, so wouldn’t you consider geekiness at his age a good thing, in that it’s precocious and protege-like? Couldn’t it get to a point where he’s some sort of defensive coach on the floor where he would constantly be instructing his teammates on where to be and how to defend, and he would be followed because he knows what he’s talking about? Isn’t defense founded on athleticism the kind that wouldn’t be good for the long haul? I think Jrue’s a keeper, a future $3M to $4M dollar a year support piece on a contending team; I don’t mind his offense being bad for a while if it leads to a bargain contract locking up this guy for a while; I also feel this way about Jason Smith, I’d love to get him for something like $3M for 3 years, but I have this feeling that someone will overvalue him and give him something like half of what Brian Cardinal got.
Dannie, what does it mean for a player to “show” on the pick and roll?
I hate losing for losing sake so I’m totally against them losing just to try and get Wall. That’s no guarantee either. But I do have a problem with them winning with the idea that EJ is a good coach. Maybe they all collectively decided that playing hard would help to either get them traded or improve their stock. Sometimes big deals aren’t necessary to build a franchise the right way. This team needs a PG that can shoot and needs a SG that can shoot consistently. Maybe they can find that in one player. That’s the kind of trade they should be looking for.
I love my Sixers. This 4 game win streak is better than a 4 game losing streak. Less stress on me watching the games.
Zack, By “geeky” I mean circus entertainment, chicken running with head cut off.
It is the opposite of being a member of the NBA defensive intelligentsia as you’ve interpreted. Court wisdom provides economy of movement and a bag of tricks. Holiday’s a long way off. Right now he’s capitalizing on his athleticism, abundant youthful energy and enthusiasm which will meter down as career evolves. That’s what I mean by not built for the long haul – his “methodology.” Let’s not make him into Don Chaney or Quinn Buckner prematurely.
To pick up on Dannie’s point, as far as trading Sam now, big mistake! The Suns and Kings are trying to pull a fast one, you know, we’ll take him (and his contract), if we have to. Yea, sure, the most coveted assets a center can have is defense and rebounding, and Sammy excels at both . When it comes to protecting the rim, he’s one of the best in the league, and that’s a rare attribute that teams are always searching for. I heard or read somewhere that currently Sam ranks 12th in the league in rebounding, and 4th in the league in rebounds per 48 minutes, which begs for the question to be ask, why does he average only 26 mpg? That’s rotation minutes, not starter’s minutes.
As far as his offense goes I have seen some real improvement this year. He’s putting the ball on the floor, blowing by his man, and finishing at the hoop. He’s shooting the hook shot and knocking it down, Hell, I’ve even seen him use a head fake. I think he’s finally putting the pieces of a post game together; now, if only his teammates, (with an assist from the coaching staff), occasionally, get him the ball in the post and allow him some opportunity to develop. I’m not asking for much, just one touch per quarter, that would be a start. Currently, I doubt if he averages one touch in the post per game. Before you say it’s a waste of time Sam will never be good at offense, just remember that when he came into the league he averaged under 50% from the free throw line, now he’s averaging over 80%.
What I fear will happen is we’ll trade him to another team, and they’ll include him in the offense and play him starter’s minutes (32-36 mpg), an he’ll blow up and become an all-star and everybody here will be standing around pointing fingers, and asking the question what happened, why didn’t he do that here? Well let me answer that now, he wasn’t given the opportunity.
Wasn’t given an opportunity? He’s played 14,519 minutes in a Sixers uniform!
Sounds like a measuring look to me. Speaking of which, the Canadian Royal Mounties are still looking for him for impersonating an Olympic basketball player 2 summers back. Dalembert is who he is, an 8 & 8 & 2 inconstant. Interim grade change for ’09-’10 semester: C+ (from career D+).
Zack – “show” or “hedge” on a pick and roll is when the defender of the offensive screener, steps above the screen to deter, slow down or outright prevent the ball handler from turning the corner or getting an open look long enough for the ball handlers defender to get back in defensive position to contain the ball.
Watch how well Nene “shows” or “hedges” so Billups can get back in position to defend the ball-handler. Text book.
Pick and roll defense you can typically choose to:
Hope that makes sense.
jjg, okay then, what do you make of this – why is Holiday a better defender than Lou, a more athletic player who’s about the same size? As evidenced by me asking about the pick and roll, I’m not too versed in the finer points of NBA-level defense, but with Holiday there’s obviously some sort of deeper understanding when it comes to D.
Dannie, thanks for the video, but after watching it a couple of times, I think there’s nothing “textbook” or “flow chart” about it in that you can’t just do X if A happens, or if B happens do Y. It seems like the defender of the offensive screener has an incredibly difficult job in that he only has a few seconds to process a lot of information and make a decision on how to defend the pick and roll. I know it’s a highlight reel, but Nene shows a really good intuition for pick and roll defense (I’m not sure if “intuition” is the best word here… it’s more like he can make good guesses on what the ballhandler’s going to do).
Defense is all about effort.
Zack – On the contrary, how you defend the pick and roll against different players is part of the pregame scouting report, strategy and practice plan. Not at all something players are left to decide on their own in the moment.
When I played in college we always went over our opponents plays the day before the game and how we planned to defend certain players and situations.
If for example, they ran a lot of 1-5 pick and roll and the opposing point guard (my man) was a poor shooter our strategy was to slide under the screen every time and bait him to take low percentage perimeter shots. This is exactly what you see teams doing against Rajon Rondo every game.
If for example I was defending a strong shooter we would have to decide if we wanted to simply go over the top and hedge OR trap. The decision to trap had a lot to do with the ball handling and passing ability of the ball handler AND if there were other playmakers on the floor who if passed to out of a double team where adept enough to take advantage of our scrambling defense.
How you play pick and roll defense is not intuition, it’s planned and practiced. At least it’s suppose to be.
Now executing the plan is a completely different story. Now you need both willing and capable players to get the job done.
You need quick and technically sound guards who are tough and have good anticipation. You need agile bigs with good lateral footwork, anticipation and effort.
Dannie – based on what you said, if someone said that Nene is a good pick and roll defender, it means that he does a great job of following the pick-and-roll defensive strategy laid out by the coaching staff on a regular basis. Could you say then that Tim Duncan, Shaq and Carlos Boozer are/were good p&r defenders because they have/had good coaching? Are there players out there who you’ve noticed can defend the pick and roll well even though they have supposedly “bad” coaches?
Also, those 3 (Duncan, Shaq, Boozer) aren’t the league’s swiftest big men, so of all the traits you listed in your last sentence – “You need agile bigs with good lateral footwork, anticipation and effort.” – I’m thinking the agility and lateral footwork are the least important; because if they were then Amare Stoudemire has the potential to be the greatest pick and roll defender ever, right?
jjg – In regards to “opportunity”, I was, primarily, referring to his participation in the offense, or lack thereof. Specifically, touches in the post, especially now, since he’s showing some signs of developing a post game, it is more imperative than in previous years. However, since you mentioned it, his career minutes haven’t been all that great either, his career average is 26 mpg, that’s well below what a starter usually gets. MY belief is that if Sam was allowed to participate in the offense, (touches in the paint), and his offensive game subsequently improves, it would allow the team to play inside out, and force the opponent to play 5-on-5 instead of allowing his man to continually help. I also believe it would help his defense and rebounding too, afterall, offense is the fun part defense is all work, and that’s especially true at the 5.
Zack – It takes both a mental and physical acuity along with effort (don’t forget this) to execute a coach’s plan. Not to forget strong on-court communication.
So while some players might have the physical ability (perceived or real) they may not have the brains to get the job done effectively nor the effort (heart) to even try sometimes.
Here’s the another observation, slower bigs DO have to use their head and anticipation more. But also you will see other tactics used by slower bigs to defend against the pick and roll.
For example, Shaq is what I like to call a “tailer.” If he can’t beat the ball-handler to the spot and cut him off he will usually let him turn the corner and “tail” him to the basket looking for the block at the rim. Think about when you’ve watched Shaq (more so in his prime) he did this a lot. Duncan and Dwight Howard do it as well. They compensate for their lack of lateral foot speed with better anticipation, defensive planning and other tactics.
Also, pick and roll defense is only one aspect of defense. I haven’t watched Stoudemire lately to know but he could already be very good at this aspect. People poo-poo his defense because he often get’s abused on the low block straight up, similar to how Speights does but not as disgraceful.
Zack, Jrue’s got a deeper defensive commitment and ingrained disposition to guard over Lou, that’s the largest part of it. Somewhere along Holiday’s path, he’s developed pride in an ability to stop people (a cynic would say it was at the point of awareness that his shots consistently fell off the rim). Part of defending well is natural gift (i.e. mental facility and physical reflexes and body length & strength) but a bigger part of it is mindset or approach to task. Shorter Lou looks physically weaker but, more importantly, he doesn’t appear to give a damn about that end of the court. Basic defensive precepts: See the ball. Stop the ball. Stay between your man and basket. Keep your head on a swivel. Anticipate opponent movement. Look to help. Keep feet on ground until man commits to shot. Get the ball like a terrier, whether on floor or bounding off backboard. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. It’s called work. Winning work. Sometimes ugly. Tried and true.
L.A. Steve, I see your point regarding Sam. Just disagree with it. Sam’s career minutes per game number is self-imposed and self-restricted because he was a raw basketball player with a limiting bball IQ who has played/practiced with heart and sharp focus on a sporadic basis throughout his Sixers time. No one has been hellbent to gyp Sam. I don’t see this year’s mild offensive improvement as augur of his breaking out for a team that will feed him at greater frequency. Were he to be counted on for bigger offensive production and, in turn, concentrated on by defenders, I think he’d fail in bold letters.
Guys, did you here Moses visited the locker room in Houston and had the guys cracking up with this comment, ” Hey Spieghts, I here you don!t like to pass the ball.”
Dannie – Why the hell aren’t you coaching the Sixers. It seems you most def have a better Pick-N-Roll defense mindset than Eddie Jordan does.
Stephen A. Smith on the Sixers, basically calling for a tank job. – http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/columnists/20100208_76ers_should_be_thinking_draft_pick.html
i’d read the article but for the mere fact that it is Stephen A Smith, it kinda discounts its credibility. he’s an excitable hot head, sounds like the sort of thing he’d say.
It’s pretty obvious to me after reading that article that Stephen A. Smith has not been watching anything more than the box scores for the 76ers. Very bland article for Stephen. My eyes were drooping before the end.
jjg – last game Sam took 2 shots, made 2 basket, one was an offensive rebound put-back, the other was a lob pass. I don’t remember one pass into the post: 24 minutes, 10 rebounds, 1 block, and 3 fouls. To me that’s ridiculous, and it hurts the team. He’s not a gunner, he’ll pass the ball, he’ll hit the open man. In the beginning of the season, when they were actually trying to run the Princeton offense, he was getting some touches in the high post, and did a pretty good job of passing the ball, but the team began losing big, so they ditched it and his touches dired up. A few weeks later AI came on board and he had several games in which he was actually getting some touches, (lobs and low post passes), and he began scoring in the teens. I recall a couple of high scoring games including a 20 pointer, but lately its gone back to business as usual (no/very few touches).
When you consider how poorly this team shoots, I can’t see how it would hurt to occasionally feed the post and let him go to work, even if he does look bad on a few of them, we can attribute it to growing pains. I’d rather see that than another Iguodala fall-away jumper from 20 feet . I really think he has the potential to improve, if it can happen with foul shots, it can happen with hook shots, and 5 foot jumpers off the dribble.
Arizona Republic talks about a possible three-team scenario that could include Detroit.
Pretty good article written about the Sixers needing to start over…
L.A. Steve, Sam serves his team best when he intelligently defends (rapid pick-up of personal fouls are lethal to his effectiveness), energetically rebounds (usually commendable there), quickly outlets and vigorously trails the break with a secondary offensive ego nicely in its place. He’s done growing. The pains are what we fans have when he forgets who he is in the context of a bball court. With AI fuzzies & Haiti emergency adrenaline having subsided, it’s back to grinding it out, working at a game he views (imo) as necessary compensatory recreation or a mock-serious trivial pursuit.
“Arizona Republic talks about a possible three-team scenario that could include Detroit.”
This illustrates why I’ve been calling for Stefanski to be fired. Its not necessarily for past mistakes. He needs to be fired because he is to compromised by his current baggage to make the right moves going forward.
The Sixers need to undue some mistakes. They need to fire EJ and get out of the cap nightmare caused by the 180M signings of Brand/Iguodala/Lou (that does not mean dump all of them, but they can’t keep the status quo.)
This rumored 3 way deal, looks like the type of move Stefanski likely will try to make. He will move Iguodala+junk for a big expiring, and then leverage that expiring into another long term “name” player like Gordon. This way Stefanski can say he made a “Basketball Decision” that reduced the cap while helping the team… but in reality he would just make the problem worse by adding lesser players with long term contracts.
Stefanski should try and find whatever deal to dump Brand- even if that means giving away Iguyodala and young talent. But he is not free to make the right move, because it just make him look bad by showing how horribly his signings turned out.
Stephen Smith brought up a good question. Where the hell is Ed Snider???????????? I dont follow NHL or The flyers but i have heard if Snider took the same care he does with the Flyers the sixers would be alright. Does anybody know if that statement is true?????????????
I am somewhat torn on Stefanski and his ability (mentally, strategically and tactically) to make the right moves.
I get that trading away Brand, Lou or Iguodala might look like admitting a mistake. So what, it’s the NBA and I think for a GM they have to know this. Why else would the owners be trying to drastically change the CBA to decrease max contracts, create a hard cap and make contracts shorter/less guaranteed? They know bad signings and mistakes happen with regularity. It’s not something new OR something to stick your head in the sand over. It happens. Shit doesn’t pan out sometimes.
Everyone in the world would agree the main hole the Sixers needed to fill was at PF and someone who could be a go-to and reliable (efficient) option on the low block in the half court.
Brand looked like he fit. He got hurt again. so his transition was slowed and now it looks like a failure. So what. That happens in this league. Players don’t play to their capabilities sometimes.
Where I would have issue is if he still thinks his initial plan is still worth pursuing as is. That would be a big FAIL on this part.
If the team continues to suck, that is a big FAIL on his part.
I think if there was a taker for Brand in a deal that didn’t keep the Sixers in the exact same situation with a similar contract and player he would have done it by now. I think he IS trying to trade Brand and would gladly get rid of him asap if possible. I just am not seeing that being a realistic possibility to this point. Maybe as the deadline gets closer that might change.
Because of that he is now looking to move his next two biggest contracts. I think it’s a priority order of such and he went through Brand already with nothing out there. Now its Iguodala and Sam.
I don’t think he wants to trade Iguodala at all. But he may feel like he doesn’t have a choice if he is getting pressure to cut salary AND the league has black balled Elton Brand.
I am just saying I don’t think it’s as easy as we all think to make the ideal moves.
That three-way deal sounds like nonsense to me and I am not putting much into it at this point.
NOW, the one move I do think his judgment is clouded on is the Eddie Jordan. For one it’s his buddy and two going through coaches this much in a short period of time DOES really look bad on the GM IMO. I think Jordan should have been fired a while ago and the only reason he hasn’t is because of some part loyalty and some part stubbornness.
Dannie, I agree with you for the most part. The Brand signing was a mistake, but was not negligence like the EJ signing. And it would not be easy to find a taker for Brand. I also think he wants to get a mulligan on some of his previous decisions. But I do think he wants top do it in a way that saves face.
But that Gordon rumor scare the heck out of me. It is exactly the type of move I fear. It would bring in a EJ type player (undersized SG) and dump his top defenders. It also would let him claim he is making a “basketball decision” instead of dumping contracts.
Well, it appears that this debate has reached the end of the line, with my worthy foe (jjg) coming to the conclusion that Sam Dalmebert’s growth line is flat, and will remain that way for the rest of his career, in other words, he is what he is, and that’s all he will be. Whereas, I, the advocate, believe that Sam’s growth is ascending, both offensively and defensively, but especially on the offensive side. My thoughts are he is in the process of putting together the components of an offensive game, and, if he is given more touches in the low post he’ll have some success, which will increase his confidence and lead to further success.
It appears to me that the game is starting to slow down for Sam, and he is starting to develop some confidence that he can play both sides of the court. The problem is that being an interior player he needs somebody to throw him the ball in the right place, (low post), at the right time. Unfortunately, his teammates aren’t willing to sacrifice any of their shots in order to afford him an opportunity to develop, and the coaching staff doesn’t call any plays that would give him the ball in the low post, consequently, his progress is being impeded.
Who’s right in this mini debate, only time will tell. I expect Sam will be playing in the league for a long time. The way he takes care of his body, (his diet is optimal), and his ability to say in the lineup, I expect he’ll play into his 40′s. I think he’s physically gifted and has talent, so we’ll just have to sit back and see how it plays out. Whether the Sixers give him the opportunity or it’s some other team, somebody’s going to include him in their offensive schemes, and then will see. My expectations are that he’ll do quite well.
I take that as good news.
I’d be fine with a Brand/Iguodala nuclear trade. But otherwise I don’t want to see them trade Iguodala right now. It would be great to see a new coach and probably a new GM. But if you are keeping Brand, what is the rush top trade Iguodala? There are other less devastating ways to save 3M to stay under the tax.
And no reason to dump Sam at all. He comes off the cap in 1 year, no reason to dump him now if you don’t get anything in return. Next year he will actually have positive value as an expiring.
LA Steve: i agree with you that Sammy’s growth is ascending, just not as fast5 as you think. When he becomes a free agent; a) he will make some team very good b) ppl will be surprised how much his services will go for.
Simple Answer: no