Another disappointing loss. The Sixers came out hot and actually fizzled very quickly although the score might lead you to believe they played well most of the game. They didn’t.
They created a 17 point lead at 27-10 with 2:44 left in the first quarter. It was all downhill from there. They were outscored 9-2 to finish the first quarter and by 29 points from that point to the start of the 4th quarter. They got killed.
Here’s the thing:
- Iverson matched Aaron Brooks
- Iguodala outplayed Trevor Ariza and Shane Battier combined
- Elton Brand didn’t dominate but he gave a solid 19-10 performance and
- The Sixers dominated on the boards 52-40
All the things I thought they needed to do to have a chance to win this game. And a chance they had. But two things happened that lead to this loss:
1. Once again the bench provided next to nothing. Willie had a decent floor game with 5 boards, 5 assists and 1 turnover. Besides that the rest was negative from him (1-7 shooting on mostly horrible shots early in the clock and 4 fouls) and the rest of the lot. Kapono is ice cold which makes his existence worthless. Jrue looked off coming back from his shoulder injury.
The bench has flat out sucked in a major way the last two games. Until Lou and Speights get back things look bleak for the Sixers. Even if the starters player well enough to keep the game close or build a lead the bench is a consistent let down. Their just isn’t enough talent there right now.
2. Eddie Jordan’s line-up to end the game was a joke. Mainly, having Willie and his poor shot selection and shooting inadequacy on the floor instead of Thad who played a surprisingly good overall game. Thad scored 15 points on 7-11 shooting. That’s not reason he should have been on the floor. He finally had a strong rebounding game with 11 boards in 34 minutes, 8 coming on the defensive end. He boxed out well and was extremely aggressive on the glass last night and was rewarded with a seat on the bench to end the game. Coach cluelessness.
With a depleted bench and Brand and Sam playing better there is actually less harm Jordan can do right now. He has to play the big line-up because those guys are ballin’ right now. If Jrue is 100% I’d like to see the kid get more of a run over the next month until Lou returns and see if we can ratchet up the defense a bit.
I want to talk about Iverson a bit. He has a strong fourth quarter trying to be the man and lead this team to a win. He did an admiral job scoring 12 points on 4-7 shooting. But man he just looks slow. He got to the basket a little cleaner for those classic right hand lay-up attempts but he isn’t doing it with consistency. He is having a hard time turning the corner and actually looks better off the ball as a spot up 17-foot jump shooter than he does as an attacking guard.
Hopefully it’s just his sore shin and lack of conditioning that is slowing him down THIS much. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that offensively he doesn’t look like he is capable of dominating offensively like he used to. He looks like a roll player now. Hopefully he will continue to play this limited roll and lift his shooting percentage once he gets his game legs underneath him.
Monday’s game against the Warriors is a must win if this team wants to stop the bleeding before the number reaches 15 which is almost guaranteed to happen knowing their following two games will be against the Cavs and Celtics.
Did you expect Iverson to be a superstar? I don’t expect him to get all of his steps back, but he should get a little bit of quickness back. Afterall, he did miss all of training camp and then was released after what, three games? Gotta give him about a month or so until you can expect him to be at the level of athleticism that he’ll be able to sustain throughout the rest of the season. I’m sure he knows it too, and his jumpshot actually looks pretty good from mid range right now. Another good thing is that he looks like he knows his limits. Hasn’t even thought about shooting a three yet.
When I turned on the fourth quarter last night (I was writing a law paper before that) I was amazed to see that Thad was on the bench. I actually thought that maybe he had reaggrivated his ankle and had to leave the game. With the Rockets almost always having to play small, I can’t believe that EJ didn’t put him back in with about 6 or 7 minutes left in the game. Inexcusible for a player that was possibly having his best all around game of the season.
I would have loved to see that press conference. Actually, no one probably even mentioned the fact that Thad wasn’t in the game down the stretch. 7 for 11 while our entire bench can’t hit a jumpshot. I swear he might be the worst coach I’ve ever seen. Couldn’t get it done in Washington when they had the roster to at least threaten to go deep in the playoffs. I don’t think he even ever got them out of the second round? One thing that really shows his inability to coach is that the 76ers are allowing (before last nights game) I think something like 41.5% from 3. That’s on pace to beat the all time record set by, you guessed it. The Eddy Jordan coached Wizards of 06-07 who allowed a whopping 40.5% from 3 (I heard this stat somewhere, I might be off a little bit, but it’s really close to those numbers). The thing I’m really worried about is Jrue’s minutes once Lou comes back, because you KNOW that he’s going to play Willie Shouldn’t Make Green in front of the kid, even though Willie is a madador on defense and is almost always ice cold off the bench.
At least the last couple games have been exciting, and we’ve kept it close with two teams that have winning records. Then again, these close losses probably do nothing but help EJ in ES’s mind.
Shit is ridiculous.
Iverson matched Brooks? Disagree. Brooks made shots that Iverson used to (deep one driving L to R was especially impressive, as was clutch game-ender), went 7-16 overall, lit match and poured fuel to 3rd Q 15 pt. comeback swing. Iverson, 7-18 (granted one game-tieer at 84). Where are the balancing derogatory comments on AI’s artistic 11 misses, as opposed to Green’s mere 6? Iverson’s 6-9 (66%) from the line is critical too when game goes down to wire. Played alright. Certainly not dynamite. Brooks the better player last night.
Dannie, Pardon me. I hadn’t read your entire lead-in. I see that you added a nuanced perspective to Iverson’s “graying” performance.
I think it’s hard to have any hope for this team, especially right now. Until now I had some optimism that we would get things put on the right track and we would start playing better. But signs clearly show that it’s impossible. Throughout the season there has always been this one thing that kept us from winning. At times it’s rebounding. Or perimeter defense. Or bench points. I could go on and on. It’s ridiculous that we haven’t put together even close to a complete game. Too many issues and we haven’t found a way to consistantly fix any of those issues. For the first 10 or so games, we were beating the bad teams and hanging in against the good ones. Now we are just losing to whoever the other team puts out there. We’ve been blessed with playing teams with key injuries but it hasn’t payed off anything.
I’ll try and restore my hope once Lou and Speights come back. But honestly I’d rather Speights just sit out the rest of the season. Not looking good… especially for the bench.
I have been a loyal fan for many years and continue to be. However, I have reached a point where I would rather them lose every game to get a better draft pick and more importantly to create an environment where changes must be made both on and off the court.
Am I the only fan out here that feels that way?
I’m all for a Brand, Iguodala and Dalembert roster cleansing. However that can occur, count me as a supporter. Fraud as player, each one. And wealthy beyond belief. How did these civic implants happen? See Billy King, Duke genius (who couldn’t shoot), and Ed Stefanski, Penn mystic (who couldn’t shoot), saddling Sixers with 3 ‘designer’ players who can’t play in the clutch. The quicker they go, the quicker the Sixers’ climb back to respectability.
Eh, I don’t mind the losses. If anything each loss leads closer the firing of EJ. All I’m rooting for this season is for Brand to play well enough to make himself trade-able, and for the Sixers to get a draft pick where they can acquire a difference maker.
Morty, See your point on Brand. The risk in that is, the invested braintrust keeps
the “upticking” player on stardust basis, to prove they were right in their decision rather than moving in the best interest of the franchise.
jjg: Well, if Brand was to really play as he did last night, consistently, it would not be awful. When playing well, he is only a positive for this team, and besides, I’ve read enough Brand trade rumors (and Brand is being benched rumors) to see that the “braintrust” wants to move him.
The way the whole EJ-Brand thing is playing out, Brand could start logging regular 20-10′s for a quarter of the season and then when Speights returns, find himself only playing 20mpg. Obviously I’m exagerrating, but we really, really need EJ to keep giving Brand high level minutes (mostly for the reason Morty listed…raising Brand’s trade value, which right now is about a -3000.
Last night’s game there were actual glimpses of the kind of defense/rebounding some of us had hoped to see when we thought our PF/C combo would be a 20 pts, 10 rbs, 2 blks Elton Brand and a 10 pts, 11 rbs, 2.5 blks from Sammy. That summer of ’08 and the excitement that came with it seems like a distant memory now.
With AI, I honestly think it’s his health. Remember, we are talking about a guy that has NEVER, EVER missed games throughout his career. Aside from the fact that for about 10-12 straight years he was a walking miracle with his ability to bounce back from both medium and minor level injuries, we probably took for granted that he almost never had his game get rusty, or his body out of shape, because of how many minutes he logged and how much time he always spent on the court.
For the first time, we are seeing an AI that is hampered by those nagging little injuries that come with age, game rust, and trying to play his way into shape. If he regains his cardio endurance and timing back, I still think he could be a 23 ppg scorer if he wanted to be, or if our team needs it (which we do).
Dannie: Thad out of the lineup got me strung out too. i think WG was there because EJ wanted to match up with the smaller lineup Houston was sporting. or maybe he didnt want AI to guard the red hot Aaron Brooks. credit to WG though, Brooks didnt do much damage once he started guarding him in the 4th.
about AI: towards the 4th quarter he was gettting more aggressive. he kinda looks like a player coming off of major surgery; he cant trust his legs and is slowly working it back in. i hope its mostly conditioning. if he is the same AI we all know, then maybe he just cant do it anymore and what he’s giving us is all he’s got. i dont think so though, the dropoff shouldnt be that big? well considering all the bruises he’s accumulated in his 12+ yr career, isnt it about time to catch up to him? who knows.
Elton Brand is playing awesome. love the blue collar attitude. if he had healed 100% from that injury, imagine what we could have had. he could have been a real leader for this inconsistent team.
Watching the team every game this year, its hard to remember how exactly they were .500 team the previous 220 games?
They have been showing the 2002 Nets games on N.B.A. T.V. alot this week and B.Scott actually got a McCollough/K.Martin/VanHorn frontcourt to the N.B.A. finals. Jordan looked real comfortable as an assistant, maybe that is where he belongs. Good article by Fagen today, finally saying alot of what Dannie has been. My dream for next year is to turn both Ed!s jobs over to Van Gundy, Jeff that is, let HIM find the right young assistant to eventually replace him, and put this starting five into his ugly, defensive style of play; C.Alrich/Elton/M.Moute/Iggy/Jrue; it may be possible if Van Gundy has the ego to go for it.
I like Brand, It’s Iguodala that needs to go.
Here’s my problem: Complacency.
Name me another NBA franchise where 12 straight losses doesn’t get somebody fired.
I view the Sixers as one of the league’s elder statesmen; the franchise of Dr. J and Wilt Chamberlain.
This franchise has the third most Finals appearances (nine) and the fifth most titles (three).
Would this happen in Boston or LA? Absolutely not. If the Celtics lost 12 in a row Doc Rivers would taken out back and beat like a dog that just shit on your new couch.
If I’m Ed Snider I go out and find the smartest, most well respected “basketball” brain out there; cut Stefanski and EJ loose and set a real five year plan in place to win a title.
This is a fucking joke…
Deepsixersuede,
You hit the nail on the head. Ego! This team needs more ego in the front office. They need someone that truly believes that they can turn this shit-storm into an NBA title. And not the ego that the Ed’s have going, ego that can recognize utter incompetence.
EJ sealed the fate of ES that was by far his worst and hopefully final move of ES’s stay here in Phila. Tom T was available and who most of us wanted as the coach. He would have whipped this team into defensive shape. and could have brought in someone as assistant who was good on offense. <br>
ES can’t fire EJ so quickly after just hiring him but I gotta believe that Ed Snider is looking at new general managers. I mean you extend Mo Cheeks than fire him. Than bring in EJ who has been an utter disaster. You out bid yourself for Iggy who the fanbase cannot stand. I agree with the greek that I like Brand and he seems to be getting his legs back. But Iggy has gotta be traded, I mean they are gonna have to sign Thad to a real contract soon. We are in real need of a shooting guard who can shoot. Dala is miscast here and has worn out his welcome with the few fans that this team has.
I disagree, Iggy is in the top 5 shooting guards in just about every category, he is the least of our problems. I also like Elton!s effect on this team if he can keep playing like the last couple of weeks. Thad is the easiest of the 3 to replace, in my opinion because Kapono probably can step in and get you similar numbers, though Thad in the last 2 weeks is finally showing a pulse rebounding the ball. If we want a soft, no defense E.J. type of team, move Elton and Iggy and replace them with scorers and we will accomplish just that.
I don’t know why there would be any talk about creating an EJ team. That’s a losing team anyway you look at it.
I agree with suede,
Iguodala might piss us off, but he productivity has at least semi-warranted his contract. Elton however hasn’t lived up to being the highest paid player on the team. I have been impressed over the last couple weeks, but would never want to keep him over Iguodala. If we really want that 5 year plan for a championship, Brand wouldn’t be on the team for that championship run. We are going to have to get rid of him at some point. Whether Andre is a part of the team in 5 years… remains to be seen. And I might be the only person who thinks this, but what has Thad done to prove he will become better than Iguodala is or will be? I’m just not sure who I’d rather have in the long run. But first things first, get rid of our idiot coach.
Guest – You are far from the only person that has that sentiment regarding Thad. I’ve been saying it for quite a while now.
Any Joe on a court for 40 mpg will accumulate numbers; it’s the nature of the game in combination with kinetic activity (which AI2 abundantly brings). Numbers don’t fully tell the Iguodala effect, which is essentially a treadmilling, excitingly
average one … he’s an odd basketball player who often overreaches his talent and strengths, and who habitually overreacts to the ebbs and flows in games. Shows moments of excellence but his characteristic impulsiveness/impatience often offsets positive play. That his nose is frequently out of joint is a manifestation of his unsteadiness. His irregular shot/arm heave (and selectivity) is a problem. Based on the promises of his athleticism, youth, ambition and the surrounding
lack of talent after AI was traded, the organization gave Iguodala the basketball and assumed he would develop and eventually supply excellent play and leadership. The Sixers’ assumption has given birth to a decent avg. stat sheet reading, individually speaking, but a rather hopeless current 5-18 team mark beyond the quarter turn, a record that is partly attributable to a vacuum in court leadership, Iguodala’s vacuum. Good raw talent (some of it refined) with an
underregulated game, along with the imposition of a prima donna bearing. An eminently replacable shooting guard is #9.
Iggy puts up good number I’m not disputing that but they add up to nothing most of the time cause when the team hits a cold streak Iggy is no where to be found. He can’t be counted on to hit a shot to stop the other teams run.
I think Thad with the same amount of shots and plays run for him could put up very similar scoring numbers and slightly better rebounding numbers, he is def not the ball handler or passer that Iggy is. However if they can trade Iggy they can correct his contract situation through Thad by not outbidding themselves for Thad. Based on Iggy’s age and stats he should be very tradable. He might become very successful in the right situation also.
trading Iguodala will only help financially. its obvious Thad is not there yet. i think re-signing him, now or later, is another interesting decision I would like to see someone other than Stefanskj make.
on the flip side, Iguodala is easily fixed. bring a star player or tough head coach to put him in his place.
I am not sold on Thad Young as a starting SF.
good to see some Brand love. gotta appreciate consistency. he takes the fewest bad shots on the team, bar Sammy though.
*Eagles Giants game is a CIRCUS! great for primetime though. absolutely no accountability or tackling on either defense.
i think the teams that really want, and could really use an Iguodala are just not willing to even look at his contract. for one i think he would do well in Portland, where the GM is quite prudent. they sure could use a lil more toughness and defense at least.
Jumpin, I!ll use a Willie/ Iggy analogy; Willie should not be a starter but serves a role as a 10 to 15 minute bench guy who , when hot, can help a team. Iggy should not be the #1 scoring option, but if playing with a Wade or Koby would probably flourish, ala Scottie with Michael. I am not saying he is as good as Scottie but the league seems a bit weaker nowadays. I don!t think his salary is that bad, compared to a lot of the bad contracts throughout the league , and he probably would be jumped at if put on the market.
I’ll add on to the conversation. We also shouldn’t be looking at Iguodala as a shooting guard. On a championship level team or with Wade or Kobe… he would be playing his natural position SF. I think we should try and keep him, but scratch the whole idea that he can play shooting guard. Thad would be just as productive off the bench if not more productive. If we had a legit SG than we would have a shooter (we are lacking one considering Kapono isn’t getting minutes), and our bench would obviously get better. I think we can keep both, but one might have to come off the bench.
I think the Iguodala at SF or SG is a pointless conversation. Especially since I have yet to read anyone articulate any reasoning behind the differences in respect to this team.
On a championship team with say Paul Pierce, LeBron James, Kevin Durant or Carmelo Iguodala WOULD be at the shooting guard position. Or if the Sixers had an elite SF or PG who was a strong perimeter shooter Iguodala would be at the 2. Or if Thad develops into a very strong perimeter shooter Iguodala is at the 2.
I think people are getting caught up in the positional terminology and not the players that fill the positions.
If I am not mistaken what we ultimately want is a legit shooter along side Iguodala. Does it really matter if that player is a SG, SF or even PG for that matter?
I don’t think the team is in a position to be picky either. The club needs a serious upgrade in talent and no position on this team is locked up by an elite player so where ever you can get a better player you take him.
Perfect example of this is if we do end up with the #1 pick John Wall will be drafted even though Lou is would still have 3 more years at more than $5.4M and having just drafted Jrue Holiday.
If the unquestionable top pick was SF or PF we would take him.
suede, who’s next?
2008 Kyle Weaver, 2009 Marcus Thornton, 2010 __________; I’d like to start following the guy before the tournament.
It feels like tonight’s game should be an easy loss for the Sixers. The Warriors have fast young guys who can shoot, and shoot the 3, and it seems like that’s simply too much for this team. They’re playing well for Keith Smart. Sure, the Dubs don’t play that much defense, but I think the only time the Sixers have taken advantage of that is when they played the Knicks.
The Warriors are a fun team to watch, it’s a team whose roster I’d swap with the Sixers’, though I’d much prefer to swap coaches. They’ve got a handful of players who are capable of going off and winning games for you, though usually it’s Monta Ellis. My prediction – C.J. Watson kills the Sixers tonight in a blowout.
suede, one more thing, about the EJ-type of team; Stefanski should load the team up with rugged, rebounding power forwards/centers, 6’10″ or taller, who can shoot open jumpers, maybe (8) of them, and have only (5) 6’4″ or taller guards/swingmen. That way, coach EJ could never ever put out a small lineup for too long. I change my mind, make those guards 6’6″ or taller. How tall is John Wall?
Last comment – after moving here to the Bay area, the way the sports teams are run here really surprises me (don’t know about the Sharks) because I don’t think it meshes with the general mentality of this area when it comes to business. It’s all about being cutting-edge, out-innovating the competition, and taking risks with the new, but the management in place at the teams don’t think that way at all (with the exception of Billy Beane, but that’s old hat). I feel like if the owners of these teams just let everyone go and tapped into the unique human resources right under their noses they’d be far more successful franchises:
- “Hey dorkmeister, write me a program that’ll figure out what my substitution patterns should be against the Sixers.”
AN HOUR LATER… – “Sir, no matter what data I put in, it just keeps spitting out it doesn’t matter because Eddie Jordan is the coach; I’ve never seen anything like it!”