I really hope this isn’t the Sixers team and performance we should get accustomed to watching all season. This wasn’t a game at any point. I really am not in the mood to type up a very disappointing and angry post. I’d much rather just hear what you guys have to say about tonight’s debacle.
Sixers vs. Miami Game Notes
Andre Iguodala’s first shots were deep jumpers that probably cracked the backboard. That was simply a sign of things to come for Iguodala in this game. His first points, not just his first field goal, came with 3:35 left in the game. WOW! Every concern and criticism the fans had about Iguodala and Stefanski signing him to that huge contract have shown true so far through 5 games. He has done nothing to silence his critics. In fact I think this is the worst I have ever seen him play. What happened to all the talk about him working on his game? Working on his jumper? Practicing with the U.S. men’s basketball team? Right now this guy doesn’t even look like an average NBA player. No one in the league making over $80 million should digress or play at this level of performance. Final stat line: 1-7 from the field, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 4 turnovers.
Kareem Rush was the first sub off the bench. Then proceeds to air ball his first three. At least he was 4-4 from the line on the night.
Thaddeus FREAKIN’ Young is the only player on this team that has consistently looked like he was ready to play to open the season. Right now he is playing at a near all-star level. His jumper is legit. I know it’s still only 5 games, but his mechanics, shot selection and consistency so far suggest we should expect this level of shooting efficiency to continue. The Sixers need to start running more plays for Young especially in the post. More screening action to free him up for more shots. Also I would like to see Thad be the guy entering the ball into Brand in the post. He is hitting threes, penetrating and scoring at the rim and even showed a nice lefty jump hook in the post. I think the Sixers would do themselves some good by simply focusing the offense on Brand and Young and letting the other guys score in transition or on opportunistic chances.
One thing about Young that hasn’t improved is his ball-handling. He still can’t dribble. He is good if it’s one or two dribbles to the rim. Anything more and he is a turnover waiting to happen. He led the team with 5 turnovers tonight.
Speaking of turnovers, what the hell is this team’s problem? Once again this game was lost because the Sixers seem to have forgotten keeping the ball is a good strategy for winning basketball games. They are so sloppy and careless with the ball. Everyone’s decision-making is horrible, and it seems like guys are playing with frying pans for hands. 25 turnovers on the night spread among everyone.
- Young – 5
- Brand – 4
- Iguodala – 4
- Miller – 3 (which could have very easily been 5 or 6 but many deflections ended up back in the hands of the Sixers)
- Speights – 3
- Dalembert – 2
Speights got in with 1:45 left in the first quarter. It’s only speculation, but is this the doing of Cheeks or did Stefanski have to step in again and say ‘play the rookie’? His energy has been great, but it’s clear he isn’t ready to be an impact player yet. But he is good enough to be in the regular rotation. He had 10 boards and 6 points in 17 minutes.
Terrible, terrible, terrible perimeter defense. I mean no one could keep their man in front. Chalmers and Wade were able to penetrate whenever they wanted. Ivey got an opportunity to play and got burned multiple times off the dribble. What the hell is he worth if the so-called defensive stopper can’t defend anyone?
Speaking of Chalmers, didn’t Pete and I say this guy would be perfect for the Sixers?!? He had 4 boards, 6 assists and NINE steals while committing only 2 turnovers. He didn’t shoot that well tonight, but he was at the point of the defense which led to their fast-break offense. He isn’t a superstar, but he can manage a game, not hurt his team, play excellent defense and make good decision in transition. He is a winner, period.
Lou had 16 points on 13 shots (second most attempts in this game). He pretty much just looks to shot every time when he gets in. There were multiple possessions where no one touched the ball but him. That can’t happen.
Elton Brand struggled but he is rarely, if ever, matched up one-on-one. Cheeks and that coaching staff need to do a better job of putting him in good scoring situations. Also, they need to put the right players around him to take advantage of all the attention he is commanding. They are not doing anything productive when the ball comes out of the double team.
Brand is strong inside and a banger for sure. But he isn’t that tall or an explosive jumper which makes it harder for him to score in traffic among taller players. Right now we are seeing him in that scenario far too much for him to be effective. Teams simply don’t respect the Sixers’ perimeter shooting even a little bit.
The Sixers are a disgusting mess right now and have even stronger opponents coming up in their next three games. They could very easily be 2-7 or 3-6 before they hit a stretch of games against below average teams.
In the conference call we had with Ed Stefanski he hammered home the point that this team looked great on paper but we still needed to see them on the floor together. So far the Sixers’ play has justified his reserved optimism. If the Sixers are below .500 halfway through the season, I expect Stefanski to do something major. Whether it be trying to trade a perceived key player or firing Mo Cheeks. This isn’t a “trail year”; the expectation for this team is to be better than they were last season and compete with the stronger teams in the league. If he doesn’t see that soon, changes will be inevitable.
Next game: Orlando on the road
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I vented on your last Sixer post but to sum it up, where is the PROGRESS.
We have a problem and its name is Andre Ig+u-dallla. What are going to do about this guy in this offense. He can’t create his own shot. The only play’s Mo runs for him are isolation, and when they stand around it kills everybody’s game. I’m worried. Thank God for Thaddeus! He is the trutth!!!
Ugh! That was miserable. 16 turnovers in the first half, 25 for the game. Throwing the ball all over the court. Bad passing. Nobody besides Young could make a shot. Iguodala was a mess.
I couldn’t believe they made a couple of runs and got close. In the second half our trapping forced some turnovers and got us back within striking distance. It was 67-58 and then 78-69. Of course we started turning the ball over again, Miami scored 12 straight to make it 90-69, and any small chance we might have had was gone.
There were a few odd lineups on the floor again tonight, none of which helped us gain much traction. I can’t see any rhyme or reason to what Cheeks is doing. One night he only plays 8 guys, the next he’s putting everyone out there and using them in some combinations that are unexpected to say the least. I’m really not sure where he is going. I don’t know how the players can be expected to settle in and get comfortable with each other when Cheeks is all over the place with his rotations and substitutions.
In summary,
Good Miami Defense
Bad Turnovers From Sixers
Sixers better get ready for Magic and TNT!! I don’t want to get humiliated on national television!
Play Donyell Marshall Please!!
Inconcistency If thats what you want to call it I almost became sick watching the game last night. A.I 80 million and he can’t even make a jumper Dalembert has been in the leauge 8 yrs and has no idea what he is doing out on the court. This team better establish an identity and fast or I will be watching alot of Detroit games go A.I the one that can hit a jumper
I love Mo, but I’m beginning to wonder if the rumors that he can’t coach a lot of talent are true. Let’s not forget that in Portland he had Sheed, Derek Anderson, Damon Stoudmieir, Sharif Abdur_Rahim, Bonzie Wells,Zach Randolph and a raw Darius Miles and they were known as the underachieving Jailblazers. If things get worse we’ll be calling for Mo’s head and Stephanski looks like a fast trigger man. I said it before and I’ll say it again, they should have did a sign and trade for Iggy. He’s a marginal player.
No semblence of a strategy, and what happened to that “it” that this team had last year. Mo, the clock is ticking!!
We have to get Brand involved early, ala the knicks game and play off of him. And this “Lou just shoot strategy ” is flat out wrong.I thought we got away from the Iverson era, its about TEAM. If this continues we should start Willie, Rush, or L.Will. and try the high pick and roll with them and bring Iggy off the bench. Read that Detroit is thinking about doing that with Hamilton, S.Antonio does it with Ginobli so Iggy can!t say anything.Dannie, would love some simple backscreening to free up Elton closer to the hoop and would rather keep Thad on the wing and not have him run the high pick and roll, don!t trust his ball handling yet. A Thad at the 2 and Marshall at the 3 for LIMITED minutes is also an option.
Case in point as to why plus/minus figures are folly, strongly unreliable indicators of basketball performance: Young -23, Rush +7. En garde, sabermetricians!
Looking for the silver lining, I give Iggy a ‘9′ on his determined gallop to basket with 3 and change left. Nice bucket!
Hey guys, it’s been awhile. This team’s really starting to frustrate me. I thought I’d wait a few more games before I started to decide whether they’re improved or not, but it seems like the same team that started last year- looking lost most of the time, and jacking up bad looks. I hope this starts to change, but I’m getting a little annoyed at them.
deepsix. suede, I’ve missed your comments of late. I’ve been cruising realgm- and it’s not bad, but I really like your ideas, and this one’s up there with the good ones in my opinion: bringing Iggy-”dont call me that”- dala off the bench. That might be a little humble pie that he needs to focus better. Not just that, but he’ll often face some of the 2nd team, helping build some confidence.
Of course, it was a teamwide trouncing. When hired shooter Rush airballed first J - warning sign for fans. Miller is a shell of last year’s self for some reason. Dalembert continues to underperform with characteristic elan. Williams seems to be playing with blinders on, and is a little too revved in scoring self-interest. Even Brand, while rebounding well, is forcing some things, turning it over, trying to do too much. Most culpable for bad start though is Mo (& staff) for obvious player confusion about roles, responsibilties and minutes, for not yet incorporating a conducive offense beyond “get it and go”, for tolerating sloppy caretaking of ball and for lack of team defensive commitment.
As ugly as it was, I’m trying to look at last night as just one of those clunkers that happen here and there.
If this were a football game, you might say that the defense was in our huddle and knew what play was coming every time. Miami’s defense spent the entire night in the passing lanes. The problem is that we kept making the passes.
Andre Miller surprised me with how many passes he forced. There was a play (in the 3rd quarter I think) where Brand was in the center of the lane, just below the free throw line. He had two guys hanging on him, but Miller still tried to force the ball to him. Of course it led to a turnover. The thing is, even if Brand caught the ball, what was he going to do with it?
Agree about Lou. All he does is shoot. Also agree with Suede about starting someone else at the 2 and bringing Iguodala off the bench.
Napoleon said a long time ago: “It is morale over material, three to one.”
Sixers are a disheveled platoon to date; will probably be a casualty tonight in invasion of Orlando. Gen. Dwight Howard is usually geared for battle. Sgts. Lewis and Turkoglu shoot before they see whites of eyes. And Col. Nelson is one tough, cagey commander.
I’m still on the fence about what I think about us playing a game today on the heels of last night’s mess. On the one hand I think it’s good to get right back on the court, not dwell on what happened, and just put it behind us. On the other hand I don’t know that we will be able to right the ship and correct things so quickly. We will find out soon enough.
My worst fears are being realized, Igoudala still cant shoot, Mo is still a questionable decision maker. It is amazing to me that these guys have no idea how to play with a legitimate post player. The spacing they have on the the court when Brand has the ball is an insult to basketball. Brand and Miller should be clicking better, dont understand why they are not. And Igoudala and Brand might as well not even be on the court together, they have absolutely no chemistry. Igoudala is going to start crying to the media that the offense should run through him more, he has it in his head that he is a #1player. I said last year, and everyone disregarded me, I don’t think Igoudala is a good team guy. I did not like the way he played last year, or the way he “lead” that team.
Ugh.
To elaborate just a bit, it sure looks like this team has zero idea of what it is doing out there. These guys looked like the proverbial chickens with their heads cut off. Individual players should own their poor play, but this all starts at the top in my opinion. I read in a chat with the Sixers beat writer yesterday, that Mo is not the type of coach to tell Sammy to stop shooting that 18′ jumper. What? You can be a players coach all you want, but if you are not telling your players how to win, and how to do what is best for the team, you are not “coaching.”
Kevin I agree, Iggy hasn’t learned know how to cope with Brand’s presence or Thad’s new prominence. That superstar ego of his is rejecting the ’08 role of ‘important contributor’
(and relegation to #3 or #4 option) so far. Either he adjusts or he’ll be moved.
re #20, path to sense - delete “know” (line 1)
Morty Cheeks and Sammy seem to be chill chaps, birds of a feather. Due to kinship, Mo probably takes it easy on ‘The Big Easy’. You’re right, as head coach, he can’t afford to be lenient in his overseeing, particularly as it pertains to Dalembert’s launchings. If haphazard state of Sixers remains 20 games in,
Mo’s job security will be in jeopardy.
Any game where Brand gets below 12 shots, we are most likely going to lose. I’m extremely disappointed in how little we are feeding the ball into the post regularly…and as other’s have said, how the perimeter players react when Brand does have the ball.
Also, I’ve said it before, will say it again…we should be giving the ball to Brand not just for scoring opportunities, but to actually run the offense through him more often. If Thad keeps this jumpshooting/3 point shooting up…that means we should be able to set spacing patterns where Iggy is slashing off the ball to the hole, or even Sammy giving Iggy a screen on the strong side low block so Iggy can flash open on the weakside block for an easy dump pass from Brand…while at the same time having Thad swing to the opposite corner (whether strong or weakside) depending on which direction Iggy is cutting. Brand is an excellent passer and team player…I just think it’s foolish not to be utilizing his full arsenal more fully.
Let’s hope for a big game tonight against Magic on national TV. With the horrendous individual defense of both Hedo and Rashard Lewis, I’d like to say that Iggy could finally have his breakout game…but with Dwight protecting that rim, it’ll force Iguodala to pull up and shoot…and I think it’s safe to say none of us want that at the moment.
As Morty said, “Ugh.”
Brand’s lowered-shoulder ‘bull in a china shop’ drive-right into lane at 10-12 ft. is not the quickest move I’ve ever seen, nor does he finish like Dr. J. (Good iniative though.) Obviously, is an impact player; has a nice medium J, boards well. But could his skills have been overestimated, Philly? Just a little bit?
Cant speak for everyone, but Brand is what I thought he was. He will continue to progess, as he gets used to the new system, and remember he is coming off a injury that cost him most of last season. Brand is not a superstar, but he is the closest we have had since AI left.
I’m with Kevin. I’ve always seen Brand as a 20/10 all star talent, but not “superstar”, nor a guy that can carry a team on his back. I’ve always felt he is one of those “1st tier talents, 2nd banana on offense” types, that is at his best when there is more of 1st banana perimeter oriented guy on the team. I see his ideal role as being the 2nd fiddle on a team, and 1st option as a big man, playing with a guy of the ilk of Iverson, Baron, Gil, T-Mac, etc. Obviously, we don’t have a player of that caliber in our backcourt, and this is going to lead to more of a magnifying lense on Brand’s overall game.
That said, Brand CAN, and will IMO, have a KG like effect on this team. His man to man defense is superb, team defense is excellent, he’s a well rounded veteran that is fundamentally sound, knows how to use his body, is selfless, and only cares about winning. I really do think we just need time to gel, and that by game 20 we’ll be more of an actual team that works together, rather then as spare parts, like someone said, “running around like a chicken with its head cut off”.
I think once Dalembert calms the hell down, he and Brand will be an ideal match in the post (we’ve already seen this with rebounding), and I do see Brand as being a winner, and someone with an attitude that will be able to get guys in line. I think he’s worth every penny we paid…but that said, I think it’s a mistake to consider us as having landed a supreme NBA force. He’s not that…he’s a VERY GOOD post player that brings toughness, defense, and a professional attitude. That will rub off, and when things click, he’ll be a big reason why.
(now whether that includes Iggy or not is a question that remains to be seen…)
JJG – in short, Yes. Brand is a very good player. But if people thought he was a guy you can simply give the ball to and watch him dominate most games like a Tim Duncan, Amare or younger version of Shaq then yes, his ability was overestimated.
Brand is a worker and like I said in my post he isn’t all that big for the position and not all that athletic. So he needs to rely more on being smart, relentless and use position to his advantage. So far the Sixers coaches and players have not helped him in anyway to thrive on this team. They think they can just dump it in and he will score and I think that is why guys are just standing around watching. They don’t know how to react when a post player is getting double teamed so they do nothing. Or they can’t shoot (Iguodala) and they either hesitate, flat out brick or just start wasting dribbles rather than quickly moving the ball around the floor.
We thought we had some smart basketball players that understand how to play the game right and so far it doesn’t look like it to me.
Kevin, Dave T & Dannie Interesting comments all, on Brand.
Kevin Had forgotten about achilles injury; may not be fully back re quickness, though clean bill of health has been advanced entering season. At any rate, a formidable player.
Dave T I can see the KG will to win in him, but he lacks the burning incandescence of Garnett that raises others games, at least from what I see in 5 – less thoroughbred, more
plowhorse. Thad’s on the same winning wavelength as Brand, doing his best Pierce imitation so far. Problem is, we don’t have a cool sniper like Allen, waiting calmly to slide to gaps. And Sixers’ spare parts don’t mesh (yet) like last year’s Celts. A lot of figuring out still on table.
Dannie Good analysis of offensive end logjam. And I’m with you on questioning certain players b-ball IQs. Some goofy stuff goin’ on in halfcourt game.
On the positive side, Thad Young sure looks like the real deal so far. You could tell last year that his soft touch would eventually translate into a strong jumper, but did any of us expect the 3 point shooting display we’ve seen in the first five games?
Morty…In a word, no. The progress he has made with his outside shot in one offseason is amazing. The Sixers should require every jump shooter on the team to follow Thad’s leg strengthening routine. I’ve always told my boys that your jump shot is in your legs. Maybe now they’ll start to listen.
bski: It is scary how good he is, while still needing improvement in his ball-handling, passing, and getting to the FT line. If he improves as much in those areas as he has with his shooting, he’ll be a true franchise player. And only 20 years old, wow.
Shooters ride waves of confidence. Right now, Thad Young’s “hangin’ ten”. He’ll “wipeout” eventually, as all shooters do, only to crest again in time. But he does other things well too. The kid’s got what it takes; has a nose for the ball, feel for the game, is physically gifted and HUSTLES. A nice pick by Sixers.
New post for the game tonight?
Orlando is kind of a nightmare match-up for us. Do you want Sammy getting run over by Dwight Howard, or is he going to be following Rashard Lewis on the perimeter? With the way our defensive rotation has been (since last year, too) we really have no good options. I foresee R-Lew having a monster game (great for my fantasy team)
If there is a game for Iggy to step up in, it’s this one. Brand won’t have an easy time inside against Howard, and we are going to get no respect at the line. We need Thad to start off with his saucey 3-point shooting again. The one bright spot is Miller should be able to light Nelson up on the post. Should leave Iggy or Thad open for mid-range shots.
The keys to this one are going to be sticking on Lewis and putting pressure on Hedo with Thad and Iggy, along with how Andre Miller takes advantage of his mismatch.
TNT crew pre-game, about Iguodala:
Chuck: “Ernie, the man’s got to learn how to shoot.“
Ernie: “Well don’t you think the addition of a new player in Brand, and less shots, might…”
Chuck: “No excuses Ernie. Man’s got to learn how to shoot.”
Nicely put.