Pete asked me a question to that effect this afternoon – only his phrasing was much more pessimistic. “How much do we lose by tonight?” I said 8+ points. That exchange lets you know the feeling we have about the Sixers right now having both been at the game yesterday.
I think we both would be more optimistic and positive about the team if the energy was there. If the effort was there consistently. If someone actually looked like they gave a damn. If the players actually looked like they enjoyed playing together. If Mo Cheeks looked like he had a clue. If the issue was just offensive chemistry.
I can deal with poor execution if I can clearly see guys fighting tooth and nail for a win. Diving on the ground for balls. Giving 100% effort every single play and not quitting. I just don’t see that from this team right now. I don’t see a team that epitomizes the city and fans for which they play. Emotional, tough and relentless. I see loose balls that guys try to get by gingerly bending over. Cry babies who need a damn pacifier when complaining to the refs while his man runs down court for an uncontested lay up. Guys not busting it back on defense after they fall down because they don’t want to leave their teammates hanging.
I see bad play. But sadly I see losers or at the very least loser traits in this team. And the results have clearly been what you would expect from a team with those characteristics.
So what team will we see tonight? The same ole, same ole riffraff we’ve witnessed this season? Or the team we all got behind last year and actually believed had a small chance to beat the Bad Boys in a playoff series?
Sixers vs. Toronto Game Notes
Finally the 2009 76ers showed up. That is the team we have been waiting to see all season. I guess my rant above about their effort was addressed. The energy and defensive intensity from last season was there tonight and set the tone for the entire game. I wrote down a bunch of notes during the game so here they are…
Transition Offense
The Sixers had 19 fast-break points tonight and partly because they had 8 steals and forced 14 turnovers but also because they made a concerted effort to play faster. They pushed the ball up court on misses, turnovers and made baskets. Even if there wasn’t an advantage it was clear they wanted to at least push the ball up quickly and get into the offense earlier in the clock. They also did a much better job of converting on the opportunities they did get to run. Elton Brand was out in front making an effort to get out in transition, and the other Sixers player did a good job of getting him the ball for easy baskets early.
Perimeter Defense
The interior defense has been there all season. Sammy and Brand have done a pretty good job of controlling the bank by rebounding and blocking and altering shots. The problem has been the effort on the perimeter. Tonight the Sixers had much more bounce to their step on the perimeter. Combine that with very active hands, and it’s obvious why they were able to get 8 steals and probably 8 other pass deflections during the game.
From a tactical standpoint I noticed something that is a HUGE pet peeve of mine regarding perimeter defense. I absolutely hate it when guys do not close out on shooters properly or rotate to the open man properly. What I’ve seen the Sixers do all season before tonight was one of two things:
- Close out on a shooter by jumping in the air, getting pump faked and now are completely out of the play
- Run full speed at a shooter when rotating, with their hands down and essentially over pursuing.
Tonight they did exactly what you are supposed to do. Rotate with hands up in the passing lane. And running to a spot about a foot or two in front of the offensive player with one hand ready to contest and the other ready to deflect the ball if they pass or dribble.
With that said the defense still wasn’t all that great. The Raptors had a ton of wide open looks that they simply just missed. The cause was too much purposeless trapping and unnecessary help defense when the on-ball defender wasn’t beat. In time I hope they tighten it up in those areas.
Ball Movement
All I have to say on this is 30 assists on 43 made baskets. If 70% of your made baskets are assisted, it means you attacked on offense, moved the ball well, got a lot of good shots, shot a high percentage and will win a lot of game.
Half-court Offense and Elton Brand
Was the floor spacing better tonight? Yes. But why? What was different? Mo Cheeks made a slight, but important offensive change. He went away from the traditional throw-it-to-Brand-in-the-low-post-and-hope-it-works-out strategy. He put Brand at the mid post, had someone enter the ball to him from about the top of the key and basically had Elton on an island with the option to drive baseline or down the middle or shoot the 15 foot and in jumper. This gave him more flexibility to use his face-up game, put him in a situation where he could clearly see when and where the double team was coming from and gave him multiple kick out options. That along with him not bull rushing down the middle of the lane with his head down are the major reasons he only had 1 turnover tonight. All of his turnovers come from forcing the issue in traffic and lack of kick out options.
When Brand has smaller guys defending him, the low post is a good option. When he has bigger defenders on him, I think the Sixers need to do what they did today almost exclusively when going to Brand straight up. It’s probably the most effective way to get Brand good shots. The pick-and-pop was there a few times tonight, but like I said yesterday we don’t have the perimeter personnel for this to be a consistent go-to play right now. They ran it a lot tonight but were only able to gain an advantage on a few possessions.
Andre Iguodala – Bottle This Performance Up and Drink it Before Every Game
18 points, 10 boards, 9 assist, 7-8 from the line and only 1 turnover. He was only 5-13 from the field but that doesn’t matter to me. He isn’t a high percentage shooter ,and I don’t expect him to be ever. What he did was play his game by attacking the basket and doing everything else on the court like the complete player we need him to be all while taking care of the rock. Great game, “80 mil.”
Big Time Bench Contributions
Willie Green and Marreese Speights were fantastic tonight. Willie has been great all year and has only had one sub-par game. He played under control, took good shots and knocked them when he was open. More importantly Cheeks took the ball out of Lou Williams’ hands when he had the Willie/Lou line up on the floor which allowed Green to be the playmaker. And that he was. Finishing the game with 9 assists for only the second time in his career. Willie has been everything we hoped he would be as a offensive contributor coming off the bench. Hopefully he keeps it up all season.
It’s pretty clear Marreese Speights is our back up center. He gave the Sixers 20 solid minutes. Finishing the game with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block on 5-9 shooting. What I love most about him is his energy and effort. This was the knock on him before he was drafted, and there have been no signs of that at all since he has been with the team. He attacks the glass with reckless abandon especially on the offensive end. In time he will become a much bigger part of the offense with his ability to shoot and soft touch inside.
Thank You, Sixers
WHEW. I am so glad I didn’t have to write another crappy game post bashing this team. Now it’s time to really build some momentum. The Sixers’ next six opponents have a combined record of 11-31. If they tighten up a bit more on defense, bring the same level of intensity and continue to move and share the ball they could very well be 9-5 going into their rematch with the Orlando Magic.
Next game: At the Indiana Pacers
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
Long time reader, first time poster. I’m watching the Sixers/Raptors game and love their newly found level of aggression. Iguodala taking it to the rim hard while players diving and playing “blue-collar” type defense. This has allowed a few fastbreak points that utilizes the athletic abilities of this team. Keep it up!
Dannie, Utah, with their precision offense, tends to make defenses look bad. I see better ball movement and spacing, I think what we are waiting for is coming.
The Sixers are definitely getting better spacing. Not as many forced shots tonight and plenty of attacking of the rim. The team seems…I stress SEEMS…to be learning how to play off of Brand. I also love the Sixers’ defensive intensity tonight! Maybe Mo Cheeks told them that steals and rebounds are what create fastbreak opportunities.
The first quarter was encouraging, but we are really lucky that Anthony Parker missed those three shots from downtown. The Raps have been getting good looks all game and have been missing buckets.
Is it possible the Sixers have realized the regular season has started???
But they were beating the Hawks pretty good before they lost….I’m not getting my hopes up yet. Though, I wish they were on tv up here in RI so I could watch them at least. ESPN gametracker is the worst
The difference tonight, so far anyway, is that the Sixers seem to have some offensive rhythm. They are also playing at the same energy level as they did at the end of last season.
I may have spoken too soon.
Finally a good effort against a good team. Game notes coming.
Great win tonight! This is the team I was so excited to see play coming into the season. Let’s keep up the defensive pressure on Friday night against Indiana!
Say-hey !!!! Willie, a great defensive play running from one corner to the other when L.Will. was matched with a big and getting a deflection, and a good defensive play drawing a charge. Elton looked REAL comfortable hitting the jumper. Defense was better but they did miss some open ones. This team has a different personality ; they may just outscore teams some nights; I don!t expect that frantic attack like last year.
jjg...How do you feel about Brand taking 15 foot jumpers now? He was money. I’ll take that all season.
Much better.
Still the Raps missed some open shots they don’t normally miss. Good win on the road, they have done too bad so far for me to jump with joy. We’ll see how they finish the week before I get too excited.
I feel the same way as you Dannie. I never miss a game. Never. Today I knew the game was on and I didn’t start watching it until midway through the first. It has just been depressing so far. I am not going to burn them for a good win, but I want to see some consistency before I get back on my high horse.
And they were up 17 and they let them to get too close again, a couple bad plays or decisions and this game could of completely went the other way. When you get a lead….keep it.
By the way, hats off to Marresse, they are two studs on that team and he held his own, a good sign.
Willie Green has got it going on! Perhaps among the finer games of his career. Nine assists??!!
bski I feel the same as 5:26 p.m., thank you. Yes, he shot it well. You won’t get that all season. Live by the jumper, die by the jumper. A top big man should go hard to the rim, finish – or stop the clock, make free throws. ”High-grade beef” should beat opponents by attrition, as players are rendered less effective when saddled with fouls. Pretty doesn’t win come playoff time. Occasional 15 footer in flow of offense: no problem with that. Shouldn’t be his stock in trade though, his highest priority in attacking defense. Based on 1st 8, his work in traffic needs work; panics a little; also brings ball to down to easy swat/strip level.
If Parker doesn’t miss 5 (4 3s) in first 5 min, it’s a different ballgame. Calderon’s 3 TOs in 1st quarter hurt Raptors too.
Sixers got after it tonight. I wonder what spurred them.
Congratulations to the star of the game: Willie Green. 32 min, 6-10 from field (including 2-3 from deep), 17 points, 9 assists, 0 TOs.
Did I say something about Willie Green and Reggie Evans? My bad, I guess Willie Green looks at these blogs! Great job Willie and Reggie! Keep it up, demolish the Pacers and O’Brien for us.
I wonder, even though the Raptors missed some open threes, our perimeter defense was excellent and well detailed–that is a Mo Cheeks’ team (one that pays attention to detail!)
Maybe their 4 days off might have helped them after all, even though it came a day late! The Utah game we could have won had Mo inserted the starters quickly, because the Jazz are atrocious on the road (The winless, frontcourtless Wizards beat them!)
Even though we still need 20 games to get a proper evaluation of the Sixers, the next five games look pretty winnable:
11/14 @ Indiana
11/15 v.s Oklahoma City
11/19 @ Minnesota
11/21 v.s LA Clippers
11/23 v.s Warriors
KEEP IT GOING GUYS, PUT THOSE SORE PHILLY CRITICS AND THOSE “FRONT PAGE ONLY” READERS BACK IN THE GUTTER!!
And Please Sixer Fans– WE NEED THOSE SEATS FILLED!!
The Sixers should also bottle up that defensive performance against the perimeter shooters. If we can defend and clamp down on the perimeter shooters, then this team will be unbelievable!!! Indiana plays the same style, but without Jermaine ‘O Neal or basically any PF. Get em!!
The only two teams that should be in the Atlantic Division should be Boston and Philadelphia! Everyone else, get out the way!!
Now thats what I’m talkin about. Iggy was much more efficient tonight. Brand was a very good. Sammy had some bad fouls but at least the effort was there. Love Speights he is active and has great touch. He shot like four free throws and none of them even touched the rim they were all nothing but net and he hit acouple nice jumpers in the game. They need an effort like this every night. This was a great Willie game I think with consistent mins he could do something like this on most nights.
I was very happy with what I saw. That was the Sixers I remembered cheering for last season. Hopefully they can keep it up.
Ryan F: I understand your skepticism, but the Raptors are too good a team for us to achieve and maintain a 17 point lead. We ended the game with a comfortable lead, and that is about all one can ask at this point.
jjg: I thought Elton made a few strong moves to the basket, but I am not sure the Raptors frontcourt (Bosh, O’Neal, Bargnani) is one in which a war of attrition is easily won. I would love for Brand to get nice and physical against opposing frontcourts, but I think his real strengths are in his face-up game (at least from what I have seen at this point). We will see how things go.
Imagine if we had a couple “do-overs” against the Raptors opening night, the Atlanta game, and the Utah game, then they would be (6-2). Now the Florida trip was a very tough one.
Hopefully, this victory can recharge the Sixers and built some unbelievable momentum (kind of the like how the Hawks are playing now despite the loss to the Celtics!)
GO SIXERS!!!
well hold your breath people and let them do it again. all the same i wasnt sure they could turn it around this quick. well one’s things for sure for me; i am done with this blogging thing. you can’t really call a game or assess how good players are. it just spoils the fun so might as well just lean back n’ watch. This season might get interesting. hope you guys will be able to write more upbeat stuff like this in the coming games and maybe even playoff time. Ltr.
GO SIXERS!!
Dannie, it was interesting to see Willie bringing the ball up, it has been mentioned before that for what he makes,3 to 4 mill., if he could become a combo guard it would be less of an issue if he could develop a better all round game. I hope he keeps it up. Mo must of seen the same defensive effort you saw by Rush against Utah, he spent the night watching from the pine.
I will be at the game on Saturday. I am in Section 219, Row 2. Anyone interested in meeting up beforehand, let me know.
I’d love to put faces to these names I’ve been talking to. I’m planning on getting to the arena around 6, but I could get there earlier if it would work out better. Again, let me know if you are interested and we can discuss a time and a spot to meet up.
Same, Ill be in San Antonio for the weekend so I wont even be able to catch a game on tv.
bski-I am in section 219A row 4 as I am almost every game
Not much more I can say about the game that hasnt already been said. I like the energy, same some of it in the Utah game, good to see them being more consistent with it through a game. Hopefully they keep it up. No reason they shouldnt get a weekend sweep (Ind, OKC).
Kevin…Since you’re in the next section and only 2 rows behind me, I’ll definitely see you there. I’ll wander over to your section and introduce myself. I’ll make it easier for you to spot me. I have black hair, a mustache and goatee, and I will be wearing a black Rush concert t-shirt, 2007 Snakes and Arrows tour.
Let’s see if we can’t find a few more bloggers to join us. We’ll raise a glass (actually a plastic cup) to ReclinerGM. See you Saturday.
As far as the games, the Pacers are expecting Granger and Murphy to be back in action. Granger will be a tough matchup for Thad, while Murphy, if he shoots the 3 like he did against the Nets a few days ago, will give Brand some trouble. We should beat them though. The Thunder should have Durant back, but I agree with you. No reason the Sixers shouldn’t win both of these games.
Yesterday’s post: Kind of reminds me of my highschool freshman coaching days a long time ago. When in the learning/development stage the players are thinking too much and not reacting on instinct BUT this is the NBA.
In todays Courrier Post:
Iguodala, who also had 10 assists and nine rebounds, said the 76ers put aside the issues that had been clouding their minds through the first seven games of the season.
“We haven’t really been having fun,” Iguodala said. “We’ve just been thinking ‘How can we play with each other, how can we win? How can we not make mistakes?’ That’s when you make mistakes, when you start thinking a little bit too much. Tonight we were a little bit more free, we were shooting the ball with more confidence.”
I guess this happens on all levels. Hopefully, the Sixers are back on track!
Not to dampen anyone’s spirit, but: let’s remember who we were playing the other night: Toronto. A team that has a big staple of really getting the ball up and down the floor. While Toronto is obviously a talented team, and will be right there with us for that 5-6 spot in the East, their style caters to what we want to do, which is to get the ball in the open court as much as possible.
Quality win, but this is a team we SHOULD be running the break with easily, and playing great defense against. I’ll be impressed when we do this against a half court oriented team like the Rockets, Jazz, Detroit, Orlando, etc. That said…I’m still sticking to my original mantra: for the first 20 games, if we hover around .500 and show great effort and intensity in our team defense, after 20 games the offense will start to click.
Go Sixers!
Bski: Long live Rush! I was jamming out in my apt to Spirit of Radio earlier in the week, I always forget how much ass they kick.
Allen Iverson: He looked real good in tonight’s game against the Warriors on TNT. He would have easily scored 30, but missed a lot of shots 2-4 feet from the basket that he’d normally make, that were shots almost any other player in the league could not have even created (and they all came within the flow of the offense). He’s been much more unselfish with Detroit so far than he’s been with the Nuggets, and as always, has been shredding the defense and attacking the rim aggressively.
I’m rooting so hard for him to mesh well with his teammates in Detroit…I’d love to see AI make one last legitimate push to get to the Conference Finals (no WAY they’d ever beat Boston though) to finally prove some of the doubters wrong that say he’s not a winner.
I know people can be very split with AI’s game…many people point to his shot selection and the need to over-dominate the ball as the reason he never found success. I certainly agree with those accusations (up to a point), but I will definitely agree with what Charles Barkley said tonight after the J Thompson interview: “Allen Iverson has never been on a good team. Let me change that…he’s been on some good teams, but he’s never been on a great team.”
With the Nugget’s frontcourt having been so banged up or recovering from injury (Nene/K-Mart), and STILL having never played with a legitimate PG, and a team that could hide his defensive defficiencies because they were horribly defensively coached by Karl, I never really liked Denver as an ideal spot for him.
This Detroit team though…the AI-Sheed combo I really think is going to become dangerous, and with Rip, Stuckey and Prince chipping in on offense, and the young bigs like Maxiel, Amir and Hermann providing a spark…I’d expect come January and afterwards for that Detroit team to really start taking off. I love the job Michael Curry’s done so far, he really holds people accountable and is a tough nosed guy.
Dave T., I probably will get ripped for this but let me give my argument anyway; This Sixer team has a 5 year window, needs an end of game threat, has 4 good to very good defensive players in starting five, and has an okay at best defensive p.g. that is taking about 15 shots a night for us. Can we let A.Miller go and draft a young point guard?, maybe. But a veteren would be a better option. It would depend on his resume the last few years, has he made practices, has he really matured? It would be a possible story book ending if A.I. were to come back and it would pack the seats and raise the excitement level. Would he hurt our young guys, maybe, maybe not. But the pick and pop would sure look more efficient. Go ahead guys, rip me!!!
Dave T- True the Raptors are a team that we should match up well with. Problem is that they have owned us up to this point. Before this game they had beaten as 4 out of the last 5 times. That is what I am excited about, they won first the 1st time on the road this season, and they beat a team that we had struggled against. Of course if they go and lose today at Indiana, all of that excitement will be gone again.
I hope the Sixers take the Pacers seriously, even though they lack a proper frontcourt and allow a lot of points & runs for opponents. That Pacers team gave the Celtics their first loss this season!
Here are the overall stats between these two teams in last season’s three meetings:
Rebounds:
(PHI: 50.3) (IND: 42)
3 pts:
(PHI: 8/39–20.5%) (IND: 30/73–41.1%)
FG%
(PHI: 99/261–37.9%) (IND: 121/256–47.2%)
TOs:
(PHI: 14.3) (IND: 15.3)
FT%
(PHI: 58/88–65.9%) (IND: 25/36–69.4%)
Hopefully, with a better frontcourt and the frontcourt advantage, along with some playing time for our perimeter shooters, we should be able to improve on those areas. Let’s keep the TOs down and attempt more FTs (and make them), the Sixers should be great. Defend the perimeter like last Wednesday and it should be a blueprint of success for the Sixers!!
Great stats Rob-Wow this early in the season and the sixers already have attempted 52 more free throws than the pacers that and that they have attempted 34 more 3’s than the sixers shows you how much of a perimeter team they are. That and their lack of a big man. Sometimes I feel like we are shooting too many 3’s, but obviously we are not. Probably more indicative of our poor shooting, then the actual number of of shots that we take.
Kevin...I agree with you up to a point. It’s great to see us win on the road and Toronto has owned us, like you said. Plus, they beat us on opening night and it’s good to see us turn around a couple weeks later and beat them. Bosh always causes us a lot of problems and now we have to deal with O’Neal as well, yet we came a way with a victory. That said, I remain cautiously optimistic going forward.
There is no question that we played better and that is encouraging. HOWEVER, Calderon was out for most of the game and Parker was off (Moon didn’t give them much either). That really impacted their guard play, which I think swung things in our favor. To our credit, we took advantage of it and won the game but, even though I know a win is a win, we did catch a bit of a break.
Kevin– those numbers were from last season in matchups with the Pacers.
Right now on Sixers.com, I saw their Sixers-Pacers preview saying that the Sixers lead the league in fastbreak points, 5th in points in the paint, and 9th in 3PT %.
The Pacers, surprisingly without a proper frontcourt, are 4th in the NBA in blocks with 6.1 blocks per game.
The Sixers have to attack the rim at will, get more free throws made and attempted, defend the perimeter, limit their turnovers and a great bonus would be our three point production and our bench coming alive. It has sure potential to do so for the Sixers. Get Rush and Marshall involved!
A family matchup between Brandon and Kareem!
Dave T…I agree about muting our enthusiasm over beating Toronto on Wednesday, but not for the same reasons as you.
It seems to me that even though Bosh gives us fits every time we play the Raptors, it’s the 3-pointers that really kill us. Think about how many 3’s we give up to Toronto every time we play them. Well, on Wednesday, Calderon was 0-2, Parker was 0-6, Moon was 1-4, Kapono was 1-2, Bargnani was 1-3, and Solomon was 2-4. That’s 5-21 as a team.
There are a couple of reasons why I’m not overly excited by this though. Calderon only played 25 minutes and 3/4 of that time he was nursing that bad hammy, which certainly affected him. Also, Parker had a bad shooting night. He had some open looks and just missed them. I just have the sense that the subpar production from their backcourt made more of an impact on Toronto’s 3-point shooting than our defense did, you know? If we held the Raptors to 5-21 3pt% on a normal night, I’d feel a lot better about us.
That’s what concerns me about tonight’s game. We always have trouble defending the 3 and, as a result, always have a tough time beating teams that shoot it well (and frequently). Jim O’Brien knows this very well. We could be looking at a tough night on the road, depending on the health of Granger and Murphy.
Glad to hear you like Rush! I have been a faithful fan for 30 years. If you haven’t seen them live, you must. They put on a fantastic show. It’s worth the money. I see them every time they come around, which sadly won’t be many more times as I’m sure they’ll be hanging them up soon.
Sorry about that, I need to read the posts more thoroughly.
I agree that the Raptors win was not a huge deal. But it was a good win. I dont think anyone is that jacked over that win though, no need to mute our enthuasium. It was just a win against a quality opponent for the 1st time, and a road win for the 1st time, and on top of that against a opponent that we have struggled against (and already lost to once this season). It’s a start, now lets build on it tonight.