* Detroit is the only team in the NBA with more than 30 wins and a losing home record (18-19).

* Andre Miller has inexplicably accumulated eight assists and 13 turnovers in the last three games.

* The Sixers have given up 100-plus  points in 10 of the past 15 games after doing so 10 times the 29 games prior. Philly is 9-18 when allowing 100+ points this season and 3-12 when opponents shoot at least 50 percent.

This actually doesn’t mean I don’t like him though…I consider him to be one of the top 3-4 on the ball defenders in college basketball.  He’s great slashing to the hoop, and his speed, quickness and athleticism are all off the charts.  He’s a very good PG for Roy’s system, and will help UNC win a national championship.

Why don’t I like him then?  Simple.  His outside shot blows, I don’t see it improving a lot with his form.  And by far most importantly: he’s not a real PG.  Lawson is much more an incredible athlete, but I don’t see any part of his game that suggests to me he truly understands the PG position at a high level.  

He seems to be a worker and has a great attitude, and because he was injured last year and is regaining his timing I am giving him the benefit of the doubt, and would like nothing more then for him to prove me wrong.  But every game I watch hear and remember the hype around him and watch his athletic ability…and am stunned at his utter lack of knowing the game at a high level.  I just don’t have a gut feeling he’ll make it…even though I’ll readily admit he has all the athletic talent in the world to do so.

Who should be considered the top NBA PG prospect in college right now?

Johnny Flynn. 

-I’m also curious to see how Devan Downey at South Carolina keeps developing, he could be a top 5 guy in the country, and AJ Price looks like he has a bit of Chauncy Billups in him.  Nick Calathes is really turning himself into a more confident, versatile player, and has great court vision and a great shot…Greivis Vasquez shows an awful lot of promise and has a shockingly well rounded game (as well as huge height)…Chris Warren at Ole Miss shot way too much last year, but if he can balance scoring/distributing might be something in the future.  Tory Jackson from N-Dame is real underrated as a floor leader.  But besides them, and most of the above are not dominant players yet, overall I feel this is one of the more crappy years in recent memory for college PGs that will be able to become NBA starting PGs. 

Darren Collison is good but overrated, Dominic James is a poor man’s Jameer Nelson, no one knows yet whether Eric Maynor and Stephon Curry have it in them to be true PGs to lead a team, or whether they are just scorers (although with Curry position doesn’t matter…just get him on a court and he’ll succeed at any level).  Daniel Hacket is good but not amazing.  Levance Fields and Jeremy Pargo are very good college PG’s that I don’t see translating well to the pros.  Sheron Collins needs to prove he’s more then just quickness and speed, and to improve his 3 point shot.  Tyrese Rice is a shooting guard in a PG’s body…although he might be able to pull an Aaron Brooks.  Kalin Lucas at Mich St. should have a great sophomore year and turn into a nice college PG, but he doesn’t appear to be NBA caliber. 

After Brandon Jennings, Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn…’09 is not the best year to be hunting for a PG this draft.  It’s a deep pool, but not an amazingly talented one for NBA purposes.

I’m both concerned and not concerned about him.  I’m not concerned because I cough up his lack of offensive output to the fact that it’s only the first 15 games of a season in a completely new environment, with new teammates, and there is zilch chemistry between these guys offensively yet. 

There is no possible way Brand’s FG% is going to stay this low. It will go up.  Why?  Because 43% is a fluky stat and no where near his talent level.  Brand has not been aggressive enough…he will be, because he’s shown more times then not he expects himself to average 18+ ppg.  I’d be absolutely shocked if his ppg remains where it is now.  This is bad for him…very bad, and also not the norm.  This I have faith will go up, and that he’ll be getting us a good 18 ppg soon.

Why I worry: He’s ignoring his low post game.  I blame this partly on him and his seemingly low confidence levels with the Sixers.  That’s all on him, he has to earn that paycheck, and bring not just professionalism (which he’s been great with so far) but hunger and leadership as well.  I remember in the second or third game of the season, Mo told him, “Elton…get hungry, attack the basket and do your thing,” resulting in Brand putting up a 24-12.  This is the Brand we need.

And that is going to involve him getting his butt on the low post more and actually scoring with his back to the basket game.  While what some have said is very true…that much of his game relies on those 15-18 foot jumpshots and pick-pops…let’s not forget the fact that just because so far he has not had a tendency to do well on the block, does not in fact mean he has a bad back to the basket game. 

Brand has incredible knowledge of how to score around the basket, very good footwork, and is adept at reading how individual defenders cover him.  So far, we haven’t seen this because he’s been a total puss and just throws up shots, or has been rushing things and turning the ball over too much, or not able to handle quick double teams that come. 

I would argue this is not the usual Brand that he has established over his career.  We will see this Brand, and he will give us 18 pts, 11 rbs, and 2 blks a game while shooting 48%.  For that, we just need patience, and to let him regain his shot confidence and get some reps with the low post moves again.  But for now…yeah, it’s frightening to see how subpar he’s played on the offensive end.

Another 14 games of the 43% FG Brand, and I will move from concerned to scared. He has got to start hitting shots that clearly are the type of shots he has made over the course of his career. His FTA are down and his TO’s are up. Now the comforting thing is that his FTA were in  line with his career averages when he came back at the end of last year, and his rebounds are actually above his career averages this year, so hopefully, it is not that he has lost a step, and it is merely making a transition that is the problem.

Guest: I agree with you.  I’m not worried about Howard.  He’s going to get his 12+ rebounds and 15+ points.  I actually don’t think it matters whether he scores 14, 18, or 22.  We need to worry about guarding the three…last game Hedo Turkoglu absolutely killed us.  I’m fine with letting Dwight Howard get his, as long as we are actively defending the perimeter so Rashard and Hedo don’t hit a combined 15 threes on us.  They’ve been torching other teams of late from the outside. 

What I remember most from the last game was our horrendous lack of any type of help rotations on defense.  Play after play Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu would burn their defender, and were able to pop numerous jumpers from the 15-18 foot range uncontested because Iggy, Brand and Sammy weren’t nearly quick enough in helping out.