I got nothing for this game. The Sixers could lose this game by 40 or surprise everyone and win. That’s what they do. We are only 7 point home dogs. People must be expecting a serious home court advantage and a “we are due” type of performance from the Sixers to keep the game in single digits. Chances are Cleveland cruises though. Defensively they are just to good. And without Thad the Sixers won’t have enough fire power to keep up.
I will be at the game to check out the mood and effort first hand. Catch you afterward. As usual keep the comments section poppin’ before, during and after the game.
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i will be at the game tonight as my buddies karate studio will be doing some sort of halftime show… anyone else going.. i dont have my section on me right this second but i will post when my tickets get here.. hoping for an upset but realize thats easier said then done
Bye Bye Eddie Jordon, word is that the Kings will be hiring him. Ed Stefanski sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Greek, I am glad he may be gone, his Wizards were worse defensively than we are and we will never be a great offensive team with this group of players. But Deleo isn!t the answer either. Sammy gets more attractive as his years left dwindle, I tried to brighten your day!!! I have some Sammy deals but now is not the time, like Dannie I am biting my tongue.
Avery Johnson? All I see with this team is no passion. Not from the coaches and not from the players. I know for a fact Avery coaches with a passion and would get this team to play harder I am sure.
As for the game… It was pretty decent. I wasn’t expecting a win. Im not pissed off like I have been after the past 3 losses. LOU STILL ST…..wait can’t go there this time. The Andre’s and Lou carried this team and if Willie, aka Im gonna jack up too many shots tonight, completely sucked. Maybe if they didn’t shoot 52 % from three we would’ve won. Or if we made any to go along with that.
they hung in there but couldnt find that groove.. oh well..
The effort was there tonight and that has been the big issue with me. L.Will. is teasing us again, he can be a dynamic player when he attacks the rim. Now if M. Price can get his 3 pt. stroke going this summer we may have something.
Do you guys watch defense at all? Lou Williams isn’t teasing anyone. When he scores (efficiently) it makes him a tolerable player that could stay on the floor at best.
He still not only doesn’t play defense with much effort, he flat out has no clue how to do so if he did give full effort. Whatever he gives on offense he will inevitably give up on the other end in some way.
Dannie, I know exactly what your talking about. His pick and roll defense is horrible. And he hesitates on rotations all the time. Our main defensive problem is obviously rotating to contest open shots. It seems like Lou always starts to rotate, then he hesitates, then he goes. Ridiculous defense on Wally tonight by the way, whoever was guarding him.
They did hang in there, against those contending teams. But it is the same story, we MUST defend and somehow the perimeter. I hope this gets stressed NOW and for YEARS TO COME! Well, Miami lost to Boston. Cleveland is the Best in the East and is now 1.5 games ahead of the Lakers for the best record in the NBA. Maybe they might start resting their players for Wednesday’s game. The Celtics are more than likely going to have their starters play fewer minutes on Tuesday. They lead the Magic by 2 games for 2nd in the East. Atlanta has clinched the 4th spot, but have a game against Miami as a “possible” playoff preview.
Tom Hanks said it best. But hopefully the Sixers can overcome their “inabilities” and run Sixers run!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9im9ff40FII&feature=PlayList&p=769EBA6DC00E46B0&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=24
GO SIXERS!!! BEAT THE RAPTORS IF THERE’S HOPE FOR #5!!
Dannie, I didn!t mention his defense because it is terrible but his offense has been also, so one step at a time. Until these players are held accountable defensively [new coach?] it isn!t going to change. If more scoring is added it may allow his minutes to be cut.
Lol Suede, can’t wait to hear those deals. I’m not willing to take on anyon with a bigger contract though. It might be best to have him coming off the bench for these next 2 years until his contract runs out. Who will start you ask? Anyone but him is my responses. Like I have said from the get go, Sammy D You can’t win with him!
Didn’t see your message about where you were sitting until this morning, Dannie. I was already on the road by the time you posted it.
It was fun to see LeBron. He threw down a couple ridiculous dunks in warmups (couldn’t make the underhand shot from halfcourt though). During the game he had a full head of steam, freight train slam over a retreating Willie Green (not that I blame him at all) in the first half coming right at us.
It was odd to look at the board and see LeBron’s totals because he really didn’t seem like he was doing much, scoring wise I mean. My wife remarked several times during the game how hard Iguodala was playing and how much effort he was giving trying to deny the ball to LeBron, bodying up to him, and trying to slow him down. At the end of the 3rd quarter I told her to look at the board. LeBron had 23 points, a few rebounds, and around 7 assists. I told her that’s how tough it is with LeBron. Even in a game where he was not looking to take over (he really seemed ok with just creating for his teammates and only picking a few spots for himself here and there) and where Iguodala was fighting him for every inch, he still had those numbers after 3 quarters. He certainly could have gone off in the 4th if he wanted to/if they needed him to, but there was no need.
One stat on the board that was very telling was assists. The Cavs had 24 (on 37 FG I found out this morning) while we had 12 (on 33 FG). Even before I knew how big the discrepancy was, I knew it was happening. I mean, the Cavs found West in the corner for a couple 3’s, obviously Szcerbiak had a day (4-4 on 3’s), they hit Verejao a few times cutting to the rim (including that nice pass from LeBron in the 3rd). Meanwhile, we were playing 1 on 1 x 5 as I call it. Whoever had the ball tried to break down his man. If he couldn’t, he would hand the ball off to someone else and let him try to break down his man. On and on it went. Seemed to me there were a lot more handoffs than passes last night. Anyway, as usual, our poor perimeter shooting—2 made 3’s (on 9 attempts)—combined with their very good perimeter shooting/our poor perimeter defense—12 made 3’s (on 23 attempts)—-created too large a deficit to make up. Even if we were perfect in every other area of the game I don’t know that we could have won. That leads me to my next thought.
As weird as this might come across, I’m not really upset by this loss. I mean, the Sixers played as well as they are capable of at this point. I think what they gave last night was really their max. It’s disappointing that their max is not good enough to contend, but that speaks to other things like talent level, coaching, etc… They went up against the best team in the east, if not the entire NBA, gave everything they had (at least I thought they did), and came up short. That just tells me that they do not have enough, both on an individual and on a team level.
JJG….Went to Tony A’s. They make a very good pie. We will definitely go back. Thanks again for the recommendation.
The Recliner GM is the Real deal for disscussing Philly sports. I”m glad I found you this year. You guys cover 76ers well, you tell it like it is. I will always be a Sixer fan but I will not be going to games and spend my money to get upset. Watching it from home is what I will be doing. I will not change my mind until all the Stupidity is fixed. Stupidty#1 Dileo+ company gone, Stupidity#2 Sammy gone, Stupidity#3Lou, gone. We all know these people pluses and minuses, I feel they hurt us more than they help us. They all had plenty of time to show there true colors.Feel free to add to the list. I also can”t wait to read who you guys would like to add when these players are gone or additional player you would like to see gone and why. Stafanski, use your brain.
Johnnylaptop – Thanks for the kind words. We try. I feel you. I’ve been to more than half of the games this season. I haven’t committed to playoff tickets or season tickets next year though.
I’ve haven’t been writing as much mainly because what feels natural to write is pretty negative so I have refrained for the most part.
I am hoping the playoffs will be better with stronger performance considering the higher stakes.
Johnny I said the same thing after I went to the Nets game last week and the sixers failed to show up. I am done giving them any of my money until they get things fixed.
Bski - I thought the Sixers played pretty good and their effort was better but not at max level. They still just stand and watch defensively when the ball gets rotated 2 or 3 times to an open shooter. They still just give up in those situations and it pissed me off beyond belief. I can’t understand it.
I agree Andre Iguodala played hard while LeBron looked like was coasting a bit and still ended up getting his with relative ease. If he had finished the 4 or 5 drives to the basket when he got fouled he would have had 30 no problem. To me he just didn’t have his full focus and concentration level because he normally doesn’t miss those.
I’ll have a quick post up for you guys to dive into.
At the news conference to announce Williams signing his five-year, $25 mill contract last summer, I asked a Sixers PR guy if that meant Williams was being paid enough to start playing defense. Apparently, the answer is no. But the coaches don’t demand it, so he doesn’t give effort on “D.” He’s quick enough (unlike Miller), but doesn’t move at the defensive end.
In the 29-point Jersey blowout last Sunday, Williams never rotated over on a wide-open baseline shooter, who drained a 3. Iguodala looked at him as if to say, “You know that was your fault.” That happens quite frequently.
bski, You’re quite welcome. Glad you enjoyed it. There’s nothin’ like savory oven-to-table pizza pies to establish contact with good times (and unlike Sixers they always box out).
jjg….Yep, we took a box out. However, the leftovers didn’t make it home. They were eaten in the car post-game while sitting in traffic trying to get to 76 west.
It’s hard to stomach Sixers lately. (bski, your “1 on 1 x 5″ description of their offensive approach resounded in its accuracy.) I’ve watched only 2 quarters total of the last 2 (vs. Bulls & Cavs) due to the amalgam of rot the organization is throwing out on the floor. This isn’t a solid team; it’s a “Coney Island of the Mind” pick-up squad .
Injuries to Smith, Brand & Young of course have taken tolls to varying extents, but the coaching staff has done a poor job of integrating available talent into anything resembling a dependable substitution scheme (important for player production), a coherent motion ball-moving offense and, most importantly, a smart, hardworking, determined, synchronized defense (night in, night out; at least by NBA standards). And they put up with Sam’s vacillation and cargo of crap, enable Lou to imagine himself as a legitimate player by continuing to give him PT regardless of his D “work”and shot selection/misfiring, and turn undisciplined Evans and Speights into pivotal resource players. Given those realities, an expectation of winning is illogical.
Post-game Dileo remains publicly calm and handy with partial-satisfaction and bail-out statements … “we did a lot things well, I liked our effort in [fill in the blank], we ask the Andres to do a lot, we have to do a better job at [fill in the blank], the back-to-back and travel situations … , there’s not much time to practice during the season, blah, blah, blah. If the head coach is intent on publicly protecting this crew for whatever his reasons and agenda, who WILL hold them accountable for maddeningly sporadic play and sometimes embarrassing efforts?
Forget their outside shooting lack, a team that shows up every other game doesn’t get my respect. A long way to go for Ed, Ed and their minions.
“This team is poetry in motion.” – Borat