I am excited about going to this game (Pete as well) for a number of reasons.
- The Sixers are 2 games behind the Heat for the 6th playoff spot in the East and with a win could gain a full game. More importantly this is a nice in-conference test with a team on a similar level as the Sixers. We will see how they stack up.
- Pete and I both have always liked and wanted the Sixers to draft Mario Chalmers. We get to watch him up close and personal.
- When I selected what games I would go to this season I made it a point to pick the teams where some of the top rookies are playing. Tonight is the Beasley game on my schedule. I’ve watched him a bit on NBA League Pass and you can see the vast potential he has as an offense player. He is having an OK season which in my opinion is just fine. People may think he has disappointed but I would disagree. For a #2 pick he didn’t go to a team where he had to step in immediately and play 35 MPG and be the best player on the team. I think that will benefit his development tremendously over the long haul. January was his best month from the field, from three and rebounding the ball. Once he learns how to post up in the NBA and draw more fouls with his ability to face up and drive he will easily be a 20ppg scorer (at least) for a long time. Now he just needs to get with the program on the defensive end.
- The real Dwayne Wade is playing this season. Nuff said.
Two things worry me about this game and they are two core strengths of the Heat:
- Miami is #2 in the NBA in not turning the ball over
- Miami is #2 in the NBA in forcing turnovers
When you look at this with regard to the Sixers you can see where the problem is.
The Sixers like to and need to force turnovers to play the running style they thrive in at a high level. When they don’t force turovers they are forced to play defense for a longer period of time and I just don’t think they are great in that situation. When they don’t turn teams over their break isn’t nearly as potent either. And we all know they struggle in the half court.
The Sixers on the flip side do not take care of the ball very well. They are 24th in offensive TOV% and that plays right into the hands of the Heat. Do you remember the first game (massacre). The Sixers lost 106-83 with our boy Mario Chalmers finishing with 9 steals. The Sixers turned the rock over 25 times while the Heat only 14. That lead to Miami having a 32-10 advantage in points off turnovers and a 21-8 margin in fast break points. Those numbers tell the story of that game.
If the Sixers want to avoid a similar result they will need to be smart with their passes. The Heat love to get in the passing lanes and they have the players to do it well (Wade, Chalmers, Marion).
Luckily that game was extremely early in the season when just about every player on the Sixers roster was shooting horribly. Miami is a good defensive team (8th in the NBA) but the Sixers certainly should improve on 37.5% field goal shooting they displayed back on November 5th.
Sixers vs. Heat Game Notes
- 41 bench points
- Only 11 turnovers
- 30-36 from the line (83.3%)
Those three points are what lead to the Sixers win tonight. It was apparent watching the game live even without the luxury of the boxscore.
I was curious about Dileo’s substitutions and line-up he had out there in the fourth quarter. Andre Miller didn’t enter the game in the 4th until the 2:47 mark. He took Iguodala out of the game at the 8:41 mark. At that time the score was 74-74 and the players on the floor were:
- Royal Ivey
- Marreese Speights
- Louis Williams
- Reggie Evans
- Thaddeus Young
Those guys created a 10 point lead and it was an 89-80 game with 2 minutes and 57 seconds left when Dileo finally put Iguodala and Miller back on the floor. Iguodala, Miller and Green weren’t shooting the ball well and the Andre’s had 6 of the 11 turnovers. That’s good coaching and I like the confidence he instilled in the bench guys.
Reggie Evans and Royal are becoming the energy and toughness this needs. Have you noticed that Ivey is usually the other guard on the court at the end of games? Unless Lou and Willie are having a strong shooting game it is starting to look like Dileo likes Ivey’s defense, energy and three point shooting (2 big threes tonight) on the court late.
Those guys have found their role and taken it and ran with it. I like it. Those two players in my opinion are championship-type role players. They just do their job, they work hard, they are tough and provide a spark exactly when the team needs it. Better yet we have a coach that recognizes this and has been effectively utilizing them. Something Cheeks didn’t do at all.
Still love Mario Chalmers game. 18 points, 7 assists, 5 boards and 2 steals and 2 turnovers.
Good win going into a tough test on Monday.
Next Game: Monday against the Phoenix Suns. Looke like Amare will be front and center for Stefanski to take a look at. It would be nice if Steve Kerr is traveling with the team right now to talk with other execs face-to-face about potential trades.
Loading ...
{ 1 trackback }
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Also, in that previous meeting, Andre Iguodala had 2 POINTS in the game (1 of 7 shooting). I doubt that will happen again, we have come long way since then.
Now, we are 5th in the league in forcing turnovers. But we must be careful in the passing lanes!! The Heat thrive mightily on steals, they are like a group of Chris Paul’s out there (Chalmers especially).
The starters for Miami are not very good from beyond the arc, but they have specialists like Cook coming off the bench. Except for Cook, perhaps zone would be encouraged.
Rob – You like repeating what I post, huh?
Cook is out for tonight’s game. But they have Chris Quinn who is shooting 41% from three doing a good job. Beasley and Chalmers both shoot 37% from three.
i’ll be at the game tonight too. love seeing wade. i don’t think miami is a good matchup for us, mostly because of your point about turnovers.
Dannie–sort of, for reiteration, not for mockery. Great to hear that Cook is out.
This is a big game. We must win the season-series in case of a tie breaker at the end of the season.
The Heat are a decent road team at (10-14), but at home, they are ridicuously hard to beat at (16-8).
We have won 10 of the past 11 meetings against the Heat at home. Hopefully, we can continue that success, despite Wade’s point total. His career high is 48 points, which was achieved twice, once against the Sixers in a 126-119 OT loss to us April 14, 2005. That game was on TNT and I remember we rallied big time in that game. Iverson stole the inbound pass from Damon Jones after he scored and he passed it to Korver for the three. That was a great game!
Rob- That was a great game. Korver hit many memorable shots as a Sixer. And Allen Iverson of course was alright.
Royal with cheese,” THAT is one TASTY burger “!!!
Nice to see that the bench took their poor effort last game seriously. Much needed effort from them tonight. Royal in Wades pants. Lou Will actually distributing down the stretch. Reggie being Reggie again against a quality team. Crazy Speights coming through big time. Good finish after stumbling in the 1/2 court offense in the 2nd & 3rd qtrs.
jus glad to see another W, it got ugly but ended up in a victory
The bench played 45 of the 60 fourth-quarter minutes, with Speights, Ivey and Evans each going the full 12 minutes and Williams getting nine. Starters Iguodala and Young each played six minutes and Miller the final three.
Ivey (10) and Speights (nine) accounted for 19 of the 31 points in the period, with Ivey limiting Wade to 1 point and 0-for-4 shooting.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra raved about the high-energy Evans (nine rebounds, five points), saying, “It seemed like he was everywhere on the court tonight. We didn’t have an answer for him. He probably impacted the game as much as anybody.”
Glad to see the Sixers learn to play through ugly, gutsy games where teams are playing zone on us. We failed to do so against the Nets, but I’m glad to see that we played through it this time.
Our bench was incredible!! Who would have thought that Royal would be hitting the threes for this team? I hope Lou can get back to being the Lou we know, but I’m glad that he made that big steal. Reggie Evans has been demonstrating for the last couple of weeks that he really belongs to this team! Give Tony DiLeo credit for playing the bench the rest of the way–all the great signs of a great coach TO BE, going with your gut. Plus, it gives the starters plenty of rest for the next game against the Suns.
Give former Phoenix Sun Shawn Marion credit for defending Andre Iguodala, who scored only 12pts. But Iggy will go on a rampage against the Suns, like that one performance he had last season against them. They will be sorry (again) for trading Marion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMgLFRxY4H4
Also, I am looking forward to this matchup:
Steve Nash v.s Andre Miller (two of the craftiest point guards)
Dannie, that 2nd half was played like a playoff game, slow pace and toughness on defense. We seem to be getting tougher with Royel and Reggie getting increased minutes and it will be interesting to see how our coach proceeds as the playoffs get closer, we have all talked about a defensive personality, because of not having a star, well that may help us in a 7 game series and a healthy Elton next year should improve on that. If a move is made at the deadline I hope it is a player that can score, but also defend like hell.
It probably will not continue but whoever helped Evans out with his free throw shooting is in line for an award.
Last year an air ball per game was the norm.
<q cite=”It probably will not continue but whoever helped Evans out with his free throw shooting is in line for an award.”>
Well its Jeff Ruland, and I’d say he owes the team something…
Asked Stefanski what DiLeo would have to do to stay on as coach beyond this season Saturday and Stefanski said, “I’m going to wait ’til the end of the year and then evaluate everything. And he wants it the same way.”
The Sixers are 16-10 under DiLeo after a 9-14 start and have gone 10-4 at the Wachovia Center heading into tonight’s game against the Suns.
The question I asked on my phillyburbs blog was: What would DiLeo have to do to stay on for a full season as coach? Does he have to win a playoff round or would a certain record (maybe 35-24?) be enough?
Tom I was thinking about that this weekend. I have some thoughts but too long to put in the comments. I will post something and link over to you.
That’d be great, Dannie. I think it’d get a decent amount of feedback.