I am going to miss the first half of this game being at a game of my own.
Iverson is up in the air for tonight’s game. Word is he is “available” to play according to Eddie Jordan but is still listed as a game-time-decision. Not sure what that means, will find out closer to tip off.
The Hornets just traded Hilton Armstrong to the Kings so he won’t be available for them.
The Hornets are trying to get on track having won 6 in a row and 7 of 10.
Chris Paul and David West look to be getting their chemistry together and are both playing well of late. But, even with those two guys the Hornets are a below average team with no cap room to make major moves to surround Paul with enough quality talent to compete out West.
Unfortunately for the Sixers Chris Paul and David West alone is enough talent to handle the Sixers.
Since we are unsure of the starting line-up it’s hard to say who defends Paul. AI or Lou or Willie.
If AI isn’t playing (or not starting) I would put Willie on Paul and Lou on Brown.
David West is going to be a problem for Thad, but it’s an interesting match-up to watch. West has a nice inside outside game but I would have to think he would attempt to post Thad up more than facing up.
On the flip side West isn’t one of the big, slow PFs, so while Thad will have a quickness advantage it’s not as pronounced against West.
Iguodala should dominate Stojavick with his main job getting around countless screens and not getting caught watching Paul dribble around.
Sam and Emeka = wash.
Looking forward to seeing Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton a little bit.
And most of all Jrue trying to defend Paul (if Jordan plays him). That will be very fun to watch.
End result, though Sixers lose. But the Hornets are not an explosive offensive team so if the Sixers shoot well they have a chance.
Donyell Marshall needs to slap himself. When asked if CP3 is the best PG in the league his response “You got guys are are great in certain situations, you put him on another team and he may not be that good”….Really? Paul has 1 good consistant option on offense, and even David West is having a down year, yet he has this garbage ass Hornets team turning things around, and without him, they are about as good as the Nets. Slap yourself Donny Ice! I also don’t see his West – Bosh comparison, but maybe that’s just me.
Sammy already has 8 boards, 2 Blks…I like how Iverson is attacking
has anyone noticed how dalembert is playing out of his mind and starting to justify his contract as soon as iverson came back. And as for what donyell marshall said, paul is in a good situation to shine individually, he hasn’t got anyone else on the team that needs the ball in their hands to be effective, he has a good low post scorer who can also hit a jumper in david west who along with emeka okafor is athletic and can finish alley oops at the rim. Okafor is a defensive anchor in the middle which allows chris paul to gamble on passing lanes which he constantly does. And on top of that he is then surrounded by a myriad of good shooters who can for the most part defend pretty well ala james posey and marcus thornton. Paul is a great player but he is an an ideal situation, not to win a championship or be an elite team but to shine individually, much like iverson was in his first tenure with the sixers. Don’t forget about great players like steve nash who is a better passer and shooter or deron williams who is a much better defender. If you replaced say rajopn rondo with chris paul, rondo would almost be averaging a tripple double been such a focal point of the team in New orleans and paul’s stats would take a massive hit in boston as he wouldn’t get to dominate the ball like he does on the hornets.
Good effort on both ends, finally. L.Will. gave good effort on defense tonight, I guess he needs to be challenged. Very little Marreese again and it shows defensively. Did you guys here Paul, I believe, calling out everytime down in the first half what the sixers were gonna do, “{Iverson off a double screen,etc.” . The starters seem to be meshing well offensively, along with Elton when he comes in. Thornton looked good.
Good to see a win. Is Speight’s in the doghouse. His minutes have been greatly reduced of late.
Ah, this feels a little better. Finally, the Sixers hold onto a lead . . . just barely, of course. But what we got finally was some stops, and then a great look and pass from Dre to Sammy with about 15 seconds life, and Sam going strong to the hoop for the winning bucket. And Dre hitting BOTH free throws to make it a four-point lead was also huge, with C3P in the game. So, yeah, again, you can’t get too excited, it was the second game in two nights for the Hornets, but this win feels pretty good. That’s two long winning streaks the Sixers have stopped now (Celtics, 12, and Hornets, 6).
6.5 games out of the #5 spot!
6.5 games out of the #5 spot!
That doesn’t make me happy… I want a lottery pick damn it!
Chris Paul cant hold A.I
Itz Allen Iverson all day….
Good Game! Like I said I think the team is talented enough to compete with anybody it is just a matter of discipline on both ends of the court. On the offensive end when we are moving the ball we look great and shoot a great pecentage but we never draw fouls in the second half of games for some reason. I would like to see A.I getting to the foul line more he is excellent at it and this should be part of our strategy every night. The defense is getting better just can not leave shooters we have to have the mentality that it is better to give up two points instead of three. Eddie Jordan kept the rotation tight last night which he should have been doing we would have at least 5 more wins than we have now. Maybe he is finally starting to get it. I dont know whats wrong with Thad he seems to be degressing cant hit the jumper anymore and starting to blow bunnies meanwhile Brand is coming around and can make a real case for that starting position eventhough I like him coming off the bench. Sammy is playing great basketball as long as he stays out of foul trouble the D looks great . Well no more Birds so I’m locked into the sixers now not ready to give up on the season just yet.
I haven’t seen it brought up yet, so an update on the Iguodala-for-McGrady talks:
Believe it or not, sources say Philadelphia has not completely ruled out a McGrady-for-Andre Iguodala deal, if only because if the losing continues, Sixers ownership may order a fire sale.
Talks between the two teams have taken place but they have not reached the serious stage. Philadelphia hinted at a package of Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert for McGrady. But while Houston loves Iguodala’s talent, it’s not sure such a deal would make it a legitimate championship contender. To take back the four years, $57 million remaining on Iguodala’s contract after this season, Houston has to be convinced it would become an immediate title contender once Yao Ming returns next season.
That’s Chris Broussard from TrueHoop, by the way…
Zack – The key point in that quote was “if the losing continues.” Right now they are looking like they want to be scrappy and start pulling out some more wins. That throws a monkey wrench in just about every good that could happen with the Sixers.
Eddie Jordan would keep his job.
Their chances at a top 5 pick diminish and therefore hurts our chances to add big talent via the draft when we certainly aren’t in position to do so via free agency.
Things stay the same ole, same ole.
I am not saying I would make that deal but I really don’t see how winning right now helps this team.
A couple of thoughts:
1) It doesn’t sound like it would Stefanski’s call, it sounds like someone from higher up is pushing this.
2) Without Andre and Sam, the starting lineup would be Speights, Thad, McGrady, Iverson, Lou. Brand, Willie, Jrue and Carney come off the bench. I think we’d be one of the worst rebounding teams in the league; almost every one of our remaining players would be offensively inclined (not Ivey, not Smith). I’d insist that they include Joey Dorsey in the deal.
3) I don’t think Houston becomes a legitimate championship contender with Iguodala and Sam, although on paper it seems like they’d have the defense to win it all. Need to mull this over more…
4) If we get T-Mac, we’ll have a “Big 3″ of Iverson, Brand, and McGrady… Maybe there’s a chance these 3 old vets click in some way and surprise everyone with a deep playoff run? That would be a nice little “last hurrah” NBA story.
Zack – Are you looking at getting T-mac the player or getting T-mac the expiring contract?
Also, if they were to do a deal like that it shouldn’t be the only deal they do. They should do everything possible to completely clean house, save Jrue, maybe Thad and/or Speights.
Try to get as far under the cap as possible and throw as much as they can at any elite player they can this summer, they should have enough money to also bring in a side kick with him (if we are able to clean house for expiring deals) and your core would be 2 FAs, Jrue, Top draft pick and maybe Speights or Thad.
I am in no way looking at a deal for T-mac as getting him the player. I could care less about him. He isn’t a draw for me anymore either as a fan.
Dannie, I wouldn’t be suprised if this deal happened, not in the least, and I don’t think winning or losing matters at this point. I think ownership might be at a point where they’re considering everything as sort of a sunk cost in that they invested money in something and aren’t getting a return on that investment, so they’re trying to sell off what they can. It’s obvious the Sam contract wasn’t worth it to them, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were thinking that the Lou Williams contract wasn’t worth it, either (I’m willing to wager that the Lou Williams #23 jersey isn’t such a hot seller). How much more money would they have lost had they just not re-signed Lou and went with a 2nd-round rookie combo guard, or a D-League player?
I bet Sixers management asked themselves this: what does it matter if we win or lose? If we win will we make significantly more money than if we lose? I think they’ve concluded it’s hard to squeeze profits from this team, so they’ll go to your typical business’ Plan B – cut costs. I think we’re going to be more New Orleans/Memphis in the next few years, and I don’t blame them. Philadelphia’s no Sacramento or Portland.
Zack – Yeah I just disagree. I don’t think they are thinking that way at all.
I think they want to win, but they obviously also want and need to make money. I think they realize that even when this team was fighting in the playoffs they weren’t selling out the building. They realize recognizable stars PLUS winning puts people in the seats and subsequently brings in the revenue.
They are looking at this team losing with an above salary cap, nearing the luxury tax payroll and that’s not going to work. But they are also looking at this roster’s revenue potential and that doesn’t look so bright without a superstar either.
I don’t think it’s about cutting costs to cut costs. I think it could be about cutting costs to start fresh and build a revenue generating roster. Doing so will serve everyone’s best interest because to drive revenue you need a superstar and a good enough team around him to compete year in and year out when you aren’t in a city that drools over it’s basketball team regardless of team success.
Dannie, not any superstar will do for this city – he needs personality, like Barkley or Iverson; he needs to be a Philly franchise player.
Hey, I hate to bring over conversation from another blog, but it’s an interesting topic: people are talking about Jrue’s shooting – what do you think is gonna happen to this kid offensively?
Too early to worry about Jrue’s shooting at this point. They didn’t draft him for his shooting so that shouldn’t really be a focus right now. Until he starts getting regular, consistent minutes where he can find his role and rhythm within the offense it’s not something I am thinking about right now.
His shooting numbers sucks right now for sure. But we knew saw that from his freshman year in college as well.
I think the biggest thing we don’t know about Jrue Holiday is what type of growth, improvement, development track he is capable of. Since we only saw him for one year in college there is no baseline. We need to see him in a second year of high level basketball to gauge his overall potential.
Right now he is also averaging 2.8 turnovers per 36 minutes which is most on the team. No one is talking about that either.
His offense as a whole is WAY behind his defense. Development will only come with time and minutes.
I think he could be adequate offensively. What overall impact he can have will be based on what system he is in and what players are around him.
All I know is he can’t be a starting PG on a good team shooting 40% from the field or worse (36.7% currently). Need more attempts from him to see if he just started cold in his first 150 tries or if he simply isn’t a shooter.
Here’s the thing. If he ends up not being a good shooter, than he needs to watch every single minute Rajon Rondo plays to learn how to manage and conceal that weakness, while still having a major positive impact on the offense. Shot selection will be key for him.
In my mind a better free throw shooting Rajon Rondo is his ceiling.
Zack – Yeah I am not sure about the “needs personality.” I am pretty sure people would come out to watch Tim Duncan and a winning team play.
With that said, most superstars nowadays have outgoing personalities. Tends to get them paid more via endorsements.
I take some positives out of the teams recent improved play:
1. Brand and Sam’s value is improving. Not sure if it can improve enough to make it worth the price of moving them (Sam expires after next year anyway.)
2. They are playing more defense and more cohesively. This helps player development and helps the organization better evaluate what the young players can and cannot do. Previously things were such a mess that it was hard to know what to make of the players as individuals.
3. More minutes for Jrue with the 1st team.
Negatives:
1. More time for E.J.
2. Less chance of a top 5 pick
3. More likelihood of the team holding off on making drastic moves to rehape the roster (especially in regards to the long term cap implications of Brand/Iguodala/Lou.)
—
Overall, I sort of expect yet another empty late season push towards near respectability. 30 wins and more BS about the benefits of mediocrity.
But either way, 4-5 coaches in 2+ seasons has to be harmful to the development of the younger players. And more of E.J. is equally harmful.
Jrue/Rondod have a lot in common defensively. Rondo is shorter, but has a crazy wingspan. defensively I think Jrue could become an even better on the ball defender than Rondo (if he adds some strength) but not as good of a ball hawk.
Offensively, both have lousy jumpers. But Rondo has a good 1st step and is a great finisher with excellent body control. Jrue seems to be a more creative PG with better play-making instincts. But it will be wasted if he can not develop enough of an offensive game to keep the opposition honest.
I’m not worried by the T.O.’s They are coming down and correctable. For example, Jrue’s lone T.O. last night he penetrated deep in the lane and kicked out to a wide open 3 pt shooter (CP3 style) but was called for a double dribble. That is a “good T.O.” that can be eliminated. Same with the lazy passes where he underestimates the defenders athletic ability to make the steal- with a slight alteration those T.O.’s become assists.
Ultimately, whether Jrue becomes a solid defensive PG/game manager (role player) or ends up more of an impact player is very dependent on his scoring ability. If he can develop a reliable jumper and turn his good ambidextrous handle into being a better finisher it will really maximize his ability to be a playmaker. He has the right PG instincts, but needs to get the defense to respect him.
I don’t know if he can be a better on-ball defender. He can be a better all-around defender because of his size though. He could handle himself against SGs and switches where he has to deny an average to bad big in the post like he had to do a few teams last night with Emeka defending him. He did a good job on two occasions:
If the Sixers Fire EJ this year and then bring in a new permanent coach this summer (using an interim coach to finish the year) that would mean 5 different coaches in just over 2 seasons. How bad of an impact will that play on the development and evaluation of all of the 23 and under players on the team? I guess its not more harmful than a prolonged exposure to E.J., but either way it gets me frustrated with E.S. It hurts the team if we keep E.S., but is harmful either way.
But what you are describing is EXACTLY what Rondo deals with every single game. Everyone in the world knows he can’t shoot and they sag on him and double off him constantly. He still finds ways to get to the basketball because while he is certainly quick I think he is even more crafty and deceptive with his drives.
As far as Jrue being more creative/playmaking. I think people are jumping the gun on this. Let’s slow down a bit on this. I think he runs pick and roll well. But I have yet to really see him breaking down defenses to create wide open shots for teammates the way truly creative playmakers like Paul and Nash do.
I think he has the potential to be a better perimeter shooter than Rondo and definitely a better free throw shooters. If he learns his limitations the way Rondo has he could put up more scoring numbers and similar assist and steal numbers while also being a very good overall defender. But this is all in wait and see mode. I think people are jumping the gun already before the eggs hatched. Potential doesn’t pan out often enough for me to feel that way also.
How many coaching mistakes did ES really make here that is impacting these 23 and under players? He kept Cheeks on. Mistake or not? Either way I don’t think he hurt development. And Thad was probably his best under Cheeks than any other point.
Hired EJ. Clear mistake. I think he is clearly hurting development.
I do not believe interim coaches have much impact positive or negative on the development of young players unless they completely don’t play them.
If he fires EJ now, we have another interim who will likely have the directive of playing the young players. That doesn’t hurt development in my opinion.
Then it comes down to whether he gets the new head coach right or not.
Right now all the hurting is coming from EJ. Keeping him on with his overcomplicated offense and lack of defensive focus hurts more than anything else.
On the negative, Jrue lacks Rondo’s driving ability and body control. Rondo showed those skills at Kentucky and they have translated to the NBA. If Jrue can’t develop a jumper or in between game he is in trouble because I doubt he will ever be a great finisher/slasher. But at least he has a great handle, is ambidextrous and even showed us a lefty teardrop last game.
As for passing/PG skills I’m way more on board than you. Sure he makes rookie mistakes, but in general IMO he has major pure PG instincts. he gets the ball to the right scorer in the right position and generally on time. He works to create open looks through his ball-handling, but even without him actually creating i think he shows the potential to rack up “easy assists” just because he knows where and when to make the pass.
Along these lines I made the somewhat ridiculous assertion at Depressedfan that given starters minutes Jrue right now could average 11 assists per game if he was on the Celtics. I say that because I think he would rack up those easy assists by knowing where the scorers want the ball. That’s not to say he’d be as good of a player as Rondo, just that Holiday appears to be the right type of PG to get the ball to top scorers.
Why do you think he will never be a good finisher?
And I think we need to separate finisher and slasher they are two completely different things. I actually think he is okay as a driver in general right now and his finishing numbers are obviously subpar at the moment.
I think he his body control is good. he’s shown the ability to contort and move (hide from shot blocker) the ball around while in the air.
He is willing and shown to be capable of using both hands to finish (much more than we can say for Thad). What he needs to learn is how to pick his spots (so there isn’t as much contesting) AND like most rookies how to handle NBA contact at the basket.
Early I saw him following in Thad’s footsteps a bit when he drove looking to just score while trying to avoid contact, rather than having an embracing approach to contact.
Where I think it’s a softness, passivity, reserved thing with Thad, something I am just not sure will change. I don’t think that is the case with Jrue. I just think he needs to adjust for the pace, size, speed and strength of NBA play. Will come with reps.
If takes one thing from Iverson I hope he learns how to handle contact, see it coming, know the shot necessary in that situation and finish that Iverson was able to do his whole career as small guy.
I think Iverson is the perfect guy for Jrue to work with on his offense because Iverson was very good in two key areas I think Jrue will need to: getting to the basket and finishing OR getting fouled (very important) AND stopping, squaring and hitting shots before the second level of defense can get close enough to contest or block his shot, that area between the foul line and charge arc.
on the way to a 11-4 January
I think he has the handle, size and smarts to get in the lane- but he’ll need to learn some crafty ways to be effective scoring once he’s there. Some guys like Rondo are so quick they can blow by there man and have the shot on the glass before the defense reacts. Others like Rose or Kidd can finish with power or alter their shot wile in the air. I just don’t think athletically these are options for Jrue. But guys like Mark Jackson scored a lot in the lane with less natural gifts… but can you learn to be wily like that?
I don’t see Jrue as a horrible Royal Ivey type finisher… but I have not seen much in the way of explosiveness, ability to change direction or great balance when in the lane. As you mentioned, he has made some nice contorted shots, but it was more of a crafty move than one where he directly adapted to the shot blocker.
Overall, I just think he will need to rely more on craftiness than athleticism to be effective inside. I guess you can learn this to a degree? In addition to picking from AI the 8 foot jumper across the lane, I’d love to see more of the teardrop like Mark Jackson used. Also a post up game once he gets stronger.
I do remember reading a couple of years back about drills Lou did to help him learn to score after absorbing contact. It really seemed to help him bring out some potential in that area.
I’m not really sure what type of instruction young NBA players get. They lose a lot by entering the league early, but probably have access to some top level individual instruction. I wish we had bettered detailed coverage on what types of things players are working to add to their game. Stories beyond the simple “Thad went to shooting camp for two weeks…”
Casual fans don’t care about that so the local beat writers don’t cover it with any level of depth.
Isn’t that the type of stuff you read about during training camp or Spring Training? I think its partly because the Sixers are such an afterthought in this town.
I know a lot of individual skill trainers use fighter striking pads and boxing gloves to simulate contact during workouts.
I know some use boat paddles to simulate shot blocking to force higher floating shots around the basket.
You can work on body control, reflexes and reaction by doing martial arts in the off-season.
Just need to get with a good trainer and put in hard, focused work.
There is a reason Kobe comes back just as good or better with new moves every year. His summer workouts are very targeted.
One of the biggest mistakes players make is spreading themselves too thin by attempting to work on every thing possible. Won’t get the number of reps necessary that way.
TK76 - Yes they are an afterthought in general, my point of contention has always been with the people 100% assigned to cover the team. They have no excuse.
I wonder what degree of access the beat writers really have. You’d think players would love to have in depth pieces written about them and all of the work they put into improving off the court. Like all of the fluff… I mean stuff, we used to read about Jerry Rice’s off season and all of the players who made the pilgrimage to climb the hill with him.
In general, as a fan it would help to know what specifically players are working on. it would add some context to what they can and cannot do on the floor.
TK76 – Writers have access to the players. That’s all the access they need. They just need to ask the damn questions and learn how to ask follow-up questions which none of our writer have a clue about.
Also, if you are really interested in elite level training player development check out Stack.com
I remember working out with a private B.B. trainer for a few weeks the summer before college to help me transition from a being a H.S. PF to a DIII SF. can’t remember who I worked with, someone near where I was living in the Poconos.
I was amazed at how much you can improve in a short time with properly targeted drills and strength training. Sure i was still lousy after I was done (no one is a miracle worker), but probably more improved from those weeks then from of of the coaching I got at my small H.S.
TK76 – Where did you play in college and when?
No, I was really pretty bad. Tried to walk on and they did not take any walk ons my year (nor should they have
) I went to Dickinson in the early 90′s. Did play against some good D3 players back then in pick-up games.
Main thing I noticed from working with a trainer was that my 3pt shooting went from average to great pretty quickly by getting my balance right and proper repetition (I remember hitting 47 of 50 3′s once while doing required shooting while I was briefly on the D-son team, but don’t think the coach believed me since I only shot hit about 1/3rd of my 3′s in scrimmages.). But it was easy to regress in game situations or if I got lazy.
Now I’m that lazy guy who hits 25 foot 3′s in rec games but overall am pretty lousy.
Also remember that with proper repetition its not that difficult to develop a decent L handle, even when strongly R hand dominant. Simple cone drills and two ball dribbling and you can quickly develop proper proprioception with your weak hand.
I always wondered whether the 60%+ college 3pt shooting I could get in drills would eventually have translated into in game setting had I stuck with it. Eventually I got to where I was 40%+ in pick up games, but that was unstructured and without really staying committed to developing a consistent shot.
Basically, the question is how well these drills can be consolidated into usable results. One player who I think is a success in this regard is Speights. the guy was taught to shoot in college and really has internalized proper form.
TK, it’s funny because even though I consider the NY media the scum of the earth I have to give them credit in that they cover everything. If EJordon was coaching the knicks it would be hells bells every day in the post and and ny daily news. I like Tom Moore, because he takes the time to interact with us the fans but when it comes to balls ironically the person with the biggest set of them in Philly is Kate Fagan.
So Greek is it the NY media or the fans? The Knicks have a much bigger fanbase than the Sixers.
nice to see a Win but Hornets did not play well at all. hope to see some more strides in next games.
Speights in doghouse, Jrue getting more minutes than WG, Sixers playing some defense, actually winning – it is clear that ES is the new coach.
i agree with Dannie; I dont think we are just going to cut costs, not unless they are desperate. Memphis is different from Philadelphia. We just need a star. that would solve one part of the problem at least. I think they will do everything they can to get that.
TK its the media, these dudes in NY are just sharks. Let alone how many papers there are that follow every team. The things that EJ has said in his many buffoonish post game talks that just get passed over would be back page headlines in NY. I mean they would have eaten his liver with his own braces over his substitution pattern.
Perhaps one of those watching the games more than I am can answer this question: are Brand’s poor rebounding numbers due to his being pulled away from the basket in EJ’s “defense”, or is he simply not taking care of business due to lack of physical ability?
Tk76: Interesting hearing you talk about your trials of improving yourself as a basketball player. While I would have never have had a shot as any kind of walk on even at my very lowly ranked DI school, I did go through a phase where I really wanted to improve different areas of my game when in my early 20′s.
I did a lot of post game/pivot work and constant repetition on the different options of footwork at various points in the paint, usually 5-10 feet from the basket, and did a lot of drills to improve my weak dribbling hand (right). And I had the same experience as you for much of the time: I was amazed at just how quickly my game improved…like with an instrument when musicians describe “the hands know the instrument better”…I felt my body reacting on it’s own to certain situations and reads better.
Also like you though, I sometimes would regress in game situations when faced with legitimate talent, and would get caught in ruts where I felt that when practicing myself or in mid level competitive games I could see the hard work come to fruition, but it didn’t always translate (right away, there was almost always a lag) to actual games. And what you said about mental lazyness…couldn’t agree more. Sports really is mental, and you REALLY have to have that duality of being 100% focused and concentrated…yet relaxed…at all times, to allow all the repetition your body has gone through to be an arsenal ready to come out. If that lazyness starts sinking in, especially with little things, it’s amazing how quickly all the hard work can be thrown to the wind and have zilch effect in games.
Morty – I’d say it’s a combination of EJ’s defensive schemes like you said, but even moreso simply the irregularity of Brand’s minutes. When you have a player’s minutes jerked around like his has, one of not several statistical categories will tend to nosedive.
Now I wouldn’t be saying that if Brand was consistently averaging less minutes at a regular pace…but with the whole 35 mpg, 22 mpg, 38 mpg, 26 mpg deal…and irregular substitution patterns between D-Bere, Brand and Speights…it makes sense to me the #’s would be less consistent. That said I wouldn’t say Brand is “relentlessly” attacking every missed shot with a Rony Turiaf or Paul Millsap like hunger…but in watching him Brand is certainly bringing, I would say, a good solid B+ effort in the rebounding department.
I would also argue his #’s are down due to a great deal of OTHER Sixers not doing their job to box out. I’ve noticed a lot of plays where Brand has proper positioning, has made the right rotation, is planted in the correct spot and has read where the miss will come from right…only to have Thad Young or some other boneheaded interior player of ours not box out, leading to player Y coming in at the last second and swooping a board away that should have been Brand’s.
Dannie – I hadn’t heard of Stack.com before, that looks like a great site. The internet is great for resources like that…Youtube has one hell of a selection for basketball drills to improve your game, everything from pro’s to coaches, joe shmoe’s that know the game well, etc. Very hit or miss, but it never ceases to amaze me how much quality free stuff there is to find just sitting out there in webland.
Morty – I personally think Brand isn’t pulling his own weight on the boards. He has been extremely disappointing and no matter the reason it’s still unacceptable.
Sammy is playing by far the best basketball of his life and has been dominating on the boards. He is eating up a large % of them. Iguodala is doing his normal job on the boards as well.
If Brand was rebounding strong as well the Sixers would clean the glass at an obscene rate with those three guys workin’.
I am not one to make excuses for anyone either. Brand is playing power forward and while he is on the perimeter some it’s not excessive. His lack of quickness, jumping ability and overall athleticism hurts him when it comes to rebounding out of the area he is when the shot goes up. He isn’t beating guys to the ball so he is just collecting what falls to him, whereas Sammy is rebounding all over the place.
On the offensive end he has always been a 15 foot player for the most part. He likes to face up a majority of the time and he is doing the same thing here. Is offensive rebounding rate isn’t significantly down from his career number: 10.6% this season vs. 11.8% career.
He is defensive rebounding: 15.2% this year vs. 19.1% career.
His total rebounding rate is 12.9% vs. 15.5% for his career.
He is rebounding worse than Speights right now. For comparison, Sam is collecting 20.3% of all available rebounds this season on the Sixers.
Dave T – My younger brother is a up and coming trainer who is looking to specialize in basketball training. He has a degree in exercise science and is a certified personal trainer. He put me on that that site a while ago.
DaveT, although its generally a bad idea to try and generalize our personal (low level) basketball experiences to what NBA player go through- in this case I think you can. I think many players work on learning new skills, but it takes an extreme level of dedication and repetition to consolidate new skills. Much more effort than the initial learning. The fact that NBA players have so many games probably makes it even harder to unlearn previous bad habits and consolidate the new ones without regressing.
In general I see players improving their jumpers over their career (probably through repetition and less movement in their shot as they lose explosiveness) but its rare to see players who consistently add to their games year after year. But then again its typical to see college players completely transform their games.
Wasn’t their a recent article somewhere about most NBA players reaching their peak productivity at age 25 (Iguodala’s age?)
On a sappier note, one of the strange things about really pushing yourself to achieve something and then failing is how surprising it is to see how good you could actually become- even if you ultimately fell short of the goal. I’m sure some great person has a much better quote to this end (on one of those Successories posters, no doubt.)
Personally I prefer “Deotivators” : http://www.despair.com/viewall.html
Sorry, should read “Demotivators”, ironic fail on my part.
Like “MISTAKES
It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.”
Tk76: Nice comments man. I actually think you are spot on though with comparing our own “low level” attempts to improve our games compared to NBA players. Basketball is basketball, and I don’t care if you are a pro, amateur, rec league or street game baller trying to improve your game. If you want to improve your game it takes discipline, repetition, will power, mental strength, and you have to kick your ass to get into prime shape…all that is tough, and it gives you an appreciation for the kind of work, and particularly EXHAUSTION, these NBA athletes put in day in and day out.
Your point about whether College (and I’d add European players, who have a regular season of usually 20 or so games, plus Euroleague if in it for another 20-25 games, plus any cups) players that play far fewer games, vs. NBA players that play 82 + playoffs, where there is a huge physical and mental burnout level, can improve more is interesting. I think the NBA would always have the upper hand there, simply because of the access they have to high level trainers and paid staff whose sole job exists to make one individual player better. College can have a similar staff, but due to restrictions with the coaches being involved with players during the summer, and the more team focused aspects of the college game in general, I actually think the player in college would need to take it upon themselves to improve more on their own time.
Pushing yourself to achieve, failing to reach the goal – Tk I couldn’t agree more with the double edged sword that this is. When you don’t hit that end goal you set for yourself, it can be frustrating because it can be easily seen as a failure. Moreso because it gives you a glimpse of the player you could have become, or could become, if you truly had the time and will to constantly work on your game…or instrument, or art, or whatever the hobby is…and you get frustrated because you become aware that you simply don’t have the time in your life to dedicate yourself like that to one thing…worrying about money, girlfriends/wives, social lives, downtime to recover…these all get in the way of pursuing something passionately, and it can be tough to have those moments of “Wow, I could REALLY improve in xyz…if only I was younger and didn’t have to work this other job and…” etc.
I think the thing to remember is that by aiming high with goals…even though you don’t reach them you will have always improved…sometimes only a little, sometimes dramatically…from where you started. I remember one summer I made it my goal to improve my shot, I really wanted to get it consistent, to the point where I was a lights out shooter and it just came automatic. And after months of plugging away at it, I wasn’t anywhere NEAR where I wanted to be. My 3 point shot was still garbage, and I still couldn’t hit a corner shot to save my life. But learning better form, how my foot stance should be, working on the timing of my shot, etc…I’m no Dell Curry, but I now have one hell of a 15-17 foot jumpshot that I feel confident in nailing from anywhere along the free throw line. I had to cut my losses and realize that my goal wasn’t going to be attainable, but I still really improved an area of my game big time.
Stuff like this is why I have so much respect for basketball-holics like Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, and others like them. Those guy’s work ethic is just freaking unbelievable…they’ve literally dedicated their lives to the game, and in my opinion it’s the mental toll on you that takes that would shatter me. These guys really understand there is no end goal, and it’s a constant journey of practice, repetition, and fine honing your skill set and improving and tweaking little things in all areas. They understand they are not the player they could be, and can always improve…and given their stature in the NBA, that’s incredible.
How Philadelphia is it that Dalembert is just breaking out this year…his 8th year in the league or whatever it is…after the ENTIRE city is just mentally done with him and is looking forward to having his contract end next year as a trade chip or cap space. It’s so fucking typical of the zany way sports works that in the second to last year of an overpaid contract a player decides to get off his ass and put shit together. Grr.