Sixers are set up nicely to finally win three games in a row. They face off against the Hornets minus the best point guard in the NBA.
Does that mean it will finally happen? I say no. Some will tell you it’s because of Eddie Jordan and blame in 100%. I am not one of those people. Eddie Jordan’s ridiculous rotations and overall coaching philosophy is a hurdle, a big one, but the players are still accountable once the ball goes up. They still have the most control over the outcome of the game. And whether Jordan puts the most talented Sixers on the court or not these are all NBA players. More importantly they are men who should have enough pride and competitive spirit to be better than what they’ve shown.
Where I have issue is with the natural fire these players seem to lack. Specifically the lack of consistent fire and a simple will to pull out close games. Forget Eddie Jordan. We know he is a damn fool. What’s the players excuse?
This is your game thread for tonight.
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{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting p.g. battle tonight, and Thornton has been playing well.
Thornton may be out Suede, and Hornets just signed Jason Hart for insurance…If Thornton can’t go the Sixers really would have to give them the game, but who knows
Just tuned. What the fuck are those NOH unis? I think they broke my HD.
Willie getting first quarter minutes never makes me happy.
Yeah those jerseys are AWFUL.
Who dat say dem N’Awlins jerseys are ugly???
Us Sixers fans!
Is there any other starter in the NBA who gets 17 minutes a game? Is Jordan ever going to let Jrue get big minutes or just let him “start” because that is what Ed wants?
Thaddeus Young must have been surfing reclinergm in his spare time. was fired up tonight, even providing his own version of defense, as clumsy as it was.
was hoping that since Jrue was putting the ball in the net some, he would get more burn but its the usual. Lou and WG backcourt may look sexy but there’s a reason they came back so quickly once we stopped scoring points. its very hard not to blame Eddie Jordan. really…..
can’t believe Hornets are in playoff hunt. they are in as close a situation to us as any other Western Conf. team I can imagine, in the sense that they need to just tank and land an impact player. they wont have cap space till next summer, dont even know if that will be enough to get someone to help CP3.
Peja may be the softest 6′10 play the NBA has ever seen. Given he is a terrific shooter historically, and is probably the only reason he is still in the league, but this guy has gone over 10 rebs once so far this season…Once in half the season? At 6′10? Really? C’Mon Son!
interesting quote from Iguodala trade article: How my game’s seen around the league, I think I’m one of those guys who gets a lot more respect from my peers than those who don’t know much about basketball
hmm….well placed shot.
Jkay, they have their superstar at least and had a real good draft. But seeing as Lebron hasn!t even won a title yet, there definitely are no guarentee!s. I can!t even enjoy watching this; who is part of our future, 10 years of crap play if they blow this up, and no guarentee we even draft a star; that is why I wish they would go the opposite way, build around Elton, Iggy and Jrue, resign Sam for 5 to 6 million and get a defensive coach and use Lou, Thad, and our #1 to get a A. Jefferson or M.Ellis if it is possible.
Booooo. Another win. Decrease our draft chances and it just might give start giving ownership confidence in Stefanski and Jordan. Winning is the least helpful thing for this team right now. Sad to say.
Barbosa career per 36 numbers- 18 ppg./4 ass./ 3 reb./ 47% f.g./ 40 % 3 pt./ 83 % ft. . Stoudemire career per 36 numbers- 22 ppg./ 9 reb./ 1.5 blocks/ 54% fg./ 76 % ft. . Dannie, I am assuming Amare doesn!t opt out of his 17 mill. next year and if this trade happens for Sam and Iggy what upside does this lineup have- Amare/ Elton/ Thad/ Leandro/ Jrue; Can other pieces be used [L.Will.] to bring in a defensive big that could make this front court work ? If they really aren!t blowing it up can this group challenge in the east? And can Elton and Amare be compatible offensively?
Suede – Think of it like this…
What is Phoenix’s upside? What has Phoenix accomplished? Then remember they have a 2-time MVP playing point guard for them and a decent head coach.
Amare and Barbosa would have to work much harder offensively on the Sixers without Nash.
From what I’ve read Amare and Shaq were cool off the court. They genuinely liked each other. But on the court Amare didn’t like playing with him. He didn’t like sharing front court touches offensively with another low post player. Brand isn’t Shaq but he is another front court post player that wants/needs the basketball. That could be a problem, it might not. I tend to think it would because we won’t have a point guard like Nash who can properly distribute the ball to everyone and keep all the weapons relatively happy and in check. On top of that Nash is also a strong leader who could keep guys in check. This roster doesn’t have that either.
Defensively 3 of your 5 starters are below average to quite bad defensively. Your first big off the bench (Speights) might be the worse defensive PF in the NBA. If Lou is still on the roster your first guard off the bench is a Barbosa clown who is probably worse defensively and doesn’t shoot it as well from the perimeter.
Upside, meh. Limited, still too weak defensively, adding one defensively specialist here or there isn’t going to do it.
This teams needs to tank like it should have tanked 3 seasons ago. Trade igoudala and Salembert for trash.
Salembert?
Barbosa might also be the fastest player in the league, at worst top 5.
sammy salembeart, I love it
Morty, I agree, but just doing a what if, as in what if the Ed!s aren!t going anywhere? What if our coach gets his way and helps mold the roster; as a fan I want to see good basketball and if we become Pheonix east with a chance, in a down year, to get to the finals? Not what I want but? Scenerio, addressing some doubts; We draft Aldrich, giving Jordan a high post passing center, we move Elton off the bench and pair him with Marreese and the rotation of Amare, Cole, Elton and Marreese demands that our moron coach play a big lineup at all times. We use Lou, Jason and a fut.#1 if necessary to get a starting 2 guard , [Azuibuke, as an example]. Now Barbosa comes of the bench, that is a pretty solid team and not terrible defensively.
Nova ran into a buzzsaw, oh!! that is how the P.O. is supposed to work.
Suede, good to see you are off the street today. I like those NO uni’s, a lot. Seems like EJ is finally accepting what he has. Lou Will is finally an off the bench guy. Elton is getting a lot of minutes. Eventually, he’ll come around with Sammy and maybe even the rookie. Just takes him a little more time than most. He may evolve into John Wooden, eventually. Possibly, by the year 2013.
Barbosa is the fastest player in the league, it’s not even a debate…but he blows defensively and he isn’t a starting point guard. Though, he is my favorite player in the league so I would love for him to come to Philly and get a chance to start but it won’t happen, and I don’t know that it should. Not if they ever want Jrue to develop…which it doesn’t seem like Eddie wants him to do.
I agree with Danny that if you were to get Amare and Barbosa then your already bad defensive team just got worse, but while you have a coach who doesn’t give a crap about defense then I guess it wouldn’t matter if you have defensive players on your team.
You can start Barbosa at shooting guard where he belongs along Jrue. Barbosa is NOT a point guard just as much as Lou Williams and Monta Ellis are not point guards nor should anyone categorize him as such. He is just another undersized SG.
NOW, a line-up of Jrue, Barbosa, Iguodala, Brand and Sam is not half bad. Barbosa adds a scorer on the wing next to Iguodala and for Jrue to pass to who can also shoot the three at a decent clip.
And he is surrounded by 4 solid to very good defenders and he fits with a transition offense as well.
I really don’t want any part of Amare. I think it would be a catastrophic mistake to trade Iguodala and NOT package him with Elton Brand. If the team wants to trade Dala and go in a different direction that’s fine. But it must be a package deal with Brand leaving the club at the same time, before or shortly after.
Sam is no longer a problem or deterrent to the teams future as he only has one year left and is playing the best ball of his career. His value is up and will go up once this season is over and his contract is in the last year of the deal.
Dannie…do you ever visit http://www.libertyballers.com
There is an article or post rather on that site that discusses an Iggy and Brand to Dallas deal. The post links here: http://www.dallasbasketball.com/fullColumn.php?id=2524
Personally, if Ed could pull of a trade unloading those two contracts for expiring contracts then I would kindly shake his hand and then fire him so that they can get someone with a clue in here to hopefully build a winner.
If Ed could get anyone to take Brand and Iguodala in the same deal he should do it immediately and start fresh with a lot of money and a top 10 at worse draft pick. That’s a better position than we are in right now.
I honestly don’t want to trade Iguodala. I think he is a good player who could be even more valuable if he doesn’t need to be a primary scorer offensively.
The problem with Iguodala offensively is that he doesn’t know his limitations as a player. When he is forced to be the primary scorer he doesn’t look very good trying to score consistently. BUT, when he plays off the ball he mostly becomes relegated to a jump shooter which obviously is the weakest part of his game.
He needs to learn better shot selection in the half court and develop a better post game to make the most of his size, strength and athletic ability. I good, smart coach could help with this aspect of his game and at only 26 I think it’s still possible for it to actually happen.
Agreed 100%. I would only trade Iggy if you could unload Brand as well. Just packaging Sammy with Iggy is retarded to me since Sammy is done next year anyway. Though i’d be good if he signed back here at a cheaper rate.