This match-up lost a ton of luster when A.I. bounced. Now it’s just two below average teams battling and trying to figure out a winning mix.
The storyline most of us will be watching is how does Elton Brand back-up his best performance as a Sixer.
I know he doesn’t want or think that game will be a one hit wonder.
“That’s nothing,” Brand said. “I’ve still got better games to come. I’m still missing shots I can make, getting my hands on loose balls I could’ve had and there were some rebounds I could’ve got to.” ~ Elton Brand
We certainly need him to play better for a host of reasons as well.
- Trade value
- Help us win some more games if that indeed is what the team wants to do (as opposed to tanking)
- Earn is pay
As for the game it will come down to our defense and rebounding as usual. Memphis has 4 legit scorers in Gay (20ppg) Randolph (18ppg), Mayo (18ppg), Gasol (15ppg) and all those guys are shooting it pretty well. So the Sixers will be tested at every position. The catalyst is Conley at the point who is in charge of making sure those four guys get plenty of good scoring opportunities. Can Lou keep him out of the lane?
When Memphis is really good offensively it’s when Conley is both creating for teammates and getting in the lane for short jumpers and floaters. I expected to see Ivey, Green and hopefully Jrue playing in this game to deal with their guards.
On the rebounding front Memphis is very good. They are the #1 offensive rebounding team and 11th in defensive rebounding. With Speights out Sam will have to play and play well. I do not trust Jason Smith to control the boards or defend the paint.
I’ll be around chatting for the game but my attention will probably be more focused on UNC vs. Cuse in the 2K Sports Classic championship game at Madison Square Garden.
I will end up watching the replay of the Sixers in it’s entirety and post something on the game tomorrow morning.
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
memphis is the number one offensive rebounding team in the league? that spells big trouble for us unless brand has another big game and can pull boards all night
Dannie-
from the other thread when u said u werent a huge fan of Iggy and said most people already know that. this is my first 76ers season on reclinergm i only found it during the last Phillies season.
To tell you the truth, I wasn’t a big enthusiast of resigning Iguodala in the first place. I never thought he was worth the contract he’s getting. I still think Thad’s ceiling is higher than Iguodala’s; and I actually think that Iggy isn’t going to get any better during his career unless he controls himself better and somehow gets a jump shot. It’s true, Thad can’t handle the ball at all and is awkward on the floor, but he’s really young and I think if we get a head coach like Byron Scott he can really go in a good direction.
Adam – I doubt no one was enthused about resigning Iguodala at that number. There were varying degrees on that. Some didn’t want him back at all. Some wanted him to be signed for a lesser number.
I think he is a good third or fourth guy on a good team. Right now he is the #1 option and I that isn’t commensurate with this skill level or game. If we could get a top flight player in here Iguodala would have much more value for me.
Thad right now just hasn’t shown enough total game for me to consider him a star or elite player. I see him as a good scorer and nothing else for his career.
And I just haven’t seen guys like develop into stars who haven’t shown in at the lower level. The NBA isn’t a development league. That’s what college is for.
Good start for Brand again so far. I think I gotta root for this guy.
He doesn’t showboat like the rest of these clowns and at least looks to be working hard and giving a crap about winning.
7 first quarter turnovers
Memphis shoots 56% from the field
I was excited for the resigning of Andre, just because I’ve always been a big fan. I think he can be the number 2 option on a good team (with an allstar already on it). I do think some people undervalue what exactly he does for this team though. Fans from other teams that I’ve talked to, always say he can’t do anything, but dunk. Far from the truth.
As for the game tonight (End of the 1st quarter). It looks like we are going to struggle guarding the Grizzlies big men. Brand looks good early, and Andre already has 6 assists. STILL looking for Jrue to get in the game. There has to be a reason that we fans aren’t seeing. The one time he received minutes, he produced and played excellent defense. I can’t wait to see what we have in him.
Way to take advantage of not getting back on defense Lou.
Look at this line-up
Weird.
Brezec looks quite horrible. Three missed gimmies.
Brezec has looked quite horrible his whole career. Saw that performance coming from a mile away.
I completely agree with you about Thad, Dannie. I don’t expect him to be a star, but with our younger core (thad/jrue/speights) we don’t need anyone to emerge as a huge star. I think Speights has the highest potential because he’s already shown he can go for 20 and 10. If they all turn out to be just above average we can have a solid core for years to come. I seriously doubt that Thad will ever be a superstar, but I said that I think he has a higher ceiling than Iggy and I never thought Iggy would be a star either.
Seriously, can Jason Smith do ANYTHING without fouling?
ugh, two really bad turnovers in the fourth really hurt us. the lou williams lazy behind the back shitty pass, and the tragedy they put together with brand tipping the ball to memphis. i think both turnovers lead to baskets as well.
i don’t think andre is qualified to be a second scorer in the nba, his jumpshot isn’t good enough. he’s much more of a slasher and an athlete than a scorer
That was a dumb ass shot by lou bailed out by Iguodala.
Then we get completely lost in rotations again and Gay who has lit them up gets a wide open shot.
Oh and Thad can’t pulled down a defensive rebound to save his life.
Oh what a surprise we have here. Two offensive rebounds by the Grizzlies in the final minutes, and two complete defensive breakdowns. I officially have zero confidence in this team. Not that I had any before.
Yo Mark Zumoff needs to learn that when Iguodala or Lou shoots threes it’s not a “healthy three” it’s actually quite “unhealthy.”
Well this was one of the 3 games I thought this team could win over the next 10 and they will be losing in 9.6 seconds.
0-10 looks more realistic than 2-10 right about now.
this team is really bad, theyre lucky they played NJ twice early in the season otherwise they would probably have two more losses and two less wins right now. i see lottery in our future
Correction: They are lucky they played NJ with only 8 and 9 total players missing 2 or 3 starters.
Lucky they played the Bucks in the first couple games for Jennings before he figured out his speed is unstoppable.
Lucky Charlotte is inexplicably a worse shooting them that the Sixers are.
Lucky Al Harrington fouled out at the start of overtime in the Knicks game.
Something has got to give. We lost to the MEMPHIS GRIZZLES!!!!!! That should not have happened. They killed us on the boards. KILLED. Is it safe to call this season a wash at this point?
And while I’m at it, why shouldn’t we sign A.I.? (That might be the fan in me talking but I don’t care. Bring him home.)
haha dannie i just figured the point about the nets was implied
Home? How about moving this team to a city that actually supports it’s team even if they suck.
please, with the way the phillies/eagles/flyers have been performing in recent years, why should anyone support the worst team in the city? they suck and they make terrible front office decisions
So talk me through E.J.’s thinking…
late in the 3rd, leading but being killed on the boards… so he decides to go small ball for the final 15 minutes.
A bit of a head scratcher from our fearless leader.
This team put me to sleep in the second quarter, good thing that I woke up for the tremendous finale.
Greek – Your post 23 and 26 are contradictions.
TK76 – Eddie Jordan is a moron and far from a leader. I hate this dude he has absolutely no clue how to coach. What the hell was Stefanski thinking? He got completely duped on this one which speaks to his intelligence as a GM.
I would not be surprised if Dileo is back coaching the team in 10 games.
Seriously, I thought Mo Cheeks was fighting above his weight, but even Mo and his love of all things small would hesitate before sending out a C/PF combo of Brand/Kapono in a tied ballgame (where you are already getting killed on the boards.)
I’m not saying Wooden on his best game gets this squad over .500, but I’m still worried about the influence Jordan might have on this young roster over the next 2+ seasons.
If Jordan is here 2+ years the plan must be to lose as many games as possible secure top draft choices and find a way to trade nearly everyone on the roster. At that point you bring in a real coach and build the team from scratch.
Another thing regarding EJ, from RealGM:
by tmoore on Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:57 pm
He was asked about it. His response: “If you’re not a physical team … It’s an old saying that if you don’t bite as puppies, you’re not going to bite as dogs. If you didn’t rebound as a young man or teenager, you ain’t going to rebound when it’s time to be a man. We just don’t happen to have those types of guys right now.”There was no leadership. Coaches can do so much — getting up and clapping and cajoling and encouraging them in the huddle. It just didn’t happen. Their will and determination were just much higher than ours.”
….Way to throw your team under the bus. Talk about leadership.
…and:
tmoore on Fri Nov 20, 2009 9:19 pm
Jordan afterward: “There were two different teams out there tonight. One team (the Grizzlies) rallied around each other and the other team fragmented. I’m not going to sugar-coat it. We had five different guys go five separate ways. It’s about team vs. non-team. It’s a game we could’ve won if we’d have had some camaraderie and positive energy.”
…yes, this was another example of how, like on most nights, the Grizz, legendary for their team play and crisp execution steal the show. If only EJ could get the Sixers to show team play and execution that could match the all mighty Grizz.
BTW, this same Sixer squad was known for effort, energy, hustle and “camaraderie and positive energy” before this year. It was ironic how the lethargic Sixers made the grizz remind me of the plucky yet mediocre Sixers from the prior 2-3 years.
TK76 – Thanks for the quotes. I am going to post them along with my rant for the night.
wow, those quotes are ridiculous. it shows that EJ is a terrible coach. how can you be an NBA coach and not take any blame/credit for a teams success/failures if you’re not a leader? Any good NBA PLAYER not even a COACH would take the blame for his team not playing the way they should with hustle and effort. in fact, i don’t even think hustle/effort is the issue with this team. they obviously have no clue how to rotate on defense. my coach in high school knows how to teach defense better than EJ. they also have terrible ball movement. they seriously hand off the ball at the top of the key for the first 5 seconds after they get passed half court each time they don’t have the ball n a fast break. the only time our team looks half decent is when they create turnovers and get on the fast break. even then they turn the ball over way too much due to the fact that they have no real ball handler at the point.
i know i bitched for about five minutes in this post, but i’ve been drinking wine all night with my girlfriend and i’m angry