Tony DiLeo has one game and now 2 full practices under his belt. He has also been holding individual meetings with every player to ensure they know their clearly defined role and are with the new management-led Sixers program. So will we start to see the first signs of change? DiLeo has been fairly open about the new direction and style he wants the Sixers to play. With those comments in mind here’s how we will be able to see the DiLeo effect on the Sixers’ play…
- More pushing the ball. Not just off turnovers and obvious fastbreak situations either. I am talking get the ball out of the net and get the ball up court and into the offense much quicker than they have thus far this season. Full-out attack mode.
- Secondary break. I plan to write a lot more about this. I think this has been lacking from the Sixers offense from the beginning of the fastbreak style of play Stefanski came in here and insisted the team start playing. If DiLeo can implement this even a little bit the Sixers offense will be exponentially better.
- More pressure defense and less damn switching. DiLeo wants guys to be accountable for their individual man a lot more. This is good in two ways. 1. We can better evaluate the Sixers man-to-man defense. 2. We can better pinpoint the laggards on the defensive end. I hated the switching defense the Sixers played. Not the overall style of switching screens just the way the Sixers played it. It was lazy and left them at a disadvantage almost every possession. It needed to be much more aggressive trying to get into passing lanes and catch teams making lazy passes. Instead it was passive and an easy out for players that didn’t want to pressure their man. Now if guys are not fighting over screens we know that isn’t part of the plan, and hopefully DiLeo will have the balls to yank guys for their laziness and deviation from the new strategy defensively.
There are more, but for this game those will be the three I am looking for. Let’s hope this new direction takes us towards more wins and up the standings effective immediately.
Sixers vs. Milwaukee Game Notes
Sorry for the late game notes, but I am dealing with a car issue at the worse time.
Anyway good win for the Sixers; DiLeo called it a “gutty” win, and I would agree. It is the type of win that the Sixers haven’t been able to get because they haven’t had the mental toughness at the end of games. Tonight they did and made enough plays down the stretch to get a much needed home win.
Couple quick thoughts…
Brand dislocated his shoulder, and the crazy talk of maybe the Sixers are better without him are already starting up. Please, stop it. The Sixers are not better without Brand. People only think that because they made a run last year that was more of a hot streak than a sign of things to come. Sure they might win a couple games, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have won them with Brand either. And ultimately against better teams that limit the fast break points the Sixers will need to execute in the half court, and Brand helps them do that.
We can only hope this isn’t 1. a serious injury or 2. develops into a lingering injury that hampers him for the duration of the season and contract. He will have an MRI, and I am sure the Sixers will let us know the deal sometime today. I just want to say this could be really bad or not toooo bad. Often times a dislocation needs surgery to really repair it, and that would mean extended time off the court rehabbing. If you opt not to have surgery and just rest and keep the shoulder immobile for a while, then you risk creating an injury that lingers where the shoulder pops in and out with some regularity over time. Hoping for the best here.
Andre Iguodala had one of his “that’s who we gave $80 million to” games. I really don’t think he could even see the rim he was missing shots so badly.
The rest of the Sixers actually shot the ball pretty well. If you take Iguodala’s 2-14 out the other guys shot 53% from the field led by Lou Williams and Andre Miller.
20-10 fastbreak point advantage for the Sixers. They didn’t get the ball out of the net as much as I would have liked, but they did push the ball on made baskets more than they have seen. They also did a better job of getting in position to run on missed shots. If you watched all the Sixers players when shots when up, they boxed and waited until the ball was secured and took off. That is exactly what they should be doing every possession. Just stay in attack mode.
Two problems that this team still can’t seem to shake: free throw shooting and turnovers. Last night the Sixers had 16 turnovers and missed 10 free throws, shooting 63%. Can’t beat good teams with those numbers. Hopefully DiLeo is placing more emphasis and attention to detail on these two areas.
Reggie Evans had the kind of impact with his energy and rebounding that we saw last year. The Sixers are going to need that with the expectation of Brand being out.
Defense was pretty horrible for about three and a half quarters. It’s clear the new “defend your own damn guy and stop switching so much” defense DiLeo is trying to implement will go through an adjustment where guys will look a bit lost. But ultimately the goal needs to be more pressure and less sagging off guys on the perimeter to feed the running style they want to play.
2-0 under Tony DiLeo, but I think the Sixers would have won these two games under Cheeks as well. Three in a row going into Boston is a must for me.
Next game: Tomorrow at Washington
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Dannie, I am also curious to see his starters tonight, he may change back to the opening night lineup, who knows.
I could do without Elton Brand getting muscled by Luc Mbah-a-Moute
I did like the Brand catch in the middle of the lane drop step and just go up and dunk it. First time we have seen that play from him since he came here.
Tough to keep track of who is in the game, quick 1 man substitutions. Sammy, for whatever reason, has trouble staying on the court against 90 % of the N.B.A. teams but the trouble is he is needed against the other 10 %. Yet to see much of the secondary break, maybe coach Calipari could be brought in for an advisary role.
Tough break for EB, hopefully it is not too serious, it made me cringe.
During the post game interviews, a reporter asked Speights if he thought the team is better without Brand on the floor. It got me wondering, do you guys think that they would have the same record if the Sixers kept their roster from last year? I think they would be at least .500. I am still optimistic that in the long run this still may work, but another part thinks that 1) The team may have to be re-tooled around Brand or 2) Brand will eventually have to be moved for the team to be succesful. Nothing against Brand as a ball player or his character but it may not be the right fit. I know it is still very early to tell and hopefully the injury is not serious enough to see, but I was wondering what you all thought.
Either way good win, a lot of hustle the last quarter or so. It would be nice to see a couple more.
Why move Brand and keep Iguodala? That doesn’t make sense to me. If you are going to move either of them I’d rather keep Brand and give me a legit scorer and shooter. Iguodala is a 3rd level player why build around him?
Ryan, I don!t feel good right now and it has nothing to do with Elton!s injury. #1] we played with great energy and reckless abandon after he left the game; #2] our best backcourt combo tonight [A.Miller/ L.Will.] probably won!t be together next year. How can we get excited not knowing if improvement of this group matters because when A.Miller goes we probably have to go through this again.
Dannie, L.Will. is hot and Iggy has to try and make a play instead of riding the mismatch L.Will. had, just not smart basketball.
Iggy smells, what a brick laying machine he is. We need to trade him as soon as his 6 months are up. The dude shoots 31% from 5 feet and out{compliments of Hubie}
it will be a shame if brand misses significant time. any progress we make will be halted when he returns and we’ll just have to start over again. watch him miss like 2-4 weeks now.
Dannie, is it a mindset issue , for whatever the reason, when Elton leaves the floor or doesn!t start the energy level of everybody picks up. Reggie isn!t that much quicker or athletic than him but a sense of urgency seems to take over this group. Reading C.Bell and Skiles! comments after the game reenforces this.This next Eltonless stretch will be telling and I wonder how our new coach will use his players now, go small or try and reenforce the new lineup by playing Marreese in Elton!s role, should be an interesting couple of weeks.
Elton’s not the problem and Iggy needs to be aggresive and relentless driving to the rim. The problem all year has been on ball defense. Fix that and you have a new outcome. The Sixers will never be a good fg% team so we have to have more shots than the other team and that starts with turnovers and pressure.
its good to be back – i had some computer issues the last 2 weeks but im back up and running now.
Brand really hasnt been the answer we were hoping for so far. i hope this injury isnt serious, because i would like to see if he can ever become a 20/10 player this season. I was a huge proponent of goinjg after Brand, but now it looks like we should have waited for Boozer. i was right on about not signing Stinkadala , so i guess this evens things out.
Brand will be fine, it takes time to get back to full strenght after that injure. Plus he was also held back by some shitty coaching. Brand being out for awhile probably helps us in the long run because guys like Speights and Thad will get more burn, and there was/is no possible chance of us winning a title this year.
Iggy_______stop shooting shit bird! Great spacing last night, the only problem is that he is worthless beyond 5 feet. listen t this shady comment by the brick laying, stanks faced man known as AI2
Added Iguodala: “The crowd was getting on me and that was funny.”
Its funny huh Iggy, stop shooting the ball you sack of shit. And hey EDDY S, you done fuked up kid.
Just some food for thought. I just feel that this team is most successful when they are active, and as soon as Reggie was in being a huge pain in the ass last night the break and the energy was there like last year. Maybe the roster is capable of more without the UN-athletic jump shooting Brand, or without the athletic BriCK-laying Iguodala. Which would be the easiest to move and or build around given the current roster?
I would’t say that Iguodala is a 3rd tier player, the guy is still capable of averaging 20/5/5, possibly more, I just think his game has been forced to the outside because of the attention on Brand around the paint. I really don’t feel that if Iguodala was moved for say RIP or B. Gordon or a shooter of any caliber that all the sudden they would be a marvel on the court, or a .700 ball club. A part of me just wishes that ES would have waited till the end of this year, instead of pulling the trigger.
Sorry about the car, hopefully it gets worked out, Im having some bad luck in that dept as well. I woke up yesterday morning and had 2 tickets for blocking a fire hydrant…that I was 6 ft from and the curb wasn’t painted, and my GF had a boot on her car for unpaid tickets, damn parking authority. What are they good for…nothing
Ryan F – To be clear I don’t think of Brand or Iguodala as a single player to build around. Brand has been a proven #2 guy forced into the #1 role which he is not. Iguodala is AT BEST a #2. Both these guys need a star to play with and the Sixers don’t have one. Stefanski understands elite players are hard to come by and hard to pry from their current team so he is trying with the Detroit model. Just have 4 really good players and solid role players. The problem: Detroit’s core 4 guys collectively (Billups, Rip, Prince, Sheed) are MUCH better than the Sixers core 4 guys right now (Brand, Thad, Miller and Iguodala). In the grand scheme of things I think that is the real issue in terms of being a championship caliber team.
I challenge anyone to show me the last championship team that 1. couldn’t shoot or score consistently in the half court and 2. was primarily a fast break team. Right now that is an accurate description of our Philadelphia 76ers.
“Capable” is a trap word in sports in my opinion just like “potential.” I could care less what Iguodala is “capable” of I care what Iguodala DOES. And does consistently over time. We are not rebuilding with this team at the present time, they are expected to win right now. We don’t have time for capable and potential from a guy in his 5th season who we just gave $80M and that goes for Brand as well. They both need to be dropping 20ppg, Brand needs to get his 10-12 boards and Iguodala needs to get his 6, 6 and 2 steals per game. And they both need to stop turning the damn ball over.
Dannie: I didn’t get to see the Bucks game, but you make an excellent point about the Sixers not switching so much on screens. Not sure if you meant that you heard DiLeo say this is something they want to change, or you were more seeing it during the actual Bucks game, but the Sixers definitely need to improve in this area.
I’ve always felt it’s such a wuss, cop-out way of playing defense by switching too much. Not that it’s possible to stick with your man all the time, that would be unrealistic. But I can’t stand teams that just idly sit by and seem ok with switching, like that’s the natural thing to do. You’ve got to take pride in the ability to stay with your man and fight through a screen. This was sorely lacking during Mo Cheek’s reign in the 08-09 season.
Elton Brand: Any talk of the Sixers being better without him on the floor are RIDICULOUS. Guys, this team has some good talent. The reason Elton Brand and others have not been playing well together is for a mix of two reasons: a lack of strong handed coaching that is able to teach offensive chemistry and get guys in the right spots…or the possibility that we have talented parts, that simply don’t fit right together.
IMO, right now, I blame it on the former. aka: Mo. Elton Brand has not been used properly. Period. We should be running our offense inside out a lot more by taking advantage of Brand’s great eye to see the whole floor and pass out of the high post. We should be looking to give the ball to him in the mid post area more often in general. We should be screening better, and cutting without the ball more effectively to open up options for the athleticism of Iguodala, Lou, and Thad.
I also did not see the game – can anyone comment on how the team looked as far as implementing the changes Dileo has emphasized?
The Sixers remind me of an electronic football game I received one Christmas; the one with the hand-aligned, vibrating plastic players moving about on sheet metal in an unpatterned, altogether random, ridiculous attempt at simulating the real thing (by the flip of a switch). A lot of noise and motion, along with great personal disappointment at my charge’s refusal to run the plays as we had practiced. (Mo, I know how you feel.) Predictably, the league folded long ago.
I’m going to continue the discussion about being more accountable on defense and switching less. The one major problem we will have with that is right at the top with Andre Miller. I keep seeing him go under almost every screen and getting lost in the process many times. Ridnour was eating him alive for a stretch last night. I’m sure it would have been much worse for us had Ridnour not picked up 2 fouls early in the 1st quarter. Anyway, unless Miller really tightens up on D, which I can’t see, it will be a lot harder for everyone else to stay in front of their man.
Speaking of Ridnour, he seems to have solidified his hold on the PG spot for the Bucks. Ramon Sessions only played around 12 minutes. He came in once when Ridnour picked up those 2 fouls in the 1st and once to give Ridnour a rest early in the 4th. This surprised me because earlier this season Sessions was playing a lot and producing. I know this was at least in part due to Milwaukee’s injury situation, but I figured he would have earned the right to hold on to some of those extra minutes with the way he played. He really seems to be getting squeezed out of the rotation a bit. It makes me wonder if he would be available. I’d love to see him on the Sixers. Sessions would be a nice answer to the question of who our future PG will be, IMO.
Hey Guys,
Been reading the blog for a while, but this is my first post. Good to see some people that are as obsessive compulsive about Philly sports as I am. Keep up the good work! All season long I have been trying to figure out how to fix all of the Sixers problems they have been having. I actually am in the group that was glad to see Mo go. Mo was important to Philly sports and a great guy, but to me it was clear that he was not the man to coach this team. It seemed to me that his gameplan and play calling was not properly utilizing the personnel he had to work with. Ultimately it is up to the players to play the game but the coach has to put them in positions where they can best succeed and perform and I do not know that he did that night in and night out.
I have been looking through all kinds of stats trying to figure out a way to fix this team (not like I could do anything about it, but maybe I could sleep better at night). In my searching, I was looking at splits for 80-mil. Many people have been saying all year that Iggy is playing out of position, but it was amazing to me what these stats showed. Below are the stats Iggy put up at guard and then forward. Now I understand there is a much bigger sample for the games at guard, but it was staggering to me what a difference these stats showed in shooting percentag, ppg, turnovers, and ft %.
By Position
G
MIN
FGM-FGA
FG%
3PM-3PA
3P%
FTM-FTA
FT%
STL
BLK
TO
PF
OFF
DEF
TOT
AST
PTS
As Start G
21
36.7
5.1-12.2
42.023
0.7-2.6
.255
3.3-4.7
70.408
1.38
0.67
3.0
2.0
1.3
5.3
6.6
5.1
14.2
As Start F
3
40.7
7.7-13.7
56.098
0.3-2.3
.143
3.3-3.7
90.909
2.00
0.00
2.3
0.7
1.0
6.0
7.0
4.3
19.0
Perhaps these stats are a misrepresentation of what is going on, but it is clear to me that Iggy is not and never will be a two guard. I do not know how this can be fixed, I definitely do not have the answers, especially because TYoung plays the same position. Perhaps Thad could play some three and some four in order to be on the floor long enough to make an impact, and when playing the four EB can slide over to the 5 and put SammyD on the bench where he can read the idiots guide to playing the 5.
I wish Iggy or Thad could play different positions but it appears to me that we have two sf’s that both need minutes and the only real way to fix that in the long run is personnel changes or players developing other aspects of their game, which for 80-mil hasn’t seemed possible.
Sorry about the way that table came out it looked much better before it was posted.
I have given Brand a pass so far this year but he has been a major let down. He had 4 points in the first half of this game. Granted they were on nice dunks, but still 4 points?!! That is not acceptable hopefully the injury is not bad and at least he got hurt being aggressive. You telling me Reggie Evans wouldn’t have given you at least 4 points up to that point. I am not trying to say Reggie is better but Elton production has been lackluster to say the least. He and Iggy were getting boo’d in the 1st quarter. I would be booing to Dannie is right enough is enough Iggy and Brand step up your game.
Another person commented on Iggy’s post game comments. The fans yelling at him not to shoot. He said it was funny, yea its funny now cause you got a guaranteed contract. I hate him and his weak ass excuses about “well my offense wasn’t there tonight but I was able to help out the team in other ways”
that is something a player like Reggie Evans should say or Sammy D. Not a player that in the summer thought they deserved superstar money. His offense is usually not there it has been there about 3 games this season. Have some pride work on your game I can’t stand Iggy.
2 things drive me crazy about this team turnovers and free throw shooting. We will never even be an above average team until these two stats improve especially due to our sub par shooting percentage.
Morty Saw bits and pieces of the game. Overall, played like crap for 3 Qs, but hard when it counted to bring it home. Were on verge of getting blown out early; Miller noticed and gave ‘em life with O - abused Ridnaur (as did LW in 4th). Green put clamps on Redd (2-13). Iguodala and Jefferson offset one another with poor games. Evans turned tide in 2nd half with maniacal rebounding and usual activity. Williams’ had a fine offensive game (25, tied career high), helped close the messy deal in 4th.
Less switching and ”staying home” defensively is one clear difference
under DiLeo. Offensively, he’s aiming at better spacing and angles; wasn’t observable last night, but I might’ve missed a few ‘precision’ segments. One highlight: an old-fashioned 80 ft., 1 bounce fast-break for a lay-up: Miller (in key) to Iguodala (center court) to Green (right side) … beautiful, and rare in today’s game.
Jwil – Welcome, we are pretty obsessive around here and we like it that way.
I have some thoughts on the whole Iguodala at Guard and at Forward. For one those stats are misleading because they only account for games he started at forward (3) and games he started at guard (21). For one 3 games is too small a sample size. More importantly it doesn’t account for the minutes he played at guard and at forward within in the game regardless of the position he started at. To do a true comparison you would have to get all the minutes at guard and all the minutes played at forward with their correlating stats to do it. Not sure if that granular level of data is available but I will take a look. More thoughts on this in a future post.
Brand will be at least a month. Got a post coming.
I just saw on ESPN that Brand will miss at least 1 Month, it is going to be interesting to see how everything shapes up. They said no surgery just rehab. I am a little worried that it was his right shoulder, hopefully it doesn’t linger around and effect his shooting.
Dannie – I agree with you completely. If they both be played the way they are capable, this team would be much better off. I am not on the “make a big move” bandwagon, but the fact that I just like the rest of you spend at least 82 days a year watching Sportsnet or sitting in the Wachovia center and countless hours doing this, it makes me a a little eager. Especially after all the high hopes for this season. Hopefully my restlessness is just me jumping the gun, and with a X’s and O’s coach, and some more time to figure it out this team will at least be in a better position to make a run. Unfortunatley this injury is going to be a setback, and hopefully they can let it hang out and get some wins in his absence and work on it more after the break.
In no way do I think that the Sixers are a better overall team without Brand. Any team is better with Elton Brand, but until they figure out how to play with him they’re going to flounder, but I do think without the move they would probably be playing a little more loose and pushing the ball more. I think because the expectations were SO high, it is more of a let down. If they would have started 11-14 without a major acqusition, it would be much easier to swallow.
Iggy’s poor stats were not only offset by Rich Jeff. but also Michael Redd. I dont like Iggy’s postgame comments, but I think some of you are being rather harsh. I can’t picture Bucks’ fans giving Redd hell for a bad game.
I really think some of these outside shots, he is getting put into bad positions. I counted 5 times Iggy caught the ball with 6 seconds or less on the shot clock.
We need to get Iggy’s jumpshot of catch and shoot jumpshots, not dribble with 3 seconds on the shot clock and fire one up-jumpshots. I don’t think this team is worse with him than without him…But it’s looking like we did overpay a little. Glad we resigned him, and glad he’s a Sixer, but he needs to pick it up…Bigtime. C’MON IGGY…IF YOUR NOT GOING TO TAKE IT TO THE RIM FOR YOUR SAKE…..DO IT FOR OURS!
guest Iggy is livin’ on top of the city, literally, on the basis Stefanski’s miscalculation and Comcast’s capitulating largesse, er, business decision, er, reach. That he thought fan’s voiced displeasure with his 4 pt. (truly offensive) performance was funny, tells you something about his attitude, and about the effect of a guaranteed 80 million dollars in 6 quick years. It’s called return on an agreement – and Sixers’ fans are getting stiffed! His stated casual amusement was insulting.
Bski: I’m with you about Ramon Sessions, and have been keeping a close eye on him as well this season. I’m very confused with the Bucks’ PG intent for the long term. Normally you’d trade a score first PG like Mo Williams for a pass first guy when making a change like this…instead, they trade for Ridnour, a quasi pass/score guard, that is a streaky shooter. With his injury issues, Sessions got a LOT of time and played incredibly well early on, picking right where he left off at the end of the season. Bell and Lou have also been given minutes, given Redd’s constant injuries.
I have no idea if the Bucks consider Ridnour or Sessions as short term, long term solutions, or whether they even know. But you’re right…Sessions would be IDEAL as a backup PG to groom for us. He really has a knack for getting guys involved, and is an excellent shooter. He was a pleasure to watch in college at Nevada as a combo guard talent, I love his game. He plays like a mature veteran, and has proved he has legit NBA talent to succeed at this level.
I’m really hoping Stefanski has his eye Sessions as well…and as I’ve ranted before, Morris Almond and Luther Head are two other guys I’d love to get our hands on with tweak trades, who may be available for the right combo of a draft pick or minor player, given that both are currently in logjams on the Rockets and Jazz. Versatile swingmen that can nail the three ball…both a huge upgrade from K Rush. amd Willie Green.
Derrick Coleman: For those of you who missed it, I’d sincerely recommend checking out NBA.com and hit up TNT Overtime, and John Thompson’s interview piece with Derrick Coleman. Apparently he’s really involved in the Detroit community, something I was completely unaware of. Single handedly is trying to revitalize a neighborhood, built a shopping center with all mom & pop shops, employs 200 local Detroit workers…inspiring stuff. And apprently, Dave Bing is running for mayor, which I had no clue about. He’s a wonderful guy, it’ll be a great thing for the city if he wins.
Kenny Smith had a nice call about DC: “If he had ever fulfilled his potential as a player, he might not have ever fulfilled his potential as a citizen…and that’s something he is putting his heart into.”