Comments on: Sixers vs. Orlando Playoff Series: Game 1 and Series Outlook

By: Dannie

Dannie — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:43:53 +0000

Mike – But it’s reasonable to think if the Sixers single cover him all series he will put up those numbers rather easily. He won’t shoot as well from the line (I hope) but his game is tailor made to dominate a 4 out 1 in offense where he has space to move in the lane.

Not about Howard in this series though. Hedo played about as bad as he could. Lewis only attempted11 shots. I have to think Van Gundy along with their defense (which was bad) will get them refocused on the offensive game that got them 59 wins.

We still have a lot of work to do and that needs to be the mentality.

By: The Real Rob

The Real Rob — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:15:51 +0000

The subtle difference between Cheeks and DiLeo is DiLeo’s ability to instill CONFIDENCE to his players!!

GO SIXERS!! KEEP IT GOING(Remember last year’s Game 2!)!!

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:23:53 +0000

howard can’t play much better than he played either though. 11-13 fgs, 9-12 fts

By: Dannie

Dannie — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:04:19 +0000

Guest - I actually plan on covering that in my post for game 2. Short answer I can't see us playing all that much better. I mean we only had 10 turnovers, shot 51% from the field, 58.7% from three, making 7. We out-rebounded them and attempted 4 more shots. We can shoot free throws better. I think the better questions are:

Can we maintain that level of play?
Will Orlando shoot that poorly from three all series/can we make them shoot that poorly all series?

By: guest

guest — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:55:49 +0000

An interesting question was asked to Dileo in the post game.

“How much better do you guys think you can play?”

How would we answer that question? Im interested what you guys have to say about that. Is that the best we can play?

By: bski

bski — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:41:53 +0000

Great running commentary guys. At halftime I said to my son that I hoped we wouldn’t have one of our patented, flat 3rd quarters. Then I saw exactly that. As Orlando kept pushing out their lead I thought here we go again. To the Sixers credit they dug deep, fought hard, and earned a fantastic win. Coming back from 18 points down in the 4th quarter on the road, C’mon.

How did they do it? Like we said they would need to. The Magic were only 5-18 on 3-pointers (We were 7-12, with Marshall being money in the 4th quarter). Not only did they not shoot it well, they didn’t take very many attempts. Why? Because Howard was getting his. Howard went for 31. He was 11-13 from the floor and 9-12 from the line, which is pretty darn good, but the Magic still lost. Howard’s extra shots took shots away from Turkoglu, who had only 8 attempts for the game, and Lewis, who had only 11 attempts. Alston ended up taking more shots than any of them, (Lee led the team with 17 attempts—gotta stop those drives), but he was only 5-15, so that strategy worked too.

It was a very even game across the board (assists, turnovers, personal fouls, steals, blocks). The major discrepancies were free throw shooting, where they had the advantage, and 3-point shooting, where we had the advantage (go figure, huh?). This tells me that our strategy is working. Let Howard get his and limit their 3-point shooting. This will keep the game even and give us a shot to pull out wins as long as we can make plays on both ends of the floor down the stretch, just like we did tonight. I don’t think we can ask for or expect much more than that. Hopefully we can continue to execute this gameplan.

By: guest

guest — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:41:01 +0000

Rob, I mentioned it a couple days ago. In the only game Dileo coached with Brand in the lineup…. he scored 27.

By: jkay

jkay — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:40:35 +0000

Rob: Iguodala models his play after Kobe & Co., the flashy kind of player, loves te spotlight too. its not as solid as theirs at all but if it can work like this, we’ll TAKE IT. If we win, he and/or Thad would have to be the difference. What are the chances Howrd hits all those FTs in game 2. Strategy to beat Magic is public now, wonder if we can pull it off.

My theme: Lets see

By: The Real Rob

The Real Rob — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:35:17 +0000

Tony DiLeo’s incredible substitution patterns are good as advertised!! He instills confidence in this team and play with less pressure mentally. If we win this series, DiLeo will be the coach next season. And I feel optimistic that he will use Brand and Smith properly next season!! He is better than Cheeks in substitution patterns!!

GO SIXERS!!!

By: The Real Rob

The Real Rob — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:32:48 +0000

WOW, what a day for Philadelphia!!

-Ibanez hits a walk-off HR against the Padres
-The Flyers win 6-3 against the Penguins (PIT 2-1 in the series)
-The Sixers WIN in UNBELIEVABLE FASHION!! (The cherry on top!!)

And I think I should be a coach and you guys would be my coaching staff!! Just me and a laptop. Or we should be the 6th man in DiLeo’s coaching staff.

OUR BENCH WAS HUGE!!! Perhaps they will be the difference in this series, in addition to defending Lewis and Turkoglu. (I wonder if Rush will be a secret weapon, now that Marshall is revealed?? LOL)

I might go to Game 4 of this series. Once its offical, I will let you know. At halftime, I would love to meet you guys and you too Dannie.

We should be defending the perimeter LIKE THAT EVERY GAME!! If we keep taking Lewis and Turkoglu off the perimeter, this series could be a done deal. It’s best to let Howard do his thing, by himself and to use to the Hack-A-Howard.

Also, Andre Iguodala has that calm, confident similar to that of Kobe Bryant, his buddy. He was telling the truth after all about hanging out with Kobe in the offseason. That was like the shot he hit in LA (minus the buzzer).

Andre Iguodala/Thaddeus Young VS Hedo Turkoglu/Rashard Lewis

THEE MATCHUPS!! And I think we have the edge there from a quickness and aggressive standpoint. Turkoglu and Lewis are slow footed. Let’s MILK THAT ADVANTAGE!!

Also, I think we have exposed Orlando’s weakness–opponents with a deep frontcourt. The past two seasons in the playoffs, they lost to the Pistons, who have a deep frontcourt. Ironically, Ratliff was one of those big men for the Pistons who pestered and beat up Howard. We must expose that and play Hack-A-Howard!!

I wonder what adjustments both teams will make in Game 2 with two full days off until Wednesday?

It’s great to see Brand and Smith traveling with the team–encouraging news for next season!! I hope Dalembert will be ready for Game 2 because Ratliff needs to regain his strength, which is probably good that Game 2 is Wednesday.

Also, it looks like the Heat are struggling with the Hawks!! (They should probably given that matchup to us!!)

GO SIXERS!!! PUT THE PETAL TO THE METAL!! GO C-WEBB & AVERY FOR CHEERING US ON!! AND GET WELL SOON CHUCK DALY!!