Two deflating losses in a row, one coming on a last second shot by your arch rival – those are the breaks. It’s the NBA, and that happens sometimes. That doesn’t mean you fall apart, and it certainly doesn’t “break your season.” Tonight will be a test of the Sixers’ mental toughness.
Will they have a hangover from Tuesday or come out and jump all over the Pacers in our house?
No Elton Brand?
It’s funny because I started writing this before we found out he was done for the season. Up until that moment there were three different scenarios for his availability for tonight’s game. One source was saying Brand is definitely out for tonight’s game. While ESPN is saying the Sixers expect Brand to play. And then we have Mike Preston, the Sixers spokesperson saying Brand will be a game-time decision.
How can you be so off regarding this? I hope Stefanski and Brand have a press conference so we can hear the whole story with this. Oh, well I thought we should shut him down anyway. Moving on.
Sixers have the Pacers tonight, one of the 6 teams to beat us in their last possession or two this season. This isn’t a gimmie game by any means, and the Sixers can’t be sulking from the bad news about Brand and the back-to-back losses in the final minute of those games.
From here on out it’s all about defense for me with this team. When they lose games it’s because they aren’t getting stops consistently or in critical possessions. Tonight their perimeter defense will be tested to the max. The Pacers have an All-Star small forward, two really quick point guards and a third that can really shoot the three. They have a power forward and shooting guard who both love to shoot the three. They put Foster around the high post to set screens and make back door passes in O’Brien’s offense. Here is my question for Tony Dileo…
What defensive strategy will he imploy? I remember way back when he said they wanted to cut down on all the switching. Well that has not happened. End-game situations are different; sometimes you need to adjust your main strategy. But I haven’t seen a stark difference in this regard throughout the earlier stages of games. Guys are still lazy and still switch screens rather then fighting through them. This Pacers team proved they can jump on the Sixers if they are allowed to run their stuff and shoot their threes.
I am looking for some anger translated into defensive intensity for the Sixers tonight.
Sixers vs. Pacers Game Notes
This game was weird. The Sixers really didn’t control this game, it was close throughout and the Sixers had some really strong individual performances. Pacers stopped making threes in the second half, and that really was the difference in the game. Both teams shot poorly overall, and the Sixers won at the foul line (11 more made FT) and on the boards (50 boards and 16 on the offensive end).
Willie Green was fantastic on offense. His jumper was on and has been the last few games. When he is coming off that pin-down screen and making that elbow jumper it adds an element to the Sixers offense they rarely have. Overall I’ve been very happy with Willie’s game all season. Even when he is off, he doesn’t look horrible like Lou does when he isn’t making shots. That is a really good thing.
Samuel Dalembert was a beast against a soft Indiana front line. 20 boards and 18 points. He just continues to accept his role and do what we all want him to do.
Andre Iguodala had a nice floor game only 2 boards shy of a triple double. And he was one of the two Sixers players to actually shoot better than 50% from the field tonight. He outplayed his All-Star counterpart in every aspect tonight.
Andre Miller did what he does and will continue to do the rest of the season. Take over the game in spurts when the Sixers are struggling. And he did it with his passing (12 dimes) and his ability to get in the lane and draw fouls (7-9 from the line).
Thaddeus Young sucked on offense. But at least he wasn’t shy shooting the ball even though he was WELL off tonight. One of the things I’ve noticed in the past with Thad is he tends to hang his head if he gets off to slow starts shooting the ball. He will then start passing up good shots which actually hurts the offense. He contributed in other ways with 7 boards and 5 steals. Until he learns how to get to the foul line and be a distributor he will never be a complete offensive player. Nights when you shoot at a 5-20 clip, getting to the line and dishing are key to still being productive on that end of the floor. Hopefully he will learn.
Louis Williams was a waste of space on the court. I don’t even know why he played 20 minutes. He had a plus/minus of negative 23 tonight. Considering every starter played at least 29 minutes and had at least +14 in plus/minus that says a lot about Louis negative impact while he was on the floor. I gotta be honest, if Lou wasn’t a base year compensation player I would look to trade him. I am not a big fan, never have been.
Back at .500. At some point they will get over the hump and stay over the hump this season, right?
Next Game: Saturday against the Miami Heat (Pete and I will be there for that one)
Here is a recap of the Pacers-Sixers series:
-Close games
-Both teams rallied for their respective wins, despite losing 1st qt
http://www.nba.com/games/20081114/PHIIND/boxscore.html” rel=”nofollow”>Nov 14: PHI: 94 IND: 92
(Watch the highlights link!)
Thaddeus Young: 25 pts 10 Rebounds
Elton Brand: 14 pts 15 Rebounds 3 Blocks
http://www.nba.com/games/20081220/INDPHI/boxscore.html” rel=”nofollow”>Dec. 20: IND: 95 PHI: 94
(Watch the highlights link )!
T.J Ford game winner with 3.8 remaining
Granger, Murphy, and Baston DNP due to flu. (Dunleavy was Inactive)
Thaddeus Young: 10 pts 2 Rebounds
If you watch the highlights link with 2:01 on the link, Iggy was guarded by four players, which made it tough for him to execute that layup. However, Sammy was open for a possible lob. Also, this is an example of a sequence where Kareem Rush and Donyell Marshall can thrive in the 4th quarter for an open look with a QUICK, more accurate release. If Speights plays in the 4th, why not one of our shooters for some stretches of the game. Sure, they may not be good defensively, but as they hit shots, that could counteract with their woes defensively for some stretches. Even great coaches take that chance. Eddie House is not a great individual defender, but he is in the game due to his shot making ability. Marshall won us that game against the Pistons in crunch time, why not have one of our shooters for certain games and possessions, especially close games. We brought our shooters here for these sort of situations!
Also, in addition to our previous game against the Celtics, somebody has to change that SHOT CLOCK violation rule about stopping a fastbreak from occurring once the shot clock expires. Lou was on his way to get the dunk on the other end of the floor until the officials stopped the Sixers right on their tracks. I’m saying this on behalf on the NBA, that shot clock rule must be improved. That was 2 points removed from what could have been a Sixers victory, perhaps 101-100 Sixers victory or a 101-99 victory if the Sixers allowed two free throws instead of a three. That shot clock rule MUST be improved!!
As per ESPN.com, Elton Brand to have season-ending shoulder surgery.
Damn…
Dannie, I hope Evan!s isn!t going anywhere and I also would like the main priority to be defense. I hope that Elton being out changes the rotation in this way. Sam and Theo get most of the run at the 5,Reggie and Marreese get most of the run at the 4 and Thad and Iggy move back to the 3 and 2. I am tired of Thad getting whupped on the boards also. Reggie and Marreese at the 4 won!t slow us down much and should help us outrebound opponents.
Sixers have sucked up to halftime and they are down by two. Thad sure isn’t shy is he. Andre Miller has been the savior. He is getting into the lane at will it seems like the way he is getting fouled.
sammy played well tonight. i’m just happy it was the pacers we were playing b/c we did not look to have that much energy out there. I feel bad for Elton Brand, i’m not going to put him in the Cwebb category but when he comes back he will pretty much of missed two years minus the 20 or so games he’s played with us. Why does this always happen to us?
A win is a win! Coaching staff was looking at +/- rating. Starter’s plenty positive. All subs in the negative bigtime. I guess that’s why they stayed with the starters in the 4th qtr.
Kudos to Sammy on the offensive end tonight, he seemed to be moving to open spaces well. Willie deserved the extra time tonight, Jumpin, you called it. Iggy had a very Pippenlike game.
Sammy had a very nice game.
But he could have had a perfect game. There was one point he was 4-6 from the field 5/5 from the line with 12 Rebounds. He then took a couple of his deadly 18 foot jumpshots.
I like when Thad is assertive, but I was watching this game on ESPN gamecast, and whenever you see twenty of those digital jumpshots go up, and only five of them go in… It is very annoying.
I think strange was the perfect word for this game. I can’t really take too much out of it, because the Pacers are not very good. It seems like we have bounced back from the two losses, but you just never know after a 5 point win against a sub par team.
P.S. I don’t like how Danny Granger gets all the credit in the world for being good on a bad team, and Iguodala has been playing at All Star level for the past month and not a peep has been talked about him. You see Gary Payton campaigning for Granger to be in the All Star Game, but I haven’t heard any analysis for Iguodala. I wonder if he didn’t have that horrible start, if people still wouldn’t recognize him. I guess there is just too much competition at the forward spot in the East. (although im not sure if he’s considered a guard or a forward on the ballot.)
The (non)output of the bench against a team like the Pacers worries me tremendously. Outside of Williams,Evans, and Speights, who on that bench would even get a minute of time on any of the top 8 teams in the league? And would any of the above get more than 12-14 minutes? I just don’t see it.
I am a little surprised Dileo let Lou Williams on the floor for that many min. with such a poor performance, I was also hoping to see Theo Ratlif on the floor since Elton Brand is gone
Some odds and ends:
Bench scoring was 38-11 tonight. Sixers reserves shot 3-for-13 with 0 assists and 3 turnovers in 56 minutes.
Young is shooting 20-for-64 (31.3 percent) in the last four games after going 5-of-20 Thursday. The 20 attempts are a season-high.
Granger scored 11 points in a span of 1:08 during the second quarter.
Dalembert had consecutive double-figure scoring for the first time this season. His 18 points and 20 rebounds were season-highs, as were Green’s 23 points. Miller (12 assists) and Young (five steals) tied season-highs.
Regarding Brand, he earned $34,486 per point this season ($13.76 million salary and 399 points).
What does it mean that the Sixers are 11-8 without Brand this season and 13-16 with him?
Liked how Stefanski referred to him as “the kid” during pregame news conference.
Brand will have missed 127 of 164 games over the last two seasons by the end of the year (first 74 in 2007-08 because of ruptured Achilles tendon).
Tom, I wonder who was defending Granger during that 1:08min. was it Iggy?
Granger is hurting. Perhaps, Andre Iguodala could fill in for him in the All-Star Game. Somebody there has to play DEFENSE on his buddy Kobe the following Sunday!!
Andre Iguodala has been playing at an unbelievable rate of basketball and it appears like that offseason contract is beginning to pay off.
Wait until next season (with a healthier Brand of basketball), this team will be dangerous. They just need time together and need to trust each other defensively!! Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, who else is really there in the East? That #4 spot is a wild card spot for next season.
However, they still have a chance to get the 4th or 5th seed. Let’s see if we can get that momentum back after this win. Saturday’s game has huge implications for a jump in the standings against the Heat. Two quick teams going at it. Should be fun.
GO SIXERS!! GET WELL BRAND!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkMXnk16kiE
Johnny, I’m sorry to say that I was in the press room writing my Brand story for the first three quarters and didn’t get to see that part of the game.
Iguodala was only on the court for the first six points, during which time Granger hit a 3 and three fouls (by Evans). Young replaced him for the final five points, during which time he fouled Granger once. My guess is it is a combo.
Tom Moore– do you also interview the players as well? If you do, how about the opposition? Perhaps you could ask Wade about his experience with healing that strained right shoulder he had about 2 years ago.
Thanks!