I am pretty pissed because I won’t be able to watch this game live. I have two back-to-back basketball games so I am hoping I can watch the second airing late tonight. So that means there needs to be A TON OF COMMENTS tonight about the game because the recap and evaluation of the game will be on you guys.
The first three games in this match up have been about as close as they come with the Sixers taking 2. I really don’t see why this game would be any different. In fact the Sixers are coming in as 2-point dog and Accuscore is only giving them a 32% winning chance. Indiana plays a style that gives the Sixers trouble by attacking their sometime porous perimeter defense. They also jack up a ton of threes which the Sixers really can’t compete with. When hot, this Pacers team can beat anyone especially at home. They have proved that already this year beating Boston and LA in their building.
Last time they played a lot of talk was about the All-Star vs. Non-All-Star small forward match up. Iguodala definitely got the better of that battle. He had a fantastic all-around game and the Sixers will need that again tonight against this scrappy Pacers squad. Keys to the game:
- Don’t leave shooters. They have a lot of movement in their offense and the Sixers propensity to switch screens makes them vunerable to miss matches that lead to open shots. Can’t happen.
- Attack, attack, attack. The Pacers interior defense is weak. Foster will hack you, Murphy is not a shot blocker and Hibbert doesn’t play enough to have a impact protecting the rim. The Sixers should be able to score at will in the paint and get to the line as well.
- Start strong. Finally they need to find a way to start off strong. Don’t let this team get up on them early and then need to fight an uphill battle.
Feel free to check out the previous three Sixers vs. Indiana game threads:
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{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
Could someone other than Andre Miller shoot?
Well the strong start is already out of the question
At least its only 11 down at the 1/2, was shaping up to be much worse.
The Sixers have been a team of 1/2’s and 1/4’s all year. The first 1/2 flat out stunk and we’re still right there so the 2nd 1/2 should be better…right?
Guest’s Game NOTES
Horrible. We were obviously sluggish and a little bit rusty coming off the break. My questions of the night are:
How can we shoot eight more shots than them, but make six less?
How can we force 18 turnovers and only commit 9, but still lose the game? That never happens!
Why does Lou Williams continue to jack up 3’s? 0-4 from beyond the arc. I am sorry, but I want him gone. I think he has value considering his athleticism and youth, but we have enough of that. It’s time to get some shooters.
Are we the worst 3 point shooting team in the league? It sure seems like it sometimes. 13.3% tonight. It’s sad to say that, that probably is not the season low.
Can we win with Andre Miller playing poorly? It seems like every time he does bad, so do we.
How did Danny Granger get 4 blocks? Dannie one of your keys to the game was to attack… well we did, but Indiana’s defense stepped up big time.
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Thad Young: Had a pretty decent game. He had 16 points on 7-14 shooting. We have gotten on him for his rebounding and tonight, he had 9 so a pretty good effort from our “future star”.
Andre Miller: A very uncharacteristic game from our veteran point guard. It’s not often he goes the whole game only making 2 shots.
Andre Iguodala: Ehhhhh so so game from Dala. He definitely shot the ball worse than he has been going 8-18, but impacted the game in a variety of ways. Which is why we love him so much. 9 assists which lead the team.
Mareese Speights: Where was he? Was he injured? He played 2 minutes.
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The good news as far as playoffs go…
The Hawks play the Lakers tonight so hopefully they will lose. Not to mention, Detroit lost to the Bucks tonight so we keep our 6th seed.
I keep saying this over and over again. At the end of the season, there will be certain games we look back on and wish we had wins. This one might not be one to remember, but I will definitely remember these match-ups with the Pacers. Every game we have struggled against them. I can’t think of another “bad” team that we have consistently struggled against like the Pacers.
Oh man thats a tough one to swallow. Looking forward to moving on and starting a new winning streak.
Next Game: WED VS. Nuggets. Everyone remember last game vs them?
Maybe, Andre M is just hoping for the deadline to pass. Strange time. Team might not relax until Thursday night.
That was a weird game, not because the Sixers lost!
The officiating was very sluggish as well overall for both teams. The way Granger was going on throughout the game, he should have been ejected and for trying start something with Andre Miller. (Give Miller credit for backing off).
The Sixers were clearly sluggish. Technically, these sort of games are difficult to play and are considered the “trap games”. I wonder what the Sixers were doing though? They looked even more sluggish. Hopefully, this was an off game!
The turnovers here and there. It was crazy and sloppy. Andre Iguodala needs to calm down. When he gets rattled, he is no Kobe. That is where he needs to learn from Kobe on how to play with emotion and through emotion. His technical hurt us. The chippyness was the reason why the Pacers won that 3rd quarter. We as a team, must play through the non-calls. Like I said, it’s all about MENTAL TOUGHNESS!!!
Also, I hope Speights feels better this season. We can’t afford to lose him too! I hope Marshall continues to play more minutes these next 30 games!!
GO SIXERS!!
However, the Sixers did defend the threes well until the very end, but were not hitting them though.
Hopefully, the Nuggets will suffer the same kind of rust that we just suffered and we are playing at home!!
Again, MENTAL TOUGHNESS!!
I think Dileo could have coached better today and I feel he din”t have his team prepared to go into the Pacers home court and take home a win. I also agree with Rob about mental toughness, Dileo needs too stress this to the players about staying metally tough from the beginning to the end of the game. The Sixers missed a good oppertunity tonight to move towards the forth slot.
what the hell? did maresse speights die? Is he fooling around with Mrs. DiLeo? Why did he only play 2 minutes???? In the last 3 games leading into this one he has been averaging 16.5 ppg and 5 rpg while shooting 68% from the feild! but what’s most impressive is over that stretch he was only playing 20.6 mpg. Surely this warrants more then 2 minutes playing time?
Really it’s baffling, Why couldn’t DiLeo give him atleast 20 minutes tonight? It’s not like reggie evans will be demanding a trade to a contender coz he isn’t getting enough playing time, the guy is crap, You aren’t winning shit with him coming off your bench. put it this way, If you offered him to any of the top 5 teams in the league and he was willing to pay for free i still don’t think they would consider it.
Whoa, calm down Tim! Speights is playing with an injury, so there you can cut Tony DiLeo some slack there. Even though we lost, which was disappointing yet it was no surprise coming back from the All-Star break. I think they will put this game behind them and beat the Nuggets!! Again, it’s about adversity!!
Also, Ratliff needs more playing time!!!
As much as I love Andre Miller and the good things that he does. I would love a PG who could hit treys and also covers his man. Andre’s on ball defense is just terrible and so is his Lou Williams. If we could get any good piece’s for miller or williams then i say lets pull the trigger.
Tim: Can’t agree, at all, with your statement that “Reggie Evans is crap…we won’t be winning sh*t with Reggie Evans coming off our bench.” Really? I’d first consider the fact that Reggie Evans has single handedly kept us in quite a few games this season, and has been a direct reason for several of the wins we’ve had during the Brand-less stretch. In fact, I’d go even farther and argue that Reggie Evans, with maybe the exception of Royal Ivey, is the only player this entire season to A. Show up each game he plays B. Play at 110% every minute he gets C. Play GREAT individual defense on a nightly basis D. Show some swagger and not play like a little puss when the going gets tough.
The above characteristics are major components of a word used to describe a certain type of player: a WINNER. Reggie Evans is a great bench guy, and at 6′7 (6′8 if we’re being generous), you couldn’t ask for a better hustle/energy guy to step in and play 15-18 mpg. He understands body positining, toughness, how to outrebound opponents far bigger and taller than him, and is a model of consistency. I don’t get how anyone could knock him or the job he’s done for us the last two seasons.
Louis Amundson vs. Zach Randolph: Make sure and check out the highlight reel of last nights Suns-Clippers game. Zack shoves Amundson to the floor, Mr. Energy gets right back up and goes toe to toe with Zach, looking him right in the eye…and Zack reaches back and SOCKS Louis straight in the face, a full on punch. Even worse is the fact that Randolph got all cocky about it after the game, talking about how, “If he had really hit Amundsun, he wouldn’t have been able to get up afterwards.” Some players will never get it. Zack Randolph, grow up.
Sidenote: Looks like the Suns are back to their run n’ gun offense under Gentry…they MAULED the Clippers last night. Granted, the Clippers are a mess, injured, and horrible defensively…but I don’t care who you are, dropping 140 on any team is impressive. I’m curious to see how the newly-energized Suns play against the top guns in the NBA (Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, Dallas) which are all coming up soon on their schedule.
Sorry I don’t mean to dis reggie it was more just me venting my fustration at how crap the sixers played. My main point was that i was annoyed speights didn’t play much and that i believe he brings more to the table then evans. At the moment speights is a bit of an energy player and usually whenever he is on the court the sixers go on a bit of a run as he has a knack for stringing a few basket together.
I think this is because his hustle, he is always running the court and cutting to the basket and he has a few post moves to go along with his steady mid range ‘J’. I thought the sixers could have used him tonight as the game was never really out of reach and having him spell dalembert could have bought us a lot closer to winning the game. I think his emergence has been pivotal in the sixers improved play of late.
Once again, no disrespect to reggie just got carried away making my point that i think speights should be the first big man off the bench.
*Also it doesn’t list speights as carrying any injury are you sure that was the reason? I know he picked up 2 quick fouls but that happens to everyone once in a while doesn’t mean you give up on them for the whole game. Unless you’re larry brown lol in which case you probably won’t play for a month (Darko Milicic or insert any other rookie’s name to have played under brown
)
Also just noted that on the 5th of this month the last time the sixers played the pacers speights went scoreless in only 7 minutes of action he then went on his 3 game tear only to register 2 minutes in last nights game. Perhaps It isn’t just a coincidence, Maybe DiLeo thinks he matches up relly badly with them or something…?
Does anyone else know if there’s maybe a reason for this?
guest: “Can we win with Andre Miller playing poorly? It seems like every time he does bad, so do we.” – hit the nail on the head.
Rob: We all love Miller but he was at fault on that end. he shoved Granger out of frustratuion. He just wanted to take a foul but did it the wrong way. Like what Iguodala did, he grabbed Granger and tried to calm him down instead of initiating a 2nd Pacer brawl.
Tim: If we had won, Reggie Evans would have been player of the game. He even connected on most of his FTs unlike Iguodala and Lou.
on Lou Williams: CAN WE JUST SIT HIM NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hey why was D-bere AWOL for the 4th quarter? I know the small line-up was doing well but we could have used some inside D too.
i hope for a very strong showing against the 1st place Nuggets. they are fresh off this loss so I expect them to win. they can.
For what it’s worth, Lou and Reggie were the only Sixers who had a positive +/- last night.
First off dissing Reggie after last nights game when it seemed that he was the only one that cared is ridiculous. Secondly, the reason that I want Lou and Miller gone is for the long term.
When we finally get to be great, miller will be a graybeard by nba standards. And Lou will be just like any other sixers sg, a short ball hog who doesn’t play D and can’t hit a three.
Greek – I agree completely. The Miller situation is difficult, what can we do with him? I love his play but is it worth keeping him for 4 more years?
I want Reggie gone too. He’s a lousy-shooting (37%) thug who for some crazy reason gets referees favor on his phony collapses to floor.
While he deserves credit for improving his foul shooting, you’re not a playoff player if your only calling card is creating havoc (or occasionally energizing a flatlining team); too much of an offensive sacrifice with Evans on court. His best attribute is probably his ability to transfer “courage” to Dalembert for co-interior antics. (Sam is a little friskier this year when he manages to remain on the floor.)
Miller deserved to get charged by Granger. Delivered a dirty, blatant left shoulder block and follow-up forearm 40 ft. from the basket. The veteran is lucky he didn’t take one on the chin.
Iguodala was nowhere to be found for first 6 minutes of game. I double checked the screen to see if he was actually playing. Not what you want from your big money guy to start season’s backstretch. His passivity contributed to cold start.
How about Sammy “I play when I want to play” Dalambeart? Don’t you want to get rid of him? Whats that. you like his 5-1 turnover to assist ratio huh? You can’t win with this Malaka, not in the nba, college, church league, or on an over 70 team.
His lack of brain power has him constantly out of position, or maybe he was just dogging it last night. He still gets paid for a loss, so what does he care? I love how people jump on Thads personality and let Sammy Slide. Wake up lovers of the moron, this guy is a loser and we will never win this this goofball. His only value will come in about 16 months when he becomes an expiring contract. Don’t tell me about his rebounding and blocks because you could see how better Denver is playing D this season with Nene instead Camby.
And let me clarify when I say win, I am talking title.
jjg – I dont see how you can be so critical today of those 2. Yes Igoudala was pretty much invisible to start, but his play the rest of the game put his team in the position to succeed. Even the best of players have off nights and off 1/4’s, but the teams that win are teams that have consistency throughout the line up. What else do you want from Reggie? He does what he does, and I love it. He brings emotion and grit that this team lacks and every team that wins, has. He changes the game instantly, every time he comes int he game the other teams bigs tuck their tails between their legs. They know they’re gonna have to fight for position and rebounds, no bunnies, nothing easy. That has a ton of value to me. His line last night was more than satisfying to me.
Three things killed them last night
Defense - Dalembert was “gaurding” Hibbert in the post who went off in the first, and Thad was “gaurding” Murphy who had a good 2nd 1/2, among other things. As a team they only held them under 25pts in the final 1′4. Can’t win a game that way, not with our offense anyway.
The 1 &2 – You will never win ball games when your backcourt goes 15 – 46 from the field and 8 – 13 from the stripe.
3pt/FT – 2 – 15 for 13% from 3, and 19 – 29 for 65% from the stripe. It amazes me that this team is even over .500 with how poorly they shoot the basketball.
I couldn’t figure out why Dileo would take the chance of putting Marshall in in such a critical time last night. We needed stops. I have completely fallen out of love with both Marshall and Rush. Every time they come on the court they just jack up threes and forget about the rest of the game. I assume they are just hoping to go on a hot streak and get some more PT, but theyre missing shots, playing soft ass defense, and hurting the team when they come in.
Well either way this game sucked and so did the entire team last night. Hopefully it was rust from all the time off and they bounce back and get a win against a good team tonight at home.
Sam Halfaheart should’ve been long gone but The Duke Of Durham, BillyKing, graciously extended Sam’s lease, oh, about 6 years.
We are not too happy today!
Hopefully, there is a different story tonight with a happy ending. Going to the game tonight. Looking for lots of energy. It would be nice for Ed to make a move before the deadline for cap space and/or a shooter.
Greek: Is your MO that you just flat out hate some players and love the others to death?
jjg: while I agree with everything you said about Reggie, you can’t argue with results! however he gets it done aint our problem but 50% of the time, he affects the game positively in a big way. right now this team needs him. if we get to the stage where we arent flatliners, then he can go.
on Lou Amundson: I am happy for him. he found a home in Phoenix, he’s their energy guy. their Reggie Evans if you will. with the cast there he will be able to get some minutes and develop whatever game he has.
on Z-BO: can’t believe I wanted this guy on our team. I’m an idiot. David Stern should suspend him the rest of the season without pay.
I’d like to see the coach get upset during the game. Get a Tech or something. Things go on and its like he’s emotionless. Last nights game could’ve been had if they put more energy into the game. Sometimes the coach can get that from his players by taking a necessary “T” when calls aren’t going their way. A few bad calls or no calls definitely affected the Sixers. Along with poor free throw shooting. I think they missed about 10 last night. Close games down the stretch that can’t happen.
Ryan, Iguodala’s the one who blubbered to microphones and recorders before the All-Star break of the difficulty of ‘last game’ and ‘first game.’ As a leader of this team, with that awareness, it was his job to be focused and energized at the opening tap, to jump the opponent, to prevent the malaise that he knew could be problematic. Instead, he floated. He and his agent won’t float or mention that when next they negotiate. It’s all a part of the picture.
You know, I noticed yesterday that in the ten games played in the NBA, eight of the teams that won were home teams. (only the Bucks and the Hornets won on the road. Thank you Bucks!!) Perhaps the approach is different for home teams coming back from an All-Star break. I’m no Sigmund Freud, but hopefully, the Nuggets will feel sluggish on the road tonight! This is what makes the Sixers interesting. After a loss, a game that they could have or should have won, they tend to bounce back and show that “instant amnesia”. I am looking forward to seeing the true character of our team. If we continue this run (won 14 of the last 19 games), while the Pistons are floundering about at HOME surprisingly, the Heat have a lot of big games against the Big 3 of the East and their new O’Neal could break down at any given notice, and the Hawks are dealing with some kinks here and there injury wise. Things should be interesting. Again, MENTAL TOUGHNESS!!
jjg I am glad that you asked
i only hate the players who play stupid, without heart or effore, or just plain stink it up Lou Williams style.
The players that I want gone are Sammy “The Malaka”, Lou W., Willie Greene, and Donyell and his hump of an ass if for no other reason then that my sister got scared when she saw him running last night.
Greek, I didn’t ask you anything; question’s author was jkay. Still your comments amused; the 4 you mentioned are certainly expendable, among others. I don’t anticipate Stefanski making a move before the deadline though.
Someone asked Yogi Berra for the time. He replied, “You mean now?”
Trade Update:
Brad Miller and John Salmons to the Bulls with Nocioni, Gooden, and Simmons going to the Kings.
Now that I think of it, we really need a backup for Iggy. There are times when he sits down, the offense and playmaking goes awry. Not only that, but someone to do the backup duties defensively. We put three guards in the game and that is too small for us. But I doubt that the Sixers are going to do something prior to the trade deadline. Just something to consider in the offseason. A Nocioni type of player would have been just the right guy in terms of the shooting, the passion, and that defensive intensity.
Also, the only time the Sixers miss Mo is when he talks one-on-one with Lou about what to do and what not to do. He really listened to Mo. If only there was a way of getting Mo back only to be a one-on-one coach with Lou!!
jjg, I agree to an extent. Often in the first Iguodala and Miller play set up to the offense for Willie/others and last night he was ineffective. Igg does the same thing every game, he doesn’t take a load of shots to start and tries to let the game come to him in the open court, and then settles in after a while. Last night he played solid D on Granger and kept him settled in the first, the rest of the team just didnt make their shots and play the same D as always. You can argue that since he shoots a fair percentage and is our most “talented” player he should be more aggressive and take more shots, raise his PPG etc. Just like Reggie he is who is, and I am not sure if he’ll try to be anything more.