Once again the Sixers will face a team hampered with injuries to key players.
Tayshaun Prince is out with a ruptured disc in his back. Richard Hamilton is listed as day-to-day but it has been confirmed he will not suit up for Detroit today against our Sixers.
The starting line-up new Piston’s coach John Kuester has been running out the last couple games has been:
- Rodney Stuckey
- Ben Gordon
- Charlie Villanueva
- Jonas Jerebko (R)
- Ben Wallace
Detroit is 2-4 and has been struggling offensively and rebounding the ball. Those two weaknesses bode well for the Sixers – IF we can execute.
Of all the games to start the season this was the one I was really looking forward to. That is, before I found out Rip and Prince wouldn’t be playing.
Right now we know two things about the Sixers. We are not an elite team and we are not one of the worst teams either. We are somewhere in the very large middle. The question I have is where in the middle?
Are we middle 4th/5th seed or are we middle 7th/8th seed?
Detroit would have been a good game to find that out as they are in a similar situation as the Sixers. New coach, new system, new players and a fringe playoff team with a ceiling of a middle playoff team at best.
We will still get a good idea today. Detroit still has Ben Gordon who can light it up from outside. I am really looking forward to seeing Andre Iguodala chase him around and attempt to use his size to take away is opening shooting opportunities.
Lou will be facing two guards very similar in style to himself. Stuckey and Bynum will attack off the bounce and try to get to the cup and get to the line to score.
Thad will have his hands full with 6-10 rookie Jonas Jerebko. He is an athletic combo forward just like Thad who will run the floor, play inside and out, rebound, block shots and try to make an impact with his energy. Thad must keep him off the boards and from getting garbage baskets.
Once again Brand will have to deal with another perimeter oriented power forward. BUT he should be able to use his girth to back down Villanueva and give the Sixers some consistent offense for a change. Well, we can hope right?
I’ll be here chatting during the game this afternoon. No Eagles til later, no reason not to join in for a good Sixers chat.
Loading ...
{ 49 comments… read them below or add one }
Sixers got a break there. Hamilton and Prince usually carve ‘em up with their intelligent and hard play, along with clutch shooting ability. Keys to game imo: contain Gordon to his avg. (25) or below; make sure substitute big men Maxiel and Brown have typical outputs, not surprises; attack and exploit Villanueva on offense; consistently defend and rebound. Good shot at winning today if they show up as a team.
jjg – Yeah Sixers have gotten a lot of breaks by facing undermanned teams. They seem to falter though. Can’t really point to anything other then them being weak mentally in my opinion. Lacking any type of killer in them. And sadly the coaching hire doesn’t bring that to the table to instill some in the team either.
I was reading on Depressed Fan that he thinks the Sixers will match up Lou on Gordon and Dala on Stuckey.
I think that would be a mistake.
Lou can’t guard me and could give up 40 easy to Gordon, which Detroit would love since they are severely lacking offensively without Rip, Prince or any legitimate big man.
Locking up Gordon best we can is the key – agree.
Also from a style standpoint it doesn’t make sense to me. Stuckey likes to penetrate, I prefer Lou to defend him because of that. Give him space and bait him to beat us with a lot of jumpers. On the other hand I like putting an athletic, bigger defender on Gordon to bother what he does best.
Iguodala should be posting up a lot.
Dannie, Agree about Sixers as a team showing inconsistent, spigot mentality; suppose that’s partially a function of youth and immaturity … but they have a bunch of 4 yr. or more vets now – no excuses there. The ideal as you’ve often stated is to have a Super with a killer instinct to lead. Absent that (Sixers case), I question whether killer coaches a la Popovich or Sloan could get this present installation to execute consistently; incomplete players, top to bottom. Jordan seems well-meaning but his vision isn’t translating for whatever reasons. Simple answer: inferior, unrefined personnel.
“Dalembert secures it”
is that some sort of paradox?
They don’t look like their moving the ball well on offense. Brand doesn’t look very good to this point.
Ugh, that was an embarrassing “their/they’re” foul up on my part.
Has Brand looked good at any point thus far?
JJG – What has been your thoughts on Lou so far this season offensively? We all know he can’t guard anyone.
I guess he’s looked good if getting showed up by Jerebko counts as “looking good.”
Dannie, Agree on matchups: gotta have your best athlete/(sometimes) defender Iguodala on Gordon, with help alert and ready. Assigning Williams would be disastrous.
Theoretically, with smaller guards on him Iggy should post up; while he can be effective at times, back-to-basket operation doesn’t seem to be a totally comfortable aspect of his game. And Detroit as a defensive unit usually makes you earn your points.
it’s a pleasure to watch Ben Gordon, a true scorer, play.
Elton Brand is completely incapable of scoring within 3 feet of the basket, it is completely pathetic.
Looks like Willie is the first guard off the bench for the second game in a row. This has been something I’ve been keeping an eye as Jordan has not really committed to any consistent trend in that area.
Lou, less bitching, more running!
Love watching Ben Gordon play. Love watching great shooters work.
Dannie, More confidence (from getting no-competition job w/staff endorsement and strong encouragement), better pace, better shot selection but it’s early. Stiffer competition to come. Still see him struggling against the league’s stronger guard play.
Here is the telling thing for me with Elton Brand …
Jordan inherited him and Brand appears to be healthy, yet he still chooses NOT to use him offensively much at all.
We talked a lot of incorporating Brand and this and that. Has that really happened? To me it looks like he has deliberately been left out of the offensively flow. Stuck to find shots on his own.
Jordan has kept Brand off the floor going small many times – like he is right now and getting killed inside.
I think they are going to try and move Brand.
I think if Brand was a much better passer he would have a more defined role in this offense. Again a la Chris Webber in Sact Town.
But he is a weak passer. As is Sam and Thad. And right now you see that showing through offensively right now.
Dannie, you think they can find someone to take him? If he can’t run the floor and can’t score inside who’s going to want to pay him that kind of money when they can wait a season and get one of the big dogs.
don’t think there is a huge market for dude who can’t play basketball with 4 years, $45+ million left on their deal.
last time Brand got it under the basket, he just threw it out of bounds off his own knee instead of getting embarrassed by getting stuffed again.
Was that last possession a Detroit power play? It was 5-on-3. Where’s the hustle fellas!?
I like how Thaddeus has been aggresive early in the season, but up until this point it hasn’t been working out. Hopefully this is just an early season slump (similar to what Andre experienced last year).
Pete I was thinking before Brand threw it out of bounds that he was going to get blocked again haha.
Chris - I think we would have to take back an equally bad contract(s) but hopefully for a player(s) in position(s) that is more useful for us. Right now Speights could fill in that spot for Brand and be significantly better offensively, equally as good or better on the boards and weaker defensively.
I still think we still need three point shooting. I think we need some defenders and better passing as well.
If they could get that for Brand in some way it could help on the court.
Off the court I would try to break his big single contract into smaller contracts. For example: Get a guy with half the contract as Brand with the same number of years and some other guys that make up the rest but expire earlier. Try to find a way to loosen up the strangle hold on our cap.
Stefanski has A LOT of work to do.
We are getting destroyed on the boards:
Sixers – 17 boards
Wallace/Brown – 16 boards
Detroit as a whole – 27 boards
Getting out hustled and out muscled right now.
Guest – I agree and disagree. I like his aggression, but I hate his timing. To me Thad has went from passive to haphazardly aggressive. That is why he looks off-balanced, surprised when faced with opposition at the basket, missing a lot of shots because they are just bad attempts and turning the ball over more. Often he looks like he is just tossing any shit at the rim.
He clearly hasn’t figured out how to see the play develop before he makes his move. He doesn’t see the second and third defender once he beats his man, BEFORE he attempts to beat his man.
Still early, hoping he figures it out.
His rebounding is still pathetic. And his defense lackluster.
Sam is hurt, Speights getting a second half start. Need some rebounding. Had none if the first half.
That was the ugliest possession of basketball
Each team seems to be making runs of 4-6 points back and forth. I know we need to play better defense and rebound better in the 4th… but I would love to see Kapono play some more minutes this quarter.
One more thing to keep an eye on as the season moves along:
Andre has been getting off to quick starts, but really slowing down in the 2nd halves of games. I want to see him be the offensive focal point late in games and see if he performs.
OMG ELTON BRAND!
He got his shit punched twice right under the rim.
Shooting threes at the end of a close game with Kapono not the guy shooting isn’t going to work fellas.
Dannie hope that’s not the toyota turning point of the game lol
They’re getting eaten alive under the rim. Both ends, both on shots and rebounds. At this point I think I could lock him up inside and I’m about as athletic as Matt Stairs.
Speigths just headed to the locker room. Not good.
Critical turnover right there.
how does lou not go after that loose ball after he gets his pocket picked
21 offensive boards wow.
Can’t. Miss. Free. Throws.
Come on dude. That’s a wrap.
Stuckey (i think) just got up for that rebound before Thad even got off his heels.
Kapono got 0 minutes in the 4th quarter. I don’t agree with that.
Teams are starting to pack the Sixers in the paint and forcing our starters to make perimeter shots. Something must be fixed there. Kapono is now starting to gain the attention of other teams. Carney has to be ready as the other perimeter guy. In terms of starters, Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams must get their perimeter shots set a bit earlier!
The voids left by Andre Miller and Theo Ratliff are starting to show–this team needs a proper veteran backup for Lou and a good backup center for Dalembert.
My concerns are the starting lineup offensively, especially Thaddeus Young. He used to score with ease since entering the league. Now, teams are really packing it in on him. This started since the Celtics game.
I know it is early, but this team has a looming schedule ahead of them starting tomorrow against the Suns. I sure hope Suns killer Speights will be healthy and ready. This team could sure use it.
Also, great to see Ivey and Green play meaningful and efficient minutes!
GO SIXERS!! PLEASE BOUNCE BACK!
Get a load of this article from Phila. Inquirer:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sixerville/Sams_Still_Here.html
It looks like Samuel Dalembert is the odd man out possibly. According to Yahoo, the Sixers tried to send Dalembert to the Warriors. However, the Warriors said, “No!”. The Sixers on the flip side, had no interest in acquiring Stephen Jackson. What do you guys think? Have both Eddies lost their patience on Dalembert?
If Dalembert were moved, Brand would be moved to starting center, a position where EB can thrive in more in this offense.
Rob: unlike most, I want Brand gone more than Sammy. today’s performance was pitiful, his shots couldnt even make it to the rim.
takers for Brand? McGrady? nah but Houston seems to be moving on.
we went small in 2nd quarter and got killed with offensive boards. Ed tried to adjust to their small lineup and they just killed us. good thing Daye was misfiring from downtown. our players are really not as smart as we need to play good basketball. wasted good performances by Iguodala and Green. ok defense too, bar the terrible job on the glass.
Thad just needs to sort out himself. should shoot better from outside too. tough loss. detroit didnt play well plus they got a lot of lucky breaks. turnovers continue to kill our flow on offense.
on to Phoeix. hope Speights is good t0 go, he and Iguodala really LOVE Phoenix.
Rob – What are you talking about?
Brand AND the Sixers would get destroyed if he was our Center. Brand can’t pass and can’t score against bigger opponents. How exactly would he “thrive” in that situation?
You can’t just make comments like that with no context or reasoning. That is wishful thinking at best.
TRR-
I think you mis-read that article. It says that we called them months ago after Sammy made his declaration he wanted out.
As much as we want Brand and Sammy gone, it’s not probable that we would get better on the court this year. As Dannie pointed out earlier, moving someone like Brand would best benefit us by easing the stranglehold of our cap space. I find it hard to believe we would find someone who can fix our biggest problems- Inconsistent rebounding, and Defense.
If I had to trade one or the other, I would trade Elton. Sammy plays like an idiot, but at times he can rebound and play defense effectively. Right now, Brand just doesn’t look good. Not only that, but he has never looked good on our team. The sooner we are able to sign/trade for a player who fits our team and fixes some of our needs… the better.