That would be the worst possible thing for the future of the Sixers. Them going on another fruitless, fools gold second half run.
With trade rumors riling the players and rumors the GM and coach might be getting the boot the team is winning. Now let’s not confuse that with actually playing well because that isn’t the case. But they have been better, just good enough to beat some mediocre and undermanned teams during their three game winnings streak.
Doesn’t matter who they beat, but that they have started to win a little bit. That might be enough to build confidence and a winning rhythem that could carry them for a stretch of games. That would be horrible is three ways:
- Eddie Jordan and Ed Stefanski might have their jobs saved at least for a bit longer
- The organization as a whole might develop a sense of false hope in the existing roster that simply isn’t good enough
- They continue to decrease their odds of landing a top 5 pick in a draft with 1 legit superstar and a few other very, very good players
Needless to say I want the Sixers to just lose. Not tank, simply lose because they are a bad team. The more they win, less likely we will to see meaningful change. And that is exactly what it will take for this team put a product on the floor that will represent that awesome logo properly.
About the game
No Iverson again tonight. Kyle Lowry returned from his injury last night for the Rockets so they are at full strength.
Key to the game for the Sixers is this: our bench much outplay their bench. Last game we lost to the Rockets because Budinger, Landry and Lowry provided them with 46 points off the bench.
This is your game thread.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Ugh
Game turned on Lowry’s ankle. After he went out, besides Brooks, Rockets had nobody else to exploit extended pressure, countered poorly. Win, more frenetic and momentum-based than smart and gutsy. As the game often goes, 2nd half attackers won. Simple fundamental foul shooting, 22-23: credit there to the victors. I hope this run of Sixer wins doesn’t derail anticipated personnel changes. Based on this streak, I’m starting to think that there are more than a dozen crappy NBA teams.
Dannie,
Some feedback on a couple things in your post, trivial perhaps that they might be.
<<With trade rumors riling the players and rumors the GM and coach might be getting the boot the team is winning. >>
First, I’m not sure what you mean by riling the players. Angering? Motivating? It’s completely possible that I missed something, but the only player I have seen quoted anything close to extensively is Iggy, and he seems pretty professional about it, not pissed or anxious.
Secondly, I believe your line <rumors the GM and coach might be getting the boot> is a wish, and not valid. I’m not questioning whether they should be fired, and I can’t speak to the reactions of either Stefanski, or Jordan, but perhaps taking liberties, you make it sound as though the rumors are pretty common. I have only seen one such story. That partcular story lacked credibility. It was from a post you ran about 10 days ago, from the NYDN, byline Mitch Lawrence. Lawrence, a veteran, and seemingly credible, did not say sources told him, he merely said he heard a rumor about a change at the break. Not only was that generic, I thought it strange to make a change at the break, which gives Stefanski control of the trading deadline, and if they think he’s not good enough to run the club, why wait? End his employment then.
That part is just my opinion, but you should be able to see how that logic, right or wrong discourages me from believing it. Not that I’m a magnet of NBA rumors, but I’m just not finding their dismissal, particularly Stefanski that populous on the rumor mill. I know there are a ton of angry fans, and displeased media, but they aren’t decision makers.
And there’s more
<<The organization as a whole might develop a sense of false hope in the existing roster that simply isn’t good enough.>>
I don’t think that will be the case. I know you abhor the way the club has played and gone backwards from last year, and they may mention some positives out of the 4 in a row, but I don’t believe they are that naive.
They may see some good things that you don’t agree with, but they know that a major project is at hand. At least I think they do.
I’ll be quite interested to see how Allen Iverson segues back in the rotation.
By the way, on a recent thread, there was some enthusiasm for Avery Johnson being the next coach. I was not an endorser of that, and wanted to add a statistic that won’t keep him from another gig, but won’t line them up to hire him.
From the time his Mavs had a 2-0 lead in the Finals against Miami, his Mavs went 3-12 in the next 15 playoff games. His second straight first round exit was his final demise. For what it’s worth.
ok I am officially worried. EJ just put Jrue Holiday in for defense with the game on the line. he was pumped up tonight even congratulating the players after the 3rd quarter ended. he is behaving like a real coach. we are winning games. 2 things i didnt count on. this guy may never get fired till this re-occurs next season. they look set to go on their customary 2nd half run; a weak Eastern conference, growing confidence…….i dont like this at all. forget John Wall, EJ just needs to go. at his best or not, he cant be the coach of this team or whatever it becomes. damnit where are the Lakers, Cavs or Magic on our schedule when you need ‘em.
is rebuilding gonna be an afterthought now??
I’ve been flustered with Jordan’s inconsistent rotations, and the fact that it seemed like he wasn’t reaching the players….however, I never wanted him to be fired, especially not during the season. We have to give the guy somewhat of a chance.
In my opinion, the problem with our team is that we have too many options, which lead to all the inconsistent rotations. Amidst this 4 game winning streak, 3 of those games didn’t include A.I. When he comes back, that’s going to bump minutes from Jrue, Royal, and Green….our three most consistent defenders.
Lou Williams is driving me crazy, because he’s so suspect on defense, and takes a lot of poor shots. When him and Iverson are on the court together, we’re screwed defensively. And as it seems, defense is the main reason we’re winning these games.
2 things seriously wrong with the 6ers now; the roster and the coach. both need to be upgraded but you cant do them in any order.
seems like we’re doomed to remain like the Grand Old Duke of York and his men; neither up nor down.
the NBA season has gone halfway or so. about 3 months have elapsed since the season started. we are the proud owners of an 18-31 record. surely its about overdue for something to change. is this it?
Four in a row- Break up the Sixers!
No seriously, break them up.
How do you read this from Stefanski:
“Stefanski went on to say: “We feel we’re underachieving. We have to get better, obviously. We’ve been competitive, but we’re not getting over the top. Does a move have to happen? It will only happen if we feel it’s going to improve the basketball team. If it’s a move that is going to take a step backward, we’re not going to do that.”"
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20100205_Bob_Cooney__Time_for_Sixers_to_make_a_fresh_start.html
Does he mean he want to try and be in a win now, band-aid mode like the last few seasons? Or is he just blowing smoke to make it sound like he is not desperate to sell?
I sort of enjoyed the second half run two years ago (the Spring Before Brand), but at this point the fool’s gold wins are growing a bit stale. We all know this team has the talent to be a low level playoff team. The question is how to become a contender- and that probably requires front office moves and a step back.
I agree with Ken Bland the four wins are really no big real. Nets, Chicago, Paul less NOH, and a Yao, TMac and then Lowry get’s hurt Rockets team. We can only pray that Luukko and Snider are not that clueless.
They stink!
Johnson’s 3-12 playoff record since Mav’s 2-0 advantage on eventual champs, Heat, tells just part of the story, conveniently.
Miami squad that stormed back from that deficit was a strong one including Wade, Shaq, Mourning, et al (also beat Kidd’s Nets & 64-18 Pistons along the way to crown) – no shame in losing there.
Next year 1st round loss to Warriors was case of a loosey-goosey, run ‘n gun team pushed by well-informed-of-Mavs and especially motivated Nelson to an upset - happens.
‘07-’08 4-1 loss to surprise Cinderella Paul/West Hornets, who extended Spurs to 7 games, not ignominious either.
What does strongly recommend Johnson to any NBA organization looking for a winning coach is his 4-year .735 winning pct. and his having a Nowitzki (the Statue) - included roster finish (consecutively) 11th, 5th and 9th in league in allowed ppg, with Mavs dropping off to 17th the following year under Carlisle. That AJ’s 3-plus year coaching stint represents the 1980 born Dallas Maverick’s greatest extended success would strongly inform an inquiring human resource manager too. Don’t suppose he’ll have difficulty landing a head coaching job, if
interested, anytime soon.
Ken Bland
1. About riling the players up. I disagree 100% that Iguodala was “not pissed or anxious.” Have you read his comments? In general my opinion of Iguodala is that he is in a perpetual state of feeling disrespected and not valued and his comments scream that. What other elite or top players talk about themselves the way he does? They don’t need to tell the media they are good-to-great players, yet Iguodala on more than one occasion (not just this season) feels he must directly tell people he thinks he is one of the best all-around players blah, blah, blah. That tells me he feels disrespected by the fans, the media and most likely NBA executives (he said he believes his peers respect him). But again it all points to an insecure player and trade rumors only 2 years into your deal certainly doesn’t help that.
Besides that, as a player when you hear about you being traded the first thing that goes through you mind is: does my team think I am not good enough if you are the focal point of a trade. If you’re not the focal point and just a member of the team it indirectly says the team as a whole isn’t good enough. In the Sixers case the rumors are not minor deals to tweak the team, they are more of the blow it up nature and that screams “this roster can’t win.” As a player that is likely to rile you up and light a fire under your ass.
2. About Jordan and Stefanski. Jordan is on the hot, hot seat because he could be fired by multiple people up the chain. Stefanski has already outwardly said no one is safe (not even himself) and that he wasn’t happy with how the team was playing. Then then started with the same line/trend that eventually culimnated with Cheeks getting fired. He is directly and indirectly dictating what the coach should be doing. It’s not coincidence that after he says the team needs to focus on defense, Jordan starts focusing more on defense. It’s no coincidence the game after Stefanski tells 97.5 he thinks Brand should be starting – Brand is starting. Rumor or not this tells me Jordan is not at all safe and IF the team continued to struggle going into the all-star break and trade deadline Jordan getting the axe wouldn’t be a surprise at all. I rumor is a rumor no matter the perceived credibility but the reader.
Stefanski has a longer leash for sure as the GM, but the team is not winning and not driving revenue and there have been enough cursory comments by people much more in the know than any of us to suggest ownership is at least thinking of going in a different direction.
3. As for the false sense of hope. I just have to ask, how much attention have you paid to the Sixers the last 3 years? I mean intimately. Read all the comments Stefanski has made over the last three seasons.
This team has been living off fools gold the last two first round playoff losses. Stefanski’s comments have always been that this team closer to being right there than being a “major [restructuring/building] project.”
The general tone has been, “we were in the Detroit series, in the Orlando series. Just need the young players to grow. We added Kapono as shooter we needed. Elton Brand had that fluke shoulder injury that pushed us back, when he returns we will take another step.” Etc, etc, etc. Fools gold. I think you mistake that is being naive where I consider it incompetence.
Furthermore, the Eastern Conference mediocrity breeds fools gold and naive thinking. You could be a consistent playoff team with a .500 record (sometimes not). If you play hard and still lose in the first round the decision makers might think you are closer to getting over the hump than is reality.
As JJG stated above, suppose the Sixers continue with their winnings ways from now until February 18th and the team does nothing. They are now only 4 and a half games out of the 8th seed in the East, is possible to make another fruitless playoff run that only serves to keep the team running on a treadmill of mediocrity and that worries me.
Sixers players have gotten stoked to a degree of respectable play by 4 factors imo:
1) Iverson’s ”stones” dragging then-flagging team into some pride and a competitive mind set; his presence alone on roster helps
2) Iverson’s recent absence, returning playing time to some who were feeling
dissed/slighted by increased bench time and were chomping at the bit (after leg tingles of #3’s return subsided and reality of schedule set in)
3) swirling trade rumors and belated media ”boppings” that both implied and underscored strong civic and organizational dissatisfaction with team and individual performances, giving rise to a motivating fear of geography change and a spurring common enemy (the loudly-crusading “THEM”), setting in motion suddenly found esprit de corps of a heretofore splintered bunch
4) favorable recent schedule and injury pendulum swing (Paul/Thornton; Yao/TMac/Lowry)
Strong Sixers piece by Inky’s Kate Fagan today entitled “Sense and Insensibility.”
Found this from the Sixers 20007 ESPN preview… so nothing has changed in the past 3+ years:
Broussard went on to say :
So 3 years later we are talking about the same BS. Just this time its from EFJ and EBS.
So… this seasons late surge will be fools gold. The only suspense will be waiting to see if Stefanski replaces buddy and protégé Eddie Jordan on the bench.
And the years pass by and the only constant we have is mediocrity and late season empty runs that get us to 35-40 wins and help preserve the status quo.