You guys already know how I feel about the Sixers playing good teams. These are the games we should pay the most attention to because it allows us to evaluate them against the level of competition they are striving to be. How will they fare?
Again we get to look at the Brandon Roy/Andre Iguodala match up. And that is exactly how it should be. I like Willie Green defensively but not against Roy. He gives too much in terms of size and Roy has worked himself into an nice post scorer. If at all possible I’d like to take away one of his scorer areas and putting Iguodala on him should limit if not negate his post up effectiveness.
Last game we had concerns with Thad defending the bigger PF in Lamarcus Aldridge. At home that proved not to be much of an issue as Aldridge was timid and played pretty soft inside. At home that could be a much different story. I like Marreese Speights getting a bare minimum of 20 minutes tonight to match up with Portland’s size.
On the other hand with Thad getting more scoring opportunities and being more aggressive on offense should bode well for the Sixers has his quickness advantage should put Aldridge is a bad spot when they are matched up.
My theme of the trip: Play DEFENSE
Let me ask this: Where did you have the Sixers finishing after this 5 game trip? 2-3? 3-2? 4-1? What? Right now they have a chance to come out on the plus side and doing so will take a complete effort against a good team jockeying for playoff position and home court in the first round of a very tough Western Conference. Let’s hope we see the Sixers from the first three quarters yesterday and not the team than finished the game last night.
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Maybe they put Sam on Aldridge because Prizbilla rarely looks to score but doubtful. A.Miller should be able to cover Blake at least because he doesn!t drive much. This is a team we will match up well with next year;Brand/Aldridge, Thad/Outlaw, Iggy/Roy.
That was some first half. We came out very aggressive and got to the rim over and over pretty easily, which surprised me. If we did a better job on the defensive boards, we’d be up by 20+ now. The Blazers got something like 15 more shots than us and around 20 second chance points. That’s the only thing that kept them in it. Let’s hope we don’t have another no show 3rd quarter (or entire second half) and cough another one up.
One of the most exciting games of the season so far. They have to find a way to pull this off.
They are learning how to make plays at the end of games,down both ends. A.Miller made some nice defensive plays tonight and Royal looked good in his B.Bowen role. A big confidence booster.
SAMMMMY!!!!! keep the scowl meen
has Willie G officially become our best defender? there’s a reason why Roy didnt take shots in the 4th Q; he wasnt even ALLOWED!
Mr. Young is officially coming out these last 5 games. The dribble step back 3 was it for me. his game is LEGIT! carrying us through the 3rd Q.
Iguodala!! Getting aggressive in 4th; its agrressiveness that gets u the star calls and not the faces. Got away with kick out foul on Fernanadez, more of that. Talk wit ur game meen, not ur face. LOVE HOW HE MADE FTs. his achilles heel.
Such an exciting game. Of course Miller’s fingerprints are ALL OVER THE GAME but I guess to be expected from your go-to-guy.
Well done! Rose Garden! thats sumthin to be proud of.
Pls can we not whine bout how they bleW a 14pt lead; its inevitable ok. every NBA game, a team makes a run, no need to beat a dead horse.
Dannie: curious to see your take on this. I think this one beats the clumsy Lakers game. they D-ed it up tonite.
WTF does baseball always have to be this dramatic? get it over with numbskulls!
jkay: strange that you would give Willie Green credit for his 4th-quarter defense when Green played less than a minute in the 4th quarter. Give credit where it’s due: Iguodala played Roy most of the 4th quarter, and Ivey got the big stop at the end. You and everyone else on this blog have drunk the jjg kool-aid re: Green’s defense. The numbers say otherwise: Green’s PER against is even worse than the much-maligned Lou Williams’ (http://www.82games.com/0809/0809PHI.HTM). Green gives an honest effort on D but is often overmatched. I do agree that the Sixers’ great win was fueled by excellent games by the big three (but the go-to guy was Iguodala, not Miller — again, you ignored what actually happened in the game).
guest: really? i’m positive Iguodala didnt guard him for most of the 4th. i kept checking and as long as outlaw or fernandez was in the game, thats who Iguodala got. then who was covering him the 4th? not Ivey cos I didnt see him in most of the offensive sets…well just assumed it was Willie Green, ma bad. I’m not jumping on the bandwagon I just like his attitude and I think he was more reponsible for Roy’s play tonight than Iggy. Wonder how i could have got it so wrong? uh well throw in stats if you like, I see his play on the court, that won me over. he gets beat often but its not like its Kevin Ollie he’s checking. thanks for the correction anyway.
go-to-guy wasnt Iggy. sure he got the ball and made plays plus those 4 HUGE FREE THROWS HE SANK but whenever we needed a score badly and were sinking back into drift mode it was always Miller. I thought #9 played one of his best games but after watching it live, it was all Andre Miller to me. Everyone of our starters made huge plays (thad et al) but it just looked that way to me. i look at degree of difficulty of the situation and he seemed to make the key ones. well everyone thinks differently i guess.
They have beat 3 playoff teams in the last week and a half and 2 on the road, a good sign. The last 2 games we played teams that can sure use Reggie.
I’m not the biggest Reggie Evans fan but I’ll tell you he had a greater impact on the game then just about everyone else. His HAVOC bothered the blazers a lot, even into a Tech by Pryz. If he continues to play and score baskets that bodes well for a solid finish to the regular season by this team. He’s like that crazy dude during pick up ball waiting to get picked. You don’t want him on your team but you don’t want to play against him either. Besides the offensive rebounds the blazers got, this may have been the most complete game of the season. Missing what 4 free throws? That’s concentration for you after a long 5 game West coast trip. Great win.
It was a good game. A total team effort. Guys were fitting into their roles well. More importantly that’s the kind of defense they MUST play if this team expects to make a meaningful run down the stretch here. I’ll have more thoughts later but work had got me swamped in a big way.
Fourth Quarter Line-ups
The first 2:45 in the fourth quarter the line up was:
Speights – Theo – Miller – Lou – Thad
Then Iguodala entered the game for Speights and Ivey for Miller giving us a line up of:
Theo – Thad – Ivey – Lou – Dala
Short blow for Miller and he returned in a bout a minute and 12 seconds for Ivey:
Theo – Thad – Miller – Lou – Dala
8 seconds later Reggie came in for Thad:
Theo – Reggie – Miller – Lou – Dala
1 minute and 38 seconds later Sammy is back for Theo:
Sam – Reggie – Miller – Lou – Dala
2 minutes and 8 seconds later Thad relieves Reggie:
Sam – Thad – Miller – Lou – Dala
1:22 mark Willie enters for Lou:
Sam- Thad – Miller – Willie – Dala
23 seconds left Lou in for Sam
Lou – Thad – Miller – Willie – Dala
20 seconds left Sam in for Willie and Ivey in for Lou:
Ivey – Thad – Miller – Sam – Dala
Willie did only play about a minute in the fourth quarter. He came in at the 1:22 mark and left the game with 20 seconds left.
Definitely worth it to stay up for that one. When the Blazers made their second big run of the half, 13-0 early in the 4th quarter, and got up by 6, I thought it was slipping away for sure. I was impressed that the Sixers held it together and actually stepped it up from that point on. They showed a lot of heart and determination.
It was an interesting game in that the Blazers took 27 more shots than we did and had a lot more second chance points. The thing is they really took a lot of jump shots (34 3-pt. attempts against only 5 for us) and we kept Roy bottled up. Our aggressiveness and relentless driving to the rim resulted in a huge advantage from the free throw line (where we shot it extremely well) that was enough to overcome all the extra shots we gave up to the Blazers.
Very enjoyable game and a great win for the team, but I am ticked at NBATV. What the heck is up with them. Couldn’t watch more than half of the overtime period becuase they decided that the conclusion of the Suns-Nuggets game was more important. I know they probably figured that there were only a few seconds left and it wouldn’t take very long to show the finish and get back to the Sixers-Blazers, but with all the fouling and the timeouts it took forever to end. I understand why they wanted to show it, but come on. Couldn’t they do a split-screen or show the Suns-Nuggets in a box in the corner of the screen? That way we wouldn’t have to miss our game, which was also a pretty good one. I really wasn’t happy at all about watching a game for close to 3 hours only to have the network take me away from it, while it is in overtime no less. That was a bad call on their part, IMO.
RROSE….I’m with you on Reggie. I always cringe when he is involved in a pick-and-roll or when he gets the ball on the block, basically when anyone involves him on the offensive end of the floor. Banging down low, screening, and getting offensive rebound putbacks is all the offensive involvement I want to see from him really, but he was on last night and very involved. He even went 2-2 from the line and, dare I say, he actually seems to have developed a stroke from there. That’s a credit to him, since he’s obviously working on it, and to Ruland.
bski, now I don’t want Reggie taking late game free throws to decide the win but its obvious he’s worked on that portion of his game a lot. That’s a guy that knows his limitations and works at the part of his game he knows will take him off the floor if he isn’t productive. Strange as this may sound, I think he’s worked harder at his foul shooting then Iggy has. When I see Evans step up to the line I’m almost expecting them to go in. Iggy has regressed with his it seems. Wasn’t he a much better free throw shooter early on ? Just wondering. Don’t want to be negative, I would imagine he stays after practice working at it, heck I’m not there so I don’t know.
Imagine if Iggy shot about 85% from the line what his numbers would be this season. And if one or 2 of those close buzzer beater games would have been won had he made more of them. Credit to him he made them last night.
RRose….No, Reggie wouldn’t be my choice either, just giving him credit for working on it and improving.
About Iguodala and his FT%: 2004-05: 74.3% (on 156 attempts), 2005-06: 75.4% (on 349 attempts), 2006-07: 82% (on 551 attempts)—–looking really good so far—–then comes 2007-08: 72.1% (on 506 attempts), and 2008-09: 72.8% (on 415 attempts so far, which puts him on a pace for around the same 506 as last year). So yes, he has regressed.
It would be great to see him get back to 82%, especially considering the amount of time he has the ball in his hands, the type of game he plays, and the number of free throws he shoots as a result. He has done it so he certainly can do it. It is also entirely within his control, so it’s disappointing to see him shoot the % that he does. I expect more from a “team leader” and since we know this is how he views himself, he should expect more from himself and do better there.
jkay: a check of the play-by-play shows that Miller was great in the first half (when everyone was playing well), but he was a BIG reason the Blazers got back into the game in the 2nd half. For the first 20 minutes of the 2nd half, he was 0-5 with 3 turnovers, 1-2 from the line. Thereafter, he was a little better, going 3 for 6, though he almost turned it over on the crazy fast-break with under a minute left in regulation. The go-to guy, defined as the guy you “go to” when you absolutely have to have a score, was Iguodala, who delivered on 2 possessions with under 2 minutes left, down 2. Miller did make a go-ahead rebound shot with under 2 mins. left in OT, so give him credit for that. The best part of his game was really his rebounding, when everyone else played poorly in that respect.
Guest….Miller also had 2 steals on consecutive Blazer possessions in the 3rd quarter that led to easy runout baskets for us. This happened after the Blazers put up that 12-0 run over the first 5:25 of the second half. We were back on our heels at that point and those steals and easy points helped us to stem the Blazers momentum and gain a foothold. He should get credit for that also.
I’m going to overanalyze Iggy free throw shooting and say during those early years the “real” Ai was here taking most of the shots expending more energy offensively during games. Where Iggy was more the 2nd or 3rd fiddle. Now he has the pressure of finishing games as the go to player and being more of a play maker. That argument goes out the window when you think of star players on other good teams who shoot a much better % all season long. I just hope he found his 2006-2007 stroke. Sixers need Iggy from last night for the rest of the season. Great putting up his stats.
If Iguodala hit 82% instead of 72% he would score 0.6 more points/game. Not exactly a huge difference.
I guess in a few games this year he has shot terribly from the line, and it is an area where he can improve. Don’t think it would be that big of a difference in his overall game. We’re not talking Shaq or even Howard out there.
sadly i dont think you can get what you saw last night consistently especially from Iguodala. he sorta wasted himself that nite. he was our the best defender on the floor and the closer on the offensive end. its unrealistic to expect him to keep it up. hopefully his shot keeps falling.
Wow, what a way to end this West Coast Trip! My prediction of 3-2 was spot on, except for the certain opponents we beat, that was best part of it.
MENTAL TOUGHNESS. That is what I have been preaching about during and prior to that stretch regarding whether this team has a chance to fight for either the 4th or 5th seed. (4th might be flickering a bit!) That is what the Sixers have and they have been in games. Maybe in a pizzaro sort of way, we are the Blazers of the East. All we need are more gutsy victories, huge rallies, and some consistent perimeter shooting and we could be very interesting! (not to mention Brand and Smith for next season).
OUR BENCH IS THE BEST ENERGY TEAM IN THE EAST:
Bench Points On The West Coast Trip (Part II):
Sixers Bench Opponents Bench
37.8 pts 28.6 pts
Tony DiLeo is starting to use his imagination and his creativity with his roster and flexing our bench’s muscles. And different guys are contributing off the bench and doing their best A game. Donyell Marshall here, Kareem Rush there, Reggie Evans OUT OF NOWHERE. Lou Williams has been great in this trip (although he must avoid going under the screens though). Royal Ivey playing defense at its scrummiest and taking it to the basket more when the three isn’t going down. Marresse Speights’ “What’s Next? Mentality is right on by Bob Salmi. Theo Ratliff is still part of Swattown. That is how you win road trips, through GREAT bench play. That bench is HUGE and will be HUGE for some seasons to come! Imagine if Brand and Smith are healthy and effective, based on their huge work ethics. This, my friends, is what Ed Stefanski envisioned!!
The Sixers did what they did and followed the gameplan. They wanted Portland to take a plethora of threes (contested) of course. We played zone on them, which was why Dallas was able to beat the Blazers countless times. (Thank you Mavs for the strategy in beating LA(sort of) and Portland. The Blazers are really a slashing and attacking team, that looks for the threes later through kick outs. The 3rd quarter was awkward in its calls against the Sixers, but I loved the way we played through the calls and the calls were later in favor of US! That was how and why we won at STAPLES center and the Rose Garden. MENTAL TOUGHNESS!
The reason Willie Green is still on our roster is his UNDERRATED on the ball defense and defending near the waistline. If we can find a quality SG that can shoot efficiently as a starter and defend when called upon, then Willie Green can be moved elsewhere. Tough call due to the defensive end!!
Andre Miller MUST be back with the Sixers!! Ed Stefanski must arrange something with his agent. He is the backbone of the Sixers and the best floor general we have had in a long time.
And where do the Sixers go from here? I will strongly say– UP!!
And the Sixers no longer have to deal with any more uptempo teams that play seven seconds and less. And do you know where those teams are? One is fighting for its playoff lives out West, while the other is eliminated and veterans are benched for future uncertainty.
Only the Hawks are the closest team on our schedule that play uptempo, but not Suns or Warriors style. We can beat these guys and play into our own tempo. Thank Mark Price for helping Young out with his stroke. He is the big reason why we are making this huge surge and the reason why we give the Hawks problems. In my mind, we should be (2-0) in the series against the Hawks, Cheeks just wore out our starters and did not use our bench, which was the reason why we lost the first meeting in Atlanta. In the second meeting over there , even though they were without Horford, the Sixers were true to form and basically duplicated what they did in the first meeting, except maintain the lead and play some of our guys off the bench. We gave them one (morally two) of their home losses. The Sixers will be ready for the Hawks next Tuesday! The Hawks achille is the road (14-22), while we have been mentally tough(er) on the road lately at (16-19), not bad.
The last 13 games are going to be interesting and most of them are very doable! The only warning will be that many of those teams are fighting for the final spot in the East and we have some key matchups with Detroit (2 games) and Altanta (one game). The Pistons are banged (supposedly) banged up. The Heat is carried by Dwayne Wade power. The Hawks are iffy on the road.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/schedule?team=phi
GO SIXERS!!! BOTTLE UP THAT ENERGY!!
What a whacky team.
Here’s something that just one year ago I thought could never occur: Willie Green playing 26 minutes and taking just 2 shots. Wow. Willie deserves respect for learning that he is not good at shooting the basketball, and the coaches deserve respect for getting through to Willie.
Lastly, are we seeing another step in the maturation of Thad Young? In the last 13 games he has gotten to the line almost 4 times per game. If Thad can learn how to get to the line with consistency he can be a scary scorer. And his earlier FG % struggles while adjusting to taking more shots and being more assertive on the offensive end seem to be bearing fruit.
Furthermore, adding to my astonishment that the universe is still intact, in the same game Lou Williams played 27 minutes and only took 7 shots. Of course Lou got to the line 5 times, meaning he was still “being aggressive,” so perhaps that is why a black hole did not open up over Portland.
tk76…..You’re right that 0.6ppg is not a huge difference, but it still adds up to 50 points over 82 games and that’s something. We know that, realistically, Iguodala wouldn’t end up making one more free throw every other game. Chances are pretty good he would make a few extra in one game here and there. Even if it only swung two games in our favor it would be beneficial. I mean two games could mean the difference between 45-37 and the 4th seed instead of 43-39 and the 6th seed.
Another thing is that, as previously stated, Iguodala sees himself/is seen as a team leader. Maybe if he took it upon himself to improve he would lead by example (you know, create a culture where poor performance is not accepted and guys are held accountable and expected to continually improve) and others would step up and work on improving thier FT shooting as well. That would make a difference. Pick up 50 points a season from Iguodala, 20 points a season from Lou, 30 points a season from Thad (as he gets to the line more and shoots a better percentage) and now you’re getting somewhere.
I know I’m dreaming but…..
I think it is unrealistic to expect anything other than what Iguodala gave last night and in L.A. He is making a nice salary because he is supposed to be our “go to” guy, if you can’t count on him to make plays on both ends of the floor consistently, then he shouldn’t be here for that price. I think his confidence is beginning to rise and hopefully it has a positive effect on his game from now on. Will it happen? Not sure, but we should expect it.
In all it was a terrific game. I am just so glad this west coast trip is over so I can stop dragging ass at work all day.
Some numbers:
* Lou Williams has accumulated 21 assists and three turnovers in the last five games after having 33 assists and 34 turnovers in the 13 previous games.
* Thaddeus Young has scored 20 points in four straight games for the first time in his career. He’s averaging 23.3 points and shooting 55.9 percent in that time.
FYI: Wednesday is the ultimate trap game. It’s the first game back after a long road trip against a bad team. The Sixers flew all night after Monday’s win, then had Tuesday off. It’ll be hard not to have tired legs in that situation. The Blazers were in the same boat Monday — they finished a five-game trip two days earlier, flew home and played one day later.
Rob: u’re right Hawks are more catchable than Heat, even though the standings are reversed. Wade is on cloud 9 right now and dunno if he cools down fast enough. they have an easy schedule. Hawks are just benefitting from an early burst at start of season that allowed them to cruise or tank IMO throught the schedule as a sub .500 team.
Morty: bout Thad – his baseline spin move on Roy would make Tim Duncan proud. the more I see it, the less clumsy and more small forward-ish his game begins to look.
Ryan F: in a perfect world, players would play up to their contracts. Iggy is VERY human so I am not dumb enough to expect he won’t pull a stinker soon. Overall progress gives me hope though, maybe in another year we wont be complaining bout his monster contract.
bski – ‘you know, create a culture where poor performance is not accepted and guys are held accountable and expected to continually improve’ – you’re definitely dreaming!
Morty, Re #23: Willie Green, not good at shooting the basketball? You mean the guy who’s shooting 4 percentage points higher than Lou Williams on the season? [43 to 39] What is the term beneath “not good” for application to Lou? In turn, do the coaches deserve disrespect for not getting through to erratic Lou while still affording him considerable minutes [23 pg]? By the way, in case you overlooked it, Willie put avowed Trailblazer leader and curiously passive Roy in his pocket for opening 9 minutes last night, setting the tone for the rest of Roy’s subpar, outcome-determining game.
Re #28: “Ultimate trap game”? – - catch phrase, fatuous jargon, pre-delivered excuse for underperformance. I don’t buy it. The players stay in top-notch accomodations like Four Seasons or Westin, travel right, have Tuesday off and part of Wednesday to rest, and these young bucks are liable to show up with “tired legs”? C’mon. Only if they’re not professional in going about their business. Wednesday night is their responsibility. Is watching the game on TV (or attending the game at the Wachovia Center) an ‘ultimate trap’ option for fans?
No question, it is a “trap game”. But I think the Sixers can spring the trap, but not get caught in it. The last time, they came back home after their first West Coast Trip, they blew the Rockets out, but they gave us quite a scare in that 4th quarter. I am sure Coach DiLeo will emphasize the “trap game”. Also, we have some guys with fresh legs that will be available perhaps–Rush, Marshall.
The Sixers have a hunger mentality. The way they handled Sacramento from the start. At first, I could not recognize the Sixers during that game. Was that us, blowing them out from the start and with an insurmountable lead? Wow. Hopefully, we can jump on the Wolves and put the nail on them early.
Off topic…
This has been discussed before, but I was wondering what type of PG this team should be looking for next year? (not the player but the style.)
They should be upgraded on offense with Thad stepping up and Brand returned. Add Speights and Smith and the frontcourt should have good shooters and be deep and versatile.
There are PG’s that can bring nearly everything to the table. Guys like Harris, Billups and Deron Williams… but those guys were all top 5 picks for good reason. I’m going to assume the Sixers will not get a great all aroung PG unless they get very lucky in the draft.
I will list a few general types of PG’s and list examples from great to mediocre of the different types.
At PG do they want:
-A big, all around player in the Kidd, Miller, Jack role who can give you toughness, boards and some inside scoring as well as cover SG’s alongside Lou?
-A waterbug who can break down defenses in the CP3, TJ Ford, Telfair mold?
-A shooter who is less of a floor general in the Bibby, Hinrich, Blake, Ridnour mold
-A defensive minded low risk player in the Rondo, Snow, Lowry mold?
Not every PG fits easily into these categories, but assuming we have to have a PG next year with some but not every skill, what areas should be seen as most critical for this team next year?
tk76: how do u not get what we have been screaming for the past 3 months on this blog; shooting!! if we get anything else, that i count as luck. ideally shooting, great defense and VERY little ego.
the waterbug is redundant, all we do is drive to the rim. iverson deja-vu?
miller-type we already been thought that, only so far that can take you.
defender only? might as well stick Ivey in there then. Rondo works only with the big 3. without em he’s just another body, well better but u get the point.
pls. dont put Harris in the same class as Billups and Williams.
tk76, I don!t think they are set on getting a p.g. because I believe a deal for A.Miller[behind closed doors] will be done before the draft and unless a guy they really like drops they will take the best backcourt player available.An A.Miller,L.Will., Ivey rotation is a mixture of young and old and not our weakest position by far. A player that can do the same things Willie does but better is probably more important now. Coming of an elbow screen or baseline backscreen and hitting the jumpshot [Ellington,Thornton] should be on the resume of our future backup 2 guard to [Iggy]. Using a 2nd rounder [acquired] on a p.g. that can stay in Europe or play in the developmental league is a possibility, I believe. Funny thing about this draft is whether your picking 3rd or 15th the player you get is probably equal talent wise.
as long as we cant get a legit shooter in our starting five, we will continue to have the same limited offensive problem we have. Thad is coming along nicely but we need a guard who can stick it in.
Tonight: the ultimate ‘crap’ game. Composite record of the two contestants: 56-84. No rivalry juice. Visitors playin’ out the string. Glad-to-be-home team feelin’ good from a 3-2 Left Coast swing and incentivized by higher playoff seeding possibilities. Potential factors in Wolves’ favor: loosey-goosey ‘who cares?’ approach; vision of swatches of empty arena seats deflating Sixers into little giddyup; Foye fueled
by Philly return & alma mater’s tourney run; Carney & Ollie deputized by Wolves staff for inside scoops. But all in all, if Sixers don’t win this one, Dileo should be fired and replaced by Bob Salmi, glib thrasher of ears and purveyor of corn.
jefferson is out. nuff said. i expect to see Rush, Marshall, Ratliff, Speights and Lou playing the 4th quarter.
jkay….Now who’s dreaming? This season, the Sixers have repeatedly pulled the chair of confidence out from under this fan’s ass every time I’ve tried to sit in it. I’m still optimistic, just not as much as you.
bski: lol. good point!
I can’t imagine the Sixers will beat a better team than the Lakers full strength at home.
Nor will they lose to a worse team than the Thunder without Durant and Green.
They have shown that they can play up or down to anyone.
Interestingly enough, I think the Oklahoma City game on the road was the turn around for this team. It kind of made “the last straw” to lose games like that where everybody on the roster was flatter than Andre Miller’s jump shot. They were flat in every aspect of the game and our sharpshooters did not play in that game. The game was within reach, but we were so out of sorts, it was painful to watch.
Lately, the Sixers have been quite the road warriors and are starting play better in close game situations. Now, I sure hope Marshall and Rush will be a part of the rotation and not just the blowout minutes. They really create a new dimension for the Sixers and it opens the drives the hoop by that much.
Also, Reggie Evans reminds me of Apple-Founder/engineer Steve Wozniak. I was watching “Dancing With The Stars” one day and he was dancing. The judges loved his passion, but he is no dancer. With that said, Reggie may not light up the box score with points often or be smooth sailing(dancing) as Brand on the post up game, but his impact and his heart are huge and it cannot be defined in a box score. It appears that against these contenders and great teams, Reggie is always active on BOTH ends of the floor (like Game 1 last season in the playoffs). Plus, he does EVERYTHING with a smile! You have to love that, along with his lunchpailing! He is PLAYOFF material!!
GO SIXERS!!!
Playing up or down to anyone isn’t really the problem. It happens with every team. The Lakers will lose a game on paper they shouldn’t lose and the Timberwolves will beat a team they probably shouldn’t have. That stuff happens during the season.
The problem that has yet to be resolved or sufficiently answered is the consistency at which their play fluctuates up and down.
Why do they beat the Lakers on the road, lose to Golden State then come right back and beat Portland on the road?
Would you really be that surprised if the lost to Minnesota tonight at home? I wouldn’t and that is the frustrating thing with this team.
How does a basketball team become consistently good. This is a conversation more so for after the season but it is the sole factor for my lack of enthusiasm with this squad right now. Passion many times is derived from consistency. How can a fan honestly be passionate about a team that jerks them around so much?
It isn’t like we don’t want to support. That we don’t want to cheer. We don’t want to come to games. We don’t want to be optimistic. But at some point reality takes over based on the cumulative of recent historical performance – no? We stop living off one shot “big” or “unexpected” wins or quarter or 1/3 season runs when the end result is still .500 or slightly better and a first round playoff exit.
And you know what, it certainly doesn’t make us bad fans either when our enthusiasm taper. It just makes us human.
tk76, great question – I’ll give my take when I have some time later, there isn’t a simple answer to that question… Do you have an answer?
“Why do they beat the Lakers on the road, lose to Golden State then come right back and beat Portland on the road?” Bill Simmons often talks about the rock-paper-scissors nature of the NBA, and I think that’s what happened there. Here’s my take: There’s a softness about the Lakers that “tougher” teams can take advantage of, like the Sixers. LA tends towards a finesse/high bball IQ game, which can beat the Sixers, but that finesse game has gotta include consistent sharpshooting from 3-point land. Young teams who can run can beat the Sixers (OKC, GS); in general, young teams do well against the Sixers, so I wouldn’t bet on success agains the T’Wolves (it’s a really strange weakness – maybe they get tired when they have to run all the time and they can’t focus as well because they’re used to the run-rest, run-rest rythm that playing against the likes of Houston affords them). The Sixers are a horrible matchup for Portland in that they’re kind of a younger, less intelligent, and less experienced Laker team (Roy~Kobe, Blake~Fisher, Aldridge~Gasol, Oden~Bynum, Fernandez~Vujacic, etc… this is debatable). Statman from Deep Sixer made a good point once about another kind of team that absolutely kills the Sixers: the team with the dynamic, speed-first point guard (Harris, Paul).
From there, there’s a natural tangent to tk76’s question about what kind of point guard we need. The goal isn’t to go from a “rock” team to a “paper” team, or from a “paper” team to a “scissors” team, but to become a team that’s all three. What kind of guard adds a dimension we need without taking away from the Sixers’s strengths? Or, in today’s NBA, is there a kind of team that has the best chance of going deep into the playoffs?
Guys, I thought of a great (at least to me) post you could do together: a short preview of the Duke/Villanova game! Pete knows ‘Nova, Dannie knows Duke, and I think most everyone here has a vested interest in the game because of the Philly connection. What sayeth thee, noble sirs?
Zack – We’d love to do it but time is tough because of the 9-5er. I will try to get something done before the game though after work if we can’t find time during the day.