7-20 is the record.
6 straight road games is the upcoming schedule.
Here are the opponents:
- Wizards
- Jazz
- Trailblazers
- Kings
- Clippers
- Nuggets
What do you guys think the Sixers record will be after this stretch?
We have a weaker record than all those teams. Tonight’s game might actually be the easiest of the 6 and going into this game the Sixers will be an underdog.
Lou is back in the starting line-up with Jrue. Willie goes back to the bench and Elton remains on the bench.
I expect this game to be close just like the first match-up between these two teams. The difference, I will go out on a lime and say the Sixers pull it out. They have been playing slightly better and have the Celtic win to bank on if the game gets close. They know they can pull out a win vs. a good team. That was a fluke in all honesty. But mentally for the players is a positive they can use in future games. If they want any hope of having a good road trip they need to start strong and take this game vs. the Wiz.
Dannie, I believe our beloved coach said L.Will. wasn!t ready so more Willie as a starter. Isn!t this road trip where we start playing well , in the last 2 years; the “buzzer beater close loss trip” last year.
I don’t mind that. Willie-Lou makes little difference to me, neither are really starting caliber players IMO.
Sixers look like shit.
Arenas is eating everyone up right now. Lou in particular.
sixers stink (and I am not even watching!)
Dannie, E. Maynor traded to the Thunder; sounds like a cost cutting move for Utah, they get rid of Harprings contract. Odd because Maynor and Deron seemed to play well together for short strtches.
Great move for the Thunder. Now they have a young TRUE point guard off the bench.
I would love to ask Jrue, off the record, how it feels to go from Howland to this coach. Why does Utah make this move? Maynor looked VERY under control this year.
Suede – 100% about the money. The Jazz are WAY over the luxury tax. Even after that dumping they are something like $8m over the luxury tax. So they were able to shed roughly 7.8m in salary. That 7.8 they were paying the dollar for dollar tax on so it actually cost them double.
They had to part with a quality player to move Harprings $6.5M.
Sixers falling apart.
Terrible pass Iguodala.
Lou Williams can’t guard Earl Boykins. Get Jru in.
Terrible shot by Iguodala.
Did Iggy really have to take that 3 right there?
Dumb foul. Get a stop then you can attempt to tie the game or go for quick duece. Eddie Jordan is a moron.
What the fuck was that call?
They missed that one in our favor. It was definitely a charge.
Then Iguodala doesn’t man up and get that jump ball.
Losers.
“I think he feels aggressive and confident coming off the bench,” Jordan said. “He’s coming around. It’s almost January and he’s had three months under his belt. We always said it’s going to come — and it’s coming. Maybe he feels more aggressive, more confident, against — I hate to say it — second-line players.”
“It looks like he’s going pretty good,” Jordan said. “I’d still like to see him run a little bit faster and more and longer. But when he gets to his sweet spot, he’s got his strength, he’s got his rhythm. He’s getting his shot off. That’s important. I’m pretty sure his whole being is coming around. Maybe it’s because of his conditioning and legs. I just want him to keep trying and give more effort — just like everybody else.” ~ Eddie Jordan
Hate Elton Brand. No idea why, but he does.
33 points in the fourth quarter.
Eddie Jordan admitted making a mistake. OMG first time all season.
He mentions that nobody protects the rim when Sam isn!t in there, well Sam with Elton seemed to work. The beginning of the end for Jrue tonight; after watching Lou get torched by a guy smaller than me, how can E.S. think Lou is a 35 min. a night guy.
What did EJ admit to?
Morty – He said that he told Willie to foul with like 38 seconds left in a three point game and that was a mistake.
He must has lost track of game situation, time and score.
They really need to start paying fans to watch this. I usually skip the commercials with the DVR, but skipping the game and watching the commercials might save me some frustration.
I say 0-6. This team looks like they are beginning to tune him out on both ends.
tmoore wrote:Jordan was asked about his team’s defensive abilities with the Sixers and Wizards. He said: “I don’t know anything about defense, from my understanding (smiles).”
Fagan: Elton Brand on tonight’s loss: “Our unit that we had out there, certain guys didn’t box out, didn’t rebound, weren’t tough. Certain guys have a longer leash than others so they played longer and the mistakes were shown. No one should have a long leash.If we’re going to not box out and not rebound and not play defense,then you shouldn’t be out there.” …a shot at Thad? I guess dissension is the next step in this teams implosion.
—
BTW, the Blazers just lost the Vanilla Gorilla for the season (and have lost Oden.) Any way we can send them Sam?
Dannie: Dumb coach. Dumb players. Dumb GM.
Tk76, after watching Texas tonight I say we offer Thad and 5 million per for a 2nd #1 and draft D. James and get Barnes for our coach. Watching Texas defend and than switching back to the Sixers game gave me a very queasy feeling.
Great. Let the infighting begin. That’s about the only thing that would get a rise out of me with this horrible, boring team.
Trade our #2-5 pick and Thad for the #1 pick and John Wall.
Sixers need some accountability. The coach certainly isn’t proving it.
Dannie, do teams ever trade sure fire #1′s?
Silver lining- team imploding/dissension would cost EJ his job quickly. You can’t lose a team and keep your job- at least not with most organizations.
Our coaching genius just learned that there is some value to defense in the 4th qtr. How long has he been coaching? I have to admit I was rooting for a loss. Particularly after their coach showed some balls and pulled the starters.
TK76 – They shouldn’t. Doesn’t mean teams shouldn’t make the offer to see if some dummy would bite.
Prediction: Tomorrow’s Phil Jasner article will profile the designer of beloved mascot Hip Hop’s costume.
Nice and fluffy- just like Jasner’s articles.
Or maybe a follow up on the previous profile of the team’s marketing director.
No, its about hight time their strength and conditioning coach gets some love. Or maybe Eddie’s piss boy?
Gotta love our press…
What a nightmare. Im done with the Sixers this year, 100% Bucks for me this season. The Sixers simply don’t look like and NBA team out there.
I dont know how in the hell a guy with a basketball IQ equivalent to Samuel Dalembert get to coach an NBA team. On top of that said coach fails miserably at EVERYTHING. From gameplanning, to player management, to game management, to situational coach and diagraming plays, to disregarding defense. I don’t know if any of you guys saw the Phoenix, Cavs game yesterday, but the way the Cavs rotated to the perimeter was a thing of beauty.
Also in the past 5 game EB hasn’t shot lower than 53% The guy isn’t the rebounding force he once was, but he can still score on the low blocks and hit his J. The guy is the consumate professional, but you can tell inside he is boiling, and tired of Jordans shit.
I am also sick of Ed, Ed & Eddie. I didnt like the cartoon, and I dislike the Sixers version more.
I say good for Brand for holding players accountable and calling out guys during the post game interview he has probably had enough of Eddie Jordan’s shit-constantly calling out Brand and having double standards with other players where they… for whatever reason have much longer leashes. It is so obvious to me that Elton is back to his old self and he is the last reason we are struggling… Eddie Jordan really does need to be fired… this is the worst exhibit of coaching I have seen in Philadelphia.
Reasons why Eddie Jordan has been such a bad coach…
Since day 1 we have not played to any of our strengths. We are a team filled with good athletes and good post up scorers.. so what kind of offense does this team run.. a slow “princeton” offense. It is an offense that is designed for players with high IQ’s and shooters. This really never had a chance of working and I have no idea why Stefanski thought it would.. o wait he wanted to hire his friend. To be honest I don’t think Jordans offense would work with a team full of players with high IQ’s and shooters… I didn’t believe in this “princeton” offense from the beginning and I believe the players are loosing their trust in it.
The Handling of the Brand Situation – This one bothers me the most. Most of the fans gave up on Brand pretty early and thats understandable, he is on the wrong side of 30, just came off of two major injuries and looked rusty the first couple of weeks. Eddie Jordan is a coach however not a fan and he gave up on this guy way to early. I don’t know if Brand did something during practices before the season started or pre-season games but a week of Brand trying to figure himself out after having 9 straight seasons of averaging 20-10 and coming off back to back seasons with serious injuries was enough for Jordan to declare that he will permantely suck. After Brand missed three games due to injuries he has worked his ass off, showed that his shot and offensive craftiness is back, and been attempting to be a leader. What’s his reward for that… a seat on the bench during the beginning of games… and underlying bashing from his coach… “he needs to give more effort”. Really? What player on this team has showed more effort during their on court play… I am not saying that their are players on this team not trying at all.. I AM saying that Brand has worked as hard as someone possibly can and im getting tired of Jordan saying I like the way he is playing but I want him to show me more effort.. that is just a b.s. excuse to keep on the bench because he hates him for whatever reason. I think its disgusting how the situation has been handled and how little media attention it has gotten.
Awful/Inconsistent/Weird rotations- I believe that we have thrown out 12 different starting lineups since the beginning of the year.. how many teams are successful when constantly changing their starting lineups. He loves one guy one night and hates him the next. This coach has no understanding of which players work best with each other.. and just throws guys out their when he feels like it.. their is absolutely no consistency here. Their was a stretch where Carney was starting and getting a lot of minutes and showed a lot of effort… is that guy even on the team anymore.. how about Jason Smith who EJ kept on talking up during the pre-season about his shooting ability.. he flat out doesn’t see the court anymore. When your a coach you have to put players out their who work well with each other.. its been 31 games and he still hasn’t figured out his rotations .I personally feel like Willie and Jrue Sam and Kapano have real good chemistry with Brand… whereas Lou Will Andre Thaddeus and Speights play well with each other. Willie and Jrue consistently get Brand the ball in good spots.. Sammy and Brand work well with each other on defense and Brand can get double teamed leaving Kopano open for threes (becuase lets be honest that is all he is good for) It is Eddies responsibility get to get rotations he can stick with.. period.
He is really ugly- Im kidding about this one ha.. although he is hard to look at… who has braces at that age.
So yeah I hate Eddie “coach cluelessness” Jordan
One more…. He has the wrong idea of how you win basketball games- He couldn’t give two shits about putting a unit out on the court that plays defense.. you simply CANT win basketball games with any kind of consisntency if defense isn’t in your top priorities coming into each and every game. When you play for Eddie Jordan you don’t get rewarded for playing good defense (that is why lou will plays over holliday). Im finished ranting
Chuck – I fully agree with you about Brand’s post game comments. I’m more then fine with him calling out the team in the manner he did. He didn’t point out any individual players by name, which is never a good thing to do (but certainly hinted at which ones he meant) and said what needed to be said. That was better media-coach speak then our so-called coach has had all damn season. As always: Brand being professional, intelligent, and doing what needs to be done. As always: our coach holding a grudge against the best pro’s pro on our team.
Okl. City landing Maynor – This is a flat out steal for Presti. The Livingston experiment was a creative idea but didn’t pan out, so he goes and grabs a top 20 pick for next to nothing, identifying a team that needed to shed salary, and identifying an up-and-comer PG that is a team player. Oklahoma now has yet another cog on their team that is fine with looking to make the extra pass.
That team is really starting to put together guys that actually enjoy playing off each other and moving the ball, as opposed to 95% of the NBA. Durant, Westbrook, Green, Harden, Ibaka, and now Maynor…this team is only going to improve, especially given the fact they’ll have another 1st round pick this year (could be anywhere from #10-17 or so) and enough salary to go after a legit 2nd banana to team with Durant.
Sixers should start going with a defensive lineup:
PG: Jrue
SG: Bill Green
SF: Iguodala
PF: Brand
C: Sammy
Bench – Lou and Thad for some great offensive punch.
This way we get to give Lou his minutes, Lou and Thad still get plenty off the bench, and we start the game with good individual defenders, giving us less of a chance to dig a deep hole for ourselves. The downside, of course, is that I’m all for Lou and Thad getting huge minutes for no other reason then to pad their stats so their trade value goes up. But, if Thad got pissed with the demotion given his inconsistency, and that made him step up his game…yet another reason to move in that direction.
Can ReclinerGM please make a sideproject website called: www.WhyIsn’tEltonBrandStarting.com
**meant to say: this way we still give “Jrue” his minutes, not Lou.
Dave T – Two Franchises truly on opposite ends of the spectrum, in OKC(up-and-coming, building a powerhouse for the future) and the Sixers(Clueless Management building a middling squad indefinately)
Garvey – “middling” is is being generous.
It’s amazing how much EJ is doing to undercut his GM through his Brand comments. If he really doesn’t like Brand, he should be trying to build Brand up, increase his trade value, not give him back handed compliments at best.
So is McKie ready to be the interim coach?
Does it really matter if McKie “is ready” to be an interim coach? No commitment there, just a bridge to the next head coach.
Of all the options on staff (including Dileo) he is the guy I would want.
@ tk76 McKie has gone from behind the bench to on the floor. I hope its a sign that he maybe getting ready for a real coaching spot. He has a solid backround learning from some of the great coaches of this era. I’d take him over EJ all day and the rest of that idiot staff. If I see Lynam with another baggy suit on looking clueless it will be too soon. But his daughter is nice to look at.
RRose – I didn’t realize Jimmy Lynam had an attractive daughter, I’ll have to keep my eye out for her next game. Is she in the Sixers organization? Always nice to have some eye candy when your team sucks.
She used to be the side line reporter. They did replace her so I’m not sure what role she has. She was interviewing A.i at his press conference so she’s around. I’ve gotten to the point of watching the assistance daughter then focusing on the debacle that is EJ’s coaching. Its strange to see a guy like David Lee for NY get 15-20 rebounds on a nightly basis and he defends well, plays hard yet Sammy nor Speights have the will or desire to be that guy. He’s much smaller than all 3 of our bigs but works much harder. Those rebounds are possessions the Sixers could use but nobody has that role defined. Be a defensive rebounder, or stopper. I thought in training camp roles would and should have been defined. Guess not.
RRose – Are you talking about Dei Lynam? Meh. I honestly think they made the switch due to Dei’s age.
Wanted to get someone younger in there now. Dei still covers the Sixers though and occasional she is on the sideline.
The new sideline reporter Jamie Maggio is much more attractive.
McKie as interim coach? You must be kidding. What coaching apprenticeship has he had, other than having played for some good coaches? Stretching credulity, on the plus side of his coaching “candidacy” is his brief 76ers coaching stint, which may serve him well as tactical aversion therapy. Aaron McKie? That’s ridiculous. Why not Ed Pinckney? Wow. Or Marc Zumoff? Yessss!
All-points bulletin: Arc precinct captain Lou Williams is in search of 5’5″ Earl Boykins who stole his shorts, his shirt and his sneakers between 7:30 and 10:00 p.m. Tuesday. Cpt. Williams warns the community at large that Mr. Boykins should be considered short-armed yet extremely dangerous. If the suspect is seen, do not approach Cpt. Williams as he is currently recovering in an IC Unit from the
pressure of trying to perform one of his basic duties, man-to-man defense.
Morty, A man who will be 31 in March, and who is paid 14.8+ million THIS YEAR to play basketball (leadingly) should not require “build up” from any coach. Brand should be saying when he IS on the court, get out of my way, night in, night out. One problem with that: he no longer has the tools to back it up. His 2 late missed foul shots hurt.
Dave T, “Pro’s pro” my foot, Brand’s a baby. His post-game, sour grapes, passive-aggressive sniping at coach and teammates is the mark of a loser. Contrary to his public stance, he is choosing to make himself and his own playing minutes & starting/not starting THE issues, rather than focusing on the 76ers winning games. The quicker the under-the-rim big man is gone, the better. He’s a folly of a signing.
We are talking interim coach- so it has to be someone in the organization. So your choices are basically Dileo, Ford, Lynum and McKie.
Given those options and this team, I’m fine giving McKie the gig:
McKie on his preparation to be a coach.
From the article cited above:
”
McKie, a Simon Gratz grad, played there for the legendary Bill Ellerbee, then under John Chaneyat Temple. During his NBA career, he played for stalwart such coaches as Phil Jackson and Larry Brown.
While playing, McKie absorbed knowledge from wherever he could. It was a necessity, he says, to keep him doing what he loved.
“I wasn’t a guy who was playing on top of the rim or anything like that,” McKie said. “I was one who was always trying to outthink my opponent. I think that will carry you a long way in the game of basketball. Athleticism will only carry you so far, because, as you start to get older, you get away from being more athletic, and the game becomes more mental to you.
“
Ayers and O’Koren I guess are options as well.
@Dannie yes Dei, the new chick is much more attractive I agree. Just stating its come down to this. Because I can’t figure my team out and it hurts so I’m left with watching the cheerleaders and the sideline reporters. I’ve mentioned it before, I do think McKie would make a good coach. I mean what’s Vinny Del Negro know that he doesn’t? At least its new blood, and a new approach. EJ’s doesn’t work and has never worked. Bring in a veteran X’O's guy for play calling. Get an intense defensive minding assistant and add E Snow. I listened to him explain the details of Popovich’s defense on tv one day. A guy who’s never played for him knowing his defense to a T. That says something about being a student of the game. I’m on A Mckie and E. Snow bandwagon. Can’t get any worse, what is the winning pct. this season? yikes.
JJG gimmie a break…. your totally missing what is happening here… your probaly one of those fans that worships “im always pissed off and everything is always everybody elses fault” Andre Igudola. Why dont you read my post where I talk about the Eddie Jordan Brand situation and tell me what part im wrong about. Your way off base saying Brand has a “sour grapes” type of attitude.. who wouldn’t be pissed off about contuing to come off the bench despite coming back to form. WHo would you like to call out players postgame.. because someone has to when you play for a coach “who knows everything”… and doesn’t hold himself accountable… do you suggest Andre Igudola does… you mean the guy who contuines to miss the big shots at the end of games.. has the worst attitude on the team.. how about the soft spoken thaddeus young who is passive most of the time… lets Lou Williams call out players who plays zero defense. Are you on Eddie Jordan’s side with the whole Brand situation because it sounds like you might be.. or you are just completly misreading what has been taking place throughout the season.
Your probaly one of those fans that jumped all over Brand in the beggining of the season with Eddie and said he was finished.. hes usless… he can’t do anything anymore. Lemme ask you something… have we be winning a lot of games with Brand on the bench… has it lead to any more success? The answer is no it hasn’t… and people can say well our record wasn’t great when he was in the starting lineup.. which I believe was 5-6 before he got hurt… my reply to that would be it has become so obvious now that he was still working off his rustiness and has come back to form now… so this is exactly when he should not becoming off the bench.
“Ayers and O’Koren I guess are options as well.”
I guess I blocked those to out… which is understandable.
tk76, Adrian Dantley, another 6’5″ F/G who went a long way on toughness & moxie, played for the legendary Morgan Wooten (Dematha), Johnny Dee (Notre Dame), Frank Layden, Chuck Daly & Del Harris (NBA) … does that qualify him to call the shots as an NBA head coach? Gotta have the right mix of acumen, personality & communication skills to be THE MAN successfully at pro level.
While I’m sure that he has useful knowledge to pass on, along with a willingness to do so, I don’t think McKie is ready at all to helm.
Dei Lynam? i guess. she’s getting up there in age though. I believe her offical title now is “CSN Sixers Insider”. Lol.
I think its great that Brand is calling out EJ. He’s the only guy on the team who goes out there and hustles on every play(i’m thinking of igoudala’s little spat with the ref last night that cost us a basket because he was arguing rather than guarding the inbounds, which led to an easy feed under the basket for 2) and he gets called out by the coach in front of the media for not trying hard enough? Thats ridiculous. You can say that he’s not as explosive or not as fast anymore, and you can say that he’s not worth his contract, or your can even say that he’s a poor fit for the team, but you can’t say he isn’t down there banging and hustling on both ends of the court.
I think it says a lot about the organization that within the last year, Brand, Ratliff, and i believe D. Marshall have all weighed in on how poorly run it is. These are veterans, professionals with good reputations around the league, not some pissants with career behavoir problems. Andre Miller’s non attendance at last years post season meeting and subsequent silence speaks volumes as well – he is another such pro and clearly wanted nothing futher to do with this organization.
Again, slow starts in three of the last four games have killed this team. Really, the bench should be starting. Also, I think the starting lineup was playing better with Iverson on the floor. There was more energy and hustle on both ends of the floor. That starting lineup then really helped their cause in the first quarter, even Dalembert became incredible with Iverson on the floor. Yesterday was a disgrace from the starting lineup, with the exception of the underrated Willie Green, who has been a pro’s pro along with Elton Brand. Green has been playing with determination and effort. Andre Iguodala must get his head and attitude back in the game. If he is going to be like his buddy Kobe, he has to be like that in ALL aspects of the game, including understanding game flows properly.
This team is an interesting, yet frustrating one. Perhaps, a solid draft pick and some “glue” could really help this team take the next step and be competitive to another level.
As of now (12/23), the Sixers are projected to have picks #3 and #33. Right now, they would be projected to choose Wesley Johnson and Damion James respectfully.
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/wesley-johnson
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/damion-james
Those players seem interesting, but this team would be overloaded with SFs. Who would you guys want the Sixers to pick, besides John Wall?
That Guy, So you think it’s great that “The Gigantic Price Tag” is pointing fingers rather than producing wins. Says a lot about your thinking. His biggest hustle is in telling teammates where THEY should have been after opponents have scored.
#42′s a fraud. Watch the tapes.
Ratliff goes off after Dileo restricts his PT. Brand is sulking, and “leaking” to the press due to Jordan’s supposed constraints. Donyell Marshall criticizes Sixers after they didn’t offer him another playing contract but gave him a commentator’s job. Andre Miller does his summer Houdini disappearing act 2 months early, after contributing to another Sixers April playoff ouster. “Professionals, good reputations” … if you say so … eye of the beholder. Role models? Not in my book. The ones you mentioned “weighed in” (or checked out, in the case of Miller) because they didn’t get their way or expected result, plain and simple.
JJG brilliant response to my post… wait where is it? Again read my post about the Eddie Jordan Elton Brand situation and tell me where I am wrong.
“Brand is sulking, and “leaking” to the press due to Jordan’s supposed constraints”.
What their hasnt been enough proof for you that Eddie has been an ass to Brand all year, and has hated him for no reason. Supposed constraints… what the hell have you been watching all year.. do you work for the sixers… what a joke.
Again, pretty tough to soley produce wins when your sitting on the bench because your coach is inept
List your top 5 worst Sixer coaches in the last 25 years.
EJ
Doug Moe
Ayers
Davis
J.OB
Bad teams, bad coaches, both?
In EJ’s case definitely a bad coach.
Chuck: i see you have met our resident cynic. he picks his spots on when to talk or not. i can say one thing for him though; Andre Iguodala is definitely not his favorite player on the team.
bout EB and EJ: you can make a case for Brand not being what we paid for but so far (from the tapes that I’ve watched) he’s put in more effort so far than any other player on the team. he is so professional that its surprising to see him drop something like that. GOOD. its about time someone said something. media is acting like everyone doesnt know that Jordan is bleeping up.
That Guy: i agree 100% with what you said. i doubt that all 4 players had some personal issues. more likely there is something wrong with the way things are being done.
Accusing JJG of being an Igoudala fan is not quite accurate! That said, I disagree with his take on Brand.
Clearly, Brand’s contract is not in line with his pre-Achilles injury, and signing him was a mistake. But, after a slow start this year, he is regaining (has regained?) his offensive touch, and remains a willing and able (though not dominant) defender and rebounder. In short, he is a two way player on a team full of one way players, and a net positive on the court.
The coach doesn’t have the credibility to tell this team anything, so as long as Brand tells his teammates the same thing he told the press, i.e. not going behind their backs, I can’t knock him for it.
Morty
Agreed. Interesting way to phrase it – Two-Way Player. Right now, I think he and Iguodala (Maybe Jrue & Green in certain matchups) are the only legit 2-way players on the team right now. Of course, when you have a one-way coach…
Yes, Igoudala and Brand are the only true 2 way players at the moment. Jrue has the ability to be another, but is clearly still a work in progress. Green is actually playing the best ball of his career recently, he’s practically a net neutral on the court.
Sammy can’t play O, Speights and Lou can’t play D and everyone else on this team can’t do anything…
We were joking about what type of creampuff piece the paper would put out after the Sixers game… where here it is:
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20091223_Shootaround_is_necessity_now_for_Sixers.html
NBA shootarounds and whether teams should do them…
Wow. Talk about lame. Our writers have no…
“where” should read “well”
Forgot to mention that Thad is terrible at anything not involving shooting a good FG%.
tk76: And that story is regurgitated from this Sunday’s NY Times.
Wow. At least someone is recycling garbage.
Was much more impressed by this off the cuff piece by Fagan. At least she can look herself in the face in the morning knowing she is not a corporate schill:
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20091223_Shootaround_is_necessity_now_for_Sixers.html
Willie Green, last night: 4-5 in 1st Q, countering Arenas bolting start. Savvy right side drop pass to Kapono for 3. Following his made jumper, great deny defense on Arenas during attempted in-bound, causing Wizards timeout. Good overall defensive work. 16 pts. & 6 dimes. Favorite fan whipping boy makes good, again. Was a net positive in another net negative game. It must be frustrating for him to share a court with such dolts.
WG can join the legions of serviceable and inexpensive vets that have graced the red-white-blue jersey during some lean years. His like Mad Max without the Mad.
<<List your top 5 worst Sixer coaches in the last 25 years.
EJ
Doug Moe
Ayers
Davis
J.OB>>
You know it’s been a dreadul quarter century when John Lucas doesn’t make that list.
tk76: you mean this article right? cool but Fagan has a little more leash because its a blog. but fair enough too. Narducci would have laid it down cleanly if he was still here.
There are a lot of worthy candidate. Its hard to know when you have such terrible teams how much the coaching should get criticized. Like Mad Dog Carter… bad team, bad coach, both?
I never saw Mo Cheeks as a very good coach. But he had non-talented teams playing hard and cohesively, and you almost have to put him up on Mount Rushmore compared to what this team has seen in the last quarter century.
I actually thought Carter got the most out of the guy that was going to change the game, S.Bradley, when he took over and his team played hard. Jumpin, it seems you have the same disdain for Elton that many people have for Willie; what he said needed to be said, in my opinion because if the coach and front office don!t hold players accountable, than I guess the players must police themselves. You will love the following Brand quote from a T.Moore article; after his game winning tip in of a Marreese jumpshot Elton said ,” I knew he was going to shoot it because he never passes”; Jumpin, you have said that many times about Spieghts game and it is true, he is a black hole at times and though I love his scoring ability, to become great he needs to address that plus defense to become great.
We all love Speights and his scoring ability… which still has unreached potential… but I could count the amount of times he has passed the ball on one hand
I don’t completely agree. Speights certainly is a shoot first player… but he can pass and make good decisions with the ball. I’d take his passing over someone like Sam who thinks he can pass like Magic Johnson and makes horrible decisions.
But definitely, as teams start paying more attention he will have to start passing more. But I think the skill is there, just not the desire (sort of like his defense and rebounding.) we’ll have to see how it plays out.
Happy Holidays everybody and enjoy tomorrow’s games!!
Tk: I’d put the 3/4′s of a season Ford had with the Sixers, after Ayers got fired in 04-05, right up there in the top 5. One of the most depressing AI Sixer seasons, along with the Speedy Claxton drafted year in 01-02 where we lost to the Celtics in the first round. Ford TRIED to take a hard line stance with AI, did not handle it right, then constantly ping ponged back and forth between disciplinarian, letting AI do what he wants, and attacking individual players in the media and calling his team out at the wrong times. Just a disaster of a season.
JJG: I disagree with your Brand statements. First of all, let’s ask if they are true. Is it true that players not doing the “little things” (boxing out, hustle plays, rebounding, defensive intensity, etc) should have minutes cut? IMO, absolutely, and something that is a natural given in college basketball (where coaches have control) whereas in the NBA is given much more rope (where it is a player’s game). You don’t usually want a player calling out the team except in rare circumstances, but given the circumstances, aka us losing terribly, not clicking on offense, defensive utter crap…if EJ is not stepping up in the media addressing this I see absolutely no problem with Brand doing so.
I think Morty, or maybe Chuck, said it best: we did not receive the player we thought we were getting when signing Brand. He was quickly injured again, lost a season, and now he’s working rust off and has seemingly lost his explosiveness. But he IS a good two way player, an important cog to this team, and capable of playing very good defense and scoring some baskets on a consistent basis. And right now, since losing Reggie Evans (im not pining for him, just saying he was the one guy in the same mold) we have had NOOOOO ONE to give us defensive intangibles. Sam CAN be a good defender when he wants, but is a knucklehead and inconsistent. Willie Green is a good defender but causes issues on offense with his inconsistent play and laughably bad shot selection at times.
So if a player is going to call our team out, I’d far prefer that it is:
a. The oldest and most respected veteran on our team
b. The player making the most money
c. The player TRYING and doing the little things
d. The player that has great work ethic, doesnt bitch to the refs, and has stayed quiet for a year and a half while rehabbing.
Brand and Iguodala are the only people on this team that have earned the right to call someone out. EJ has shown no leadership or accountability whatsoever, and is clearly catering to playing people for odd and counterintuitive reasons. If that doesn’t change and the record is still shit, why WOULDNT one of our two better players call them out?
Draft – Someone mentioned what players we should be looking at. Damoin James would be the most laughably, awful, terrible choice. Nice player, has a lot of Shawn Marion in him, but given that we have Iguodala, Thad, Brand and Speights the last thing we need is another athletic, slashing hybrid SF/PF.
My guy – Cole Aldrich. We are going to desperately need a replacement center once “chicken with his head cut off” Dalembert’s contract ends. Cole isn’t going to be anyone’s future NBA all star, but this is a very, very good player that is surprisingly well rounded in almost all aspects of a back to the basket, 7’0 big man game. Takes pride in rebounding, is tough, boxes out, shows nice footwork in the post, knows when to defer and when to be aggressive with his own shot, is a willing passer, good shot blocker (strong and weakside), is not a slow white fossil but is pretty athletic, and has shown steady improvement each year. He will most likely be taken in the 2-6 range, and unfortunately, right now we are headed towards picking there.
We draft him and our center position is solved for half a decade.
Dave T– those were projections made by NBADraftnet. Are there any other good Draft sites to look at? A sure-shot draft pick and some “glue” will certainly help this team take it to the next step (as well as a better coach). For the last 3 seasons, the Sixers have been in games, but cannot close out games or would get heartbroken by game winners/buzzer beaters. Sometimes things happen for a reason and maybe this team will get a solid draft pick since Iverson, who also made quite an impact with this team and this city.
DaveT., I mentioned using Thad to get a pick for D.James, not drafting and adding him here with Thad. I love his toughness and if we got a defensive coach and our starting five could be Aldrich,Elton, D.James,Iggy and Jrue we could have a tough ,gritty defensive group that may be greater than its parts.
Damion James is a real nice player. But I have questions as to whether he is a good a enough perimeter shooter, ballhandler and whether he has enough defensively quickness to really be successful as a SF in the NBA.
No question he is tough and a hard worker.
Time will tell but judging by where he is being projected (13th ranked SF and failed to impress last year when he entered the draft) I think a lot of people are thinking the same thing about his projected NBA game.
Right now he is bullying people in college and he posts up a lot and gets a lot of his points within 17 feet.
While swapping him and Thad might help on the boards and defensively he adds nothing offensively to a line-up that still lacks a complete offensive player on the perimeter.
I’d almost think this team is better off with a Bruce Bowen/Raja Bell type player in their starting line-up. A guy that can stretch the defense with his three point shooting but also is a very strong defensive player on the wing.
If they are going to draft a wing player who isn’t a 100% complete player I think they need to get a shooter/defender.
Essentially Willie Green with a bit more size and who can actually shoot the ball consistently well.
Wesley Johnson could be that player if he can defend on the NBA level. He can play SG or SF. He can flat out shoot it from the perimeter. He is athletic at 6-7. But can he translate his size and athletic ability into a strong defender. Sucks he is at Syracuse playing zone all damn season so it’s going to be hard to judge. Won’t know about his man-to-man defense for sure until we see him compete against other top wing players pre-draft. BUT he is a very strong help defender and rebounder all ready on the wing. Dude is averaging 2 blocks, 2 steals and 7 boards per game.
Right now this is the guy for me.
Danny, sounds like a Danny Green type guy you are thinking about.
I am not sold on Cole Aldrich. His size is great, FG shooting and shot blocking is nice.
What I always am concerned about with bigger, slower guys coming out of college is can they rebounding OUT of their area. Meaning will they just collect the boards that bounce to them or can they move people or get around people and rebound all over the floor.
Also, bigger, less agile college defenders don’t get exposed as much in pick and rolls as they will in the league.
In the games I’ve seen this year he has been unimpressive. But I did see him drop a triple double in an NCAA tournament game against Dayton (13 points, 20 boards, 10 blocks) as well.
Need to see more of him.
“Are there any other good Draft sites to look at?”
Draftexpress is by far the best site to look at.
Dannie, I keep looking at U.C.L.A. and Texas guys because they seem to come to the N.B.A. with a bit of defensive attitude and this team sure lacks that. Ironically N.B.A. Draft.net has us getting D.James in round #2, which would be fine with me, as a guy to push Thad at least, though draft projections this early are rediculous anyway and Draft Xpress tends to be more accurate anyway.
Aldrich reminds me of “Big Country” Reeves a bit, before he put the weight on. If Elton is next to him he may work but I agree about your point about rebounding out of your area, I don!t see that either.
Aldrich? As Dave T said, “He isnt going to be anyones all-star”. so why waste a 3, 4,5 pick on him? its hard to predict that a player will be an all-star, by why take a guy that you know will not be? aldrich is a good pick for a 50-win team trying to complete the puzzle. losers like the sixers need stars. i havent seen much syracuse , but wesley johnson sounds like a better pick. a 6’7”’ tremendous shooting, 6’7” G …. this town has been dying for a real SG for 10 years. sounds like a pick with more potenetial
Give me Favors or Aldrich. This team needs a legit Defensive Big in the worst way. I’ve seen Favors compared to a slightly bigger Josh Smith w/ better rebounding. Its practically a do-over
Could the sixers possibly trade Sam Dalembert to the Blazers?
AaronMckie – Not every lottery pick has to be a homerun. If you have the chance to land a legit starter at an important position, I’d say especially PG, C and PF, I’m fine with taking a very good, but not incredible player that will help us in the long haul and be an important piece.
Since drafting Sam Dalembert, we wrongly gambled that he would turn his raw athletic talent into an actual basketball player. We were wrong; it cost us. He needs to be gone, because no matter how many times he has shown up and shown legit defensive prowess, he has showed just as much equivalent boneheaded offensive plays, fouled too much, or shown too much inconsistency game to game on defense. Having a non-allstar, but still very good, rock solid center that we can bank on night to night…I’d say that’s worth a top 10 pick.
And again, for mid 1st round picks if we happen to land a 2nd one or somehow start a winning streak, I can’t say these two names enough:
Oklahoma St – James Anderson (SG). In the Jodie Meeks mold: sweet 3 point stroke, can hit the midrange jumper, good scorer, can light it up on offense when he needs to.
Miss. St. – Jarvis Varnardo (C). Defensive beast of a center that has improved offensively year to year. Has AVERAGED 5 blocks a game, and gotten 8 blocks multiple times last year. A total anchor in the middle that intimidates the other team and alters a ton of shots, very defensively sound.
Mark: Hell freezes over before Sammy would go to Portland. Pritchard is a smart GM, and there’s no way he’d take Sam on with a year left and $11 million remaining for the 10-11 season. He’s not that desperate, even with Oden and now Pryzbilla gone. He’ll just slide Aldridge to C and do a PF by committee, probably tossing their SG’s and SF’s to play quasi big men roles at times, while he gives more minutes to guards (see: Bayless, Jeryd) to play small ball.
Also, cheap replacement defensive bigs that can fulfill a role and do a half decent job are pretty easy to pick up, I’m sure that’s what they will do. More likely they land an ex-Sixer like Steven Hunter or Shavlik Randolph for pennies then make a knee jerk reaction move on a year they have no chance to compete for the title anyway.
DaveT- with a top 5 pick you have to pick a guy you think has all-star potential. Outside of the top 5 I agree a solid player at PG or C is often a smart pick.
The average top 5 pick is a solid starter… so I’d think you’d want to try and beat the mean.
Posted this numerous times. Draft history by pick:
http://www.82games.com/nbadraft2.htm
TK – I think it hasn’t quite sunk in for me yet that this year’s Sixers will be picking in the top 5. I’m still very used to thinking of us as picking in the 12-16 range the last few years, I’m geared towards thinking about people that would be drafted in the 10-20 spots, not legit top 5 players. I guess some deep optimistic part of me can’t see this team finishing THIS bad by the end of the season, but I probably need a wake up call given how bad we are playing.