Sixers/Celtics Recap and Moving On

Last night I wasn’t much in the typing mood after a snowy and frustrated drive home.  But I wanted to elaborate on a couple of things and then move on.  We shouldn’t let the hated Celtics occupy too much of our brain capacity and emotions.

Ray Allen’s Game Winning Three and Thaddeus Young

In the timeouts before the Celtics inbounded on the sideline with 6.8 seconds left, Sixers coach Tony DiLeo called for switches on all screens.

Young said he thought that Dalembert — guarding Davis — would switch onto Allen in the corner. Young said, for some reason, Dalembert (with whom I did not get a chance to speak) didn’t make the switch. Young said when he saw this, he tried to recover to Allen but couldn’t get there in time. Young called this a miscommunication. Young said that immediately after the game, a few of the Sixers watched the replay of the final sequence on the television in the locker room. – Kate Fagan, Deep Sixer

First off we could easily debate the decision to blindly switch all screens.  That might have been OK if Dileo was able to get Willie on the floo,r but he couldn’t.  At that point there should have been an amendment to the switching strategy.  I think it would have been smarter to say stay glued to the shooters and only switch pick-and-rolls. But like I said that is debatable coaching philosophy given the situation.

By the way if they were switching all screens, why didn’t Royal Ivey switch the initial screen that freed Paul Piece and forced Iguodala to scramble off-balanced to recover on Pierce?  In essence Ivey helped to set a double screen on Iguodala.  If you look at the video had Ivey switched that pass could have been taken away or stolen if Ray still makes the pass.

Second, the defense called was to switch all screens, not completely forget who you are defending.  Some have said Thad “over helped,” I think that is a complete understatement.  If you watch the play as soon as Ray made the pass to Pierce, Thaddeus completely checked out of his responsibilities for guarding Allen.  He didn’t look at Allen or move at all once the ball was passed. That left him positioned in no man’s land.

Third, I don’t think I saw a quote that said the strategy was to go immediately double Paul Pierce or any ball handler on the perimeter that begins to penetrate.  I don’t think Iguodala was beat enough for it to be a help situation anyway.  And I have to imagine Dileo said don’t help off three-point shooters since that is the shot that can beat you.  Pierce drove with the intention of drawing help, passing for a game winner.  Thad took the bait.  But the fact of the matter is he shouldn’t have even been there.  That wasn’t his help.  That was Sammy’s job to help on penetration there, which he was perfectly positioned to do so.

Looking at the play again you see exactly when the lightbulb turns on for Thad that he completely forgot he was guarding Ray Allen, and he actually starts to turn and find him even before Pierce picks the ball up and goes into his passing motion.  That right there suggests to me Thad knew he screwed up.  Because of his poor defensive positioning he was an easy target to get hit with a nice back screen.  If he had stayed with Allen in the first place, that screen would have been much tougher to make because it wouldn’t have come at the elbow; it would have come closer to the three point line making that pass tougher to make as well.  I thought Sam’s position was fine; he was protecting the basket against any drives, and there was no need to hug up on Big Baby.  Sam was fully prepared to stop any penetration.

Once all the initial defensive laps occurred in a perfect world, Dalembert not only sees and is prepared for Pierce’s drive he also sees in his peripheral vision that Davis is setting a screen on Thad.  He would then have to decide whether to abandon his paint defensive responsibilities and anticipate the pass to Allen or stay home and guard against any drive.  He makes the right read and gets a little closer on the switch to make a better contest or block on the Allen three.

With all that said, the Sixers as a team defensively were bad on that play starting with Ivey not switching the first screen and taking the ball out of Pierce’s hands which would have been the ideal situation from the start. Thad not stayed with Allen after he passed the ball and trusting that Sam would be there to protect against the drive.  And Sam would have made the right read and took the skip pass away or been there to highly contest or block the shot.  Blame is there for everyone including Dileo.  To which percentage you place is up to each individual’s interpretation.

Honestly, all that is besides the point for me.  Thad’s comment pisses me off in a big way.  Rather than assuming any responsibility for the play on his own and the team in general he quickly passes blame to the guy everyone loves to point the finger at, likely knowing everyone will take that and run with it (as they have) and overlook his mistake on the play.  He said they watched the play in the locker room.  Why then didn’t he comment on Ivey not switching or his own complete lack of fundamental defensive positioning and call his own judgment that had him forget who he was guarding into question?  That’s what a winner does.  MAN UP, kid.  Even if the play was more Sam’s fault (which it wasn’t) the right thing to do was talk about his own play first and the team in general second.  Not call out one individual.  Win as a team, lose as a team, right?

Thad’s comments speak to his Bitchassness in my opinion.  I know I will probably take heat for that comment since Young is everyone’s favorite player.  The anointed golden boy of the Sixers and the player everyone seems to think is destined to be great.  But I hold to my opinion of him.  He is soft until proven otherwise (1 board in 36 minutes at PF?).  Bitchassness

Listen, don’t take my word for it.  But don’t take Kate Fagan’s or anyone else’s word for it either.  You all watched the game and the play.  Likely numerous times.  Come to your own conclusion.  I’ve simply just stated mine.

If you want a strong breakdown of the play that isn’t simply based on the fact that Thad just said “we were suppose to switch” check out Brian over at Depressed Fan.  It’s quick and to the point with good screen shots.  If you want what I consider to be mis-reads on the play based only on what Thad said and not actually dissecting the play with an understanding of how defense is supposed to be played from start to finish check out Fagan, The Sports Complex.

Update: Sammy’s response to the broken play…

I blame myself because as a defender it’s my job to see the whole floor from behind – Sammy

Andre Miller…

Teams tend to point fingers.  But we don’t want to fall into that trap. – Philly.com

Speaks for itself.  Although Fagan has softened her stance, her love for Thad still won’t allow her to place the majority of the blame on him.  Luckily longtime poster, Statman is trying to keep her straight over at Deep Sixer.

Moving On

Sixers fall back below .500 and continue the struggle maintaining any sort of momentum.  The one thing I love about basketball is you usually don’t have to wait very long to get back on the court and move on from the last loss.  They get to do that against the Pacers at home tomorrow.

There have been a bunch of reports about Elton Brand possibly being shut down for some undisclosed period of time.  He didn’t play the entire second half against Boston and has indicated stiffness and the inability to fully extend his arm.  That has had an adverse effect on his shooting.  Tom Moore commented on the blog today with this quote from Dileo…

DiLeo today on Brand: “We’re still working him into the lineup. We’re not thinking about Elton shutting down (because of the shoulder).”

Looks like the reports of him being shut down are inaccurate.  The question: is shutting Brand down the right decision anyway?  I think yes for a couple reasons.

• If he is going to continue to be ineffective he won’t be much help anyway.
• Do you really want to keep putting an unhealthy and struggling Elton Brand on the court only to lose support of the fans after only one season?  I know it’s a business, and they still need to sell tickets in this economy.
• The Sixers have proven they can make due without him.
• It’s only season one of a 5-year deal.  I would much rather shut him down for as long as it takes to get him 100%.  If that means keeping him out until the last week or two of the season to get some tune-up games going into the playoffs, so be it.  If that means shutting him down for the remainder of the season and going at it without him entirely, so be it.  Most important thing is to get dude right ASAP because we are invested in him long-term.

February 19th is fast approaching, and there are plenty of rumors floating around in the major media and the Sixers forums.  I have a post about my thoughts on the upcoming trade deadline in the works for this weekend.

Idea

I was thinking about creating a running post all about potential trades the Sixers could/should make.  But I want it to be all reader-generated.  Meaning you guys submit trades and I will post them attributed to you.  That way we get a nice variety and differing view points that can be evaluated by the Recliner GM community, and if someone’s proposed deal actually happens you will look like a genius publicly.  I don’t have a definitive format for this yet but one inclusion would be the link to ESPN trade machine to ensure the deal works financially.  You guys all have some good ideas and different opinions than Pete and I do.  I’d love to get you more involved on the blog and give you a forum to express them.  Let me know what you think.

Update: This idea is underway.

February 4, 2009