Is Elton Brand Sleeping?
The Sixers have officially passed the 20-game mark. That means the grace period the general consensus was giving the team coming into this season is over. Before we really dig in, here are the previous 10 seasons at the 20-game mark and the final record, for continuity with my previous post at 10 games.
- 2009: 9-11 / ?
- 2008: 7-13 / 40-42
- 2007: 5-15 / 35-47
- 2006: 9-11 / 38-44
- 2005: 8-12 / 43-39
- 2004: 10-10 / 33-49
- 2003: 15-5 / 48-34
- 2002: 8-12 / 43-39
- 2001: 16-4 / 56-26
- 2000: 10-10 / 49-33
If I am not mistaken, the expectation for the most part after the addition of Brand, Rush, Ivey and Marshall was 48-50 wins. But what did everything think the Sixers would start out of the gate? 3-7? I doubt it. How bout 9-11 through 20? Probably not.
So what is going on? Is it simply a chemistry thing that will work itself out? Sluggish starts by individual players that play heavy minutes? The wrong mix of players? Bad coaching? An overestimation of the talent? How about a false sense of accomplishment because the Sixers made a run that landed them in the playoffs unexpectedly? (more on this one below)
The reality is, it’s probably a combination of all of the the above.
Coaching
I said this in my last post, but I think it needs repeating. Mo Cheeks doesn’t really seem to have any foresight as a head coach. It takes undeniable events (Donyell Marshall basically winning a game against Detroit) or insistence from the GM (play the young guys and make them push the basketball) for him to make necessary adjustments and strategic changes for this team to be successful.
If you look at Mo’s track record, his teams ALWAYS get off to marginal starts at best. You can see above how his Sixers teams have started and ended. I went and looked at his Portland tenure, and the trend is the same. Every season those teams started 10-10. His first two seasons they finished 49-33 and 50-32. The third year they finished 41-41. His final season was obviously the worst, finishing at 22-33 in 55 games before he was fired. He just doesn’t figure out how to make his team successful until later in the season.
He is a good players’ coach for the most part; his guys like playing for him, and that is great. But to me that means he either needs to be an assistant coach OR he needs to have very good specialists as assistants (i.e. Tex Winters or Tom Thibodeau). I am just not confident this team can succeed at the highest level with the current coaching staff.
General Manager
Ed Stefanski put this team together and extended the head coach, so he is just as responsible as anyone. For the first time this season he spoke about the team’s struggles. Stefanski’s vision…
I’m not going to say I’m shocked that it’s taking us a little bit of time to get this all figured out. We have to play the way we envision how we’re going to play basketball – by playing good, strong defense and taking teams out of their patterns and get out on the open floor. Then we have to execute on the offensive end.
Stefanski said he isn’t going to preach patience but also said he isn’t planning any major player moves or changes to the coaching staff. I think he is still evaluating. And what he is evaluating is the job Mo Cheeks is doing. He can’t make player moves before determining if Mo is the right coach for the job. The next month or so will be important for Mo to get this ship going in the right direction and get this team playing at a much more consistent level. Otherwise Stefanski will have to make a head coaching decision because if he isn’t talking patience it makes no sense to waste time with the wrong coach.
The Team as a Whole
Stefanski went out and signed Royal Ivey and Theo Ratliff to support his defensive vision. The defense has been good at times and terrible at others. But certainly not disruptive or suffocating at any point. When you watch the Sixers on defense, typically what you see is good individual defensive plays. We rarely see consistently great team defensive possessions though.
As for the running game, the Sixers are 14th in pace and 8th in opponents’ turnovers per game. The Sixers average 16.4 fast break points per game, 4.1 more than their opponents so far this season. So the Sixers are pushing the basketball.
The offense has been pretty horrible as a whole. The Sixers are 26th in points per game and considering they are not a slow pace team, that makes this even worse. The team is shooting 43.4%, good for 25th in the NBA. 32.2% from three, good for 27th in the NBA. 74.4% from the line, good for 27th in the league. Worst of all they are turning the ball over 15.9 times per game, 25th in the league.
The turnovers are a huge deal this season. Opponents are scoring 17.5 points off Sixers turnovers. This was suppose to be a strength for the Sixers. They are scoring 17.1 points off turnovers so they are losing this battle thus far.
A lot of this you can attribute to early chemistry issues. But after 21 games that should have started to work itself out. More so than chemistry I think the offensive struggles had to do with individual players not getting the job done. Aside from Thad and Willie, everyone else has been underperforming offensively. Lately things have been looking a bit better. But in order to compete with the top teams the guys need to start playing at a high level.
Who are the 76ers?
In my opinion I think the Sixers have a clear identity right now. They are a hang-around team that can’t finish and have no closer.
The Sixers build leads and lose them. They keep themselves in games only to fall in the 4th quarter. Their point differential speaks to this. They are at -.08. They’ve only been thoroughly dominated in two games (Miami and Boston). But when they get games to within two possessions, they haven’t been able to execute offensively, get defensive stops or give to the ball to someone to consistently win close games for them. I really don’t think they can do anything about getting a closer. But they certainly can improve their end game play on both sides of the ball.
I’ve been extremely negative in my writing, and it sucks. I don’t want or like bashing the Sixers, but that is what happens when expectations are raised. This team has been unbelievably disappointing, and they need to start stretching out and getting close to those expectations. If not Stefanski will have to reevaluate the talent on this team.
Let Me Ask you Guys Some Questions
- Do you still think the Sixers will reach 48-50 wins?
- What is your new expectation for wins, playoff seed (if at all)?
- What has been the Sixers’ biggest issue so far?
- Aside from major trades or a coaching change, what needs to happen for the Sixers to get on track?
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Dannie, I don!t think the Sixers are a 50 win team, that is the bad news; after the top 3 teams anybody else could steal the 4th seed with 45 to 48 wins, that is the good news. Getting to the 2nd round would be okay by me,I guess the expectations are lowered. The move I would make involves a lineup change. I would move L.Will. into the starting five for Thad, here is my reasoning. #1] ball pressure for 48 minutes with A.Miller guarding the opposing 2 guard and Ivey as the backup point. We have to get more turnovers and push the ball. #2] Iggy goes back to the more comfortable 3 spot #3] Thad plays with the 2nd unit and is the focal point of the offense with Ivey giving the ball to him and Spieghts and allowing them to grow. I think Thad is regressing a bit lately because he has to become more than a standup jumpshooter and with A.Miller and Iggy dominating the ball early in the game that is not going to happen. I would like to see him create off the dribble and post up at times and this may allow that to happen. Dannie, I would like to do more but I!m following your guidlines.
Suede – I put those restrictions on because all people seem to say is trade this guy, trade that guys, fire the coach. Not much thought involved and most people come up with ridiculous, unrealistic trades. Also, working from what Stefanski has said we have to be content with the fact that at least right now he isn’t making a coaching change or major roster move. So we can talk about but it’s not going to happen right now.
I personally think the Sixers are forcing turnovers just fine. They are 8th in the NBA (tied with Boston) at 15.7 per game (exact number they forced per game last season). That is only a single turnover behind the league leader. They aren’t going to force 18+ turnovers per game. I don’t think forcing turnovers is an issue at all.
Regarding Thad, I think he has come back down to earth a bit from his early shooting percentages. But I think there is a big difference between “regressing” and not getting opportunities and being relegated to just a spot up jump shooter. He game isn’t getting worse or anything like that. He just isn’t being put in situations for him to maximize his ability. This is on Mo and Thad. I think Thad needs to attack more. If the jumper isn’t going it’s perfectly fine to pass on those open threes and get in closer for a 15 footer. Mo and the coaches need to be telling him this. Mo needs to get him more post up opportunities. Also, the one thing about Thad’s game that is sorely lacking is foul drawing. He doesn’t get to the line at all. He played 33 mpg and only attempts 1.8 free throws per game. That is horrible and a flaw in his developing game right now. He isn’t using his athleticism to draw contact on drives.
I don’t understand why Thad has to go to the bench in order to get plays run for him. Just run them for him. Miller is dominating the ball a lot this season, cut that down and put the ball in Thad’s hands more.
Also I like the big line up for rebounding, which ignites the Sixers break on missed shots.
I personally think the Iguodala at the three is a bit overblown. Thad and Iguodala are interchangeable in the Sixers system. Let’s not get too caught up in a position designation. Both players get the same “type” of offensive opportunities in terms of post ups, pin downs, pick and rolls and isolation. Iguodala simply gets more in terms of volume. What exactly is different with on the Sixers when Iguodala is at the 3 vs. 2 offensively?
I would rather move the team to Dallas then put Thad on the bench! Thad should be playing 38 minutes a night. This team isn’t put together too well in the backcourt. Trade miller no matter how well he is playing and in a dream scenario package sammy with him. We need a young pg, who car run and hit an outside shot. Man i wish we had Devin Harris
Dannie, it comes down again to a coach that has to tell guys what he wants and discipline them when they don!t listen. S.F.W. and I were discussing how watching film should point these things out to them [too much dribbling, etc.] but if they go back to it again there should be some kind of penalty but I don!t know if there is.
First, I need to see another couple of games with Brand and Dalembert together in the starting frontcourt along with our recently surging Sixers bench for further evaluation. Dalembert, if anything, has struggled mightily without Brand in ALL aspects of the game.
In case, things don’t work out:
Would you trade Samuel Dalembert for Chris Kaman straight up?
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=991~1982&teams=12~20&te=&cash=
The Clippers have Zach Randolph and Marcus Camby starting. Dalembert would still provide the Clippers shot blocking, but coming off the bench.
Elton Brand should know Chris Kaman extremely well after starting many seasons with the Clippers and that tandem made the Clippers one of the best shotblocking teams in the NBA for a couple of seasons. Kaman provides more low post scoring and bolsters the necessary interior scoring. He can play defense and block shots, so that way the shot blocking won’t disappear. And for kicks, he will be reunited with Reggie Evans after this incident:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFcinlrgojk
At this point, in order for Sixers to win 48 they’d have to win 64% of their remaining 61, not a likely occurrence with current roster and present head coach – - I think ES knows it, and is extending grace time to Mo (and ES buddy Jimmy Lynam), despite recent comments that change isn’t on horizon, while hoping for lightning in a bottle or Elton Brand in a more dynamic condition, physically and mentally. My revised win estimate for Sixers is 42-44, down from 45-47.
Sixers’ unresolved team issues: 1) lack of definition – roles, substitutions, leader, go-to teammate 2) lack of proficient shooting, both inside and outside 3) high turnover rate/crummy care of ball 4) unsustained and ill-coordinated defensive effort
5) chummy player-head coach relationships/limp authority
6) overestimation of talent and unrealistic projections.
In order for Sixers to get on track they have to meet that part of their NBA schedule which has them playing in a short span of time a number of the 10 or so dog teams that are even worse than they are.
According to ESPN regarding Mo, Mark Stein states that he will most likely be safe this year, due to his assistant coaches being oK as interims.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-081206-07
Rob Good site reference, thanks. Stein’s opinion and Stefanski’s position could change if Sixers lose next 3, to Cavs twice and Wiz. But don’t see Sixers taking that direct plunge. Probably, 2-1 or 1-2after Saturday.
i don’t see why the clips would trade kaman for sammy…they already have a logjam in their backcourt. i don’t see them paying sammy’s terrible contract just for some minutes off the bench
That’s exactly why I said in the post – no trade proposals.
Do you still think the Sixers will reach 48-50 wins?
I think they can, but I don’t think they will. Too tough of a hill to climb, although I could have told you 3 months ago, that we would be a second half team, just like the past two years.
What is your new expectation for wins, playoff seed (if at all)?
Around 43 wins. Just over .500. As far as playoff seed…It’s kind of up in the air at this point. I have to say D-Wade and the Heat are going to slow up, as well as the Hawks, Knicks, and Nets. On the other hand, I think the Pistons will get it together. 1-Boston,
2-Cleveland, 3-Orlando, and thats where it gets tricky, but im goin with 4-Detroit, 5-GO SIXERS!!, 6-Toronto, 7-Atlanta, 8-Miami. I am really impressed by the Hawks and Heat, but I still think we and the Raptors are superior teams.
What has been the Sixers biggest issue so far?
Besides shooting? Team Chemistry. We haven’t been getting Elton the ball where he likes it, we haven’t been creating easy shots for others, and maybe most importantly…We have been taking way too long to get into our offensive set. Taking too many seconds off the shot clock before we start to create and end up taking tough shots as a result. All having to do with chemistry.
Aside from major trades or a coaching change what needs to happen for the Sixers to get on track?
Start playing like we did last year. Last year was no fluke. These guys can play and we can win with these guys. Stop trying to force our offense through Elton Brand, and play basketball. Elton will get his attempts through offensive rebounds and pick and roll situations. Last year, our offense didnt run through anyone in particular, we just played our style. Thats what we need. We can’t say, “oh well Iggy, your going to get 15 shot attempts. Elton you get 12.” etc.
We need to run our half court offense by making basket cuts, pick and roll, and drive and kick type of plays. We have two great slashers in Iggy and Thad. We have a great passer in Miller. And we have a great big man in Elton. Lets start to use them in a fast style of offense……..MO!
good call Dannie bout the trades; gets outta hand 9 out of 10.
i still stick to my conviction that the sixers will turn this around, they are a 2nd half team (need to figure out all their mistakes first before they can actually play well). 42-45 is not a reach. they might even net the #4 or #5 seed (detroit and toronto aint going nowhere). will play a series against a marginal opponent. maybe even win. i DONT want them to win a series or maybe even make the playoffs. why? as much faith as i have in Ed Stefanski, somehow this team is always over-valued in terms of talent or ability. maybe missing the playoffs will shock the players into figuring out that they are not that good and light a fire under SOMEONE. i dunno i have a bad feeling bout this. for the first time i think talking trades or coach exit might be constructive. Something has to change. Like MAJOR! its inevitable but i wanna see it now so that next season we are not talking bout development or stuff like that.
@guest: all true but you need to realize that even when we do all the right/good stuff, it only gets us so far. Dannie pointed it out more eloquently after the Lakers game. Am I being too greedy? Cos the way I see our ceiling now is as local champions. Can we beat Orlando? cos thats what its gonna take the next couple of years. this team as is, can it really take us that far?
I agree with Guest in the sense that we are not only not playing (double negation?) to our strengths as a young and athletic team, but that the whole “nature” or in JJG’s words, defintion of the team is absent.
In my mind (gut), it comes down to the play of the point guard. Don’t get me wrong; Andre Miller is our best player right now, but nobody should fool themselves into thinking we have a chance of contending with Miller taking 15+ shots a game. What’s the solution? My uneducated guess would be to trade Miller and try and find that right PG.
Dannie – you say “no trade proposals”, but do you see this team as currently constructed having any chance of going to the finals? Just a yes or no.
I should be working on my end of the year portfolio, but this is much better.
Jkay - You just said what I believe whole heartily and talked about it regarding the Eagles. Losing has one positive – change.
It’s way to early for me to wish the Sixers to lose. But I don’t think this team has the talent at all or the coach. But I really don’t see any major changes coming anytime soon. So for me it’s pointless to talk about something unlikely to happen when discussing the Sixers immediate future.
Late January and going into the all-start break if this team is still outside looking in for a playoff spot then all the talk will be about trades and coaching changes.
Raro - No
But like I said above talking about trades for a month or two when no trades are going to happen is less productive right now than just accepting what we got and trying to figure out how to maximize it.
Marshall, 35, hasn’t averaged double-figure scoring since ‘04-’05 season in Toronto, the season in which he burnt Sixers on 3/13/05 with white-hot 12 3s. Caution to those getting excited by his long-distance shooting as Sixers’ elixir: his last 3 seasons’ 3 pt. shooting percentages are .283, .351, .324 … and then there is defense to consider. As a team component, in the long run, he’s an aged and occasionally practical utility with obvious limitations.
Family tree note: Donyell’s great uncle is NFL Hall Of Fame running back Lenny Moore (Penn State and Baltimore Colts).
The coaching staff got a taste of their roster depth over the weekend. If they can tweak this, use the whole team and stagger minutes(matchups) to our benefit lookout. We need to bottle that energy from Friday night each and every game(like last year). DMarshall provides an option undiscovered until this past weekend. Imagine giving him 15-18 of Sammy’s minutes when needed in a tandem with EBrand. Could be a very nice thing on Offense for EBrand and our penetrating guards/wing players. I see us at 45-37 . I’ll take that. 36-26 the remainder of the season. Unfortunately, AMillers situation clouds our future. His coming or going will dramtically impact how we build upon this season.
Play Donyell Marshall 15-18 min throughout season and you’ve defined yourself: also-ran.
Sixers have all the talent to be a 50 win team or better, so sadly I’d have to point the blame at the coaching staff. This team has no identity and are on pace to a 40 win season.
Who is the team built for?
What happened to Andre Miller?
Mo has to figure these questions out.
jjg: Agreed about Marshall, pick and choose your spots with him. But of course we would need a coach who understands how to do that effectively. So…
I’ve always thought that 50 wins and a 1st round win was the best case scenario for this team this season. So while 50 wins looks about as unlikely as Sammy fulfilling his “potential,” there is plenty of time to get the team into shape and win a round in the playoffs. But Lou, Igoudala, Brand and Sammy need to get their acts together for that to happen. Igoudala, Lou and even Brand have shown signs recently, but still have a long way to go.
I know Samuel Dalembert hasn’t been playing to his potential (especially in the first halves of seasons), but I have seen him play better than that though, typically in the second halves of seasons when the team makes a serious push. How can we get him to be consistent and have him understand his role?
Other teams have seen potential in Dalembert before. Do you remember the 2004-05 Phoenix Suns, the best team in the NBA regular season, were interested in Dalembert for JOE JOHNSON?
Do you remember when the Atlanta Hawks wanted Samuel Dalembert in the 2005 offseason, in addition to drafting Josh Smith? Others have seen the potential and “something” in him. We can’t give up, like we have with previous players, otherwise they typically come back to haunt us (those that Billy King especially quit on!)
But there is still no excuse for Dalembert though!!!
If the Memphis Grizzlies fire Marc Iavaroni and Mo is still the head coach for the Sixers and does a better job (after the tough stretch with the Cavs–unless we have two absolute blowouts like the one the Raptors had against the Nuggets–a 39 point loss) this season and will continue coaching the Sixers, he should be on Mo’s staff next season as an assistant coach. As always, our organization welcomes family and Iavaroni was a member of the ‘82-83 Championship Team. He has plenty of international experience playing basketball in Europe and understanding the European talent as well. Plus, Iavaroni was an assistant coach to Mike D’Antoni for the Suns. He is familiar with the fastbreak offense and the Suns know(knew) fastbreak offense with Mike D’Antoni. This is in an effort to solidify the fastbreak execution. And don’t undervalue asssistant coaches, they do make an impact as well. (see Tom Thibodeau for the Celtics or Bernie Bickerstaff and Del Harris helping Vinny Del Negro out for the Bulls). Also, the importants of assistant coaches is necessary as saying who can fill in when a head coach is kindly say it, “relieved of his coaching duties.”
Now, who in Sixers history, player or coach, that is living and age appropriate is the best Sixer Defenseman of ALL-TIME for the Sixers. Currently, I can see ERIC SNOW being that assistant coach and has the makeup of a potential headcoach. But digging any further, would be tough. I’ll have to look at the “books” when I have time over a winter break or something.
Picking an Assistant Coach is like picking a VP of the United States, because he is not only an assistant to the President, but can be Plan B if anything happens to the President (impeachment, death, etc). In the 08 Presidential Campaign, many raised their eyebrows when the nominees made their “interesting” selections.
I also should have said “she” along he in the sentence (from my previous post) just to be unbiased: “Picking an Assistant Coach is like picking a VP of the United States, because he ( or SHE) is not only an assistant to the President, but can be Plan B if anything happens to the President (impeachment, death, etc).”
i found this interesting in the face of all the talk of iggy’s end of game disappearing act…
http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/03/basketball-player-bargains-biz-sports-nba08-cz_ps_1203bargains_slide_5.html?thisSpeed=15000
How much of an impact does former 6th man, Aaron McKie, have in the Sixers recent surge for the bench? Now, he was a true professional coming off the bench and I had no problems whenever McKie checked in a game. Hopefully a bench resurrection of McKie would be tremendous and lately the bench has been putting us in games, now with all the pieces on those roster, we have to execute and deliver the final result.
Also, where is Pat Croce nowadays? I really enjoyed his enthusiasm and passion for the game, as did the fans.
Max – If only we were talking about last season! In clutch situations this season though…
What were Andre Iguodala’s best performances last season from the top of your head? I could only think of:
-the comeback against Portland at home
-the “flashback of Iggy playing college ball in Arizona” against Phoenix on their turf.
-the unbelievable win at Boston
I really can’t think of anything else from last season from the top of my head, but those stand out the most. He was in a RHYTHM in those games. Lately, he has been in a rhythm, but down the stretch though–we need Miller and Brand to be the closers in the 4th quarter and then Iggy. But don’t forget about the sharpshooters as well.
There was one sequence in the Nets game that was interesting in the 4th quarter, we had four Sixers players around the perimeter and Iggy took it straight to the hoop with aggression and earned himself two points at the line and made those FTs. With these shooters and hopefully if Iggy can perfect that pull up jumper from 12-14 ft, then it will open Iggy up to take it strong to the hoop for a dunk. Now he needs to EXECUTE layups and make sure it is not “unfinished business”.
Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mo gets Sammy going offensively (and hopefully defensively with the rebounds and blocked shots–we need double digit rebounding if anything from him) early in Wednesday’s game. He has a knack of trying to get a struggled player going early as a confidence booster. Single digit points is one thing, but single digit rebounding for Sammy– that is wrong, even if Brand was out.
As a result of Brand’s absence and Dalembert’s single digit rebounding, the team is 3rd in the NBA in Rebounding.
Also, great job by Iggy in the rebounding department, very underrated there!! Brand is a monster rebounder that is sorely missed, get well soon man!
Rob Don’t mean to dampen your enthusiam but I disagree. Elton Brand is an overrated player and teammate. One could argue that his presence has been more deleterious than bolstering. Check out the picture of him on the bench at the top of this thread: note his demeanor and the body language of his teammates. Just a tableau, a moment in time – but it captures something that many fans are sensing and fearing: mismatch; Stefanski made a personnel addition mistake. Numbers don’t tell the full story. Maybe his play – and interactions – from here will revise my opinion as the season unfolds; but I highly doubt it.
Rob, I agree with you in the since that Iggy needs to FINISH, instead of leaving “unfinished buisness”.
About his Houdini act in the 4th quarter…I still think it is in some result of our offense. If you read my post at the top, I explain that we should have more of a fast, pick and roll, off ball cut type offense. I am a N.C. State Basketball fan and the past couple years, they haven’t had the shooters nessasary to win. Their offense ran completely on back door cuts, off ball screens, and the pick and roll. Grant it, they still didn’t do that well considering they are N.C. State (Dannie could probably tell you how UNC beats up on them every year), but their half court offense was actually quite good.
With the slashers, rebounders, and athleticism that the Sixers have, we need to run a similar offense. Just because we get forced into a half court team, doesn’t mean we have to become a slow/stand around and wait for someone to shoot a contested jumpshot or three, team. To often, thats what I see going on when we play a defensive powerhouse such as the Celtics.
Guest
Which game was that a picture of and when in the game was that? But there has been some frustration and Brand is trying to meet the demands of those in Philly. After all, he knows about the fans booing Santa incident and came up with a unique response saying Santa did not have any presents and therefore thousands will boo. A tension relief to the expectations and something for the Holiday Spirit, but he knows the pressure of living up to his expectations and the team’s expectations. He probably reads these blogs and understands the frustrations of these fans.
Wow, I can’t believe I wrote that much about a picture!
Rob, That wasn’t me that talked about the picture, I think you mean that comment towards JJG
Guest - I like N.C. State’s offense as well. But how in the hell did they let Stephen Curry drop 44 on them?
Rob – As you can see in the background of the photo that was the Celtics blowout.
TD Banknorth “Gaahdin.” 32 minutes of action will tucker a man out. Cliff Claven and “Naawmy” were there; they saw it. Coach got disgusted with Cheeks & Co., left early.
Dannie- The 44 points was slightly misinforming. He was 15 for 33 from the feild (just off the top of my head, im pretty sure that was it), so we did a bad job, letting him make 15 made shots. But we did a really good job, if you can call it that, holding him to 4 for 14 three pointers. So most of his made shots were made in the lane and in the key. What happened was our defense got into foul trouble in the first half, making it easier for him to score. He was 10-13 from the foul line. All in all, im pretty satisfied with Curry going off, and still having a chance to win at the end. Shows some good signs for our bball team.
Still though, your right, we didn’t play that well defensively by letting him drop 44 on us. It takes good TEAM defense to gaurd him though. I actually think Ferguson, (the long red hair dude) did a good job on him, but he has too much range, and is too quick for our defense. Look for Lawson to eat us up as well, just maybe not 44.
I think losing JJ Hickson was a blessing in disguise for us. He was WAY WAY WAY overrated. Sucks for the Cavs. (although he has done pretty good so far since the cavs have been blowing teams out so he has gotten a lot of cheap minutes.)
Guest – I like J.J. Hickson I think he will surprise some people if given the opportunity to play more.
I don’t understand why there are so many 3-day layoffs in NBA schedule. Sixers have 2 of them in 1st quarter of season. I would think schedulers could lesson the game voids to 2 consecutive days off, maximum. The lag is out of place, especially this early. All-Star break, OK. And AI clearly informed anyone who was interested of the value of Sixers’ practice sessions.
Yeah, maybe it was just a product of our team last year, but he did not fit it at all last season. Look at his stats last season:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=36375
the one great stat that i dont think is on there is FG% which is .591.
so solid player, but is he worth the 19th pick? I thought they were good on big men with Z, Ben Wallace, and Afro Man, but I guess they will use him more on the Forward.
Your right though, he does have some potential.
1. No
2. 7th or 8th seed (1st round exit)
3. Turnovers, lack of execution, intensity and sense of urgency
4. Top players need to start performing within their pay grade
This team plays so well for a quarter of each game and just doesn’t figure it out for the rest, for the most part, they have played a few consistent games lately. Like I said in a previous post, if the games were only 12 minutes long….
Consider style: Miller – funky. Iguodala – funky. Dalembert – extra funky. Young – young-ky. Brand – very little dunk-y. Bench – skunk-y. Any wonder why Sixers are flunkies?
And JJG been smokin the Krunk-y
The Greek Krunk-y? Don’t know that word. And I don’t smoke.
Jus’ havin’ a little fun at the keyboard. Slow night on Sixers talk, as you probably noticed.
The Greek, Pt. II But I like your initiative and willingness to contribute.
Until we get a threat from deep at the 1 [Collison, Curry ?] and a center that is versatile on offense and has a clue [Spieghts,J.Smith, other ?] , this core of Elton, Thad and Iggy will never, offensively be a threat come playoff time. Dannie , on our earlier talk about Thad, I don!t think Thad or Mo cqan change his options on offense much with this group until we add an outside threat at the 1 and 5 because Thad ,right now, is the ONLY starter capable of spot up shooting from deep. I think Thad is a bright kid and sees he has to attempt to spread the floor, nobody else can. Regress is the wrong word, he is relegated to that role and it ,I believe, not allowing him to use his post up and middistance game.
suede One important ability that Thad doesn’t have: dribble left (to his strong side) once – twice – thrice (etc.), hard bounce, stop on a dime, square, lift, and drill a shot a la Billy Cunningham. If he gained that skill it would help his medium range game a lot and put serious pressure on defenders.
As his offensive game now stands, he takes the open ‘rockin’ chair’ 3, the quick flip shot inside, the slicings [Dannie noted his low FT attempt number] to the bucket and follow-up opportunities (taps & dunks). Maybe the medium-range game will come as he gets thicker and stronger in time, and is better able to absorb contact.
He could also learn to use the backboard on shots from side angles a la Sam Jones and Bill Walton, though not many players do these days.
And his handle, right and left, needs work. So too, his vision/court awareness regarding teammates.
A talented kid with a seemingly good attitude – but a lot of room for improvement yet.
With a center who has ADD, a starting back court that has less range then Pee wee Hermann at an adult film, and a head coach who does nothing, we are in serious trouble!
They’re 9-12 through their first 21 games.
They got off to a 1-4 start and finished the month of November with four straight losses.
They lost games on the road against two bad teams, Minnesota and Charlotte, whose combined record is 11-29.
As a team they’re shooting only 43% from the field – only 5 teams in the NBA shoot a lower percentage .
They’re shooting 32% from beyond the arc
– only 3 teams in the NBA shoot a lower percentage.
They’re shooting 74% from the foul line
– only 2 teams in the NBA shoot a lower percentage.
As a result of all that poor shooting, they’re averaging only 94 points per game
– only 4 teams in the NBA score fewer points.
As if that’s not bad enough, they’re averaging an NBA-worst 91.6 points per game on the road.
Their assist-to-turnover ratio sucks. Only 8 teams in the NBA dish out fewer assists than the Sixers
– 19.8 per game. Only 6 teams in the NBA turn the ball over more than the Sixers – 15 per game.
They only have one win against a team whose record is above .500 right now
– the Pistons. Their 8 other wins have all come against teams whose record is below .500 right now.
Elton Brand has career averages of 20 points per game on 50% shooting.
Through his first 19 games this season he’s averaging 16.7 points and shooting only 45% from the field.
The only good news is they lead the NBA in offensive rebounding with an average of 14.4 per game, and rank third in total rebounding. Plus it’s only December 9th so they still have like 60 games left to play.
Greek…I’m still looking for a picture next to the name.
Mole….Since you put it that way, now I’m depressed.
Tips for Mo…
1) Iggy should play no more than 6-8 minutes per game at shooting guard. The rest of his minutes should come at small forward.
2) This means that pretty much every minute Elton isn’t playing power forward, Thad should be playing power forward.
3) The 40-42 minutes that Iggy isn’t playing shooting guard should be taken up by a rotation of Willie, Kareem, and Lou. If we don’t make a trade, one of them HAS TO step up and take charge at that position. It’s probably Willie, but one can always hope that it’s Kareem.
4) The “Lou can learn to be a point guard” experiment should be completely abandoned. ALL his minutes should come at shooting guard. When Miller needs a rest, Ivey should replace him.
I wouldn’t be surprised that Mo gets Sammy going offensively early in the game, with his previous struggles and all, he needs a tremendous confidence booster. But, he has been playing with a left knee effusion, which is perhaps the reason why his rebounding has been atrocious as well as the lack of minutes he is playing with. Have you noticed that Sammy has a tendency to injure himself in the preseason? That is why his timing and rhythm has been off on both ends of the floor and perhaps why the inconsistency is there for this team. He really does anchor the defense and the rebounding when he plays more minutes and avoids the cheap fouls. His injury could be why he commits the cheap fouls in order to catch up with the guy he is matching up with. Only a theory though, but possible. The lack of basketball skills is still there though, but I’ve seen better from him when healthy, especially in the second halves of our seasons!!
If a walrus can play the sax, Dalembert will truly understand the game (hopefully), but more importantly stay healthy! (hopefully) But Dalembert is a major WILD CARD in terms of how far this team can really go!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g4Yb4saA7Y
How in the world of Darwinism, can a walrus play the sax with fippers and no compatible thumbs?
This is a game that the Sixers should really be PUMPED up about- BACK to BACK:
-Right now, the Cavs are the Second Best Team in the East and the NBA! (Lakers lost to the Kings yesterday, possible complacency and road woes maybe!)
-Andre Iguodala matching up with LeBron James (7-7 record)
-Andre Miller, former Cav, still the Cavs franchise leader in assists per game at 8.2245
-Bound to be Packed at Both Stadiums! (Hopefully Wachovia cheering for the Sixers!!)
-Had many close games in the previous two seasons, even though the Cavs won the last two series matchups. (including the controversial Devin Brown free throws!!)
-Delonte West– St. Joes product who loves playing in Philly and against the Sixers (glad the Cavs kept him and I think resigning him was the BIGGEST and BEST decision they made in the offseason)
-Lou Williams– the Cavs were going after him over the summer, when West thought about leaving Cleveland for another team. (We would have gladly picked West up if we couldn’t match the Cavs big, ridiculous offer for Lou!) Anyway, I am PUMPED about having Lou in the fray!!
-Donyell Marshall, former Cav who was overpaid by them, but seems to be finding the groove more here than in Cleveland. Still good friends with LeBron. His insight on LeBron will be HUGE for the Sixers in a psychological standpoint!
-LeBron “could have” competed with Iggy in the Dunk Contest, then picking the winner in that would have been tough and perhaps less controversial.
-Our bench v.s their bench. Should be interesting! I hope Kareem Rush gets it going and is properly set up for shots as opposed to giving it to him with 1 second on the shot clock. That’s the same thing we did with Korver– that’s not right!
For the Sixers, “Don’t Believe The Hype”. They should just play their game and pick and choice with the many ways of guarding LeBron. If LeBron were to beat us, it better be by way of jump shots, NO DUNKS!! Just play through any controversial “star calls” LeBron gets and be calm! No “star gazing” and get hypnotized by his moving Nikes– they can hypnotize many!
And like a King, he has his guards for the attack on offense and defense. Don’t forget about them, especially Delonte West, a Sixer killer, especially last season tying three he hit, which set up LeBron for a game winner against us one game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP2tyZu0lqs
LeBron told audiences on national TV his 5 Favorite Stadiums to Play In:
1) Madison Square Garden
2) Staples Center (probably just against the Lakers)
3) Wachovia Center (interesting and pleased to hear)
4) St. Vincent St Mary High School
5) Quicken Loans Arena
Dunks for LeBron this season (thus far):
26
-In the three losses for LeBron: (only 3 Dunks: 1 @ Boston , 1 @ New Orleans, 0 @ Detroit)
-LeBron had 5 Dunks in yesterday’s game against the reeling Raptors, including a “casual-laid back” dunk which was worth many style points.
Career Dunks Against 76ers: 16
Point is for LeBron: No Dunks, More Clunks!!
GO SIXERS!!! KEEP UP THE ENERGY AND MAYBE HAVE AN ADRENALINE (RUSH)!!! AND TALK TO HUBIE BROWN BEFORE THE GAME!!
What do you think of this trade that went down in the NBA world?
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3759656
Looks like we missed out on Mike James. Good deal for the Hornets getting Antonio Daniels, a guy with Championship experience, another addition of experience to help last year’s “inexperienced” team. A good Chris Paul backup!
And also, Daniel Gibson will be out for two weeks. That is one less shooter the Sixers have to worry about. The rest: Delonte West, Mo Williams, Wally Szcerbiak, and Sasha Pavlovic
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3760016
Bski had trouble with that site dude, so I shall be faceless for a while.
I was hanging out with my buddy the other day who happens to be a die hard nets fan. Man do they have a squad littered with shooters. Look at that team man, they have 5 guys shooting 39% or higher. Come on ed stef, do something with them! If eddy stands pat this whole season then maybe he isnt the genius that we all made him out to be. He could start by canning Cheeks