Again, not many news on Sixers’ side, uh?

Yes, no blockbuster trades at the horizon, no all star signings, apparently.

Still I managed to get some info that I wanted to share with readers. 

No breaking news or anything shocking, I warn you.

But still it’s important to make some things 100% sure.

So here is what Sixers4guidos just learned:

NEGOTIATIONS WITH ANDRE MILLER

Few days ago Stefanski said that Sixers were in “sign-and-trade” mode.  No updates since, so that should give us an idea about the situation with Andre Miller and the likelihood of his return.

= no Andre Miller in 2009/2010 (not good news, to me).
 
COMPLETING THE ROSTER

The fact that Sixers are looking for three more players to round out the roster, and reach 14, is confirmed: Stefanski said “a guard, a swingman and two big men”. 

No direction about specific skills they are looking for in those players (off/def minded, young/vets, specialists etc), but Stefanski has a list of players at those positions he is keeping his eye on in regards to the team’s needs.

(I hope Calvin Booth didn’t make the list, same for Kevin Ollie)

MAKING THE SUMMER LEAGUE AND SPLITTING THE TEAM WITH THE NETS

As coach Jordan said in Orlando, this particular instance worked for Philly and New Jersey because Sixers and Nets have many links and various relationships.  Coach Frank followed up by saying, “In these economic times, look, you’ve got to be fiscally very responsible and I think you just have to be prudent in the decisions you make”.

“Every group is different. This worked for us and Philly and it made sense, and who knows what the future holds.”  So there was basketball thought and a financial component that Sixers took into consideration. 

(still doubtful about the effectiveness of the decision, from a mere bball perspective I mean, but whatever, no big deal. That’s why it’s called SUMMER League, after all)
 
ABOUT JORDAN & DALEMBERT RELATIONSHIP AND THEIR RECENT CONVERSATION

“There wasn’t ever anything that needed to be cleared up between them”, it’s said, nor was there any animosity between the two. It was a good chance for them to meet face-to-face and they both came away with optimism. 

Jordan said that everyone is going to start with a clean slate – Sammy included – but if players are unable to fulfill or accept the roles that are defined for them, he will hold them accountable and make necessary adjustments. 

(Good news. Still amazed by how can anybody talk to Sam for three consecutive hours… shoulda have taped that, LOL) 

THE ELTON BRAND SITUATION

Brand is cleared and has been working out this off-season both in Philadelphia and Los Angeles and he will be ready for the start of training camp.  A story on his off-season will be up on Sixers’ official site soon. 

(cool. Few talked/talk about Brand, if you noticed. I think he will bounce back and have a good season)
 
INT’L SCOUTING (OR LACK THEREOF)

Courtney Witte recently returned from New Zealand for the Under 19 championships. While it can’t be said anything about bringing in a non-american player this season, if there is a player available that Sixers’ scouts think would fit, they would certainly pursue him.

(Euro Championship 2009 will start in Poland this September, Sixers will keep an eye on the event for sure.

BTW I’ll try to cover it on Sixers4guidos 2.0: let’s just hope the next int’l Sixer will fall in the Nocioni/Scola/Kleiza rather than the Rentzias/Giricek/Bavcic category…)

So this afternoon, at 3 PM guido time, meaning 9 AM in Philly, I had the privilege to take part to a blogger conference call with Eddie Jordan set up by Sixers’ PR department (thanks again for the opportunity).

Colleagues/friends that joined were Brian from Depressed fan, Derek from Real GM and Philly Arena, Dannie from Recliner GM, Chris & Anthony from Heard in the cheap seats, Jeff from Philadunkia (all links to their cool sites n the blogroll on the right).

Not sure why Jordan (the blogger…) from Liberty Ballers, Enrico from The 700 Level and other excellent Sixer bloggers did not take part, surely they will next time.

Your fav guido blogger is the last to have a post up, because Depressed Fan wrote this, Recliner GM has this, Philly Arena has this and fellow guidos the Iafolla bros have their own post up as well.

To my credit – like somebody cares… - I started a thread on the Sixers board of philly.com immediately after the end of the conference, to share some observations made in the call with posters there.

There is no podcast unfortunately this time (this will save you from hearing my terrible english) but Jeff was patient enough to transcript the whole conference so here is what we said in those 30 minutes. My comments following some of the coach’s answers are in …italics

(Brian – Depressed Fan) When it comes right down to it, who gets the playing time: a weak defender who fits the offensive system or a strong defender who does not? What is the priority?

Eddie Jordan: “There has to be a balance. If you have skill to score the basketball, you’re going to play. I mean, you can’t win 0-0. If you have a weaker defender, you play team defense to cover for him. At the same time, if you have four strong offensive players, then you can carry one defender, sometimes two. I think championship teams start with a solid, veteran front line”.

(Ricky – Sixers4guidos) - with strong guido accent – Do you see Lou Williams in the combo guard role he’s played in the past, coming off the bench, or could he slide in as a starting point?

Eddie Jordan: “In this offense, you really play two combo guards at all times. In training camp, we’ll see how Lou handles it. But yes, I see Lou as a combo guard”.

(Uhm. After last year, I don’t think Lou can play the point, which was something I actually thought possible before. To me he doesn’t possess true PG skills and also lacks the correct attitude. He is turning more into a gunner combo guard, ala Jamaal Crawford, which I don’t like much. We’ll see)

(Derek – RealGM) – Can Iguodala play the two?

Eddie Jordan: “Yes. I think he can flow from the two to the three. I like to think he’s a three-man first. It depends on the roster, if Smith or Speights can earn time, then he’s at the two. I played Jared Jeffries at the two on a team that went to the second round of the playoffs. I will use him at the two if one of those big men can earn the time”.

(No Jared Jeffries on the Sixers, thank you… and no Reggie Evans at the two either, LOL)

(Dannie - ReclinerGM) How will Samuel Dalembert fit into the offense next year?

Eddie Jordan: “Just like everyone else Samuel has to buy into being an unselfish player that cares about his teammates. That has been a knock on him, he has to get past the selfish up and down mentality of playing in the NBA.

I’d like to see him care about his teammates, the offense can run through him or around him, and he can still be a valuable part of the offense. He has to have an approach that he can be highly competitive and being unselfish teammate and that’s what we’re looking for first”.

(love this reply. Hidden message: Sam, move your ass and don’t complain or you’ll get single digit minutes soon)

(Ricky – Sixers4guidos) The Sixers couldn’t sell out the arena last year, even during the playoffs. Is this because the Sixers just have to win more basketball games, or play a fun style of basketball or both?

Eddie Jordan: ”I don’t know. I really don’t. I haven’t been here long enough to understand why they haven’t filled the arena for playoff games. I think if you have an exciting team and they win than people will come out to see them.

That’s been proven throughout the NBA in the history of the NBA. If you win and you’re exciting, and if you have a chance to play for either the Conference championship or NBA championship, than they will come and fill the arena. So outside of that I don’t have a problem”.

(coach is right, I should have put this question to the GM and not to him. Anyway, in Philly even winning games doesn’t guarantee you filling the seats, as we saw during the 2008 and 2009 playoffs, when we couldn’t sell the arena out despite the team being up 2-1 in both series…)

(Brian – Depressed Fan) During your time in Washington it seemed as if once you had your full arsenal of players with Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison you were one of the fastest teams in the NBA and had close to the most possessions per game. Than when you were hit by injuries in 2007-08 that pace slowed considerably and that was how you competed with a depleted roster. What do you foresee for the Sixers this year, do you see them as a top 10 team in possessions per game?

Eddie Jordan: “I think we’re going to be a high possession team. Two reasons: number one we have terrific athletes. I think Andre Iguodala can run, I think Thaddeus Young is a runner, Samuel at the center position can be a runner if he puts his mind to it, Willie Green can get up the floor, Jason Smith was very athletic before he got hurt and that’s number one.

Number two, this team has shown they can generate points on the defensive end. They can create turnovers and they get out and run. We should continue to defend well, rebound well, turn people over, get out and get earlier baskets and if not than get into the offense.

I think part of this team matches Washington. Gilbert Arenas was a really quick shooter off the break and in the offense, Antawn Jamison at the forward position was a catch and shoot guy in the early offense, so I don’t see those type of players here and when we were hit by injuries especially Gilbert we had to slow it down because our backup guards weren’t fast enough (DeShawn Stevenson and Antonio Daniels) so we slowed the game up a little bit. I really envision our 76ers being a high possession team”.

(not surprising but still good to hear. After all that’s what Sixers hired him for, I guess)

(Chris – Heard in the cheap seats) One of the primary weaknesses of this team last year was defending the perimeter and I’m curious what is your philosophy is on the defensive end of the floor particularly around defending the three point shot?

Eddie Jordan: “Well you emphasize containing the defense, you emphasize containing the dribble. One of the first things you work on, and work on very often throughout the season is one-on-one containment. If you can defend the first dribble, then you’ve done 80 percent of your job on the perimeter. If you get deep on the first dribble than it’s hard for help to come.

If you can stay in front of your man on the first dribble than that’s how you can stop the draw and kicks and you don’t have to help so much. When you help you leave somebody to help and there’s a shooter left open or the next guy passes to the next guy.

So that’s number one, you have to defend the first dribble and defend the dribble on the perimeter. How do you do that? First of all you’d like to have guys who are defenders first, you have to have athletes. You have to be able to move your feet, stay in front of the dribble, change direction, and sometimes get up on somebody to make it hard for them to even put the ball on the floor.

That’s how you can number one stop the three, two if there is help you have to keep coming in the rotation and that’s a term we use throughout the season. Don’t stop your defensive rotation, if they draw and kick and one guy flies at him another guy must come and another guy must come so keep coming and you have to run people off the three.

You have to rebound the ball and not give a guy a second chance because you see a lot of games where there’s an offensive rebound and a kick out for a three. Those are daggers as we like to call them. So again stay in front of the dribble, keep coming in your rotation if there’s a breakdown, and you have to rebound the ball so there won’t be a kick out for a three”.

(Ricky – Sixers4guidos) In terms of veterans inside the locker room, Andre Miller might not be back, same for Theo Ratliff and Donyell Marshall. Do you think the team will need a couple of veterans to keep the locker room united and also to play on the floor or are you fine with 25 year olds running the show?

Eddie Jordan: “I think that’s a good question, that’s a good point. You always like to have solid veterans in the locker room to keep everything professional, to keep a work ethic, to keep a focus, to keep a serious mindset of going to practice everyday, and that’s very important.

Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler were great leaders in our locker room in Washington. You like to have responsible veterans to be there and keep our young guys focused. It is a relatively young team, but I do think our young guys are very serious and they have great work ethic. I’m talking about Thaddeus Young and even Andre Iguodala is still very young and has great work ethic and a serious mindset. That is a big part in the NBA”.

(yes coach, I always raise good points…LOL. Let’s expect another couple of seasoned players to be signed to replace Theo and Marshall. And you are right about Thad and Andre)

(Dannie – ReclinerGM) How would you address the roster the way it is in terms of strengths and weaknesses?

Eddie Jordan: “I haven’t had much time to talk about personnel with our front office. I just got the job on Friday and we’re looking at the draft and working guys out tomorrow. We’ve already addressed some issues with the team: three point shooting, point guard if Andre doesn’t come back, and probably another big man that can defend in the paint.

Right now I think the playoff experience that this young core group has had is very important they’ve got to the first round two years in a row. Number two this team competes. They’re undersized but they compete. I think that’s partly due to one of the best players being defensive minded: Andre Iguodala.

If one of your best players defends than everyone else follows. It’s a young team it’s a team that’s got some talent and some young players that haven’t played a whole lot like Jason Smith.

Plus Elton was out all year and he’s been a continuous all-star. So I like the fact that they compete and they’ve got two guys coming back from injury that didn’t compete last year”.

(Great point about Iguodala, but unfortunately the playoffs experience of 2008 didn’t help much in 2009, as the run ended exactly in the same way…)

(Brian – Depressed Fan) Will there be a full-time shooting coach on staff?

Eddie Jordan: ”Yes it is something we’re looking into. We hope there will be”.

(definitely good news. How about hiring also a FREE THROW SHOOTING COACH, full time ??)

(Brian – Depressed Fan) Coaching against the Sixers you were 7-11 against them and I was wondering as an opposing coach what is the look on the Sixers. What are you trying to shut-down what are you trying to exploit? As the Sixers coach what are you going to do to try to improve those areas?

Eddie Jordan: “Number one when you’re going against the Sixers you want to prepare to not turn the ball over. They’re a very fast team and if you turn the ball over against the Sixers than they can get out on the fast break on you and score on the open floor.

So number one, limit your turnovers. Number two you can’t allow them to get offensive rebounds. Samuel Dalembert and Andre Iguodala can both hit the glass and they both pose problems on the offensive glass.

I also think that the bench with Lou Williams coming off and Willie Green was coming off the bench at one time, I think the bench had a lot of risk takers but they turned you over. You’d have to keep the energy off their bench.

Now as far as us as a team when I’m coaching them I think you have to be a lot more organized and a lot more often in the offense. I think that’s a big key for us this year”.

(great question by Brian, who knows the game well. Jordan’s reply is good in theory, too bad the record shows his plans didn’t work, LOL. Ok, chill out, I’m just being evil…)

(Jeff – Philadunkia) The shooting guard position has kind of been a pressing issue during the off-season so far. I saw that you have Toney Douglas of Florida State, Stefon Jackson from UTEP, Jodie Meeks from Kentucky, and Terrance Williams from Louisville coming in tomorrow to workout who are all shooting guards. Is this definitely a need position that you’re looking into in the off-season?

Eddie Jordan: “Yes it is a very big issue that we’re addressing that we need better three point shooting whether it’s from our forward or from our guard spots. Both positions have to improve and the coach and the coaching staff has looked at improving through development.

Now that’s not always going to be the end all, we need to acquire better shooters. Our job is to continue to work with our players and see if Willie Green can be a better three point shooter, if Andre Iguodala can be a better three point shooter, if Lou Williams can be a better three point shooter.

I had DeShawn Stevenson the last two years and he improved to be a 40 percent shooter last year from the three point line. So its how much work can our current players put in and how much work our players are willing to put in with our coaches to improve and get better.

Than its up to our front office to see if we can make transactions where we can acquire, without losing our core guys, some shooters”.

(I’d pay to see Green turning into a Stevenson type of three point shooter… If coach Jordan manages to reach this goal, he will be officially proclaimed the new Red Auerbach)

(Anthony – Heard in the cheap seats) The coaches last season tried to fit Elton Brand into a certain system and than he obviously got hurt. So how do you see Elton Brand fitting into what you want to do, especially offensively? Also do you believe as a coach it’s better to fit a player into your system or kind of tweak the system to better utilize the skill-sets that certain players have?

Eddie Jordan: “Number one Elton will be moved around in the offense, he’ll be facing the basket from the logo area, he’ll be facing the basket from the elbow, he’ll be posting up on the box.

He’ll even look at the basket from the top of the key or between the top of the key the free throw area, he’ll play a lot of two man games off the elbow like Kobe and Lamar Odom would do or Kobe and Gasol would do, hopefully he can get out and run, than we’ll do some pick and rolls with forwards and guards and Elton likes to pick and than pop so all those options are available for Elton in this offense.

Number two, I think that Elton is a guy who has to defend the post, but again a lot of these things will work out in training camp. Good coaches develop players and fit a system with their players. Whether it’s the triangle, whether it’s the UCLA offense that Jerry Sloan has been using for 20 some odd years, we fit the offense to our best players and that’s what good coaches do.

Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler were the highest scoring trio in the NBA in the system and before that Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes, and Antawn Jamison were the highest scoring trio in the NBA and that’s because we tilted the system to fit our best players”.

(Ricky – Sixers4guidos) Is there any chance that Thaddeus Young could evolve into an Antawn Jamison type of power forward?

Eddie Jordan: ”That’s a very good comparison. I think he could because Antawn was an interior player to start and even when I talked to coach Dean Smith he said that he saw Antawn had been taking a lot of threes and he never thought that he would evolve into that type of player but it’s effective and I said yes coach he’s worked on it and he’s been an unorthodox player since he’s started with scoring in the paint and he moved out to the three.

I think Thaddeus being left handed could pose some problems of first being an interior player and we’re going to see if he can move out and improve his mid-range jump shot and see if he can make a high percentage of his three point shots”.

(again, I knew I rock, LOL… actually I hate comparisons, but I know you americans like them so I threw one out there. I like both Thaddeus Young and Jamison so I would be happy to see this “transformation” happening)

Thank everybody, it was nice to have the chance to do this and all bloggers did a great job, each on his part. Sixers said this kind of interaction could be repeated soon, maybe with the GM or some of the players, so stay tuned.

After watching live Game 2 and recapping it, I slept three hours, went to work, had a meeting.

Now I am here in office at lunch break thinking again about a WINNABLE game that we let slip away, and that we eventually might regret not having won.

I already said in my recap what basically didn’t work (read the post below this), I’ll add some more points to conclude the analysis.

I agree with Iguodala that Magic were better in “the small things”:

“We feel like we had some opportunities,” Iguodala said. “They did all the little things. They hit a big 3. They got all the little loose balls. They made the shots. They got all the rebounds. They did a great job of sealing the game this time.”

True that.

Like failing to get the defensive rebound off a missed free throw by Orlando, giving them an extra possession, that resulted into a three pointer (70-61 Magic, end of the third).

Or miss four shots from the line in the crucial third quarter (5/9).

Or, mostly, let them score on four of the first five possessions after Howard fouled out (3.11 left to play, 84-76), making the crowd go wild.

All of the above contributed.

Few more points to mull over.

1) we are keeping two of their three “bigs” in check. Through the first two games Lewis is shooting 9/25 for 36%, Turkoglu is even worse, at 5/18 for 27%. A bargain, right? Well, since I think this won’t last long, please take advantage of it as much as we can.

2) for the 356th time, we have to make those damn free throws. The current 23/38 (60%) is ridiculous, even for Sixers’ standards I mean. Please fix it…yesterday.

3) trade Green for Lee. Uh, you think Magic won’t do it? Ok, well, at least not now, right? 21 PPG on 53% vs 2 PPG on 18% (LOL)… the SG matchup isn’t exactly turning well. We all know Green is garbage not an all star, but we need him AT LEAST at his reg season productivity.

Small tip: Willie, the goal of this game is to put the ball INTO the basket !! Hitting the rim is a good start, but you have to take a step forward. At least try, thank you !!

4) trade Dalembert for Howard. This would be a great move also, even if Sam (80% FG) is shooting better than Dwight (a modest 78%), so maybe I’ll have to re-think about it, LOL.

5) Alston would like to thank Miller for the PG classes he took last night. Andre is playing fantastic basketball, I’ve heard some fans criticizing him for playing too “selfishly” in Game 2, they probably didn’t realize he was the only offensive weapon we had… 21 points in the first half on 9/13, when none of his team mates, withthe exception of Young, showed up.

I’ll try to have a post about Game 3 up tomorrow. Back to work, damn.

(This is Third Quarter Collapse’ recap, nice post again from Ben & his crew, check the Magic fans’ standpoint)

Sixerdave is finally back to work.

I just received two articles by him, and here is the first one, a recap of the (regular) season just finished, with some thoughts about 2009/2010.

SIXERS END ROCKY SEASON AT .500

The Sixers have earned a first round playoff series with the Orlando Magic to end the season. 

It was a turbulent season that saw Maurice Cheeks get fired as head coach, Elton Brand struggle with injuries and young players step into different roles and positions. 

By beating an undermanned Cavaliers team, the Sixers moved to 41-41, a one game improvement over last season.

With Chicago losing to Toronto, the Sixers were able to leapfrog the Bulls into the 6th position in the Eastern Conference. 

With Garnett out, the Sixers may have benefitted from staying in the 7th position, however this week the Sixers couldn’t beat Boston with Garnett and Allen both out of the lineup.

Orlando also presents problems for Philadelphia. Dwight Howard is one of the best players in the league.  Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis will provide challenges for Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young.

Looking back at the 2008-2009 season, we immediately think of Brand’s injuries, Cheeks’ firing, and interim coach Tony Dileo. But the question is – what direction is this team going? 

Most of the core is young and growing. As difficult as it is to believe, Iguodala is just 25 years old.  Marreese Speights, Thaddeus Young, Lou Williams, and Jason Smith are 23 or younger. 

But Brand will be coming off an injury yet again. What impact will Brand have? And can he gel with our younger players? Will he be an 18 and 10 guy, or a 14 and 8 guy? Will the Sixers consider his signing to be a failure and trade him at the deadline next season?

Team leader Andre Miller - in the pic - becomes a free agent this offseason. Do the Sixers resign him? He’s getting older and his lack of speed showed in his recent effort against Boston. Should the Sixers hand the keys to Lou Williams? Golden State, Sacramento, and Portland could be interested in Miller’s services and it is well known that Miller prefers the West Coast.

By keeping Miller on board, the Sixers could be challenging for the last few playoff spots in the East. But is he the guy to lead us to elite status in the East? At his age, it’s unlikely. Maybe the Sixers need to take a step back to take a step forward by going back into the draft and finding a star to lead them back to the top.

Finally the stretch of several weeks of crazy work SEEMS over, and starting from today I’ll “normally” watch and blog the remaining Sixers games.

This couldn’t have been more timely because I just enjoyed the 95-90 W over the Pistons that officially brought Sixers (40-35, .533) to the post season.

And I am 3/3 on the prediction I made some days ago about the last ten games.

But what matters the most is that ALL Sixers, in Thaddeus Young’s absence, picked up the slack and showed some great effort on both ends of the floor in the last three games, not coincidentially all won.

In the last one, vs the Iverson-less Pistons, the two Andres carried the load, not only offensively, because they logged in 90 out of the possible 96 minutes (!!!).

This was an “interesting” move, especially in such a tough, close game, that looked like a playoffs matchup. As minutes, and quarters, were passing, I was asking to myself “Why in the hell we aren’t making any sub at all ???”

DiLeo gave the explaination after the game:

“We took a little gamble playing Andre and Andre the whole second half, but we felt we had to do it,” DiLeo said. “Miller had a great game with the triple-double and Andre Iguodala had the high score, so those two guys really stepped it up.”

DiLeo made a substitution with 5.05 to play in the third (62-61) and then stayed with the same lineup (Miller, Williams, Iguodala, Speights and Ratliff) until 2.02 in the fourth (89-88), when he replaced Speights with Evans: that’s 27 consecutive minutes with the same guys on the floor.

Thank God, I’m not the coach the move paid off, because Evans grabbed a key defensive rebound, was fouled and knocked down two big free throws with 30 seconds left, to give us a four point lead (92-88) that basically decided the game.

That hustle play by my boy Reggie ended a painful series of possessions in which Pistons got a ton of offensive rebounds, getting themselves multiple second chances.

Sixers allowed Detroit a surprising 17 off boards, but made up for it by knocking down 10 of 12 foul shots in the final 3.15 minutes (or 12/15 in the last 4.38, if you prefer).

There are more positives about this game.

1) Iguodala completely dominated Tayshaun Prince this time, starting with a terrific first quarter, in which he shot 7/8 and scored 15 points. Andre’s final 31 points are a season high, and the 13/19 from the field speaks for itself. 

Adding 9 boards and around four alley oop dunks makes his 44 minute-performance fantastic, considering he was playing against one of his worst nemesyses, Prince, exactly.

2) the other Andre didn’t shoot the ball well, but notched his 9th career triple double. Enough said. 

3) role players stepped up again. Reggie Evans did his usual good job, Lou Williams was extremely effective again and Marreese Speights contributed as well.

With Sam facing early foul troubles (and failing to get a single rebound in 10 minutes on the floor…), Ratliff played a season high 31 minutes, and while his 4 rebounds are one of the explainations for Detroit’s (too many) second chances, he did have a huge block on Stuckey down the stretch. We all know Theo, and the fact that he ALWAYS goes up for the help/swat can give us troubles under the boards. It happened yesterday.

I must say the Speights-Ratliff frontcourt gives up too much in terms of  rebounding, I’d use that combo only for limited minutes, leaving one between Evans and Dalembert always on the floor.

But it’s not time for nitpicking, Sixers reached the postseason, already matched the total of wins of last season (40) with seven  games to play and still have a chance to gain home court advantage, being 4th seed Atlanta only two games ahead of us in the standings (43-34).

Taking a look at the schedule, with five of our seven games left on the road, we will more likely fight with 41-36 Miami to mantain the current 5th seed but taking a look back at this year, the coach change, the injury to Brand, all the unbelievable last second losses etc, I must say we should be pretty happy for what we achieved.

Sixers meet the Nets tonight in the first of a three game road trip, I’d better not remind how the previous three games vs New Jersey went (not only we are 0-3 vs them, but remember how the losses came…).

Avoiding an embarassing sweep against the (horrible) Nets would mean adding another reason to smile in this pretty good second part of the season.

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHS – Rip Hamilton scored only three points in the first half – Sad to say, but Rasheed Wallace looked like a former player last night, jacking up seven threes and showing no focus and interest – Will Bynum gave us troubles again, and Kwame Brown completeley embarassed Dalembert (& Theo) in the first quarter, scoring 10 points on 4/5 – Pistons reached a 12 point lead in the seconds (24-36), the biggest of the night, but Lou Williams came off the bench to spark a nice run that helped us close the half down only four, 46-50.

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ MISSING RECAP: Due to a business trip, I could watch only the final 4 minutes of the previous 105-95 W over the Bucks (39-35), a game in which Sixers started Evans in place of Young - I like the idea - and got a huge boost by Lou Williams and Marreese Speights off the bench - This is how the guys at Brew Hoop saw the game - So we swept the season series vs Milwaukee in a comeback win, and this gives me the opportunity to post a funny pic of  Evans to end this post. Take a look at “the Evans shake”:

(RETIRE MOSES MALONE’S SIXERS #2 JERSEY ! S4G PETITION – SIGN HERE)

I saw that pretty much coming (just check the title of the post below this one…).

So I really can’t say the 100-89 loss to Indiana, breaking a four game winning streak (27-25, .519), shocked me.

Still, it pissed me off enough.

First, we lost to a team that was 21-33 before the game.

Second, Pacers are bad enough with their full roster but last night they were without Dunleavy Jr. and Foster.

Third, we should, and could have won, despite playing bad basketball for large part of the night, horrible bball for extended stretches, and trailing for 48 minutes. 

Let’s make a short recap and then try to analyze good things and bad ones.

In the FIRST QUARTER we started sluggish, to say the least, immediately digging double digit deficits: 12-2, 17-4. We didn’t get back on defense quickly, we missed a ton of easy shots, Hibbert (…) and Nesterovic (……..) abused Dalembert. The 28-18 final score was even a bargain. 

But the worst part was yet to come, because in the SECOND QUARTER we forgot to guard Granger (9 pts) and Murphy (7 consecutive pts), letting Pacers building a 20 point lead (49-29, 4 minutes to play). A nice 14-1 run put us back into the game, and at the break Indiana’s lead was cut to eleven (55-44).

I think we lost the game in the THIRD QUARTER, particularly when we had the chance to make it first a three point game, then a five point game, but with the score at 66-60 and 68-60, Thaddeus Young and Willie Green misfired on w-i-d-e o-p-e-n threes on two consecutive (key) offensive possessions, leaving the door open to Daniels to push Pacers’ lead to double digit again (70-60).

I think that was the turning point, because after those plays we missed another bunch of fastbreaks, layups, dunks etc, and, thank also to some help by the refs, Granger carried Indiana’s offense, and the Pacers’ lead was extended, from 73-62 to 80-62.

During the FOURTH QUARTER the same scene was repeated: some solid, Sixers-style basketball with tough defence to cut the lead to six (86-80), immediately followed by unforgivable mistakes, like leaving Murphy all alone at the top of the key for an easy three (!), and allowing him another  jumper to close the game definitely (89-80 and 91-83).

Deserved, disappointing loss, a great chance to improve our record blown. Playoffs teams have to pull out games like this one.

REASONS WE LOST?

An AWFUL pile of easy shots blown. Evans missed a putback just under the basket with the nearest Pacer at around 12 feet from him, Green missed a fastbreak dunk, Young had a couple of layups rimming out, Ivey couldn’t make a shot to save his life, Lou Williams couldn’t convert a three despite some great looks, Speights (injured, bad ankle) hit only the backboard with a jumper he usually makes etc etc…

Even Miller was an uncharacteristic 2/10 which says it all: he couldn’t take advantage of TJ Ford in the low post, like he usually does.

Horrible three point shooting. Young made one from behind the arc in the first, then a dozen of bricks followed for the rest of the game before Marshall knocked down the second: unfortunately it was already garbage time….

Free throw shooting was woeful again, with a lot of misses coming from the perimeter guys, one more fucking time…

Forgettable defence, especially on their big men. You just can’t let a raw rookie like Roy Hibbert and a fading veteran like Rasho Nesterovic combine for 10/16 from the field, you know what I mean ? Pacers won the battle under the boards, 50-45…

Offense was offense confusing/confused, sometimes actually pathetic: in the fourth quarter we ended up TWICE with Reggie Evans taking an unlikely shot with the shot clock winding down.

Once he was (dumbly) fouled by Nesterovic, and the same mistake was made by Granger few plays after that, with the All star fouling Green while our guard was attempting a forced jumper. This only to mean that Pacers did their best to help us, contributing also seven turnovers in the fourth !!

Some bad coaching, honestly, first time in a while. Green and Dalembert were left on the court for way too long in my opinion, while Marshall and even Rush could have been used more and earlier, to open that defence.

Not a great display of basketball on both sides, you got it… When Miller is off, it shows. Lou Williams had some flashes but played poorly as a PG again. I agree with Liberty Ballers’ analysis, some great points on Jams’ recap.

While this is Indy Cornrows’ point of view, check it.

Sixers have a chance to bounce back tonight vs Nuggets, we have that hurting loss at Denver to delete. Get the Nuggets’ fan perspective at Jeremy’s Roundball Mining Company and PickaxeAndRoll, both great blogs.

Ouh, yes, there is also that trade deadline approaching, but I just hope/think we will stand pat

(RETIRE MOSES MALONE’S SIXERS #2 JERSEY ! S4G PETITION – HERE)

Ouh, and happy Saint Valentine’s day everybody, it’s been a f’n busy week at work, I can finally relax now and take care of my blog.

So Sixers got to the All Star break with a 27-24 record (.529) after the 91-87 W over Memphis of three days ago - the (late) recap follows below, at the end of this post.

As many noted, included myself, the break…breaks a nice streak of games: four straight Ws, 5-2 in the seven game-homestand, 14-4 after the loss at San Antonio (Jan 3), 18-10 since Di Leo took over as head coach (Dec 13, W over Wizards).

Sixers clearly found their rythm, a nice balance offesnively and defensively, good chemistry, so I think this interruption comes at the wrong time.

And I’ll pass on the fact that the All Star Game is still #2 in my “Things I could not care less about” list, just after maths.

Still the All Star weekend it’s the chance to take a look at what happened in the last weeks and, mostly, try to make an analysis of the future.

First off, while trade rumors are becoming crazy (yesterday an actual deal was concluded, Raptors sent Jermaine O’Neal and Jamario Moon to Miami, in exchange for Shawn Marion), I’ll state one more time what I think Sixers should do before trade deadline: NOTHING.

While it’s crystal-clear what our biggest need is (get a SHOOTER to upgrade the SG position), it’s apparently less clear what we would miss if our biggest asset (Andre Miller) is traded.

I’ve read countless trade proposals involving Miller, some made even SOME sense: Andre-for-Mike, in a Miller-swapping deal with Minnesota, Andre-for-Hinrich, with Sixers and Bulls exchanging PGs. Many made zero sense, and I won’t bother reporting them.

While I USED to like Mike Miller, he stunningly decreased his production this year: 9.1 PPG, 47% FG, 34% from behind the arc and 69% from the line (!) while I’m typing this, to go with a rescpectable 5.6 RPG and 3.7 APG.

Please notice that Willie Green - and I mean W-i-l-l-i-e G-r-e-e-n ! – averages 8.4 PPG, with 44% FG, 32% from 3 pt land, 69% FT (= Mike Miller), even if adding nothing in all the other categories (1 reb, 2 assists per game), where the Wolve is indeed contributing.

Of course it would be better to have Mike Miller than Willie Green, but at 9.7 mill until 2010 ???

And who would play PG? Lou Williams? Uhm…. If a deal like that one with Minnesota goes down, Sixers will likely miss the postseason, NOT get cap relief, and have to sign a scrub PG next summer.

Guys, I’ve said it numerous times, Andre Miller is a heck of a PG, his importance for the team has been vastly underrated since he came here.

With him you have a durable point guard, who never misses a game (500 consecutive games played, longest streak for an active player, and counting) distributes the ball, makes every teammate happy, hits clutch shots, is a silent leader. What can you ask more?

Yes, his defense vs quick opponents is suspect, and it won’t get any better at 33 y/o, but that’s why you signed Ivey, after all. And I cannot name many PGs capable to lock down Paul, or Harris, or Deron Williams (I purposely mentioned players that usually ABUSE Andre), can you?

So LET’S KEEP ANDRE MILLER !!

I’ll take a step forward: I think we should start considering a reasonable price to resign him next summer. I think a 3 year-20 mill offer would be fair, and could get the job done. 

Miller is one of the main reasons the young players got significantly better, and are continuing in this growing process. Which, by the way, is the most encouraging thing happened to the team in the last weeks.

Let’s take a quick look at the rest of the roster.

- Marreese Speights: a beast, that improves at every game. Can you say steal of the draft?  

 - Royal Ivey: solid contributor, getting minutes in the 4th quarter also.

- Andre Iguodala: Sixers’ MVP probably so far, putting All star numbers and missing the All Star team because…well, I have no idea. He’s even becoming clutch !!

- Thaddeus Young: another star-in-the-making. Remember he played as PF for large part of last season: well, this year he began as starting SF, then went from starter to bench player - when Iguodala was moved to SF and Green put back in the starting line up at SG – to starter again when Brand went down, changing spot for the second time, PF again. All of this without any significant effect on his (always positive) production.

At the second year in the League (and making it to the Sophomore-Rookies game, see the pic), many of his colleagues would have been confused by all these changes. Instead, he is showing great maturity and composure. PF or SF, just make sure he’s on the floor for at least 30 min per night.

- Sam Dalembert has improved lately (also because it was impossible to do worse, let’s be honest) and is now having a positive impact on the team. A clutch block vs Grizzlies, to name one of the  good things he did in this stretch. I‘m afraid think he won’t be traded.

The few negative notes are:

- Lou Williams is shooting 15/53 (28%) in the last six games, 31/101 (30%) in the last ten. Take it to the rim, Lou, and stop with those annoying “long two pointers” at the end of the quarters. I still like you and won’t waive you from my fantasy teams (LOL).

- Willie Green is the usual scrub, that can occasionally have a good game. To his credit, he’s not making much damage, though.

TO SUM IT UP, Sixers are now at the 6th spot in the East, but just 1/2 game after the 28-24 Miami Heat, now 5th. Even if our schedule says we will play 13 games at home and 18 on the road to end the regular season, I think we can reach the 4th seed that would mean home court advantage in the first round.

Currently Atlanta is there at 31-21, and  has 16 games to play at home and 14 away, but I think taking the Hawks’ spot should be our (reachable) goal. Not to mention we match up pretty well with Atlanta, so facing them in a seven games series would mean a good chance to advance, reguardless of who will have home court advantage.

Thoughts?

GRIZZLIES GAME RECAP: three long jumpers by Marreese Speights in the 4th and a streak of clutch plays by Iguodala to beat Memphis, in a game that was tougher than expected.

In the last 2.25 minutes Andre won a jump ball vs 7-1 Marc Gasol, scored off a wonderful assist by Miller (82-82), then on a long jumper (84-82), then went 2/2 from the line (86-84), then converted a tough, decisive left handed shot on a drive with 25 seconds left (89-87), then pushed Mayo to shoot an off balanced jumper on Memphis’ last offensive possession, and eventually sealed the game from the line.

Yes, “it was only the Grizzlies”, but that wasn’t bad at all.

(RETIRE MOSES MALONE’S SIXERS #2 JERSEY ! S4G PETITION – SIGN HERE)

Too bad the All star-break is coming soon.

Because these Sixers are rolling, and the nightly show is just as exciting as it could be.

The 108-91 W over Phoenix, third straight (26-24, .520) is just another example. 

A 48 minute-rain of dunks, alley oops, high flying blocks, spectacular passes, hustle plays. To cut it short, a rout, that Suns could only witness, without offering much resistence.

I was really amazed by the show, one of those games that you would like to extend for a couple of extra quarters.

Yes, the Suns were in the second night of a back-to-back (tough W @ Detroit the night before). Yes, Nash and Shaq have lost a step, maybe two. Yes, it’s not the same squad that came close to the NBA Finals a couple of years ago.

Still, a 28-21 team came to town, and it was absolutely destroyed by the YOUNG Sixers, outplayed in every aspect of the game, basically from the tip off. 

Few flashes , that could help us understanding what happened.

FIRST QUARTER: Thaddeus Young steals the ball from Amare Stoudamire off an inbound pass after a basket by the Sixers (!). Shaq misses a dunk. Jason Richardson misses an uncontested layup. Suns turn the ball over SIX times, vs Sixers’ ZERO. Young scores 14 on 6/7, including 2/2 from behind the arc. 30-25.

SECOND QUARTER: Evans completes a three point play after being fouled by notorious bust former Sixer Amundson. A possessed Marreese Speights (8/10 at the break) scores TEN CONSECUTIVE POINTS,  including two alley oop dunks. Royal Ivey runs back on defence and goes up for a fantastic block on Tucker. 55-44.

THIRD QUARTER. Dalembert scores on a nice low post move over Shaq. Then  draws an offensive foul by the same All star center. Then goes 2/2 from the line. Then completes his own alley oop (63-48). Then blocks Jason Richardson. Suns miss a ton of open jumpers. Dragic travels and eventually, embarassingly, airballs a long jumper. 80-66.

FOURTH QUARTER: Speights finishes his unforgettable night (a career high 24 at the end), Lou Williams contributes some free throws, and it’s soon garbage time (99-79), with even Rush and Marshall seeing  some action.

You got it, a typical blow out.

Suns looked tired, old and at times uninterested, their body language was terrible. Sixers, all Sixers, jumped all over them: focused, committed, spirited, winning every hustle play. A pleasure to watch for every fan.

Forget the All Star game, the real show is in Philly. Don’t stop it. Grizzlies are next.

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS – Dalembert’s streak of consecutive free throws scored reached 23. His last miss from the line came at Denver on December 26th (!) – Sad to say, but Nash was really horrible – All of five points by Evans came on Amundson, LOL - Ivey was 0/6 but all the shots he took were good ones – Lou Williams is continuing in his shooting slump, how about taking the ball to the rim more, instead of settling for long jumpers ???

(RETIRE MOSES MALONE’S SIXERS #2 JERSEY ! S4G PETITION – SIGN HERE)

The 2008/2009 Miami Heat have to be the most boring team in NBA history.

Really. This must be said, but it shouldn’t take anything from our 94-84 W of last night (25-24, .510).

Our bench gave us a great lift, especially in the fourth quarter, sparking the decisive break that put us in condition to secure the win.

I’ll keep the story of the first three quarters VERY short, because it was really an ugly display of basketball on both sides.

Miami is a team that does NOT play in transition, does NOT have a passing game, does NOT have a great circulation and does NOT have low post scorers. So how did they stay in the game, and even build a 8 point lead in the third (57-65) ??

Some good zone defense, taking care of the ball, getting easy baskets off pick-and-roll situations. Enough.

Sixers had a nice start, with Young closing the first period with 8 points on 4/5, but then a bad second quarter offensively: poor circulation, forced shots, unforced turnovers. And we allowed a lot of layups, again, due to slow rotations on the pick and roll.  

The third was even worse for us, we shot 4/18 and stayed close only making all of our eleven attempts from the line (finally !). Miami did his usual, boring, job but couldn’t pull away.

The fourth was a totally different story. Sixers started it with a bloue collar lineup of Lou Williams, Royal Ivey, Andre Iguodala, Reggie Evans and Marreese Speights. Evans knocked down three of four from the line and when Speights found Ivey for an easy layup to give us the lead (74-73 ) the game was turned around, thanks to the energy provided by the back ups.

Then the so called-second unit extended the stretch: Ivey knocked down a three, Young had another and Ivey stole the ball and went all the way for a layup immediatley after a timeout by Miami, a play that killed their confidence and gave us a ten point lead, 84-74.

Ivey wasn’t finished, though: he connected again from behind the arc (89-78 ) and then left the stage to Speights, who had a left handed jump hook and a block on Wade before the three by Ivey.

Marreese completed his big night with the exclamation mark, a thunderous alley oop dunk to silence a series of baskets by fellow rookie Beasley, the only offensive option left for Miami.

Ugly game, exciting finish, nice win.

Take your hat off to those hard working guys, the credit should go to them.

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS – Evans is 14/18 from the line in the last three games !! 62.8 % for the season, career high !!!! – Ok, don’t get too excited, his 38% from the field is a career low, LOL – Sixers are 16-10 with Di Leo on the bench, and 12-8 without Brand – A quiet night for the two Andres – Wade is the least-exciting-great-player ever. I respect him and can recognize his greatness, but I will never be a great fan of him.

(RETIRE MOSES MALONE’S #2 SIXERS’ JERSEY ! – S4G PETITION – SIGN HERE)

Few hours after Sixers learned that Elton Brand would have been out for the season with the shoulder injury, the often criticized (also here, of course) Sam Dalembert picked up the slack and pulled out a monster performance in Sixers’ 99-94 W over Indiana (24-24, .500).

Sixers desperately needed this game, coming off a memorable fourth quarter (offensive) collapse versus the Nets and the hearbreaking last second loss against the reigning champs, Boston f’n Celtics.

They needed a total team effort and a great night from another whipping boy, Willie Green, and the two Andres to avoid another late comeback by their opponent. It was a fun game, in which both teams saw pretty big leads evaporate.

Since this recap comes one day late, I won’t go with the quarter-by-quarter analysis, instead I will try to focus on some facts that I found interesting.

Indiana (the team) has a hole in the paint just as big as Indiana (the State). Dalembert dominated for the whole game on both ends of the floor: he had 7 rebounds in the first quarter alone and could have ended with 20+20 had he not missed a couple of layups and putbacks under or just around the basket.

Ok, not so difficult to do when you face Foster, Nesterovic and Hibbert, but still Sam was a presence like he should always be, and changed the game.

 His 6/6 from the line has to be underlined also, Sam is usually a pretty good free throw shooter (around 70% over the last years) but this season he has rarely been involved much offensively and his pctg from the line decreased a little bit, also because the number of attempts has been significantly reduced. Clearly, he found his rhythm last night.

Sam’s rebounds started a lot of fastbreaks, and we could score many easy points in transition. Speaking of first quarter nice stats, Andre Miller had seven dimes in the period, and Sixers knocked down nine of their first eleven shots (23-14).

Willie Green was extremely comfortable in this kind of running basketball, but actually saved his best for the third period, in which he scored eleven points, many of them in the paint (!), taking advantage of the size edge over Ford and of Pacers’ forgettable defence.

He was so hot that Di Leo let him on the court also in the fourth quarter, something we seldom see, and Green rewarded him with a big basket that put the Sixers up four (93-89).

On the following offensive possession, Iguodala fed Dalembert for an alley oop, and the ensuing 96-91 resulted being decisive. Andre played like an all star last night, and had other clutch plays, like an offensive rebounds off a miss by Green and two free throws to seal the game (98-91).

His stat line speaks for itself, and consider that a couple of his misses came from outside shot bricked: Pacers simply couldn’t guard him.

Evans, Ivey and, to a lesser extent, Lou Williams did their usual job, while Speights is now slumping a little bit, but nothing to be worried for. With Brand out, he will find more minutes and chances to continue in his impressive growth.

Because this is the point: what will happen now that Elton is done? I obviously feel sorry for him, and won’t join any “Brand bashers” group (a lot of them lately…). I don’t think he is/was a bust, or that he can’t/couldn’t fit in Sixers’ system. My opinion is we don’t have sufficient elements to judge him as a Sixer.

Of course he underperformed with Cheeks, but I would say that the same happened to a lot of players at the beginning of the season (remember Iguodala’s horrible start, Miller trying to be Iverson and taking 20 shots per game, Lou Williams’ awful stretch etc…). It was the chemistry lacking, and all the ingredients looked a bad fit in that “cocktail”.

Then he got injured, there was the coach change, and the team found a “new” identity without him, an effective one. Then he got back had some good flashes, a couple of bad nights and got injured again. What conclusion can you draw? I can’t come to any.

I think Brand is an excellent player that will eventually find his role in Philly. I mean, it can’t get any worse.

Let’s try to see the positive side(s) of this. There are several ones.

First off, there will be no more “what will Brand’s role be” discussions. Thad will start at PF until the end of the season, Green (sadly, LOL) will keep the starting SG spot and Sixers will stick with this lineup for the remaining part of the year – unless some trades will be made, of course.

(Just to make it clear one more time: I hope Miller WILL NOT BE TRADED. In fact I would like to extend him for another couple of years, at a reasonable price).

I am more than ok with the “old/new” line up, it already showed it can work well last year. But this time we have also a Marreese Speights coming off the bench, not only Reggie Evans (+ Jason Smith), and add even good ole Theo Ratliff to provide even more depth in the frontcourt. I think we can still reach a 5th-6th seed in the East with THIS, Brand-less roster.

And, of course, if Dalembert and Iguodala continue to play like this, we could be even better.

The upcoming game vs Miami, our rival for a playoffs spot, will tell us something more. Go Sixers, good luck Elton.