Making this quick before leaving for the weekend (maybe I’ll be able to update the post later, with all the sums etc).

Ok, it’s a given that this is a pretty young team, with some veteran presence only in the back up department.

So I tried to check our players’ playoffs experience, making a small research through the years.

My source has mainly been Basketball reference and here is what I found.

In order:

SPEIGHTS, IVEY: 0 playoffs games played.

Barely a surprise: the first is a rookie, the second sucks (LOL) and has always played for bad teams (feel free to add the Sixers to this category).

YOUNG, WILLIAMS: 6 playoffs game played (2-4 record)

They were members of 2007/2008 Sixers, that were eliminated by Pistons, 2-4.

IGUODALA, DALEMBERT, GREEN: 11 playoffs games played (3-8 record).

They were members of two Sixers teams that made it to the postseason, in 2004/2005 with Jim O’Brien, and in 2007/2008 with Maurice Cheeks. Sixers lost to Pistons in both occasions, 1-4 in 2004 and 2-4 in 2008.

MILLER: 21 playoffs games played (5-16 record)

Here is the recap of his career in the postseason:

• 2004 (Denver Nuggets), lost 1-4 in the first round to Minnesota
• 2005 (Denver Nuggets), lost 1-4 in the first round to Spurs
• 2006 (Denver Nuggets), lost 1-4 in the first round to the LA Clippers (LOL)
• 2008 (Philadelphia Sixers), lost 2-4 in the first round to the Pistons

(uhm, I think I gave some strong arguments to his critics, LOL)

EVANS: 22 playoffs games played (9-13 record)

• 2005 (Seattle Supersonics), won 4-1 vs Kings, lost 2-4 to Spurs
• 2006 (Denver Nuggets), lost 1-4 to the LA Clippers
• 2008 (Philadelphia Sixers), lost 2-4 to the Pistons

RUSH, 31 playoffs games played (19-15 record*)

• 2003 (LA Lakers), won 4-2 vs Timberwolves, lost 2-4 to the Spurs
• 2004 (LA Lakers), won 4-1 vs Rockets, 4-2 vs Spurs, 4-2 vs Timberwolves, lost 1-4 to the Pistons in the NBA Finals

Funny how the only guy that basically NEVER gets his ass off the bench for the Sixers, is the only one with a winning record in the postseason…

RATLIFF, 33 playoffs games played (20-23 record*)

• 1996 (Detroit Pistons), lost 0-3 to Magic
• 1997 (Detroit Pistons), lost 2-3 to Hawks
• 1999 (Philadelphia Sixers), won 3-1 vs Magic, lost o-4 to Pacers
• 2000 (Philadelphia Sixers), won 3-1 vs Hornets, lost 2-4 to Pacers
• 2008 (Detroit Pistons), won 4-2 vs Sixers, 4-1 vs Magic, lost 2-4 to Celtics

In the two seasons in Philly he was coached by Larry Brown.

MARSHALL, 41 playoffs games played (22-20 record *)

• 2001 (Utah Jazz), lost 2-3 to Mavericks
• 2002 (Utah Jazz), lost 1-3 to Kings
• 2007 (Cleveland Cavs), won 4-0 vs Wizards, 4-2 vs Nets, 4-2 vs Pistons, lost 0-4 to the Spurs in the NBA Finals
• 2008 (Cleveland Cavs), won 4-2 vs Wizards, lost 3-4 to Celtics.

CONCLUSION:

Excluding the two old asses that close this list, and a guy that likely won’t play a minute vs Orlando, we have a laughable playoffs experience, and even smaller background as for series won… I’m afraid the updates that will be made on this post after this year won’t help much in improving the figures.

Have to go, leave comments and send me the corrections, if there is anything to edit.

*= clearly the record refers to the TEAMS, as they did not play in every game of those series.

For example Ratliff in his rookie year in Detroit played only in one out of the three playoffs games for the Pistons, while Marshall was riding the pine as a Cav and was getting on the court sporadically, same Rush for the Lakers.

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

Ten games are left after the 101-97 loss at Detroit, Sixers stand at the 6th place in the Eastern conference with their 37-35 (.514) record, and their schedule doesn’t look easy.

Tonight Sixers meet the 43-31 Hawks, that already secured a playoffs spot and hold a comfortable four game-lead over 5th seed Miami (39-35). Atlanta seems in a great position to keep home court advantage in the first round.

The game is the first of a three game homestand. Here is Sixers’ remaining schedule, with my predictions:

• Atlanta (W)
• Milwaukee (W)
• Detroit (W)
• @ New Jersey (W)
• @ Charlotte (L)
• @ Chicago (L)
• Cleveland (L)
• @ Toronto (W)
• Boston (W)
• @ Cleveland (L)

In my opinion tonight’s game could spark us to a small winning streak: I am afraid we will lose again to the Bobcats, good and rising, while for the last two games we could perhaps take advantage of the fact that Cavs and Boston will probably already be sure of their 1st and 2nd/3rd spot and maybe rest some starters.

But I am predicting a L at Cleveland, just not to be too optimistic: if Sixers really go 6-4 in this last stretch, they will finish the season 43-39.

That would mean a +3 improvement in wins versus last year (= still mediocre), and matching the record of 2004/2005, which by the way was Sixers’ last winning season (…).

If you remember, it was Jim O’Brien’s year, with Iverson & Webber. Sixers lost 4-1 to the Pistons in the first round. That costed Obie the job, and it costed all Sixers fans six more years of Dalembert (LOL), because after that – good - series by Sammy, King rewarded him with that infamous notorious deal.

I think 2008/2009 Sixers are ready to finish the season strong and make some noise in the playoffs.

More than likely they will NOT pass the first round, because we match up pretty bad with Orlando AND Boston, but I think a series with the same Hawks could be very interesting, and give us a good chance for the upset.

Yes. Because despite what the rankings tell us today, we are 1-1 vs Atlanta this year, with both games played on the road, and with the loss coming on Nov 1st after we blew a 23-point lead, remember ??

But before talking about the post season, we have to get to it. To be sure of that, we have to avoid some mistakes made vs the Pistons (and here comes the short recap I still have to write, due to a shitload of work…).  

Like letting Will Bynum score 9 points in the fourth quarter (!). Williams’ defense on Pistons’ reserve guard was horrible, to the point that DiLeo put Green in for the last minutes.

Or letting a six point-fourth quarter lead (83-89, thanks to two fantastic fastbreak baskets by Iguodala) quickly turn into a six point deficit (97-91), capping a 14-2 run.

Sixers played a good game overall in Detroit, but stopped pushing just when they could (and should) have closed it.

They were too happy with the (small) lead, smiling on the bench during Detroit’s timeout, and came out of it not focused and ‘angry’ enough, leaving Pistons the stage, and letting the crowd play a part in their comeback. Talking about immaturity, or lack of killer instinct.

Also give Rip Hamilton a lot of credit, he knocked down a tough shot that rattled in with 14 seconds to go (101-97), he took it nearly behind the backboard, with his right foot almost touching the baseline.

I was happy to see Iverson finally back for the Pistons after a long absence, I’ll always love “the lil’ guy” and wish him the best.

Ok, enough of the past, bring on the Hawks, we want to RUN WITH THE SIXERS TO THE PLAYOFFS !!!

… to win a crazy basketball game, that Sixers SHOULD have not only won, but also blown out.

Instead, it was a 94-95 loss vs Indiana (12-15, .444), the first for Sixers’ interim coach guido Tony Di Leo.

So let’s see. Pacers were missing three of their four best scorers (Granger, Murphy, Daniels + Dunleavy jr.), had only nine players in uniform (!) and, like us, were playing in the second night of  a back-to-back. Add that the first of those nights was a double OT loss to the Clippers (!!!).

So after we jumped to that early fifteen point lead at the beginning of the second (31-16, 35-20), playing some good and even fun basketball, I admit I thought that it was going to be a pretty easy game.

But we didn’t close it the way we could, and should have done. In fact, an extended draught immediately followed, and Indiana cut the deficit to four at halftime (48-44).

The game remained close until the end, thanks to our usual ineptitude from the perimeter (a less than pathetic 0/8 from three point land + another five/six long jumpers missed, some wide open) and to a discouraging amount of fumbles, bad passes, missed putbacks, shots getting blocked in the paint or, in many cases, just under the rim.

Josh Mc Roberts – horrible, by the way - set career highs in all categories I think, with his four rejections being a peak we should be ashamed of.

So the game came down to the last two possessions, and TJ Ford beated Iguodala off the dribble, creating enough space to knock down, guess what, a long jumper (in the pic), while Andre couldn’t convert a tough left handed drive as time expired. Good night Sixers.

That’s how we wasted Andre Miller’s eighth career triple double ( I hope his critics will shut the hell up, again) and a good game by Sam Dalembert – at least statistically, because he could have had another 4-6 points (if he could only catch a pass), and drove me nuts in several occasions….

Count in the “positives” also Marreese Speights’ night (another couple of spectacular dunks by this guy, exciting rejections and a lot of energy provided) and Andre Iguodala’s game – for the first 47 minutes I mean.

At the end of the day, you have to take your hat off to those Pacers and their Philly coach that played a heck of a game in that tough situation. They outscored us 18-0 on three pointers and, despite being outrebounded, had a lot of hustle plays that showed their determination. They never gave up and wanted it more, I think.

Among the things to fix, on our side, I’d put… well, i don’t know where to start. Scoring some threes would be nice,  let’s stop here this time. Our perimeter game it’s not even “poor”, but more like “non existent”. Teams know that, and challenge us to take outside shots.

What else? Willie Green got injured at the beginning of the second quarter and didn’t come back. Is it bad news/good news? LOL. 

Ouh, and refs were horrible, with bad calls on both sides. Violet Palmer should be sent officiating D-League games, no kidding.

And why in the hell does Travis effin’ Diener always have good games vs us ???? Fuck him and his threes…

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS – Reggie Evans went 2/2 from the line – Same for Roy Hibbert, the fourth worst free throw shooter in the League (48% before the game) – Sixers shot 7/22 in the second – Miller reached his triple double at the end of the third quarter ! – Indy Cornrows’ recap is a very interesting read that I would recommend – One thing to close this sad day: as (easily) predicted by Sixers4guidos some days ago, WE FINALLY REACHED THE BOTTOM OF THE THREE POINT STANDINGS, SIXERS ARE DEAD LAST IN THE NBA WITH A REMARKABLE 30.5% !!!!!

Sixers simply took care of business last night and beat Oklahoma City 110-85, just the way they were supposed to (5-5, .500).

No offense, but the Thunder are just a bad basketball team right now, soft, unorganized, with too many weaknesses: playmaking, outside shooting, chemistry, lack of low post threats. When Swift, Collison and Petro are your frontcourt, you’ve gonna have many nights like this in the NBA, unfortunately.

Also, I wasn’t that impressed by Kevin Durant, who looked like a taller “Big Dog” Robinson last night, a shooter with a nice touch (even if the 6/18 would tell us the opposite) but with limited impact on his team. The new franchise will need at least two more very good players only in order to become decent.

That’s why you can’t get many serious indications from last night’s win. The good things were:

1) all Sixers scored, and no one played more than 31 minutes

2) Iguodala had finally a good shooting night and Miller finally distributed the ball like he should do on a daily basis

3) Dalembert pulled out the best game of his season, dominating under the boards and finally putting some points on his stat line. We need him like this, let’s hope he can go on now.

4) Thaddeus Young had another impressive game, and would have improved his career high 25 of the previous game vs Pacers had Cheeks left him in.

5) the other young stud, Marreese Speights, played very well, and showed also some range, knocking down a couple of jumpers. Good for his confidence.

6) Reggie Evans went 2/2 from the line (!) and grabbed seven rebounds in limited time: the good thing about Reggie is that he plays every game like it’s a playoffs game, and you couldn’t see any difference in him bewteen last night and the Detroit series, really.

7) we played solid defense when needed (especially in the third quarter): that put us in a condition to get many steals and score easy points in transition, the best way to make a run

So which are the areas where we still have to improve?

1) Lou Williams is playing like crap. He seems not focused, doesn’t make the team mates play but looks only for his shots. Those, by the way, are not falling (35% for the season…).

Why? He is basically using only one move: he takes a couple of dribbles, DOES NOT beat his man, takes a lateral step and throws a long jumper, just inside the three point line, always off the mark. The 1/4 from the line is another sign he is not mentally ready to play in this moment. How about leaving him on the bench for a game or two, and give Rush some extra minutes? 11/38 from the field over the last five games means something…. 

2) we need to knock down those shots from the perimeter. In the first half with Oklahoma we misfired on many wide open shots, and at the break we had only one three pointer made, out of four attempts.

SIXERS4GUIDOS BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS: Jeff Green looked good, he was 9/11 at a point – Petro (pretty unbelievably) was not called for a double dribble violation in the first half, and went back to defense smiling after hitting the jumper. Takling about a blooper for the refs - Miller’s nine dimes are a season high… – Robert Swift is horrible, in every sense of the word – After playing four games in five nights, Sixers will get some rest and play MInnesota on Wednesday, a team that is currently on a seven game losing streak – Check Twolves blog for complete coverage about our next opponent.

You had already given up after that 38-13 FIRST QUARTER. Just admit it.

That’s how you probably missed the final 92-94 W in Indiana (4-5, 0.444), a game that could be a small turning point in Sixers’ so far troubled season.

Well, I can’t entirely blame you this time, because the first period of last night was one of the sadest display of basketball I’ve ever experienced. 

The pitiful “show” included: a wide open three allowed to Granger just after the tip off, 0/7 from the floor to start the game and contribute building a 22-2 Pacers lead (!), three turnovers by your starting PG, that once “forgot” to take a dribble after getting the ball….

More: your center that can’t inbound the ball after a basket by Indiana and steps onto the court (I almost threw up), less-than-pathetic defense with Pacers happily scoring on layups and open jumpers. The end of the period was memorable as well: an idiotic offensive foul just before the buzzer sounded.

By the numbers: on Sixers’ side 5/21 from the field, 3/7 from the line and 7 turnovers. On the other, 17/29, 4/8 from behind the arc, 12 assists. A lot of Sixers fans went to bed or switched channel, I guess.

The comeback was built in the SECOND QUARTER mainly by three guys: Royal Ivey (yes, sir), Reggie Evans, THADDEUS YOUNG. Yes, the second year forward will (deservely) get more credit because he almost singlehandedly carried the team on offense (12 points in the period, including a spectacular two handed jam off an offensive rebound), but Ivey and Evans made some hustle plays on both ends of the floor (Evans had a putback DUNK as well, go figure…) and provided that psychological spark that the team was needing. That’s how it was still an open game at the break (57-49).

HALF TIME STATS: To me, Ivey’s +17 in the +/-category was the picture of the team, even more that Thad’s 7/11 from the field. Iguodala and Brand combined for a ‘nice’ 2/12. Pacers shot 24/46 (52%), including 6/12 from three point land (Granger was 3/3), but committed 18 fouls. Daniels and Granger had 13 points.

Iguodala’s and Brand’s struggles continued in the THIRD QUARTER (it was 2/19 at a point), while we fell to -15 again (70-55, 5.46 to play). But the two Andres finally gave some signs of life, and with the first three of the night, by Willie Green, we cut the deficit to five (72-67). Brand had a nice play as well, with a block and a (slow) coast-to-coast concluded by a jumper from the free throw line: 76-71.

It was Willie Green’s turn in the FOURTH QUARTER: he knocked down another key shot from behind the arc, and scored… at will, on drives and smartly posting up the smaller TJ Ford. A “get out of my way” basket by Green, that pushed Ford and layed it up and in, was a sign that the momentum was definitely changing.

Iguodala tied the game at 90 splitting a pair from the line (3.15 to go), Miller put us ahead for the first time (90-92) and Thaddeus Young gave us the biggest lead at 90-94, with two PERFECT foul shots, 1.32 left. Granger’s jumper for the 92-94, with 43 seconds left, was the last basket of the game because both Brand and Daniels missed jumpers: the Pacer could have won the game with the last second (open) three. Basketball gods were on our side: they perhaps appreciated the effort.

The memorable comeback will hopefuly build some confidence and showed we learned the lesson of Atlanta (from +23 to the final loss). But it should’t make us forget some important facts:

1) many key players are completely out of shape, or below their level, or (apparently) not fitting in this system. I’m talking about Sam Dalembert (a shadow), Lou Williams (too selfish). And see the next point. 

2) our supposed to be best players, Brand and Iguodala, are playing like shit offensively. Still, since I’m a half-full type of guy, I will enjoy the fact that we could pull out a W in a night when they shot a horrific 6/29 from the floor.

To be fair, Brand played some great defense on Pacers’ bigs, and also Andre worked well under the boards and had a couple of blocks down the stretch that helped us a lot. So, they contributed to the win, it’s not that we won despite them. Nice.

OPTIMISTIC FINAL NOTE: what will happen when ALL the pieces will hopefully fit together ?? This team already proved that has a deep bench that can change games, if only the starters could wake up…

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS: Pacers shot 13/38 in the second half – The boxscore doesn’t tell that Kareem Rush played a good game, without forcing a shot and with a couple of smart passes – Thaddeus Young’s 25 points are his career high. Something tells me it will not remain unbeaten long… fantastic game – Granger’s final basket was his only in the second half – I always note that players on the bench partecipate, shout, scream, support, help who is on the floor. That must be the sweetest thing for a coach to see – Boston’s loss and Detroit win over the Lakers completed a great NBA night – Sixers play Oklahoma tonight, check OKC Thunder Balls for a Thunder fan’s perscpective. 

(BRING THE OLD SIXERS UNIFORMS BACK ! S4G CAMPAIGN – SIGN HERE)

I’m finally back after a 11 day absence due to a business trip. And I finally managed to see a whole Sixers game again: the last one before I left, was the win vs Nets.

Right now you’d already wacthed and read everything about the 90-91 home loss to the Cavs (40-41, .494) and the way it come.

In case you didn’t, David Aldridge has the best recap, as usual. Point is, we lost the game, will finish at the seventh place and meet Detroit in the first round.

I’ll just add my two cents. Unlike many Sixers fans, I think the call on Dalembert was correct. He fouled Devin Brown – in the pic, sealing the victory – and before the buzzer. So no “robbery”, no “steal”, no “scandal”, in my opinion. It was a foul, coming after a great play, the block on LeBron James. (EDIT: after reviewing it for the 157th time I finally realized Ilgauskas pushed Sam towards Brown… that foul should have been called as well).

No big deal though. Sixers played a heck of a game, a playoffs game and I really enjoyed it. If it could end 0.2 seconds before, it would have been nicer. Whatever.

I’ll try to remind the good things:

1) the stunning fourth quarter played by Lou Williams, and his tough, fallaway, long jumper that gave us the lead shot with 5.1 seconds left, together with the floater he made few plays before this. Wow.

2) the great contribution by Thaddeus Young, his offensive rebounds and his huge baskets down the stretch. Before that, he had a fantastic steal + dunk and drew a change, both plays on LeBron James

3) Sam Dalembert’s solid game despite an injured hand.

4) overall, the team attitude, how we fought back down 12 in the fourth (61-73 with 10 left), the spirit and the electricity in the air that I could feel even from here

Yes, it sucks to lose like this, in the Fan appreciation night after even the confetti came down and some players were probably already taking the shower… but it’s not a step back, I mean.

What I would like to change in the playoffs is:

1) cut Iguodala’s minutes a little bit… keep him around 37-38. He struggled with his shot last night and he’s playing half-injured, why keep him on the court 40+ minutes? Don’t risk him.

2) give some of his minutes to Carney, who should stay in for around 16-18 minutes

3) leave Jason Smith on the floor more, I think he could be useful vs Rasheed and/or Mc Dyess

4) knock down the fucking free thows…

Enjoy the playoffs, guys, it’s gonna be fun, pack the arena please, also for me.

I say Pistons in five but with no blowouts this time. And take the win that we didn’t take last night in Charlotte, for God’s sake, I don’t want to make the post season with a losing record !

Sixers4guidos will hopefully be back with its “normal” full Sixers coverage until the end of the season.  

SIXERS4GUIDOS MISSED GAMES, MISSING ON THIS BLOG

The exciting 104-109 win at Atlanta, that made us officially reach the post season (39-37).

The 85-92 home loss to Atlanta (39-38), when Sixers were probably distracted by their achievement and lost some focus.

The 101-84 win over the Pistons, or at least the Pistons reserves (starters pretty much got some rest), that made us even the series with Detroit and raise our record to 40-38.

The 76-85 home loss to Indiana, in my opinion the only bad loss of this last part of the season (40-39), caused mainly by HORRID shooting percentage by our guards: Green, Carney and Williams combined for 5/37…  With that, O’Brien swept the season series vs his former team !

The 109-93 loss at Washington, a game that saw Arenas exloding in the fourth quarter with pretty unbelievable shots and Sixers collapsing in the period (31-9) to drop to .500 again at 40-40.

We all know that it’s very easy for a fan to say: “my team’s management sucks”.

Complaining about poor management is a must for the average sport fan. It’s actually so easy, that we want to repeat it loudly: “Sixers management REALLY sucks”.

We consider Billy King, Sixers’ general manager, the main responsible for the (bad) situation we are in. Bad trades, even worse free agent signings, insane deals given to players that were already in our roster, weak decisions about coach(es), poor international scouting (assuming we have it, which we are starting to doubt): that’s only a short summary of all the mistakes we consider King to blame for.

As a result, we missed the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, in the same stretch we had four coaches, we are currently capped out for the next two years, with a payroll that is ranked as the 3^rd highest in the league, just under the Knicks’ and Dallas’.

We want to give King a “last chance”: if Sixers will miss the playoffs even this year, he must go. The good thing is that he is probably aware of that too. An organization spending almost 100 million dollars in salaries can’t miss the post season for two seasons in a row (unless you are the Knicks, of course. But this is another story).

During the Larry Brown era, people said that most (dumb) decisions made by that time came more from Brown’s mind than from King’s. This is the argument often used to explain moves such as drafting Larry Hughes instead of Nowitzki in 1998 (word is Billy King wanted Dirk with that pick.. but we suspect that it was the same King who spread this “rumour” later), trading Tim Thomas for Tyrone Hill, giving Greg Brickner (ops ! it’s Buckner, sorry…) a six (yes, SIX !! 6 !!! S-i-x !!!! Not one, not two, not three… six !!!!!) years deal etc etc.

But after Brown left town (summer of 2003), King was in charge of all the operations. Than the rain of mistakes started. King picked Brown’s assistant, Randy Ayers, as head coach, only to fire him in the mid of the season and put Chris Ford on the bench. Result: losing record (33-49), no playoffs.

King than gave the coaching job to a Philly guy, Jim O’Brien, which was the last good decision we give him credit for.

King fired O’Brien after a winning season (43-39) and a (short) trip to the playoffs. He realized there was a “communication problem” with O’Brien and replaced him with Maurice Cheeks (summer of 2005). Result: another losing record (38-44), no playoffs again.

We’re not saying King hasn’t done anything good. He made some good trades (getting rid of Mutombo and – later – Van Horn, landing Webber basically for Kenny Thomas etc) and mostly did a nice drafting job: he was the guy who picked Igoudala in 2004 and, the year before that, found two solid players as Willie Green and Kyle Korver in the second round.

But his overall record speaks for itself: 114-132 over the last three years. That’s the epitome of mediocrity and we are tired of mediocrity.

Many things have changed in that stretch, one remained: Billy King as Sixers’ general manager. The clock is ticking for Billy. And he knows it.