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Sixers4guidos starts its player-by-player analysis of the season with the guy who in my humble opinion should receive the ‘Sixers MVP award’, point guard Andre Miller.

OVERALL EFFICIENCY AND RATE

Miller had arguably the best season of his career.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you should know I am not a stat maniac, but his 17 PPG and .492 % FG (both career highs) are pretty impressive, especially coming at 32 y/o. 

Seven assists for 2.5 turnovers is a nice ratio as well, considering he plays 36 minutes in an up tempo team.

He’s always been known more as a playmaker than a scorer, but this year we saw that in the right system he can be also a reliable #2 option for his team, carrying the load offensively in many nights. He often knocked down clutch shots down the stretch, which never hurts….

My rate for Andre Miller is 9 (scale is from 1 to 10, being 10 the top).

WHAT HE DID WELL

Basically all: leadership, scoring, passing, shooting, rebounding, in that order.

Dude played in 733 of his possible 736 games in the NBA (!!!), is solid as a rock (knock on wood) and a great presence in the locker room. He’s one of the best players to set up his team mates in the NBA. Alley oops, passes from the dribble, passes for the man coming off screens are his bread-and-butter.

He also gives Sixers the best low post presence offensively, which is sad and true at the same time, but not for Andre’s fault !!!

WHAT HE DID WRONG

Not much, honestly. He notoriously has troubles guarding smaller, quicker opponents that like to drive to the hoop (Chris Paul and Deron Williams had fantastic nights vs Sixers), but I challenge you to name me a player that can limit the guys I mentioned…

Billups killed him in the last two games of the playoffs, but Miller gave him the same treatment in the first games, so I’d say INDIVIDUALLY that particular match up ended with a tie. He surely didn’t come up short in the post season.

THIS SUMMER PLEASE WORK ON…

Uhm, can a guy get better at 32 y/o ? Maybe he could work on getting in a better shape for the start of the season, he usually starts slow, for his own admission.

WHAT TO DO WITH HIM

Keep him, he was the key of Sixers’ successful season…. I think only Calderon will be an upgrade over Andre Miller right now, but I doubt Raptors will let him go.

Unlike many Sixers fans, who think he’s more of a SG, in my opinion Lou Williams CAN play the point full time, but he still has to learn from Miller… that’s why I say wait at least one more season with Andre at the helm, keeping Lou coming off the bench, and see if he can improve his playmaking skills seeing what Andre does. 

Then, if it will be clear that Lou can’t/will not play PG, extend Miller even after 2009.

People who want to trade Andre MIller now should remember that his 10 mill coming off the books in the summer of 2009 will be even more that the current asset later, when we’ll approach next year’s trade deadline….

(Up next: Willie Green)

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I am back home after a 4 days romantic trip to Verona (the city of Romeo and Juliet !) with my wife, finally back blogging also.

I am changing job & town in the next weeks, so it’s possible that new posts and updates will have some pauses.

Anyway I’ll have BIG NEWS SOON, so give me a free pass and stay tuned on Sixers4guidos.

So the Sixers season is over after the 77-100 loss to the Pistons in game 6 of the first round: 4-2, end. While I’m typing this post, Detroit has a 2-1 lead over Orlando in the second round.

Of course no need to recap the game one week after it was played, and also because it was another blowout (2-15 Detroit to start it, 12-30 after the first quarter, 33-51 at the half…).

I’ll just point out some things, the feelings I had after the end of the series.

1) Detroit deserved to advance, of course. Can’t argue with three consecutive wins after trailing 1-2, also because the wins came in a pretty impressive way. The best team won, simple as that.

2) I am VERY HAPPY with what Sixers did in the season and in the series. Idiots complaining about the 2-1 lead we had, about the collapses in the last two games, about Iguodala’s (actual) shortcomings, perhaps forget where did we come from.

So I’d better remind you: a 40-42 regular season record, and this after a year in which many thought we’d end dead last in the Conference. Sixers overachieved, both in the regular season and in playoffs, so cut the BS criticisms this time !!!

3) I’m EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED that Sixers fans (in the pic, a cool one) couldn’t sell the arena out in none of the three games played in Philly. I even heard some boos in game 6… typical Philly.

Fortunately the fans few left until the end of that (bad) game, gave our guys and the coach the standing ovation they totally deserved for this wonderful season.

4) I will root for the Pistons during these playoffs.

I always liked the Pistons, since the Bad Boys era, and the fact they kicked us out of the playoffs in our last three appearances, will not change this feeling.

Stefanski stated many times that Detroit should be a model for the Sixers (last one mentioned in this article by Bob Ford), and I like this too, I hope in 2-3 years we can reach that level.

UP SOON ON SIXERS4GUIDOS !

* a brand new home page, with cool graphics !!!

* a Sixer-by-Sixer breakdown of the 2007/2008 season, starting with Andre Miller.

* results of a poll among Sixers bloggers, giving the 2007/2008 Sixers awards

* (hopefully) a surprise from the Sixers franchise, that I’ve been in contact with, even today. I’m waiting for some answers about a “sensitive” topic I’ve been bringing up over the last months… 

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Not much to say about Pistons’ 98-81 win of last night, really.

You just “copy & paste” game 2, and the recap of game 2, and you know what happened yesterday at the Palace.

It was Pistons from start to finish, no need to go quarter-by-quarter.  

The game basically ended after the first period (35-21), with Pistons shooting 15/19 (!), led by Billups, who had 14 points on 4/5, including two threes, to go with seven assists !!

The only sign of life by the Sixers was when Iguodala stripped Prince to feed Thaddeus Young on a fastbreak for a nice layup: it was 10-10, but a 16-2 Pistons run immediately followed that beatiful play.

Iguodala had finally a good game, but unfortunately with ZERO IMPACT on the team’s performance. Not blaming him again, of course, just stating a fact. Iggy went 4/4 in the first period, but fellow Andre shot 1/8, promptly extended to 1/10 at the beginning of the second, when he was finally pulled out.

Miller’s poor game (the first of the series, to be honest, so not sayin it’s his fault, or not only his) had a negative effect on the whole team, literally kicked in the butt for 48 minutes, while Pistons guards and Rasheed with his effective inside-outside game were partying all night.

By halftime Billups & Rip had a combined 29 points on 12/19 from the field, while Miller & Green had 14 on 5/18, including Miller getting blocked three times (see the pic…). Another stat gives you a sign of what happened in the first half: Detroit had fifteen assists, Sixers five. The 54-42 score at the break was even a bargain for us, especially considering that Billups went 0/2 from the line with just 1 second before the horn.

Nevermind, Pistons’ lead in the third was quicky extended to sixteen (60-44, 9.20 to play) and it was Thaddeus Young accidentally tapping the ball in our basket (!!) to make it twenty: 68-48. Need more signs that it wasn’t our night?

Everything went in the best way for Detroit, unlikely shots to beat the shot clock, threes (6/10 at one point in the third), dunks, blocks (a ton of them) and Sixers helped their opponenents in many ways, including a lane violation by Evans on a Green’s (made) foul shot.

I think/hope in game 6 it will be a different story, and I hope the Wachovia center will be finally sold out….

Let’s make another effort, young Sixers !

SIXERS4GUIDOS BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS 

Refs weren’t good - All of Maxiell’s three field goals were dunks, one better than the other - I would like to see more of Carney in the next game - The best Sixers play of the night came when Iguodala slammed home a lob by Lou Williams catching the ball with one hand: too bad it was garbage time already - At the end of the third (79-59), Pistons were shooting 33/55, Sixers 22/55… - Samuel Dalembert’s mohawk haircut is something that I can’t describe. I’ll try to find a pic - Maurice Cheeks came third in the Coach of the Year award run, (deservely) won by Byron Scott. Congrats to both guys.

I will be out with wifey for few days, I don’t know if and when I will be able to watch game 6 and post about it. In case, will you survive ???

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Yeah, the series is still open, yeah before it started everybody would have thought that being 2-2 after four games would have been damn good, but still I have the feeling that we missed a great chance.

1) First off, give Pistons their props for the deserved 84-93 win of last night, they proved why they have been to the Conference finals five years in a row.

2) we better try to analyze how we let a 14 point lead (43-29, 4.30 left in the second) turn into a 15 point deficit (65-80, 8.30 to play in the fourth. That means a 22-51 break in 20 minutes of action !

3) we should think about possible solutions to avoid that happening again.

Pistons played like a veteran team, never losing composure also when everything looked going in the wrong sense for them.

Sixers’ FIRST QUARTER was great: Sammy knocked down a couple of free throws and had a huge block on Billups (0/3 + 3 turnovers to start the game…), igniting the crowd and setting the tone for his team mates. Iguodala hit his first two shots, one being a step back jumper (the same shot that NEVER went in before) and the other a thunderous dunk over Rasheed Wallace. We all thought it could be the right night for him and for the Sixers.

By the half of the period all Sixers starters had already scored, while Detroit (with Maxiell in at PF) struggled: it was 17-10 and it ended at 25-19, with Green and Dalembert scoring six points, Iguodala five and Young four. Mo didn’t make any substitution.

The SECOND QUARTER was even better: Jason Smith had a huge impact off the bench, with a spectacular block on Hamilton, a fall away jumper that beat the shot clock and a high flying dunk off a feed by Lou Williams, followed by another throwdown by the same guard that gave us a 10 point lead (39-29). On Detroit’s first defensive attempt of zone defense Carney knocked down a long three (42-29), so what could you ask more ???

A couple of turnovers kept the Pistons alive, and they closed the half down ten, 46-36, with Prince leading all scores with 10 on a nice 5/6 from the floor, while Billups and Rip were held to a combined, and pretty unbelievable, 3/18. Sixers’ offense was balanced, with Iguodala at 9 (4/8), Green at 7 (3/6), Miller at 8 (4/8 but with four turnovers), Sam at 6, with five rebounds.

The THIRD QUARTER was simply another story. We could make all the possible breakdowns, but the truth is just as simple: Detroit made all shots. Pistons went 5/6 from downtown in the period, with Sheed hitting three: that helped them making the initial 11-0 run (46-47, first lead of the night) and then extending the lead to seven (53-60, Sheed’s third three), and ten at 56-66, completing a 10-30 break ! 

An unstoppable Prince made a lot of damage (3/3 in the period), and second chance points absolutely killed us.

The 62-70 score at the start of the FOURTH QUARTER was something possible to overcome, but Sixers’ pains continued: long rebounds were always falling in Pistons’ hands and, unfortunately for us, even the horrible Rip Hamilton seen in the previous quarters woke up, scoring 10 consecutive points that put the game out of reach (69-84, 6 minutes to go).

Our lack of outside shooting was exposed, Willie Green had a nice spurt with a couple of baskets but Pistons were never really threatened. Game over.

So what went wrong for us?

1) Iguodala’s second half was unwatchable. Not only he shot 0/8 in the last two quarters (and 1/13 overall after the 3/3 aforementioned start), but he was abused by Tayshaun Prince again.

Tay went 5/5 in the second half, and while everybody is (correctly) pointing the finger on Iggy’s 11/49 from the floor in the series (22%…), you better combine that with Prince’s 66 % (31/47), including 19/21 in the last two games  !!! To sum it up, Iguodala, known also for being a good defender, is being severely outplayed by Tayshaun on both ends.

But it’s not the shots not falling, or at least not only that. It’s his decision making, the kind of shots he takes (fallaway 20 footers, forced drives etc) and the turnovers that really irk me. Yesterday he gave away the ball five times, and also missed five free throws, which is totally unacceptable. Just another horrible night for him (and his agent, LOL).

This leads to another question: why is he playing so much (46 minutes yesterday ???) even when he’s clearly ”off”? It’s not that we lack options at the shooting (?) guard-small forward spot. Thaddeus Young had another impressive game (15 points + 9 rebounds and a ton of good, smart plays), Green is being very solid (props, Willie) and he’s always good for providing instant offense, while Carney responded well even in limited minutes.

I understand Iggy is the franchise player (?), that you have to wait for him bla bla bla, but… how long ???? Solution: pull him out give him a rest earlier, use a combo of Green, Lou and Carney in his place.

2) we didn’t box out well, leaving Detroit too many offensive rebounds in the key moments (even if the boxscore doesn’t tell it). Solution: how about playing Dalembert AND Smith together for some stretches? Smith at PF for some minutes could perhaps open some space for Sam in the paint as well: lobs, alley oops etc.

3) we didn’t make shots (I guess you are impressed by this smart “behind the scene” analysis…), also because we took bad shots. Solution: more ball circulation, more movement without the ball, more screens, cuts etc, less one-on-one plays.

Now looking at the next games I’ll have to say this.

The series is still open and I think we are capable of winning one more in Detroit. We simply let a winnable game slip away, even if no fan with half a brain could have thought that Pistons would given up so quickly/easily.

Still, being 2-2 after four games is nice (remember how we got here… 40 reg season wins vs Piston’s 59…), and this team surprised us so many times that if they pull out a W at Detroit on Tuesday, this time I won’t be… surprised. Pistons realized these Sixers are for real and that they have to play hard for 48 minutes to beat them.

SIXERS4GUIDOS BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS

Well, I just gave you a lot of nice stats above, what the f’k do you want more from me ?? LOL - At halftime, Sixers shot 18/33 (54%), Pistons 15/40 (37%) - That means Sixers shot 13/33 in the second half, Pistons 19/40 -  A good note: Sam Dalembert was very good again - Another thing to be happy for: Thaddeus Young’s 15 points are a playoffs career high, same for his 9 rebounds  - When Andre MIller has more turnovers (4) than assists (3) it’s tough - Detroit’s (celebrated) bench was nowhere to be found again. All Pistons veterans logged more than 40 minutes, this might turn in our favor later - Mc Dyess played with a mask, lifting the total of Pistons looking scary to a remarkable two.

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I don’t know if there are Reggie Evans groupies yet. If not, time to create a group of them.

Evans, a reborn Dalembert and Andre Miller were - in this order, to me - our key players in the 95-75 unexpected thrashing of the Pistons in game 3.

This means few things:

1) my 4-1 Pistons prediction is already off the mark (and I love it, of course…)

2) young Sixers are psychologically more solid and mature than we all thought, bouncing back from the blow out of game 2 and answering it with another blow out. This against a veteran team that was supposed to regain the lead of the series, also mentally I mean, after the “distraction” of game 1. It didn’t happen, I see.

3) Pistons might still win the series, of course, but after these three games they are actually closer to a memorable collapse than to a “routine” advancement to the second round. Some signs (looks, faces, body language etc) should worry a lil bit their hot fans.

4) the most worrying fact for Detroit should be that Sixers are up 2-1 with their best player completely out of the series. Andre Iguodala had another bad game last night, but we still won, with no real struggles. This tells us a lot about the team’s capability to find other solutions, with different players stepping up. The only Reggie Evans (+ the wonderful Thaddeus Young, but with less impact) has played very well all three games

5) Billups - a player I am a big fan of - the heart, the soul and the brain of the Pistons, has been completely outplayed by Andre Miller so far, and Pistons bench has never left a sign on the games. Twentyfive turnovers is an impressive stat for a team like Detroit, that averaged only 11 in the regular season (#1 in the NBA).

Few flashes from all periods.

In the FIRST QUARTER Sixers started with a 6-0 run, and Pistons first possessions were an airball (Mc Dyess) and a bad turnover (Billups). Pistons stayed in the game because Tayshaun Prince was very effective on both ends of the floor, scoring at will and pushing Iguodala to take bad, forced shots from the perimeter. Andre, take it to the rim please….

Reggie Evans sparked us in the SECOND QUARTER, stripping Rasheed and going coast to coast to draw a foul and, later, scoring on an (unlikely, let’s be honest !!) fallaway jumper. Sam Dalembert gave him a lot of help, including a nice jump hook and a sweet mid range jumper.

But Sixers built their win in the pivotal THIRD QUARTER, starting hot and connecting on all of their first four shots: it was 56-46 when Thaddeus Young made a pair from the line with 8.30 to play. Hamilton’s fourth foul anticipated a sequence by Reggie Evans that made me scream of joy: offensive foul drawn by Wallace, 2/2 from the line, another offensive foul drawn by Prince: the crowd went wild (in the picture). Iguodala capped that with a layup for the 64-50.

Pistons started a streak of consecutive misses that reached fourteen (!!) and that continued also in the beginning of the FOURTH QUATER, until a goaltending called on Evans ended it at seventeen (!!!!!). Too late, because Carney had already scored the first four points of the period (74-55), a lead that Miller quicky lifted over twenty with a coast to coast (78-57, 9 minutes to go).

Then the fun began, with Sam Dalembert dunking everything, Lou Williams completing nice plays and even Shavlik Randolph scoring the first playoffs points of his career.

What a night !!

SIXERS4GUIDOS BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS

I didn’t check but I’m pretty sure Pistons shot 8/35 in the second half, with two field goals coming in the last minutes of garbage time - Mc Dyess had to leave the game with a broken nose with the score at 56-46: Iguodala accidentally hit him - Thaddeus Young was hit in the nose as well, after a hard foul by Maxiell - The only thing that makes me nervous is the fact that we are making a favor to the Celtics… even getting the Pistons tired, I mean, reguardless of the final outcome of the series - No sell out ????? 18.805 fans is pretty disappointing… they were loud, though.

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The 105-88 loss of last night is exactly the game that we were expecting. Even in Game 1, I mean.

Pistons absolutely destroyed the Sixers, outplaying us in every possible way and the final score doesn’t even give the idea of how hard we got beat.

I don’t think it’s necessary to recap the game, let’s say we could stay with Detroit only in the FIRST QUARTER and only because it lasted 12 minutes (LOL).

Andre Miller’s (lucky) bank shot at the buzzer made it 25-18, putting an end to a lesson of playoffs basketball. I would say ‘Detroit playoffs basketball’ if the expression wouldn’t remind me of that annoying chorus that you hear there….

To sum it up, Pistons played a damn stifling defense, pushing us to shoot FOUR AIRBALLS in the period, that Iguodala ended with 0/6, while Sixers as a team were 3/14 initially.

On the other side, Rasheed Wallace did his job, exactly like in game 1, scoring 11 points with a conbination of low post moves over Dalembert (embarassed in every one-on-one situation) and a long three. Thaddeus Young was the only effective Sixers, with 6 points off some nice offensive rebounds.

The SECOND QUARTER was simply ugly for us: without Dalembert, Pistons found their way to the basket for easy layups, lifted by Stuckley (4 quick points off the bench) and Maxiell. Mc Dyess and Tayshaun Prince did the rest, with a set of drives, baby hooks and mid range jumpers that no Sixer could limit.

That series of baskets was boosted by another horrible sequence: Sixers turned the ball over on three consecutive, key possessions, twice by Willie Green who took some dumb decisions: so from 43-33 it became 49-33 soon, and 53-36 at the half. No match really.

The THIRD QUARTER was basically garbage time: a frustrated Iguodala started it with a charge, and his first and only field goal of the night marked the 60-40 (8.00 to play)…. Before that, Willie Green had a wondeful block on Rip Hamilton, but the ball went to Billups who connected for a three, his first basket (56-37). A sign that it wasn’t our night.

From thereon, the game was good only for highlight reel: Maxiell’s block on Jason Smith, Maxiell’s reverse dunk on Jason Smith (in the picture), a couple of dunks by a spirited Rodney Carney - who played only he last 36 seconds in the first half…. Lou Williams filled his stat line with some jumpers and free throws, but forcing too many shots: he sometimes tends to do that when the game is over, instead of making the team play, and I don’t like it.

So here are some extra thoughts.

1) When Reggie Evans (great game again, much respect) is your MVP two nights in a row, you do have a problem

2) when your supposed-to-be franchise player shoots 5/24 in two games, he’s not helping you (I’m pulling a Sherlock Holmes here…) 

3) when your starting center shoots 3/16 in two games, he’s not helping you either (see above)

4) (Ricky = the guido Einstein) when the two of them shoot for a combined 8/40 in two games (20%), you have a big problem

In general, every shot by Iguodala was contested, with Tayshaun’s long arms stretched over him while Sam, simply, has zero reliable offensive moves to count on, and it shows. We will probably (or hopefully) see more of Rodney Carney in game 3 if Iguodala’s struggles will continue.

5) Andre MIller didn’t have a fun night as well, often double teamed by Pistons big men: he had to stop his dribble many times, trapped in a corner, and couldn’t find the open team mate. He had some nice cuts and offensive rebounds to put some points on the boxscore, though, his experience helped him being somehow useful for the team.

6) Pistons got too many offensive rebounds and second chance points killed us: don’t look at the boxscore, it doesn’t tell you the truth on this

So are Sixers headed to a quick exit after this bad loss?

Maybe not, it was simply a reality check that could be useful and that we could work/build on. We have to learn the lesson and make adjustments. Our confidence shouldn’t be diminished, we still have home court advantage (!) and in the packed, roaring Wachovia center it would be a different story. Go Sixers !!!

SIXERS4GUIDOS BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS

Shooting 4/8 from the line in the pivotal second quarter wasn’t exactly enjoyable - Iguodala threw an embarassing brick in the fourth, that nearly crashed the board, and after that smarty decided not to shoot anymore - Dear Jason Smith, you know I like you, you are my dude etc but how about grabbing a f’n defensive rebound? Zero in 20 minutes of action… - Mo Cheeks called time out after 1.30 played in the fourth, with the score at 88-65 !

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The final edition of the MVP/ROY Blogger rankings is up at We Rite Goode.

After hosting Round 4, your favorite guido blogger took part to the final voting and contributed spreading the love for Thaddeus Young and Mo Cheeks so make sure to check it out.

Nice way to celebrate Sixers successes and this wonderful season, while we wait for game 2.

Well done guys !!!

UPDATE: in the second part of these last rankings, that includes the race for assigning the MVP award, you’ll find also Lou Williams, selected in a special category that We Rite Goode created for the occasion…. the page is wonderful, with graphics, sheets, smart ass comments etc, make sure not to miss it, really !! Thanks to We Rite Goode’s crew for the fantastic job.

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I honestly didn’t think that was possible (who did it?), but still it happened.

(Check what I said before the game in this Q & A session with Jesse from Pistons Nation, that was so kind to contact me for exchanging thoughts about the series. You’ll find also some nice pics and more funny stuff…)

Sixers stole a 86-90 win in Detroit, lead the series 1-0 and gained home court advantage, all in a fantastic night. That came in one of the weirdest, craziest, most exciting of the possible ways it could.

Sixers trailed by thirteen at halftime (51-38 ) and fifteen midway through the third (62-57). Here they went on a 10-0 run that avoided a collapse (especially a mental one) and totally changed momentum. The quarter ended 70-63, and was followed by another 4-0 run at the beginning of the fourth (70-67) that set the stage for the final 10 minutes, in which Sixers came close (72-71), tied it (76-76) and finally took the lead when Miller made it 77-78.

Here came a pretty unbelievable sequence, a sign that things were turning in our favor: Evans made 2/2 from the line (!!), Billups went 0/2 (!!!!) and Evans scored again on the next possession (!!!!!!!!), this time on a fall away jumper (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!): 79-82 Sixers with 4.26 to go. Of course the game was still open then, but our confidence had a huge boost.

Both players weren’t done pulling rabbits out of their asses, though, with opposite results for their respective teams: “Mr. Big Shot” (?) missed another free throw (80-82) and after Lou Williams and Rip Hamilton traded baskets, Evans made a huge tap in for a 82-86 Sixers lead.

Sheed made a couple from the line (84-86, with 1.22 left), Iguodala split a pair (84-87, 1.04 - actually Andre was 1/3 because Pistons were called for a lane violation on his second, missed free throw and Iggy shot, and missed, again…), Billups finally made both (86-87 with 45 seconds to play), setting the stage for the final plays. Here we go.

Dalembert was (correctly) called for a charge on Maxiell after Iggy was doubled and dished him the ball, so that Pistons had a chance to take the lead but Tayshaun Prince misfired on a more-than-makeable jumper form the corner. Iguodala got the rebound and was fouled with 11 seconds left but made only 1/2, again (…): 86-88.

Detroit inbounded the ball and found Wallace in the low post for what appeared to be an easy bucket over Andre Miller, but Evans came to help and made Sheed miss: Iguodala caught the ball and was fouled again, finally sealing the win from the line (2/2 —> 86-90, 7 seconds left).

Sixers could celebrate a win that nobody thought possible.

Reasons for the win? I would say Sixers’ trademark “Never give up attitude”, that kept us playing hard even when the game was apparently slipping out of our hands, balls showed by many players that stepped up in different moments, as usual: not only Evans, my MVP, but also an excellent Willie Green (yes, I wrote it…) + Andre Miller who scored 9 points in the final quarter, providing veteran leadership when we needed the most.

Not to mention Thaddeus Young’s fantastic start (8 in the first quarter with 4/5… are we sure it was his first playoffs game ???) and Jason Smith solid contribution in the fourth (+9 in the plus/minuts stat). And give a ton of credit to the guy at the helm, Mo Cheeks, that I criticed during the first half for not taking Iguodala out and for not putting Jason Smith in, but who insisted on Evans in the fourth and got his deserved payback.

Only Iguodala (who struggled big time in the first half) and Dalembert (nice start, terrible finish) played a subpar game, but that should be even encouraging for us: imagine if they can go back to their usual selves in the next games !! Iguodala didn’t shoot well but he was excellent under the boards and distributing the ball. He can do better, though.

Also we had some serious help by our opponents: I mentioned the many (unusual) misses down the stretch by players that are usually clutch (Billups, Sheed, Tayshaun) + a bad shooting night by Rip Hamilton. I am reading many blame Flip for poor coaching but I honestly don’t know what else/more/different he could have done, players made the biggest mistakes.

SIXERS4GUIDOS BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS

Iguodala shot 2/12 in the first half, when he logged 21.40 minutes. Too many, IMHO - Sheed had 13 points by halftime, to go with 5 blocks !! - Sixers had two blown lauyps and a missed dunk in the first quarter - Jason Maxiell had a huge impact off the bench and help Pistons go on a run in the second quarter, finishing with 10 + 9 at the break - If we could only use the red uniforms…. - Excluding notorious bum ehm, bench warmer ops, veteran back up Kevin Ollie, Reggie Evans was the Sixer with more playoffs experience before last night, having played 16 games in the post season: Andre Miller follows with 15 - Nice Pistons coverage on Need4sheed, Detroit Bad Boys and the aforementioned Pistons Nation - Pistons in the fourth: 4/17 from the field, 8/12 from the line, 4 turnovers.

It’s 5.30 AM here and I can go to bed happy. I couldn’t be prouder of my Sixers.

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

REGULAR season, I mean.

It ended with the 115-109 loss in Charlotte, the fourth straight, that kept us under .500 (40-42, .488).

Big deal? No, it was a fantastic run, and this young, exciting, athletic Sixers team probably overachieved, thanks mainly to the wonderful job done by Maurice Cheeks, a guy I bashed on these pages many times. Time to apologize again.

Some of you would perhaps remember I predicted 31 wins, but hundreds of ”colleagues” (in the category I put journalists, experts, bloggers, fans) were more around the 24-28 W range, with Sixers finishing from last to second last in the Eastern Conference.

So I won’t complain about these final four games, even if I would have preferred to take at least this last one, in order to avoid finishing with a losing record and to build some momentum before the playoffs (starting on Sunday at Detroit).

Cheeks rested most of his starters last night, with only Iguodala logging his usual minutes. Sixers were down 23 in the third (76-53, after a three pointer by Jason Richardson) but rallied back and closed the quarter 87-80 thanks to a 12-2 run with five consecutive points by an active Thaddeus Young and an alley oop dunk by Willie Green (season high 27 - in the picture, getting a rare S4G front page honour ) right at the buzzer.

The fourth quarter was interesting, three consecutive three pointers - two by Iguodala, one by Green - cut the deficit to three (97-94), two (99-91) and one point (101-100). Proud Sixers even gained the lead twice, first when Young closed a fastbreak with an easy layup (103-104) then when Iguodala knocked down Sixers’ tenth three pointer of the night (!!), 106-107.

Unfortunately in the last two minutes our defense allowed a couple of easy baskets and Jason Smith had three costly mistakes: he missed both free throws with Charlotte up one (110-109, 1.09 to play), then coulnd’t finish under the basket after Carroll extended Bobcats lead to three (112-109), and finally fouled Felton on the last offensive play for Charlotte, allowing the “and one” that closed the game at 115-109 with five seconds left. It will be a learning experience for our rookie, a player I really like, by the way.

Time to think about the Pistons, then. I repeat, I think Detroit will win the series 4-1, but all games will be close. First because the Pistons rarely rip (no pun intended) their opponents, playing at a slow tempo, second because Sixers apparently found a way to win some games against a team that for the last 3-4 years literally toyed with us. 

Sixers and Pistons split the regular season series (2-2), and even if the last win at the Wachovia center came against a team that had its starters watch for most of the game, our guys were able to steal one in the D earlier, one of the (many) turning points of this surprising Sixers weason.

Brian/Depressed fan has a suggestion for Mo Cheeks that I agree with. Unfortunately, it won’t happen. Willie will remain in the starting line up. But usually he plays well versus his home town team so let’s be positive !

A guidoesque breakdown of the Detroit series will follow before game 1, together with a post celebrating Mo Cheeks (any seat left in the bandwagon? LOL).

SIXERS4GUIDOS BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS

Dudley airballed a free throw in the third… no, not Chris, Jared Dudley !! - Sammy had five offensive rebounds in the first quarter - Amundson blew a layup for the possible 93-91 in the fourth - Matt Carroll looked like the best Dan Majerle in the first half, when he had 15 points - The finest Bobcats blog Queen City hoops hasn’t posted its recap yet… do guys there care at all? - Bobcats were without Gerald Wallace, Sean May, Adam Morrison - Sixers were with Kevin Ollie, though - Shavlik Randolph saw some action and had a couple of nice plays before injuring his hand !! - Redlasso rocks, thanks again Joe.

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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.