Crappy game in Charlotte. Even worse uniforms

Good picture, though.

Barely a consolation, after the disappointing 93-84 loss vs the Bobcats, that only yesterday’s Sixers (7-7, .500) made look like a half-decent team.

Instead, they were, are, and will remain, one of the weakest teams in the NBA, I’m sorry for their fans.

Bobcats entered the game with a 3-9 record and a 86.8 ppg average (worst in the League), numbers that speak volumes about their limits. Still, they managed to pull a rabbit out of their asses, and Sixers helped them in the best way.

I don’t feel like recapping the whole game, I would like to focus on some points that I think are keeping this team on the ground, instead of letting it fly like it’s supposed to do.

1) uniforms. Back to the sucking black ones, with the ugly logo = sucking, ugly loss.

2) perimeter defense. Pathetic. We allowed Charlotte to shoot 57% from downtown (8/14), something I’m sure they didn’t even dream of before the game. Slow rotations, lazy “help and recover” moves: we let them shoot wide open most of the times. Some use of Ivey would have helped last night vs Charlotte quick guards.

Sixers are 2-0 with the old uniforms

Enough said.

And not coincidentially, they are over .500 for the first time in the season.

Who follows this site knows I’ve been lobbying for the old, classic, Sixers uniforms since day 1, and even started a petition to bring them back full time at the beginning of 2008 (125 smart Sixers fans signing so far, and counting…).

As I said many times, I’ve been in contact with Sixers franchise (marketing and PR dept) about this specific topic, that is taken into serious consideration by the organization.

Pretty obvious, since uniforms = merchandise = $$$$…

Imagine my shock few minutes ago when I realized that ESPN.com put a link to Sixers4guidos (!!!!!) - scroll down, to “Uni watch: NBA throwback update”, Sixers - , to this old post of the last summer.

Yeah, that was actually an update of the first one – the petition I mean – but anyway, I should thank the crew from ESPN.com.

Good game, bad loss in Minnesota

I enjoyed it, replayed, until the horn sounded.

Then I realized that we just lost (102-96, .455) to a less than mediocre team, that not coincidentially had dropped eight straight games before matching up with us.

“They wanted it more than us” explained Willie Green at the end. “It was obvious”, he added. Well, not so obvious, since we were coming from three consecutive wins, just reached .500 and needed this win MORE than the T’Wolves, that will not make any use of it.

But yes, Minnesota wanted it more. At the end of the day the small things made the difference down the stretch, and shifted a close game in the opposite direction.

Al Jefferson scoring back-to-back almost identical layups against Dalembert in the low post (92-89, 94-91), Mike Miller knocking down a long three (98-94) off a double team on the same Jefferson, Andre Iguodala missing two, the first when he was open (Brand had a good off rebound and a putback for the 98-96), the second contested, with the score at 100-96: clank, game over.

The play when their Miller knocked down the trey is the same play that we should automatically run on clutch possessions, and sums the kind of offense we brought Brand in Philly for. Ball in the low post to a good scorer —> double team —> ball on the perimeter again —> jump shot by (insert name of a decent shooter here), or —> ball down low again —> 1-vs-1 play for the big man.

Minnesota won the game with that play. Good execution, even better conclusion. We lost: good execution, conclusion failed.

Last year in similar situations we could have had Evans in the paint, and, in the best case, Green on the perimeter. Not exactly an encouraging scenario, I know. 

But this year we could have Brand and Iguodala/Williams/Rush/Green. It should be the prototypical “pick your poison” situation for defenses, but Iguodala is shooting 23% from behind the arc and 38% overall, Williams 26% and 35%, Rush is buried under the bench, Green is playing well but usually sits in the final quarter. Comments?

Plus we often take HORRIBLE decisions down the stretch, resulting in forced shots, turnovers, bricks: static offense, no circulation, I said it many times before. We almost never run plays. When we do, and take a good shot, like yesterday night (Iguodala’s aforementioned first three was an excellent shot, nicely built), we miss it. So if you want at least to see an improvment in this, you could do it.

What else could we rank as “positive” from an unexpected loss that brings us back under .500?

Blogger MVP/ROY rankings, version 1.0

The first edition of the Blogger MVP/ROY rankings, from an idea of Alex and Frank from Brewhoop, is up at Hoops Addict.

I took part to this panel and think the final ranking is very interesting: it’s barely a suprise that no Sixer cracked the Top Ten in the MVP race and Marreese Speights didn’t get any vote in the ROY poll.

Here were my rankings in the two categories (please note that votes were sent on Monday… yeah, I’m slow):

MVP:

1) LeBron James
It’s a no contest this year, apparently. Also “favored” by the fact that the rest of his team really sucks, even more than the usual

2) Bryant
Always a pleasure to rank him behind another player

3) Pierce
I hate the Celtics just as much as I like him. And I like him a lot…

4) Paul
Someone please get him a SG. I feel sorry for Paul everytime I read Peterson’s stat line on a boxscore

5) Howard
Numbers always unreal. Yeah, also from the FT line.

6) Wade
Looks like he’s back.

7) Joe Johnson
Don’t know if Hawks run will last much, but he’s the main responsable for their excellent start

8 ) Stoudamire
With THIS Shaq, he could climb the MVP rankings in few weeks

9) Roy
That buzzer beater was unbelievable. Hope Oden will be at 100% soon, he will be even better

10) dear old buddy Allen Iverson
Yes, I am biased. Hope he will kick the Celtics out in the ECF

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:

1) Rose
Hinrich can take all the time he needs to heal

2) Beasley
A poor man’s Thaddeus Young :-)

3) Mayo
Never saw him play, honestly, but I’ve read that he’s good

4) Luc Mbah A Moute
With that name, he should be #1 in a serious ranking

5) Fernandez
Gotta love euro shooters

Blogger Power Rankings, week 4: Sixers at #13

The fourth edition of the Blogger Power Rankings I took part to is up at True Blue Jazz, take a look, you’ll find also some skepticism about our beloved team. I think it’s a good read, comments are insightful and often funny, hope you will enjoy the post.

Sixers were ranked at #13 this time by bloggers, while, shockingy, Lakers are at #1.

Just in case you are interested, here were my rankings:

1 f’n Lakers
2 f’n Celtics
3 Pistons
4 Jazz
5 Cavs
6 Hornets
7 Blazers
8 Rockets
9 Suns
10 Hawks
11 Raptors
12 Magic
13 Spurs
14 Sixers
15 Nuggets
16 Knicks
17 Bulls
18 Mavs
19 Bucks
20 Heat
21 Pacers
22 Warriors
23 Kings
24 Nets
25 Bobcats
26 T’wolves
27 Wizards
28 Clippers
29 Grizzlies
30 Thunder

So, despite being happily biased, I share pretty much the same thoughts of my “colleagues” about the team, being in the middle of the pack.

Am I being too pessimistic? Just realistic?

Three wins and counting

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:

In Indy from -26 to a turning point

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).

Sixers on the rollercoaster. Pacers next.

Sixers4guidos, where late recaps continue to happen.

Not entirely my fault, again, because my f’n Int’l League Pass decided not to work before, during and after the 80-93 home loss to Utah (2-5, .286, but maybe it was better skipping that kind of “show”), and I could watch the 106-96 win in Toronto (3-5, .375) only yesterday.

I’ll keep this short, because we have to get ready for tonight’s game vs Pacers (btw, check Indy Cornrows for great Pacers coverage).

The game with Utah was terrible, from what I’ve read basically everywhere. The four day rest didn’t help us at all, apparently, and the Jazz beated us easily, with a 30-13 fourth quarter.

And here comes the original content from your fav guido blogger: I’ve made a little research and found that Sixers LOST EVERY FOURTH QUARTER in each of their last five losses, while they outscored opponents in the final period in each of the three wins. See a link? At least superstition-related?

Going through the numbers, what is most interesting to me is the margin: in the five losses, the combined score of the fourth quarters is Opponents 134 – Sixers 87 (!), with an average of 26.8 – 17.4 The stat includes three routs, 29-13 in Atlanta, 31-20 in Miami and the embarrassing final 30-13 vs Jazz. A fix anyone?

When we won, on the other side, we beat our three opponents for a combined 85 – 66 (the average is a closer 28.3 – 22).

The Jazz took our team to a season low (hopefully we won’t fall any deeper), with the usual predicable reactions between fairweather fans, but the good thing is that our guys bounced back immediately and with a great team effort came out of Canada with a nice win over the Raptors the night after.

Five guys in double figure, Miller AND Iguodala AND Brand playing excellent all around games, and all together for the first time, a mighty contribution from the bench by our favorite whipping boy Willie Green and by rookie Speighter-man, and Raps were shocked, despite their three seven footers dominating inside – in Dalembert’s absence.

What I especially liked in that game was:

Getting ready for the Raps

I know the next game is vs Utah, but I did this interesting Q&A session with Dave from Raptors HQ and this is the result:

1) Toronto 4-2, Sixers 2-4. Which is the most surprising record? I admit I ranked the Sixers higher than Raptors in the offseason, and our slow start is pretty disappointing for me and all Sixers fans. Our first L, just with the Raps, was a sign of more troubles to come.

(Raptors HQ): I actually don’t think either record is surprising. The Sixers adding Brand changed everything about that team. It changed the pecking order, it changed the style of play and it changed expectations. For all the questions surrounding Toronto’s acquisition of JO I had more questions about the Brand signing. His injury was serious and that’s a ton of money to give a guy coming off season ending surgery.

It is going to take this team a while to develop its new identity. Anytime you have three solid players in Brand, Iggy and Miller yet the guy carrying the offense is a second year swingman you know things are not where they should be. It will take the Sixers some time.

For the Raps expectations are also high but the pecking order has not changed. Bosh is still the man, followed by Calderon and then O’Neal. The Raps have one glaring deficiency right now and that is perimeter defense. Their wings can’t stop anyone, it’s like the guys in front of Bosh and JO assume they will be bailed out on blow-byes. This is not the case and eiher the swingmen need to step up the D or Colangelo will be looking for some help. 4-2 is about right for this team as it has some elite level talent but also some glaring holes.

Florida 2, Sixers 0. Panic time already in Philly

Not here in Italy, though.

Yes, the trip to the Sun State was EXTREMELY disappointing, not much for the two losses but for how they came.

Still, there’s a long way to go before hitting the panic button. In Philly many fans already did it. Pretty predictable, anyway.

Here are my aggregate considerations after watching (replayed, again, and in both cases already knowing the final score) the 106-83 blowout vs Heat (2-3, .400) and the following 98-88 loss to Orlando (2-4, .333).

First off WE ALL NEED TO CALM OUR FIREY ASSES DOWN. Especially you, fans in Philly.

Yes, you are just as pissed off as I am but let’s try to be rational for a while.

This team is playing really bad. Main points:

1) the offense is a total mess. We are not running plays, not executing, not hitting open shots. Difficult to win games in these conditions.

We got a 20 PPG low post scorer this summer, after a desperate research for a big man who could put points on the board, and we are not using him properly. Brand is rarely fed when and where he likes to get the ball, and when he has it, he is double teamed. Shocking, uh?

Well, we got him just with that purpose, drawing attention from defenses ! True. Too bad he doesn’t have a shooter to give the ball back to to, and when he does it, the final outcome is often a brick from the perimeter.