I, Sixers will miss Andre Miller

(last post before my offseason break. I will be back at the end of August, hopefully with the new site up)

So after weeks of rumors, talks and non talks, Andre Miller signed with Portland.

I think this departure will make the Sixers worse. Possibly much worse. It’s a huge loss. Probably underrated by most analysts and fans.

If you followed this site you know I am a great fan of Andre Miller. I think he’s a really good player and was instrumental in getting us to the last two playoffs (short, I know) runs and making our kids better.

Portland did a nice move by signing him and expect Miller to have solid seasons there, it will be a great addition for the young Blazers core. I I will try to follow Portland closer next year and I wish Andre the best.

What will happen on Sixers side? I think we have to consider this move (?) from two standpoints.

But I have to be honest, overall I think Ed Stefanski and management blew this one.

Wait, Dalembert practicing in offseason ???

(via Sixerguy)

Sixers just released this ‘shocking’ practice video:

I have few comments to make.

1) nice to see Dalembert practicing in offseason, he has a reputation for being lazy and not working on his game during the summer.

Good sign, he’s showing some serious committment (or fear to lose his starting spot? LOL).

2) his accent (french?) is sweet, I never listened to him speaking in interviews before. He really seems a good dude… too bad he drives us nuts with all his dumb plays…

3) Jason Smith looks BIG. He worked hard in the weight room, evidently. Props to him.

He is still explosive, though (did you check the dunks? similar to the ones he got us used to in his rookie year – like in the pic) and seems on his way to full recover.

I am a Jason Smith fan and I hope he will be back at 100% and contribute next year. Enough of him in press conferences and presentations, we need his arse on a bball court, and with a (classic) Sixers jersey on.

4) I like Jrue Holiday’s shooting form. He has nice mechanics. He has to extend his range clearly but he has a solid ‘shooting fundamentals’ base to build on.

He’s working with Mc Kie, let’s hope he doesn’t imitate Blue with the ultra-slow shot release (LOL).

In a period with few real Sixers news, this was a nice break.

The Miller situation from a Miller fan perspective

Short recap.

Andre Miller, through his agent, says he wants to stay in Philly.

“Andre has a strong interest, a strong desire to come back”.

Ed Stefanski likes Andre Miller and thinks Sixers are a better team WITH him.

Ricky has always been a great fan of Andre Miller too and would like to have him back next year. And the year after.

In the meantime, the first day of free agency in the NBA was extremely interesting, with Pistons throwing crazy money at Ben Gordon & Villanueva (!), Clippers getting Q Rich for Zach Randolph (!!) – another proof that the “There must be a reason why they are GMs in the NBA and you are just a blogger” is wrong – and Portland reportedly close to make a huge offer to Turkoglu.

Rumors pile up, and since we are talking PGs, the three year offer ready for 36 y/o Kidd is the most shocking one to me, especially coming from a team in rebuilding mode like New York.

Back to Sixers’ PG situation, if the request of 30 millions for 3 years reported by Tom Moore is true, I would say ‘goodbye Andre’.

I assume the Dalembert+Green-for-McGrady trade will not go down, so Sixers have to mantain their flexibility for the summer of 2011, when with Dalembert, Green and newly acquired Kapono coming off the books they will have around 23 millions in expiring contracts.

So the third year, in any Miller deal, should be a TEAM option. Which of course the Millers (Andre & Andy, his agent) will be reluctant to accept.

Holiday falls to Sixers. Happy?

Apparently, yes. And welcome to Sixerland dude.

(NOTE: please give me credit at least for avoiding any pun in the title… Holiday time, Sixers go Holiday etc).

I always admitted I don’t know shlt about college bball. I confirm it again, of course, I cannot pretent to be an expert now, it would be silly.

I just don’t have the time to follow NCAA hoops, watching and blogging the Sixers from here requires a lot of time and dedication, so no room for junior overseas bball (LOL).

That’s why I really don’t know what to say about Jrue Holiday, Sixers’ latest draft pick.

He was expected to be a Top 10 pick, I read almost everywhere. That’s why I used the verb “fall” for the title. I guess that is said every year for many, many players.

But what I am 100% sure of is:

1) in recent years, very rarely Sixers completely f’d the draft up. Instead, they often found good/very good players and also some gems, even with late picks.

Think Willie Green, Korver, Lou Williams, all excellent players in terms of # of pick/efficiency ratio. Dalembert as well – not his fault if he was eventually overpaid, we are talking about what spot he was drafted at. Jason Smith had a promising rookie season and then got injured, but he showed he can play.

Thad Young and, to a lesser extent – but only because he played only a full season – Marreese Speights, can be considered real steals. Very good players that many teams passed on – and now regret it.

The only Rodney Carney could perhaps be labeled as a bust so far, but it’s not completely excluded yet that he will lately turn into a good/decent NBA player (think Matt Barnes or John Salmons, also former Sixers).

That’s why I am confident that DiLeo (almost a genius in evaluating young talent) & his staff did a good job once again. Also I am always optimistic, so no reason to panic or complain.

2) we needed a PG and we drafted a PG. Makes sense.