From a happy ending. If that doesn't tell you all you need to know about being a Sixers fan these days, I don't know what does. First, I want to thank all the guys who made it down to the Wach for the first Depressed Fan field trip earlier tonight. It was great meeting you, and I really enjoyed being surrounded by a group of guys who love the Sixers and understand the game. For the guys who couldn't make it through the blizzard, I'm truly sorry. We're going to do it again, hopefully under better circumstances.
I couldn't bring myself to put that picture on the home page, for obvious reasons. When the shot fell, I didn't think there was a question that he got it off in time, but I guess AI9's release is slower than I thought. A round of high-fives for the whole group, a quick replay or two on the jumbotron (they stopped showing it as soon as they showed the definitive angle) and the night pretty much went to hell.
I don't have the rotation data done (I'll probably do it when I get home after the Eagles on Sunday), but I do have a quick thoughts that stuck with me after the game:
- I'm glad Eddie Jordan has a new man crush. He's moved on from Willie to Speights, and it's definitely a step in the right direction.
- Speaking of Speights, the guy was noticeably favoring that left knee late in the game tonight. He never came out, but one play in particular I thought he landed kind of funny on it and he definitely didn't look comfortable. Perhaps 35 minutes in his third game back (2 weeks ahead of schedule) isn't the best idea for an MCL injury.
- Brand was basically unstoppable on offense. I should say the Clippers couldn't stop him. The Sixers found several ways, mostly by not giving him the ball on the blocks. Blame the coach or his teammates, but he was hot enough to drop 30 tonight, if he was simply given the ball.
- Brand did jack shit on the glass, though. You can chalk some of it up to having much bigger players on him all night (Kaman and Camby), but still, 3 boards in 36 minutes is atrocious.
- Thad Young's disappearing act was also frustrating. He scored the Sixers first ten points and essentially had a monumental mismatch all night long, yet he only took one shot in the fourth quarter (a missed three) and one shot in overtime (a missed tip-in). He missed a tip in overtime as well. Again, coach or teammates, you place the blame.
- Lou Williams made his triumphant early return from injury, played 24 minutes and shot 2/9 from the field. He was 0/4 from three, but I think one of those misses may have been our fault. A play developed right in front of us in the fourth quarter, we could all see what was going to happen and "NO, NO, NO!!!!" shouts were pretty loud before, during and after the long three he attempted. Given the size of the crowd, I'm pretty sure he heard us.
- Speaking of Lou, his minutes came directly out of Jrue Holiday's share. Now Jrue didn't play a good game tonight. He had trouble with Baron's strength on the defensive end, and he was 0/6 from the floor, so I'm hesitant to say he's going to be the odd man out of the rotation when the Sixers are full strength, but I will say things are sure leaning that way in my mind.
- Eddie Jordan continues to be a moron. Willie Green in back court and Marreese Speights in the front court when he has a chance to set his lineup for defense and the team absolutely needs a stop. Jordan did this again and again and again. Pitiful coaching.
- Willie had a pretty good game by Willie's standards, again. He played 36 minutes, only attempted 7 shots, and I think only 2 of them where what I'd call bad shots. He handed out 7 assists, an amazing total for him. His defense was deplorable, as it always is, but I guess it isn't his fault he's put in these situations. Put it this way, when opposing coaches see their best player being guarded by Willie with the game on the line, they have to feel pretty confident. Jordan tried to put Iguodala on Baron down the stretch, but Willie switched the matchup himself after he idiotically left Eric Gordon to double down on Baron when Iguodala had him handled in the post. This was a mistake Willie made several times throughout the game, but hey, he got after it.
- Highlight of the night for me. During halftime the Sixers randomly chose 20 people from the stands to shoot three-pointers for free tickets to their next home game. Each fan got two shots. How did they fare? 0-40. Only about 10 of the attempts weren't complete air balls. The Sixers are definitely representative of their fan base, they shot 3/14 from deep on the night.
- One fan did amaze in one of the timeout contests. The poor guy had a cast on his left hand, so he had to shoot one-handed. He drilled a layup, a foul shot and a three in less than 45 seconds. Good work (obviously, a Clippers fan).
This is where I would usually say something about how you can't lose to the Clippers, at home, but who are we kidding. The Sixers should've been underdogs coming into this one. As far as I'm concerned, if you're a betting man there are two things you should take into account when handicapping the Sixers. First, give the opponents an extra five points against the spread. Second, always, ALWAYS, bet the over.
Player of The Game: Iguodala. Another monster second half (his third in a row), 9 boards, 7 dimes, 4 steals, 50 minutes of play (on the back of 42 minutes in Boston last night) and literally a blink of an eye away from sending everyone out in the snow with a warm feeling in their stomachs.
Team Record: 7-20
Up Next: @ WASH on Tuesday
One final note, Iguodala was making plays all night. Eddie Jordan's insistence that he isn't a two-guard, and isn't a playmaker is completely asinine. If he wanted stops down the stretch he should've gone with Iguodala (on Baron), Jrue (on Gordon), Thad (on Thornton or Butler), Brand (on Camby) and Dalembert (on Kaman). I don't care how players are performing on the offensive end. That's the unit that gives you the best shot at getting a stop and securing the rebound against the units the Clippers were trotting out there to win the game.
Hey Brian,
Great trip, nice being able to put faces to usernames. Just think, we battled through a Philly December-Record Snowstorm, to see the Sixers play the Clippers.
I remember feeling like I was seeing things when I first saw the lineup featuring Dre & Thad on the wings with Brand/Speights inside.
Still, Jordan found a way to screw things up. No Jrue down the stretch when Lou was shooting badly and getting torched by Telfair. Only to insert Green? Wow.
At least Willie didn't shoot during crunch time.
BTW, I watched the Postgame stuff on CSN. Jordan is the most imprecise coach I've ever seen. Every statement is prefaced by a vague qualifier, if he actually doesn't say "I don't know."
I've gotten used to coaches who tend to use specific terms, like "X" number of rebounds, "Y"-point lead, "B" fastbreak points, etc.
My fiancee said it sounds like someone using Jargon to cover over the fact that they don't know what they are talking about. Combine that with his arrogance and he is just aggravating
My fiancee said it sounds like someone using Jargon to cover over the fact that they don't know what they are talking about.
Very good point. Can you imagine what the chalk talk session w/ stefanski must've been like?
goddamnit i've wanted to shoot in one of those contests all season and tonight i actually would have had a chance. and i guarantee i would have made 1 of those 3's ;)
Ah...another sad loss.
Haven't watched the game yet, but was Sammy being careless with his foul control? What's up with 5 fouls in 10 minutes?
I think it's more due to a lack of respect from the refs. I've seen him get called for fouls for just putting his arms straight up.
I think two of the fouls were for moving screens. The sad thing is that he was probably just trying to get out of there before actually setting the screen, like he usually does, not moving to set a more effective screen. It was pretty funny to see how quickly he picked the fouls up, when he picked up the 5th I said Jordan should just leave him in there to foul out, you knew he wasn't ever getting off the bench again at that point, may as well let him use the 6th.
AI9 played 50 of a possible 53 minutes and was a +7. In the three minutes he didn't play the team got outscored by 12. Incredible.
That being said, what really stuck out to me was Speights. Not just that he was scoring it, but that the team was clearly relying on him to be the "the man" and he wasn't flustered a bit. He is the most talented offensive big we've had since the Stilt.
Don't forget Todd Mccullough
I think Charles (or Moses) might have something to say about that.
Do you think a big that just knows how to play the game, and maybe isn!t as good defensively or rebounding wise as Sam makes this team a lot better? Watching Elton out there with Marreese, he just looks more comfortable where Sammy and him, offensively, never seemed to mesh.
it's hard to be comfortable on the floor with a player who doesn't do anything you'd expect. Sam can play pretty solid man defense and he can rebound well but you really never know where he's going to be on the court other than that.
Has anyone noticed that when Speights is playing the four, Jordan doesn't have him 30-feet away from the hoop taking dribble handoffs? He actually puts him in good position to get good shots. So why does he insist on playing Brand out there when he's at the four?
The answer to that is simple: Speights is a gamer.
First off, it was great being out at the game for the first depressedfan field trip. If nothing else it was memorable and I had a great time. I don't usually post, but I think I'll start trying to comment with everyone a little bit more.
One thing about the game that did encourage me was that Eddie played an extended stretch with Lou, Dala, Thad, Brand, and Speights. I thought those five played very well together, and although Willie, Lou, and Jrue were interchangeable pieces for Jordan. Iggy, Thad, Brand, and Speights brought us back in the game. Good to see two legitimate bigs in at the same time.
But I agree that the biggest disappointment was the team being too thick headed to ride Brand and Thad down the stretch.
Again, great night. Looking forward to doing it again.
Yeah, great to meet you guys. It felt almost like a high school game with the stands so empty :)
Who do you think we should blame for Thad's disappearing act? Is it him shrinking from the moment? The coach for not calling his number? The players for looking elsewhere? I really have no idea. He's so aggressive early on, but I don't remember him even getting his hands on the ball much in the second half, so I don't know if we can pin it on him.
Brand just gets frozen out by the system. I'm convinced of that.
Gotta blame Eddie first for not recognizing the mismatch that Thad had against any defender LA could have placed on him.
Secondly, you gotta blame his teammates, and I would say primarily Igoudala (our supposed leader) and whoever was running the point at the time. See a hot guy = get him the ball. Doesn't matter if it's a pickup game or a Finals game, if you're playing team ball you look for mismatches and for players "feeling it" and you go at the other teams weak points. These guys have been playing ball their whole lives, you would think they'd pick that up by now.
Yes speights is obscenely talented offensively, which makes his lack of defensive work even more irritating to me
I think Speights is at least improving his defense and rebounding. Doubt he'll ever be above average in those areas- but if he is at least improving I don't get as frustrated.
Also, Speights put on some extra weight when hurt. Not a great thing, but as he bulks up its clear he can play center full time. He does not lack the size or length- just needs to convert some of that back to muscle.
I too enjoyed the game and enjoyed meeting a few fellw Depressed Fans.
I remain amazed that a professional coach can be completely unaware of defensive match-ups. I couldn't believe he didn't use Sammy & Jrue for defense when he had the opportunity. I almost expected to see Kapono come in for defense - as a "4".
Defense was poor all night. The fans kept chanting defense, but I don't think the team was prepared to do it. We gave up open 3's again and didn't protect the paint either. Shouldn't we be doing one or the other if we don't have a scheme that defends both? Camby had 22 rebounds - directly related to Sammy's poor performance. Why is Sammy expected to defend the paint and do all the rebounding when he is in, but Brand and Speights play together and can score rebound and defend with two bigs on the floor.
I thought our players were tired in OT. They played too many minutes in the 2nd half.
I still believe this team has potential , but not with this coach.
Agreed on the players being tired. Jordan made all of 2 substitions in the last 20 or so minutes of the game. From 2:51 left in the third quarter (when he brought in Speights and Williams) he:
- Brought in Green for Williams with 4:18 left in the 4th
- Brought in Green for Young with 2:31 left in OT.
That's it. Speights, Brand, and Iguodala all played the final 20 consecutive minutes.
Hey I was at the game and at the end me and my friend started chanting FIRE EDDIE! I'm curious if any of you guys heard us. we sat like 10 rows from mid court because of how empty it was haha. I would've said hi as this is my favorite sixers blog, but i didn't know where you guys were sitting.
Damn, no I didn't hear it. Were you on the same side as the team benches? We were on the opposite side, section 115.
I am upset. I wish I was there to help the fire eddie jordan chant. Keep it up, I am sure it will catch on quickly!
Our coach is so incompentent. How is it possible that we, the bloggers, are more concerned about the health of the players than our coach is concerned?
Darn, na we were in 113 so it was two sections away. We did it with 1:22 left in the OT period and I was able to slightly hear it during the replay on tv so I thought it would be loud in the stadium full of like 3k people. We got many compliments in our section for it haha
there is no doubt in my mind speights will be a monster very soon. His defensive and rebounding liabilities can of course be solved by his gaining size (if he gains 15 lbs of muscle, he is dwight howard range), while maintaining (or possibly increasing) his explosiveness, he will be able to everything with the best of them.
and while speights is very close if he puts a little work to continue conditioning, it is also the fact that speights needs a big man coach to teach him defensive and rebounding fundamentals. i'm sure we can agree that ej is not out there to develop players in those specific categories, but if he can grasp the fundamentals, increase his size, and improve his conditioning, he becomes the best 5 in the league.
I've pretty much written off any kind of development for any of the young players on this roster, especially where defense and rebounding are concerned. Those things simply aren't being emphasized nor taught by this coach and his staff. Offensively, there's a chance Speights could turn into Amare, a very real chance. Put a defensive big in the front court next to Amare, and two perimeter defenders who can stop penetration and he could be the offensive centerpiece on a legit contender. I think that might be what we have to hope for (after Jordan's gone, of course).
Right now, my biggest concern about Speights is that his coach/GM are more concerned with the team's record right now than his health. He shouldn't be on the floor right now, if the doctors said 6-8 weeks for that MCL injury, he should've been out 8 weeks minimum, just to be sure.
I want a pic of the DF group !!! I hate I can't join you guys... when is Easter? any Sixers game around it?
His defensive and rebounding liabilities can of course be solved by his gaining size
How do those things make up for weak EFFORT - he's fine enough size wise, he lacks effort.
Bring Back Moses Malone as an assistant coach.
Neithe Lou nor Marresse wil become sound defensive plauers unless they are coached by a coach who thinks defense is important. They are both doing what is asked of them.
No I didn't hear the "Fire Eddie Jordan" chant. I would have joined in.
Hence my calls for Moses Malone to come back - clipper announcers had some surprising things to say about Mo
Well Marreese is only 22 so he can learn some D eventually.
I'm kinda worried the Sixers are rushing their injured players back so quickly.
Oh well. NO NO NO to a Lou three is hilarious.