 A New Starting Lineup? Three tweets from Kate Fagan during the Sixers practice today left me feeling empty inside. Details after the jump. Here are the tweets, afterward the conclusions I'm jumping to: Watching practice, they are running through 5-on-0 and Brand is w/ second unit. Not sure yet if that means anything specific. Just talked to Jordan who hinted at a lineup change for Wednesday, sounded like bringing Brand off the bench. Jordan also said that Brand, right now, is not ready to be a 40 minute a night guy. And that's why he hasn't been. So no definitive word, yet, but all signs are pointing to Elton Brand being removed from the starting lineup. If this is the case, here are the three most-likely options for who would replace him: Jason Kapono, Willie Green, Jason Smith. Had this news come before the Speights injury, I probably would've been fine with it, but right now I'm guessing there's about an 80% chance that Jordan will be starting a small lineup, and probably sticking with a small lineup for 20 to 30 minutes per game. This is disastrous news, absolutely devastating as far as I'm concerned. Small lineups have been this team's bugaboo from day one, and this is absolutely not the type of adjustment the team need. 
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Oh god, Willie Green a starter again.
I might vomit
I'm at the point of hoping for John Wall.
Can't wait for more Thad at the 4.
can you imagine this team defensively and on the glass with Lou Williams, Jason Kapono and Thad (starting at the 4)?
Does anyone really think, even without speights, the sixers are THAT bad? I still think they'll contend for a '8 seed/low lottery' pick like they have for the past few years...I mean they didn't start off much better last year did they?
Need a couple more injuries to think bad enough to get wall...
It would take some serious work to be worse than the knicks and the nets, depending on how low the nets sink before harris et al get back.
Yeah, I don't see this team competing for worst int he league anytime soon - just mediocre enough
That's why I said "hope" for John Wall. I expect to end up right around the 11th pick.
You have more 'confidence' in them than I do - I expect mid to low teens as usual
when you can only name 2 teams in the conference who are definitively worse, then i'd say, yea, they're that bad
Charlotte looks pretty bad, the Wizards do as well. But, I mean, we're talking worst record in the league, or at least close to it, to have a legit shot at the #1 pick. You've got Memphis, Golden State, Minnesota, the Clippers. New Orleans w/ a GM as their coach and Chris Paul on the shelf for who knows how long?
I think worst-case, and I mean more injuries coupled with a complete Eddie Jordan butcher job, we're talking maybe a pick somewhere between #7-10. Unless they got extremely lucky in the lottery.
I didn't look at the entire league - the two teams mentioned are in the sixers division for gosh sakes...i'm willing to bet the sixers end up in the teens in the draft
deepsixer3
@johnemagee, today at practice, Jordan had Carney and Smith running with the first group ..
I'd be considerably less pissed if it was Jason Smith. Still very pissed, but that wouldn't be as bad as Sam, Thad, Iguodala, Green, Lou.
By the way, the Sixers are now dead last in attendance. Memphis is drawing better than the Sixers. Wonderful.
In defense, there are things to do in phladelphia - there's only so much bbq one can eat before one dies
Few teams are as boring as us. I don't care how much we run or how well Andre dunks, there's just always been something bland about his game and about the post-AI Sixers in general. Look at NBA blogs, sports sections, ESPN - outside of Philadelphia, can you find a team less commented on than the Sixers? I really don't think you can. Immense amounts of ink are spilled on much worse teams - the Warriors, the Clippers, the Grizzlies, even the Bobcats. The Kings get almost as little airtime, but people are beginning to talk about Evans. The Bulls are probably just as dull as us, but they still get a fair amount of coverage, and Noah's starting to become a bit of a story. Doesn't surprise me.
Agreed.
Sixers- Small Ball Lives Here.
Could sign Iverson - that would help with lottery positioning
lol AI's still under contract with the Grizz, remember?
No - he isn't
oh damn, must have missed that article. my bad.
Wow. With the small ball lineup, we could get beat by any team in the next 10 games.
I heard later in the day it may be Jason Smith moving into the starting lineup, which is a mild shock considering Jordan has found exactly 10 minutes for him over the past three games, including 2 DNPCDs.
If Willie Green starts the next game, I think the shirt should be changed to, "Willie Green starts for us. The NBA, where amazing happens."
I think that would be more fitting.
List a starting five with lou williams, willie green and sam dalembert as bold
The NBA, where atrocious happens.
If Carney is the choice, I don!t think we take a step back defensively,but rebounding is another thing.Thad may cover the p.f.!s better than the s.f.!s and a Carney/Iggy wing combo is an improvement defensively , in my opinion.G.Wallace is the next opposing p.f., who covers him better ?Elton or Thad; we are facing a lot of perimeter 4!s this year, it ain!t our father!s N.B.A. anymore.
Isn't Wallace playing the three this year?
Defensive rebounding is a huge issue for this team, and Thad at the four is going to hurt, badly. Carney's rebounding isn't exactly stellar either. Ugh, my head hurts tonight.
Seems Wallace plays more like a 4 for them with Diaw doing his playmaker thing.I do not agree with this move but our perimeter defense may improve, that!s all I!m saying.
Perimeter defense hasn't improvied in 4 coaches and god knows how many years, i don't expect benching Brand to fix it
Who exactly was beating out Carney to start at the 2 or 3 in Minnesota?
Hmmn. Miller, McCants, Foye, Brewer, Telfair.
Pick one of the above.
Oh well there's a fine collection of NBA starting calibre talent.
Sigh
Seriously - just create an injury for Iguodala, tank the season, don't prolong the mediocrity.
I feel bad for Andre Iguodola. Hes a borderline great player stuck on a shit team. He's Pau Gasol before he went to the Lakers. Elton Brand off the bench ? Man Brand should be mowing David Falks lawn, getting his dry cleaning, walking his dogs, whatever he wants for the snow job he pulled on the Sixers. 80 million for a bench player...brilliant. Words can't describe what a sad franchise this has become. By the way the Nets are a better team than the Sixers so stop ragging on them. If they had all their players healthy they would blow the sixers out. AND they may get Lebron. Stefanski was supposed to fix the mess that Billy King created and his one defining move has ruined this team for the next 5 years. Getting Brand and passing on Josh Smith is the NBA equivalent of if the Eagles drafted Akili Smith instead of Donovan Mcnabb.
There's a lot of guys to feel bad for in the NBA, there's this guy in New Orleans named Chris Paul, anyone who plays for the warriors that has talent, I feel bad for Devin Harris and anyone who has to play for the Bucks
I will give you the bucks...they are cursed as well. But Devin Harris is on a young REBUILDING nets team that WILL land a wade, bosh or lebron(write it down) plus before that he was on some great Maverick teams.
Chris Paul ? His team was a game away from the finals 1.5 years ago. Warriors...also a sad sack franchise.
Iguodola has NEVER had a good team to play on...only mediocrity. And dont give me the friggin 7th or 8th seed in the playoffs..the sixers would be playing in the lottery every year vying for the 5th pick or higher if they were in the west.
The Bucks?
I'd rather be a Bucks fan right now than a Sixers fan easy.
Brandon Jennings is like AI if he knew how to actually play PG. People are actually showing up to the games and cheering.
The Sixers are a starless team that plays a very boring mediocre at teh very best style of basketball.
The whole team needs to be blown up. Iggy is a second banana role-star. He hasn't even scored 20 points a game yet.
All the other Philly teams are too good right now for anyone to care about the Sixers. :(