A Simple Solution? Can one player negate a team weakness? I guess the more pertinent question is can one player, playing less than 15 minutes/game, negate a team weakness? If negate is too strong of a word, how about mitigate? Let's take a look at Donyell Marshall's effect on a key stat for the Sixers this season. It's no secret that the Sixers have been outscored from three pretty regularly this season. In fact, it's been their biggest weakness, and a thorn in their side so many times I've lost count. The past three games have shown us what Donyell Marshall can do in limited minutes. Beyond the stats, his shooting has energized the team, opened up the lane and forced the opposition to completely adjust their defense. The question I've been asking myself is what will it take for the Sixers to address this problem in the future? Would one lights-out shooter added to the rotation be enough? I suppose that depends on your goal. If you want to conistently out-score your opponent from three, then probably not. If you merely want to narrow the gap and keep it manageable, then maybe the answer is yes. I realize this is a horribly small sample size, but let's take a look at what has happened to this diferential when Donyell Marshall has played more than 10 minutes in a game this season. It's only 5 games, believe it or not: Marshall Less Than 10 Minutes
In Marshall's case, the team retained its edge in both free throw differential and offensive rebounding in all 5 games he logged more than 10 minutes of PT. I'm not saying Donyell is the long-term answer. The guy is 35 and honestly I don't think he could hack 15-20 minutes per game. He can, however, handle around 10. Maybe one decent run each half to give the team a quick boost from deep. While the sample size is small, I don't think you can ignore it. He's a specialist, and a specialist who doesn't seem to kill you in other areas of the game. Hopefully, the team will look at him that way and continue to work him into the game. One thing this exercise says to me is that the shooting problem isn't necessarily as dire I originally thought. Maybe one great shooter in a limited role can make a legitimate difference in this area. Finding a guy to shoot 40% from three for 10 minutes a game is much less daunting than somehow landing a dead-eye shooter to play 40 minutes a night. If you're wondering exactly how indicative of winning this stat is, in games where the 3PM differential is -1 or better, the Sixers are 18-8. In games were the differentials is worse than -1 the're 16-24. 14 Comments | Leave a commentLeave a commentLatest Posts• Sixers Need To Regroup • DiLeo The Burglar • Friday Morning Links and Updates • Late-Night Scouting • A Simple Solution? • Nothing To See Here • So Good, Yet So Bad • How Did They Do It? • Iguodala's Game-Winning Shot Video • Do You Believe? • Upset City? • Change The ScriptSearchBlogs in The NetworkSixers BlogsPassion and Pride Sixers 4 Guidos Liberty Ballers Recliner GM PhillyArena Heard In The Cheap Seats | ||||||||||||||||
Let's go with mitigate. I agree with all of this. They've got a style that works for the largest majority of their prime time players, they just need to augment some bits so they're not falling too far behind in their weak areas.
And just wait til Speights starts hitting threes here and there. Keeps things open and honest.
DiLeo said in a conference call today that Marshall will remain in the rotation and probably could've helped in some other games, such as the home Nets loss in which they missed the final 18 shots.
A stat: The Sixers had won 29 consecutive games when scoring 110-plus points before losing Wednesday in Phoenix. The last loss in that case had come Jan. 26, 2006, vs. Orlando.
Wow.
Hey, it didn't wind up mattering, but has anyone talked about why that Jason Richardson three wasn't taken off the board? It was clearly after the shot clock expired, and I thought they reviewed it during the timeout and were going to waive it off.
It's not reviewable. The only way they could've changed it was if it the Sixers had scored at the other end. Since the Sixers missed, there was no way to know the exact time to see if it was more than 24 seconds. Checked with DiLeo on today's conference call.
I'm glad DiLeo intends to keep Marshall in the rotation. He is better than anyone else on the roster at shooting threes and he helps in other ways as well, making steals and finding teammates. Exactly what you need from the bench.
I just realized that Marshall's career mark of .351 from downtown is similar to Thad's mark this season.
Stefanski clearly felt that the current crop of players would improve their shooting but the only one who's shown real improvement is Thad and you really don't want to leave him on the perimeter when he could be doing more damage closer to the rim. (Assuming his teammates actually pass the ball to him.)
Well, Miller has made a few this season but it still surprises the heck out of me when it goes in. With his poor technique and age I don't think you can expect him to improve his shooting. Lou and Iggy's shots just look too odd to achieve any kind of consistency.
I'm glad Speights shows potential of a 3-point shot but call me old-fashioned, I want my team's big men earning their paychecks in the paint.
Best-case scenario, Speights becomes an offensive weapon like Rasheed. Sick low-post game, range extending beyond the 3-point line.
If Rasheed had a head on his shoulders, he could seriously be the best big man in the game.
I don't think Speights will ever approach Sheed defensively. He really knows how to use his length to disrupt without fouling.
Speights is only 20 - learning to play better defense is well withing his athletic skill set - it just requires the effort - how many of us are better now at most things than we were when we were 20.
Speights has some length he could learn how to be disruptive with with a good work ethic and good coching.
Yeah, I don't think it's a physical thing at all. He has more than enough tools to be a good defender. To me, it mostly looks like footwork and an understanding of proper positioning. Maybe some work with Moses would do him some good as well.
This is probably the least of your concerns. Most big men figure this out eventually (and/or get more benefit from the zebras); foul rates usually drop substantially over years two and three.
Foul rate isn't his only problem defensively.
It makes sense to use Marshall, their only 3 pt threat, right now. But use him more to spread the floor than actually run the offense through him. Keep going through Thad and Miller, and then kick to Marshall when the defense collapses.
This is just a band-aid to help them try and get the 5 seed, but I guess its all they can do. I hope this illustrates the need to have some shooting threats- and that Miller/Iguodala/Young lacks the shooting threat to keep defenses honest.
Not to beat a dead horse, but if they want to go with Thad/Iguodala (I hope they do) then somehow they need to conjure up a PG who can shoot- even if he is worse overall than Miller.
I'm fine with resigning Miller as a stopgap, but I really hope they can pull a rabbit out of their hat and land the shooter/pg they need. I'm even fine waiting a year or 2 for them to develop. It will take thad and Speights a few more years to be reliable focal points anyways.
I'm still in "best shooter available" mode for the draft. Don't care what position he plays, I just want a guy who has limitless range.
If that's the mindset, then they need to look at A.J. Abrams. He's relentless.