 All Aboard! Go ahead, say it out loud. The Sixers are back. We've all been waiting, holding our breath that the turnaround wasn't fool's gold. We tried to pick apart their wins with excuses like "They haven't played anyone good," "They were missing x player." Well, these past two wins have me convinced, the Sixers we saw in the second half of last season are back. In fact, the team we're watching right now is probably better than they were heading into the playoffs last season. Everyone's darling, the Portland Trail Blazers, came into the Wach tonight riding high on a 3-game win streak. Their confidence lasted roughly 13 and a half minutes. That's how long it took the Sixers to build a twenty-point lead. Jumping all over a good team is a great sign, but it's something they've been able to do before. What happened tonight, though, is that they withstood the run their opponent would go on (and it was a monumental run). They took Portland's best shot, dusted themselves off, then proceeded to pummel the Blazers into submission. For the second straight game, the Sixers shot the lights out from deep. 11/23 from three, highlighted, once again, by Thad and Iggy who combined to shoot 7/10. Over the past two games, those two have hit 13 of 18 from downtown, an amazing 72.2%. Iguodala's January shooting number, well, they speak for themselves. 56.1% from the floor, 46.2% from three, 79.5% from the line, 4.6 boards, 6.4 assists, 2.1 steals and 23.3 points per game. That $80M contract certainly doesn't look like a mistake right now. Let's go back to that third quarter for a second, because a couple key things happened. First, when the Sixers were getting killed on the boards, DiLeo quickly went to Speights for Thad to get more size in there. Then, when the Blazers came to within 10 points it was Lou and Speights who put 8 points on the board in a little over two minutes (Speights also had an assist to Iggy in that stretch). That scoring burst, from the bench, quelled the Blazers run and put five points back on the lead, allowing the team to breath easier. The fact that the bench was there when they were needed, and they came through in such a big situation is a night and day difference from the beginning of the season when the bench did nothing but blow leads the starters had built. Obviously, there's an 800-pound gorilla in the corner named Elton Brand, and we'll get to what his return means tomorrow. For tonight, go to sleep thinking about how this team has come together and the second half run has started about 10 games before the second half. Last year, they had to dig their way out of an 18-30 hole on February 4th. It took them until March 19th to get to .500. If they keep playing like they have, this season they could reach .500 on January 17th, against the Knicks. Player of The Game/Week/Month: Andre Iguodala Team Record: 18-20 Up Next: San Antonio, Friday night. 
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Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'm of the opinion Brand's return will be a great thing. The sixers had the opportunity to find themselves again. This is the team Brand thought he was coming to so I bet he's happy to see them playing well. He's going to fit himself back in with no agenda. Plus, Dileo has a better handle on rotations since he got injured.
I think we're in the minority together. I wrote a long post about how I'd integrate Brand, it'll be up a little later. Just as a teaser, think about how many open looks they've had from three over the past two games. That's because of floor spacing in the half court, which is exactly what was missing when Brand was in there.
But if Brand can get his shot...won't he draw the double team - leaving someone open on the perimeter to take the open 3. If the team can continue to shoot well from the 3 (and 23 3 attempts for this team scares me) then that whole double team thing is a real threat.
Absolutely. They've been getting a ton of open looks from spacing and ball movement alone. Add in a guy who commands a double in the post and you've got even more open looks. They just need to keep knocking them down. And by knocking them down, I mean, if they just shoot a tick below league average this offense will be set. They don't need to shoot like they have been the past two games to make the three a weapon.
Nice win by the Sixers against a decent team.
Be interesting to see what Dileo does with Brand. I personally think he should come off the bench until hes 100 percent and gets his legs under him. Plus he can build his confidence against 2nd teamers. where has this Iguodola shooting been ? What changed...I mean a few weeks ago he was horrid. What has changed ? Better looks ? Has he changed his form ?
Could be any number of things. Overall, I think he was just pressing too much early on. This resurgence could've been completely fueled by moving back to the three, or it could've happened even if he wasn't. No way to tell.
Personally, I think it was just an insanely cold start, and now an insane hot streak. He'll settle down somewhere in the middle and be exactly what we thought he was. A very, very good player capable of helping this team in a lot of ways, and hopefully an average jump shooter.
Hey Brian, sorry I did not catch your message til today. My family has had season tickets since 92 and we have had the same seats in the Wach since it opened. Section 105 seat 1 row 3 seat 1 row 4. They are angled behind the sixers bench and elevated to get a good view at all times, no one in front of us. I will try to remember to take a pic next time.
Any way, the crowd was weak last night. When ever me and me friend got loud and out of our seat people around us where like "whats up with these guys" and most of them have scene me before. The most I heard out of the crowd was when they brought out the Eagles fight song and everyone got excited. Im sure thats exactly what this Sixers team needed. Shadowed by the World Series in the home opener and the Eagles fight song when they were kicking around a pretty good up and coming Blazers team.
Another comment I heard on 610 on the way in and a few guys around me was that they do not want Elton Brand back thinking it will break up this team chemistry. I cant wait until we get this guy back. We havent even given this man a chance yet. The whole team was playing poorly before and he was a scape goat. We could really use a 20 and 10 guy down the stretch even if his numbers arent that high becuase of contributions from other emerging players. Hes been too good in his career to not want this guy back. His new role with this team is what needs to be decided. And when did we learn how to shoot?
Yeah, the crowd seemed completely dead. Fly Eagles Fly and the applause for Shavlik seemed to be the loudest they got. It'll turn around if they keep playing like this. There's a lull between the end of the Eagles season and the beginning of baseball, if they're still on a run and looking strong heading into the playoffs, attendance should be up. At least I hope so.
Well it was on 610 so it has as much weight as something I say :)
Like I said in the other thread - i'm not either nor positive about brand yet - i'm concerned - what will change - who will start - how will this affect speights minutes - it can't stay the same - you're changing the system - when you add something new to a system the system changes - it must - it's a matter of how the system will change - and i can't predict that - i'm quite glad they are on this run and having some better (but still not complete) games but the return of brand hopefully will be a good thing - but I can't predict or guess just yet so i'm 'holding my breath'
There will definitely be a change, for the better I believe. More on this later.
I'm trying to be neutral on it - my native default response is to look for what can go wrong - so that's why i'm trying to take the position i'm taking of 'wait and see' - and not over react after one game - especially since it'll be against the Spurs.
But I really REALLY want Willie Green not to start but Louis Williams still to be the first guard off the bench
Agreed. Check back in an hour or so, I spend a lot of time talking about the lineup, rotation and minutes.
Their play and this blog are making my work productivity decrease :)
The stages of a Sixers season: 2006-> present
1. Expectations
2. Confusion/rationalization
3. Anger
4. Doubt
5. Despair
6. Changes, youth movement
7. optimism (early part of run)
9. Enthusiasm (late part of run)
10. Reality (season over with or without 1 round of playoffs)
Return to step one
Let's hope we get stuck on step 9 for a while this year.
I guess if I could count to ten...
Any suggestions for step 8 which I left out?
8. Skepticism (picking apart wins, finding excuses for good play, generally not wanting to fall for it again.)
Good call. Shows you have the pulse of the Philly sports fan.