If the Sixers can muster every last bit of hustle, swarm the ball, hit their open long twos
and Miami has an off game, the Sixers might just be able to only lose by about 15 points tonight. Excited?
Here's the hope. Jrue and Hawes both start off really hot. Chalmers can't handle Jrue, Bosh is too lazy to get out on Hawes for 20 footers. The Sixers score with Miami for the first quarter, something like 32-28 after one. Then LeBron switches onto Jrue, Miami doubles him, gets the ball out of his hands, the offense sputters. At that point, Collins starts calling Nick Young's number. Maybe he gets hot enough to keep it close-ish until the half. In the second half, Wade starts on Jrue, LeBron on Young. The deficit grows to about 15 by the end of the third. The Sixers maybe keep around there against Miami's second unit. That's probably a best-case scenario. And I'm not expecting anything nearly that enjoyable.
The tip is at 7:30pm. Use this as your game thread. I'm going to have to watch on DVR, and I do mean have to. If I had a choice, I probably wouldn't.
Bynum finally practiced.
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20130223_The_76ers__Andrew_Bynum_finally_practices_with_team.html
I just jizzed in my pants
Oh really? So it's time for the next flareup?
if/when this game is blowout entering the 4th,dont extend jrue's minutes, will need him tomorrow
Just curious, why do you have to watch? General fandom? The blog?
...did we know Jrue can sing?? 1:35 or so here:
http://youtu.be/XKfK7EjAOSY
I finally started to read Simmons "Book of Basketball"... while the bias can be overwhelming, it has been entertaining and thought provoking. It makes me want this franchise to have a successful era SO bad. Can't this Bynum thing just workout, somehow? I know, I know. But I am taking Brian's view and just waiting to see what happens. Ugh.
if you can get past the very open devotion to the Bird era Celtics, I think that book is pretty perfect. Love his introduction, recounting some of the magical Garden moments, describing the peak basketball fan experience. It got my juices flowing for the one taste of that feeling I've had as a Sixers fan, from 99 to twenty oh three or so-0the peak Iverson years. Specifically, it reminds me of the feeling of being part of a magical fan-0player connection which is somehow only quite possible with basketball. For me, the reference point is Iverson's first home playoff game against the Magic. The series was locked up at one, but eleven year old me set out for the building totally convinced that there would be triumph to celebrate. Allen was magic. Forty minutes or so before tip off, I walked into an already utterly electric building. The seats were already half full, and no one was sitting. We were back in our rightful place, cheering on a playoff team and urging a transcendant talent to realize the greatness within him. By the time the pa announced "a six foot guard from georgetown"(or at least I assume he announced it-the pa system was no match for the ecstatictribute coming from the stands) bedlam was at a fever pitch. The Sixers would not, could not, waste our effort. We were doing our part. We knew Allen could do his. And did he ever. Never have I been part of a more exultant crowd, never have I felt an unquestioned stake in the outcome of the game-we were telling Allen to ride our energy and he didn't need to be told twice. Thirty points, ten steals, the atmosphere of a religious revival. Allen flying as high as eleven year old me in the second deck. He made another unbelievable steal, jumping the passing lane in a blur, out of nowhere and dashing straight to the hoop. Timeout. Another peak, it couldn't posibly get higher....then Allen cups his ear. Even in the cold, antiseptic corporate environs of the bank building, I know just what he meant abaout how it seemed like the second deck of the Garden would actually start to bounce.
absolute all time great sports fan memory
Simmons might come off a little sappy sometimes, and sometimes he is a little too cute, but he loves his fucking hoops. That book is a labor of love. Must have for basketball obsessives. I've actually gone back to it over and over. It seems lke there's always some reason to pick it up and reread some certain section.
Simmons hit a home run with that one
Thad shooting pregame and looked fine, dwright and Wade hugging
Thorn with brand new hair was hanging in a suite with someone who twitter says is Kerry kittles ...
et to lavoy
nick young 3!
sissy jumper
Terrible shot, Jrue.
good start for nick young
NYoung is being very aggressive along with knocking down J's.
Come on Hawes, wake up man. Bosh was your man there.
hawes blocks lebron
Turner doesn't know what run down the court means when he's transitioning from D to O.
And a Turnerover. Damn, he's bad.
SPENCE STUFFED LEBRON...between back to back turnovers by ET
Good aggressive boarding, Hawes off the free throw. NOT.
To love the game and be invested in your favorite team heavily, having to sit here and watch Hawes and Turner play on it is fucking gut-wrenching and rather frustrating. They should thank their lucky stars for being paid by someone to do this.
jrue long 2
It's like now, when neither of them are on the floor, it truly is refreshing.
Jrue probe, stop and pop over Ray.
Terrible contested shot by Jrue, it falls.
offense is gonna stall with this unit
ugh how can we expect to score with this lineup
D3 catch and shoot 3
Turner's well on his way to a second story of a crib with his last 4 shots.
evan putback
Turner passes it to 2 Heat players in the lane. Pitiful.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8978920/andrew-bynum-philadelphia-76ers-not-close-return-according-coach-doug-collins
He'll be close when about 10-15 games are left. That's been in the works from the jump.
...well at least our uniforms are slightly less ugly than Miami's ...
hawes could score for the other team on purpose and still play over moultrie
Jrue 4 3!
Bad shot, NYoung.
D3! after Lavoy o-board.
Hawes o-foul. His 3rd. Maybe he'll pick up his 4th right after halftime.
Man, LeBron delivers some crips passes. Heat shooting 61%.
Well that...probably could have been worse...
Spencer may only have 2 fouls, thought that last one was his 3rd.
Sweet moves lavoy.
Bad shot Jrue.
Turnerover, pass into traffic. His 5th.
nice pass jrue
Miami looks like they really aren't even trying yet. And they're up 11.
Lavoy loves firing up J's. He's damn near as sissyfied as Hawes when it comes to that.
free throws!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow a foul on Miami...32 minutes into the game...
sixers arent attacking the basket
Bad pass Jrue, his first turnover on a pass that was never there.
Jeebus Turner, stop bitching so much, the guy is straight ignoring you. Makes me sick when he does that shit.
lol evan almost threw a sissy fit cause he was open in the corner and no one passed it to him
lol saw that arm waving frustration
please take jrue out, need him tomorrow
...down 20 with 9 left in the game and still no moultrie...??
...the sixers do play tomorrow no? Wouldn't this be the time for pargo moultrie and the new guy...?
Spoelstra's stupid, he's got Wade and Ray in the game up 26 and 4 min left.
Does anyone else around here find it odd that Bynum asked Doug if he could get in a 5 on 5 instead of someone in the organization telling him to get his ass out there?
Hawes had 2 boards in 25 minutes. Stud. You really can't teach tall can you?
Heh, Pargo going for a garbage-poster. Fouled though.
yep 2nd half went as expected
Keep tallying those L's boys. Accumulate those tiny plastic balls.
sad little barkley piece on csn. he is self consciously posturing as a "serious basketball guy" and potential GM, with Jim Lynam along for the ride. Hey...at this point, at least he'd shake things up. Probably not gonna happen though. The way Chuck is talking , sounds midlife crisis like-"I'm fifty years old and I've never had a real job in my life", sayung he is sick to death of doing television...and a painful awkward moment when Charles is encapsulating his resume and throws in "and the only bad habit I ever had was gambling and I quit that" as Jim Lynam makes a face because that may or not be true, but more to the point because Charles is a notorious problem drinker(meaning that if he wasn't a basketball star, he'd be a drunk) and Charles continues to pretend that it isn't a problem
I'm very fond of Barkley. I really hope he can find some direction with his life and enjoy himself here on Earth fordecades to come. A truly great Sixer
He may be sick of doing television, but he is pretty good at it. When the TNT bunch began doing the NCAA tournament two years ago, the entertainment value was immediately upgraded. I remember a column from about seven years ago arguing why the NBA was better than college basketball. One of the reasons given by the columnist was "with the NCAA you get Clark Kellogg...with the NBA you get Charles Barkley." How true.
There are lots of ex-jocks on sports TV, but few of them have become stars. Barkley may not respect what he is doing but he is much better at it than the majority of ex-players who have tried.
Is it me or is this the most unwatchable Sixers season ever? I honestly enjoyed watching more during the Eddie Jordan season.
I agree with you. I think they are definitely worse than the Eddie Jordan team. They certainly have less overall talent. The fact that this team may have a better relative NBA ranking than the Jordan team may indicate that the bottom of the NBA is also worse than it was 3 years ago.
why only eleven shots for jrue?he hit eight of them for nineteen...clearly the Sixers were gonna need a huge effort from Jrue, and he clearly had a hot scoring hand...so he lays back and lets Turner take nineteen shots?making the same number that jrue did, eight. jrue is like goldilocks...he is searching for that elusive just right point guard's mix of scoring and facilitating...but he is not finding it...to top it off, the loss of thad was finally too much. i don't blame jrue. i certainly wish he was getting some different coaching input though. making sure Evan doesn't fail to touch the ball in the final four minutes of his best offensive game of the season, when he was the lone sixer to have established real offensive rhythm, making sure that turner doesn't take nine more shots than jrue in a game where they needed scoring from Jrue AND an aggressive ET to have any shot at a win...that isn't the twenty two year old's job. That is DC's job. He is plainly increasingly unable to do it
You are right that Jrue can't find the right balance- but that is more a reflection of the team make-up. Jrue is good- a second line star. But Jrue is not nearly good enough to carry a team this weak. And at the same time the team lacks to weapons to win if Jrue steps back and assumes more of a PG set-up role.
I'm fairly confident that Jrue is developing into a player who can be either a great PG or an effective scoring guard on a talented team. A guy who can take advantage of an opponents weaknesses- something Iggy could never do. But Jrue is not the type of talent to elevate a bad team to respectability the way Lebron, Dwight or Wade did early in their careers.
This is a weak team. Clearly worse than Fringe playoff teams like the Bucks. Jrue is the best player, and probably could maximize his contribution- but to only limited effect given his talent level and the teams lack of weapons. I'm sure Jrue will have to adapt to being on a reasonably talented team if/when they have Bynum and Thad on the floor. That would be a great problem to have.
Did you watch the game? The Heat trapped Jrue every time he touched the ball. Every pick-and-roll was an aggressive trap that often pushed him out near midcourt. Turner got 19 shots because those were the shots Miami gave the Sixers. Jrue has had enough bad games recently to pick apart, this wasn't one where he deserved criticism (outside of losing Chalmers a couple times for threes).
This was basically the best case scenario with the active roster they had. That was pretty obvious coming in. Hot shooting from Jrue, Nick Young and Dorell = blowout loss.
thad back tonight