Check out Mike's report from upgraded seats at the Wach tonight after the jump.
PREGAME SHOOTAROUND
- Thanks to my buddy Scott, we had seats 2 rows off the floor, right
behind the seats in between the Sixers' bench and the scorers' table.
So tonight's column will be special in that I was able to hear & see
things I don't in my regular seats.
- Saw a couple OJ Mayo jerseys in the stands. I guess no one is brave
enough to don a Gay jersey just yet. I did actually see someone in a
Darius Miles Memphis jersey (seriously dude?).
- Reggie Evans & Darius Miles seemed pretty close. Jim Lynam also
knows Miles somehow. They spoke for awhile at halftime. Sammy had
Greg Buckner in a laughing fit before the game. The thing you notice
about Sam in his more candid moments is that he induces laughter in
just about everyone he speaks to, whether it's his teammates, the
opponent, the referees or the ballboys. He's frustrating as hell on
the court sometimes, but I think he's probably a genuinely nice guy.
- Don't know how I never noticed this before, but Royal Ivey is the
guy in the center of the huddle after introductions, rapping or
something during their routine.
- Marc Zumoff is super friendly. He introduces himself to everyone in
the row in front of us, while making small talk. The line I heard
was, "Oh your name is Kevin? You know something? You have the same
name as our old trainer here! Yea, Kevin (inaudible)..." Yes. Very
small talk.
ONTO THE GAME
- It's clear from the get-go that pesky forward Quinton Ross is going
to give Iguodala problems. The dude was all over him. He only played
26 minutes, and I thought the Grizz could have benefited from his
lockdown defense more in the 2nd half. Whatever.
- On this subject, Iguodala bitches at the refs ALOT. Thru 3 quarters
he seemed incredibly frustrated, and Memphis was being very physical
with him, but it seemed like during every break he was yapping to the
officials about something. AI 2.0 indeed.
- During the play where Sammy drew his offensive foul in the 1st Q,
Dileo shouted at him to "Go to the rim Sam." Instead, he popped out
to the elbow to set a screen and picked up a foul. Later in the half
as he walked to the bench after picking up another personal &
subsequent technical foul, Jim Lynam said to him, "Horrible call." I
thought this was cool because I always wonder what coaches say to
players after they get hit with T's. Lynam took the more positive,
assuring approach in this case. Something tells me they have to do
that with Sam a lot. In the 2nd half, after a few minutes of pretty
unproductive play, Lynam said, "Way to work hard Sam," as he exited
the game. Guess that's why he's a coach and I'm sitting here.
- I'm mentioning stuff Lynam says as opposed to Dileo for 2 reasons.
Lynam's voice carries, and Dileo's doesn't. I'm not going to compare
his voice with the already legendary Cole Hamels in hilarity, but it's
not far off, especially when he's yelling. But the other reason is
that Dileo just doesn't say a whole lot while the game is in progress.
He calls plays and shouts out defensive assignments, but I rarely
heard him specifically address a player. He doesn't get into it with
refs at all either. There was one foul whistled on Reggie Evans, who
scoffed and looked to Dileo for affirmation as if to say, "C'mon
that's not a foul, right?" Dileo just stood there. I have no problem
with this because the guys play hard for him and obviously they are
winning. But there comes a time when players do look to the coach to
stand up for them. Dileo intellectualizes the games, and he has
everyone's rapt attention during timeouts. Maybe working the refs is
something that comes with time. Or maybe that's just not his style.
It's just something to look at as the season progresses & big Ed has
to decide whether Dileo will be the guy next season.
- Speights is extraordinarily playful while on the bench. He horses
around with the ballboys nearly every chance he gets. Evans is the
same way, but more so with his teammates, particularly Lou. Even
though this game was close the entire bench joked around with each
other and remained calm until the buzzer sounded. It didn't feel like
a 1 possession game at the end of the 4th. You certainly couldn't
tell by looking at the players. Maybe this was because there was
literally no one at the game. To call the Wachovia Center half full
tonight would be generous. (This felt like the type of game where a
big home crowd would have carried an obviously tired team in the 2nd
half when the visitors make their push. I hope people start
attending, because a nice crowd really helps in games like this).
Maybe it was because they were struggling with a Grizzlies team they
were supposed to dominate. Or maybe it was because the team remains
even-keeled in pressure situations, which would obviously be a good
sign. To be determined.
- After almost every jumper Andre Miller hit, he gave Mike Conley a
look that said "I might look old, but I can still take your ass to
school youngin." The guy talks ALOT of trash on the court. There was
one series where him & Buckner were going at each other. It ended
with that ridiculous reverse layup by Miller, and the two just
laughing at each other on the other side of the court. Some of the
things he does on the court amaze me. Crafty doesn't begin to
describe him. He's the most talkative Sixers on the court by far. He
runs the offense even when he doesn't have the ball, and tells
everyone where they need to be on defense. If I didn't think so
before, tonight convinced me that Miller absolutely needs to be
re-signed.
- Where's Theo? He looked great in the 1st half, but did not get on
the court when his team really needed a defensive presence.
- Lou is struggling so badly that he's starting to hang his head after
every missed jumper. When he returns to the bench it's impossible not
to notice how every player in the vicinity gives him a pat on the back
or rubs his head. They know they need him if they want to win, so it
seems like everyone is making a concerted effort to keep his spirits
up. Just another reason that you have to love the character of this
group.
- Can't say enough about the clutch performance by Iguodala in the
4th. Maybe his worst offensive game thru the 3rd quarter, yet he
finds a way to hit the jumpers that count or get to the line down the
stretch, not to mention his D on Mayo. Truly the sign of a great
player. And I believe we're very close to the day where we can
confidently call Andre Iguodala a great player.
Again, good stuff. This is a great addition to the blog.
Congrats on the great seats. I know when you are that close its just awe inspiring how big and athletic NBA players are (and how quick and comparatively tiny some guards are in comparison with the bigs.)
Sometimes the difference between a 6'2 and 7' guy does not fully translate on TV or sitting far back.
absolutely tk76. the quickness of the game is what always takes me by surprise.
I remember the first time I had seats that close I couldn't believe how friggin' tall Iguodala was. I mean, I always knew his stats, but he just seems to move too well for a guy that tall.
As far as Iggy's bitching and Sammy Detard's early fouls, I thought there was a LOT of questionable officiating tonight. It's never perfect, but there were more perplexing calls and non-calls than usual. The players had to have felt the same way, which maybe made them uncharacteristically vocal.
I wonder if Tony DiLeo hates life right now. He obviously eschews attention, which is unfortunate. I guess that's what keeps a seemingly savvy on-court guy happily tucked away in the front office for twenty years. His influence is definitely tangible.
Re: Hakim Warrick - If we've reached the point where we have multicultural crayons, can't we manage multicultural Band-Aids?
I get really hungry every time Z00ms talks about Mayo turnovers.
the only drawback of sitting that close is that it's almost impossible to discern between certain fouls vs. nonfouls. the action is so fast and there are so many players blocking your line of sight.
as far as dileo goes, i'll bet his kids think it's pretty cool at least. imagine your dad going from some boring guy in an office to being on television every other night.
Early on, I remember saying to myself that the refs didn't want the Sixers to cover. As the game wore on, though, the officiating didn't seem too bad to me. The Griz were aggressive throughout, the Sixers were lazy on the boards, that's why it was close.
grizzlies definitely impressed me as far as how hard they played. they're not talented offensively, but they play good fundamental D. you wouldn't think mayo would put effort in, but he actually has the potential to be a great defender.
one reason i say that is dileo came in my store once when i was in high school (like 10 years ago), working on the ocean city boardwalk. i always used to read the team's media guide, so i recognized him. he was pretty shocked that i knew who he was.
Really appreciate this great report, Mike. I had some impression that A. Miller was not very keen on the D in the past, especially every time we faced a great PG team he gave up D but competed on the offense. He as a veteran should be the leader all time on the court. Your words really changed Miller's image in my mind.
Ditto. Miller being vocal isn't something I ever expected. Good sign, actually.
I saw Sammy and Lou talking heatedly as they headed to bench during one timeout, any idea what it was about?
Yea I've noticed Sam gets into it with someone a few times a game. I did see him & Lou, and I'm not positive but I think Lou wanted Sam somewhere where he was not. Iguodala & him got into it at one point tonight too. It usually seems to be about positioning on offense, or a switch on the pick & roll on defense. I think Sam has a good enough relationship with most guys on the team that they feel they can get on him without causing him to go into his shell.
So, that confirms what Willie Green said a few days ago:
"We have the luxury of different guys with different characteristics. ANDRE MILLER doesn't say a word off the court, but ON THE FLOOR HE'S THE LOUDEST GUY. Andre Iguodala says a little bit off the floor, a little bit on the floor".
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/sports/39251057.html
It was pretty hard for to believe it when I firt read it. But now we know it's true.
Good job, Mike.