The Sixers have problems which need to be worked out, on both sides of the ball, not the least of which is how to get any kind of consistent production from their bench. A look at a few splits from the first four games after the jump.
I picked a few stats based on perceived trends from the first four game. A few things
seem meaningful, but we don't have enough data to draw any concrete solutions. This of these numbers as a good way to look at what's happened up to this point, not as a definitive indicator of what is/is not working.
A few really interesting things to my eye:
- Speights + either Brand or Dalembert in the front court has been very effective.
- Iguodala has played the two almost exclusively.
- The starters have actually been a net plus through the first four games, everyone else...not so much.
- One thing not shown here, the starters have been at worst even in their initial runs in all 4 games. They were tied vs. Boston (after 11:57 in the first quarter), they were tied @ Orlando (19-19), and they held leads in the other two games.
I've also uploaded the rotations chart, and I'll continue to update it as the season progresses, just in case you want to do your own analysis. You can find the link the black column on the home page, or just
click here.
By the way, the "Speights With" chart above depicts how Speights fared with each player as the second big on the floor with him. So Sammy at the five and Speights at the four, Speights at the five, Brand at the four and so on. Sorry for any confusion.
I'm surprised your up already - shouldn't you be out gloating and raving about how 'all is right with the world' and how the trophy is 'where it bleongs' ? :D :D :D
Seriously - your city should be ashamed that the Post is published in it
Only out-of-towners pay attention to the Post.
By the way folks - i have a question - which is worse
A sixers fan who is also a cowboys and astros fan
Or a sixers/eagles fan who is a fan of the yankees?
:D
Cowboys are one of the most, if not the most, hated team of real Philadelphia fans. No questions about it. Yankees are not even in the same state, nevertheless, the same ballpark. Sorry, but the Yankees are really not the badly hated up till this year by Philadelphia fans. Mets, another story!
One thing that mystifies me is that the team is +12 with Thad and Iggy both out? Who is on court at the time then?
Two things we've known clearly since last season: We are better with 2 bigs on the floor, and to be a good team we need to have Willie Green on the bench, to be used only as an offense spark on some occasions. Granted Ivey is a negative offensively but I'd rather see him or Jrue on the court than Willie (unless Ivey starts shooting all the time, which is inexcusable).
I'd like to see Iggy and Kapono together on the floor in spurts.
If we ever see Sam, Speights, Thad, Carney and Lou on the court at the same time we can run the other team right out of the gym.
Units w/ neither Thad nor AI had good runs in garbage time in both losses.
Yeah, if Iguodala and Thad are out it means the game is over. The +/- at that point is not very relevant.
I'm guessing That horrible +/- for Smith/Speights explains why Smith has fallen out of the rotation.
I wonder how Smith/Sam would do? Because if the numbers continue like this we might see more of Speghts/Brand, leaving more time for Smith/Sam.
Samith/Sam might actually work, since the 2nd unit needs an injection of defense, and if Brand is going to be not getting shots I'd rather see the extra touches go to Brand instead of Sammy... of course more touches for Brand would be a good idea too.
I think you meant extra touches to Smith instead of Sammy.
I'm not sure how big of a role Smith is going to wind up having. I think you can go with any combination of the following at the 4/5 for 48 minutes.
SD/EB
MS/EB
SD/MS
SD/TY
with a little bit of
MS/TY
I'd completely avoid MS/JS until further notice. That seems like an open invitation to dunk in our faces.
Yeah, misspoke, I was trying to hint at either starting Speights at C or at least giving Speights and Brand more minutes together. That way when the offense ignores Brand Speights will get more looks (instead of Sam.)
Speights is just as culpable as Smith when it comes to them not working as a duo. But Speights is the better player so Smith's minutes will be the one that get cut. But maybe if Sam is used more with the 2nd unit (even if he still starts) then Smith/Sam could be effective.