Finally. Sixers in Portland against the Brandon Roy-less Trail Blazers. Actual, meaningful basketball. Actual, real-life game thread. What more needs to be said?
After months of tedious minutia, it's time to game thread for real. I'll be here throughout, the tip is at 10pm, Eastern. Join me if you think this is long, long overdue.
Prediction: Sixers 94, Blazers 82
The day has come. Tough way to start the season with this 5 game road trip. Despite coming off a solid turnaround season, we're still a mediocre road team until they prove otherwise. Portland has several guys that can hurt us from outside along with a force in the middle in LA. We'll need to be locked in defensively. Production from our bigs and bench will be key.
Please keep Gerald Wallace off the o-boards.
Sixers +5 tonight - I'll take the points
Pretty fair line in my opinion. I think Vegas is actually giving us some respect with a somewhat small line on the west coast against a solid team. Thought about taking the Sixers but decided against it.
Here we go, tough test to open the season. This is one of the only teams all season Doug will have ample time to prepare fore.
I took Spencer with my last pick in our NBA fantasy dynasty league - he was essentially my 17th rounder (12 teams)but cut him tonight for Damion James. Sorry Spence.
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/ap/59/fullj.c9bc437dea2b0c97943e0cd4ca2ce8d8/ap-201112212026735838768.jpg
Yeah, I'm not clicking that
I should have said that it was an image of Tyson Chandler spin-kicking Damion James' face off. SFW.
Garnett goes unpunished for choking Bill Walker. Not even a fine? Sheesh.
That's like punishing a dog for when it takes a dump, a bitch does what a bitch does
One thing I"m looking forward to this season is the compacteness of the season wearing on him and making him look old.
And like kamla said on NBA TV - maybe someday he'll pick on someone his own size and they'll knock his ass out, like to see him try tht on dwight howard
league pass is suppose to have a free preview for this week, are the games not showing for anyone else?
i really dont want to watch the magic vs rockets
So the NBA League Pass free preview goes until January 8th! Wow, two full weeks is pretty nice. Is there really only ONE channel though that is in HD?
At least you get one - i have one hd channel for indemand and right now it's NHL
Man, how bad are th nets?
Just read on OregonLive.com, that the Blazers have won, 20 consecutive season home openers, and they were 31-10 at home last year. We need to break that streak tonight.
103-86 Sixers
Holiday nets 20, Hawes double double
NBA Courtside app for the ipad combined with league pass - fun
finally my league pass started to work, just in time for rubio
Is it my imagination or does Beasley shoot it every time he touches it in the half court ?
he does
See also: Williams, Terence
Man the Rockets just chuck it around. Martin is no better.
Ricky putting on a shot out there in Minny. Kid's going to be fun to watch.
Some good court vision but passing on open looks is a bad idea
Thunder look lethargic. Can you imagine what the lakers are going to be like tomorrow. Much older team.
His court vision's a couple of notches above good. I said this at the time of the 2009 draft, but he may have the best pick and roll court vision in the league now. If he can develop hitting the jumper off dribble's, he's going to be very successful.
First time I've ever watched him play so can't say great yet but he has made some quite good passes. The announcers love him.
Okc just took the lead. Don't expect them to relinquish it
We've been watching him at DX since at least 2006. What I love about his no-look passes is they serve a purpose. He absolutely froze Harden on a fast break.
He's not a complete package yet, but any time you have a 21 year old who's exceptional at something, he's worth watching to see if the rest of his game rounds out.
Gives me a reason to watch Minnesota. Theres that
Minnesota got a sell out for their home opener. Will the sixers?
Looks like when he misses he misses bad.
reading all these predictions makes me think you guys are forgetting this is the home opener for a very good home team. can't believe people are picking us to win by double digits.
Wow. Ricky Rubio looks pretty darn good. The man can pass. Him and Derrick Williams should make B-ball pretty fun to watch in Minny.
If anything, he will absolutely punish a team for taking bad shots. Westbrook just took an awful turnaround with nobody in rebounding position. Rubio's looking to push off those misses.
The. Thunder are getting a bunch of second nd third chances in the first half. Gotta get the misses consistently to make a team pay
Of course, that's on his teammates though. He has four assists that are all in semi-transition, just understanding the angles.
Thunder started to take control with turnovers and a little more discretion on offense.
sammy dalembert looks pretty good tonight vs orlando.
Man, I like Westbrook and marvel at his athleticism, but his shot-selection when his shot isn't falling is head-scratching at best.
The Marbury comparisons are coming fast and furious for that kid un terms of his attitude
Beasley has SIXTEEN shots, at halftime. Wow.
Diaw one point and one assist away from a weak triple double.
League pass broadband looks nice this year, big improvement over last year.
That's what I've been hearing, haven't gotten it yet. How so?
Free preview the next 2 weeks. Better quality, moves faster for me than last year. Last year I'd move to full screen and have to wait 30 seconds for it to load. I don't know if you watched any of the NBA D-league games last year online, but has similar functions as well as performance.
Johan petro shouldn't shoot for fifteen feet
John wall needs to slow the hell down
Wall turnover to end the Wiz game. Sweet night for him, 3/12 from the floor, 7/13 from the line, 13 points. 6 dimes, 5 turnovers. Did have 8 boards, though.
Yes!
The Mavs are getting killed
At home
Agaun
they need someone to protect the rim
Brendan Haywood -25 is a big reason. Everyone knew they'd miss Chandler but sheesh.
Mavs also starting Delonte West at SG - Carter to the bench after one game.
vince is bad. If they want to start someone else at the 2. Why not rodrique beaubois?
I'll forgive David Stern for the lockout as well as the trade fiasco, if he can get Kaman to shave his beard.
Lots of bad beards this year. Seems that was the lockout trend. Lebrons is awful too
Anything that covers more of Chris kamans face isn't a bad thing.
Lebron's hairline timeline.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcQbogFZUaQ
11 minutes. Wife just went to bed, I plan on waking everyone up a couple of times tonight. So excited.
Cool. Sixers broadcast
Zum w/ some sweet hyperbole to get the blood flowing.
Malik Rose seems a little nervous. From what I can tell from the preseason games, he will not start uncomfortable arguments with Zumoff like Snow did. I like him though, I hope he does well.
lets start the season off right with a win
Ugh. They couldn't have upgraded their sideline reporter?
Tech Difficulties on DirecTV. Sweet start!
I hope all the hipsters in Portland ride their fixies home with tears streaking down their faces after an embarrassing loss tonight.
Just a reminder that the word hipster should only be used as a modifier for the word douche or douchebag.
anyone have a link?
Is there a livefeed anywhere?
Malik Rose - smallest shoes to fill ever?
Just stay awake and you're improving on Eric Snow.
T-Wolves only down 1 to OKC in the 4th. Love w/ 19/10 efficiently, as usual. Beasley w/ 20 disgustingly inefficient points, as usual.
Wow dallas is getting blown out
Is it Christmas again? Basketball!!
DirecTV is playing Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy". Yeh, tell me about it .... freakin' satellite
DirecTV at least has games in HD. I hate this SD bullshit.
Almost as much as I hate "Passionate. Intense. Proud."
I had to unfollow CEOAron and #Sixers - unbearable with that stuff.
They don't have shit at the moment as far as Sixers. Just default music.
It's in SD tonight. Only game tonight that isn't in HD so far.
Gortat's playing, thought he had a broken bone. Tough guy. Hornets over Suns.
Who started at PG for the Hornets? Shows both Gordon and Belinelli starting. Vasquez has played 15 minutes off the bench.
Belinelli started at pg but i think gordon did more of the ball handling til Vasquez came in
And we're off....Hawes wins the tip!
Long two for Aldridge. Shocking.
EB, money.
Grab a fucking rebound.
Hawes gets outworked not once but twice by Wallace.
Hey man, Hawes has three completely uncontested rebounds so far.
Thrice.
Another long two for Aldridge. Keep 'em coming.
lazy pass. clean that shit up, jrue.
Ugh. Wake up.
Hawes still sucks.
You fucking suck, Hawes.
8-2 Portland.
um, yeah keep Wallace off those o-boards
Get Turner/Lou in. Meeks threw it off the backboard, then vanished, and Holiday looks suddenly awful.
Horrendous start. Nerves it seems. Hopefully they'll settle in before it gets out of hand.
Denver is so confident, yahoo shows them only having four players in the game right now. Harsh.
What was that call?
Uh-oh.
Subs waiting to come in, couldn't tell who they were.
Lou and thad
Hawes stays in, Brand to the bench for Thad.
4 long twos for Aldridge, let him keep shooting them.
Great post-up by Iguodala to get 2 on Wallace.
2 on wallace thank god
And to top it off - game is now on but it must be showing in HD feed from Blazers network because score is below bottom of screen and only half of captions can be seen due to satellite showing it only on SD channel. Great! game on but can't see the fukin' score!
You're lucky, actually.
Like to see AI9 in the post.
Jrue for 2.
Cheap one thad - come on
Don't mind jumpers, let's get a piece of the paint first though.
EB back in quickly. He's going short on bench bigs tonight, no?
So what will Hawes finish with more of: TO+PF or Pts+Rebs?
Jrue.
Hey Thorn and Collins - think we might could use a rim protector? Like really
This is ugly. Jumper after jumper.
Really ugly offense right now. They've only scored 13 points, and they are making a fair share of jumpers.
Just once. One player. Use the low post. Please. It's depressing
Continuity Huh?
Iguodala kind of pulling the offense along w/ him.
Isn't that why Lou and thad come in?
Our starters can't get anything going in the paint.
If you're going to double, then double Lou.
Malik Rose is not good, and Jrue Holiday needs to learn how to pass when he dribbles into a double team - it's just bad
What the hell was that EB? on that pick and roll he just watched Felton, didn't show/hedge or anything
Lou passing on last second shots? What the hell
14-0 points in the paint. Nice job by Turner to post up.
Turner to the line. Looks like AI9 is playing the point here.
Thad double a guy at the top of the key and leads to an open look? C'mon man
Nice ET
15-26, Portland. After one. Could've been much worse than that. Someone needs to grab a fucking rebound.
Defensively, the pick and pop is just way too easy for the Blazers. Their bigs have all day to shoot.
Nice fade away by Lou to close out a quarter.
Yup, always nice to see the return of the end-of-quarter Lou iso brick. Probably just started a new 0 for 15 end-of-quarter streak.
At least they ran a play instead of having him dribble in a 1-4. Not that it made a difference.
Blah, nothing good to say, lucky to be down 11
Continuity
Ugh, it's one quarter.
And there was nothing good to say about it was there?
Pretty small sample size though.
It was a crappy first quarter and there was nothing good to say about it - that's all i said - d
People can grow tired of sarcastic wide-sweeping remarks based off one quarter, that's all.
And i can grow tired of douchey comments that seem to try to tell me what to say or how to say it. I said there was nothing good to say about the first quarter - you decided to comment on me personally somehow - please - just make a new years resolution to be less of a nosey nellie - huh?
Can the bench brigade show up this quarter? Please
Never let this guy on tv again, he's embarassing
Getting to the line is a good idea.
Nice D by Turner on Crawford, good contest.
Surprised Adam Aron didn't plug the Broadway lighting and sound crew they hired there.
:sarcasm:
Yeah Lou just watch Nolan Smith light your ass up. He's very capable.
How is that not and 1?
Too many open looks - don't care from where - just bad defense
Hawes dishing, Lou attacking. Second unit is dominating.
Hawes can pass well it seems - someone should remind him of that when he thinks about shooting
Grab. The. Ball.
Jamal Crawford dares hawes to make him change his shot - intimadating
Sissy hook.
That was not a charge.
It's sad when POR goes small like this w/ K Thomas at the 5 and we have no one to post them up and exploit it.
The sixers have no one who posts up period - it's sad
Jrue to the line. Alright.
Much better, getting out on the break. Love Jrue challenging Batum.
Hawes looks really good out there. Excellent passing, solid D. I don't understand why Collins wasn't calling for double-teams on Aldridge. Small ball is garbage and killed us on the boards, go with a big lineup!
I'm sorry are you watching a different game? Solid D? does it stand for something new?
You somehow missed Wallace getting three offensive boards right over the flat-footed Hawes early in the game, huh?
Everyone stunk at the start. Hawes has been excellent since returning. 8 boards 4 assists, several altered shots.
Turner looks great too. Get Lou off the court though.
The only play Hawes made on D was when Aldridge pivoted four times and passed it off. It was a battle of who was softer and no one won.
Lou with a terrible shot, dunk on the other end.
Terrible shot by Lou. Fucking pitiful.
Nice drive, Turner.
on a positive note, I like what little I've seen out of Turner so far
He has - though those free throw misses gave me a bad feeling, he made it go away...
Too loose w/ the ball, Jrue. Expected Turner to go to the hoop, he didn't.
Jrue really has to work on those passes while he dribbles. That should have been a game tying basket - not a turn over
Louwillville needs to be f'n condemned.
LOL, funny.
spencer hawes triple double?
Tale of two players: Jrue has been careless with the rock, and just helped off Crawford. Turner's been solid on both ends.
Go after wallace - get him his 3rd
Good D, Jrue. OK, three point game at the official's timeout.
Good quarter so far, could be better, but still. Keep plugging away and get this lead by halftime. It's right there.
Oh right, Comcast and NBC are now the same company :)
Ugh, there was no reason for Jrue to go to Aldrige and leave Crawford.
JTI first time tonight.
Very happy with Meeks' one touch, hitting the side of the backboard, and getting benched. I don't think we'll see him in the starting lineup by the home opener.
Slow back on transition, Iguodala with a block that saves their butts, Hawes out of position leads to defensive 3 seconds.
Thad - don't dribble
Get a body, Hawes.
Grab. The. Ball.
Look at healthy Hawes GO
Getting out hustle like this sucks.
I'm not entirely thrilled with how Jrue is playing but I'm hoping that's unrealistic expectations
Jrue needs something to fall or good to happen for a confidence boost. He's frustrated.
nah, let's bench him instead
Huh?
He got pulled moments after he got smacked in the face and no foul was called - just the timing ;)
What a find by Jrue, and Hawes. Fuck him.
WTH Turner? Run some offense please.
That's fucking pitiful that Turner gets no call there.
Unbelievable, no respect.
Is that bald douche joey crawford?
oh spencer hawes.....
Banks are open for Iguodala.
When you run - good things are happening...so keep running
end this quarter strong!!!
Put em on your back Dre.
Good job getting to the line. OK, get settle down heading into the half so Collins can rip you guys a new asshole.
Hah!
Can't win with Dre shooting 25 footers. Next possession is more like it.
Actually really nice recover and contest from Lou.
5 seconds on the shot clock - no one coming to the ball - he did what he could - he had no help or anyone getting open
BOX the F out! and GRAB the darn ball
Sloppy. Have to finish possessions.
Jesus - every time that rebound slips out of someones hands i die a little inside
Come on Jodie, run some offense please.
Man, Hawes can't grab a board.
Jeez, nine boards? What a misleading stat.
It's great that they do so well in transition - but they have to find some half court offense - you can't win like this
Voose cameo there on the bench.
Please box out Spence. damn
Come on, three guys in a five foot area. Nice spacing.
Lou single-handedly letting them reopen a lead.
He has a lot of help - he isn't responsible for piss poor rebounding
Rose is right. I know we want Aldridge shooting long twos but he is wide the eff open. They look so lost on pick and roll coverage, especially Thad.
Does Jodie get a sympathy "1 for 3" for hitting the rim once?
If we could grab some more of these available D-boards, Doug should run at every opportunity. Wear these guys legs down. Worry about tomorrow tomorrow with our guys.
Good take Lou!
Great move by Lou. I feel absolutely great that they are down only 4.
Down four at the half - guess they should consider themselves lucky?
Bummed they didn't get wallace his 3rd
lou gets smacked makes it, only down 4
Amazing that they are within 4.
Hope Jrue wakes the fuck up in the 2nd half.
POR 48, PHI 44 at the half.
9 turnovers, really sloppy play and terrible rebounding and only down four. Fix one of those things and this is a win.
Lou Williams is the early leader for POTG.
Very lucky to be down by 4
We have to double Aldridge, no? He can't possibly beat us by himself. Make someone else knock down a shot. Cheat off Felton with Jrue.
Nah, we don't have to double, just can't leave him wide open off pick and pop.
Aldridge is doing pretty much what I expect. 18 points on 16 shots (and 2 FTA). Let him keep shooting long twos. If he takes 30 shots to get 30 points, that's a win.
How the heck did NOH end up with Greivis Vasquez?
Got him for Pondexter, I think.
I know this isn't a stat, but how many 50/50 balls, especially off offensive rebounds that were tipped into no mans land did Portland immediately convert into points that half? Seemed like they got 12 points on plays like that.
Really liked what I saw from Turner, he was 2/6, but he got freaking smacked in the face on one of them.
Jrue got fouled on a drive as well w/ no whistle. They need to keep going to the hoop. The whistles will eventually come.
They really aren't running their offense at all. Jrue + Iguodala + Williams + Turner = 3 assists. That's not Sixers bball.
1st order of business: Get Jrue and Brand in the pick and roll and station Hawes in the opposite short corner. Maybe even get Meeks going by putting him in the ball-side corner.
Are the new CEOs serious when they think Bobby Jones coming out to the home opener is going to move the needle and draw fans?
A 4-1 start to the season might do it, or like $5 tickets.
$17.76 upper deck tickets in January is cute but you're spot on.
Guy reminds me of a carney barker...but in the en - if the team don't go better folks aren't coming no matter how much you change the window dressing
hollingers's thoughts on the game so far: Caught up at the half. Sixers still look bedeviled by length. Hawes better than expected, but Brand is lumbering
Brian
Are you tracking rotations this year?
Yep.
That was no fucking foul. Ugh.
Raymond Felton falls over - foul on holiday?
Great patience, Dre.
That was a nice rebound by Spence. Contested, actually.
There we go.
Like the aggressiveness Jrue, but we have to run offense.
The sixers don't run an offense
Wanted to say to you that you were right, I was wrong on whether we were smart on giving That contract. After seeing Humphries take a one-year deal, and Nick Young taking his qualifying offer, I think it's clear we could've gotten Thad on a one-year deal. Bummer.
It wasn't that I was right, it was just an unwise business decision from a management perspective. Yeah, Thad presents matchup problems from time to time, but he's not what I would consider an integral piece, and they overpaid him like he was one - way, way too soon. It was reminiscient to me of when Stefanski bid against himself with Iguodala's contract. In an inflated market you got Lou for around 5/6 mil a year, not sure why it was a wise move to give Thad 8 mil in a supposedly re-adjusted market, when they provide the team basically, but not literally, the same things.
Jodie should not have gotten caught on that fucking screen, then he loses Matthews in fucking transition. God damnit.
Lovely 2 straight 3's
Meeks now 0 for 4 (1 for 4 if you count the rim) and just gave up 2 straight threes. Worst starter in the NBA.
Word.
I don't know, Rasual Butler started tonight.
Jrue and EB in P and R please. Not Hawes.
Fucking walk, no whistle.
Jrue's struggling with Camby's length. Hawes needs to make himself available and Jrue needs to find him. Camby's going for everything.
WTF - someone?
Sissy hook, good.
Hawes is a machine, just sayin. Triple doubl?
Way to let that young and up-and-comer Camby get the easiest basket of the night.
Wallace is quite the flopper
At least the turnovers are coming on offensive fouls now. I guess that's better.
Stay still on the screens.
JTI early here.
Thad was pretty useless in the first half
turner fouled twice no call
There we go, to the hoop, Turner.
Ahd damn, another loose ball converted by Blazers.
Spencer J!
Good Hawes half outside of the bungled P and R coverage.
Malik Rose is bad
Yes he is.
Our starters seem to have no prayer.
Put the ball in Turner's hands...
We're just not running any sort of offense pretty much the whole game. Just freelancing it seems.
Not a good defensive game from Jrue. Closed out way too hard on Felton who blew right by him and set up LMA.
They need to string some stops together.
Brand is looking very slow this game
Atta boy, ET.
Great find, great finish. Come on, now.
Alright, let's go Lou. Another half just like the first one.
Great defensive possession by Jrue and Hawes, then Dre to Thad for an And 1. Make the FT though, Thad.
No one on this team can stop wallace?
Pretty drive. Keep up the fucking pressure.
Gotta give that one up Evan - but nice charge taking Thad
Have to make a run with their bench in.
Felton's little fat ass complains about everything.
Sissy hook drops.
Then aldridge makes hawes his bitch
That was sort of a tough hook. He took a lot of contact.
Felton with 8 assists but boy is he BIG.
Damn Thad, you doubled then backed off under the hoop? sheesh
Nice find by Lou after he didn't get the whistle on that baseline J. Late transition.
Lakers losing to Sacramento
the hornets also beat the suns, gordon hit the game winner
If they could just get the lead one time ......
So what are everyone's thoughts on John Mitchell (the new @DeepSixer)? I'm underwhelmed and going to start tweeting about how Brian should have that gig.
Not sure he wants the pay cut
One big man who knows how to grab a god damn rebound and the sixers are winning this game
Stop talking about how many damn rebounds hawes has - the blazers have too many damn second chances
Get to the rim, Thad. No more stepbacks.
Thad - you have no jumper - please learn this
Sweet ball movement.
Nice hockey assist by lou
EBx2.
Good touch pass ET.
Keep penetrating Lou. That's twice in a row w/ EB ending up with candy.
Lou Passing? Huh?
F me. Batum 3 and Lou turnover. mofo
Fuck me. Corner three and a turnover at the top of the key by Lou and down by 7. Ugly.
Well that was a crappy 5 seconds
Damn, killer, killer stretch. I hated that decision by Iguodala to leave the 3 point shooter.
end of 3rd down by 5, still in this
POR 77, PHI 72 after three. Lost that quarter by 1 point.
Terrible final minute or they might have the lead here. 12 minutes to glory.
Winnable game - but need to tighten up the glass and the open shots
What the FUCK does Doug Collins see in Lou Williams to give him the ball at the end of quarters?
He gets the basket, he draws fouls, and he finishes, better than anyone else on the roster
but aside from that, probably nothing
I heard Collins is trying to build a new house, made of bricks, and is counting on Lou to provide them.
You got that, bro.
Statistically, at the end of quarters, Lou's numbers are HORRIFIC.
Gotta give lou props for those two straight possessions in which he found open guys instead of forcing shots - both led to easy makes by Elton
Just get the lead please before this first official's timeout.
Jrue? you in the building tonight? come on kid
No DeMarcus Cousins updates?
4 fouls in 14 minutes.
Dammit Thad, stop pulling up, cause they're offering it up to you man.
Fuck, Thad. Come on.
Track the rebounds in this quarter - I think that's where it's going to get decied...how do the sixers do limiting the blazers to one shot.
And thad, STOP TAKING JUMPERS
take thad out or fine him for every jumper he takes
Not a fan of Thad taking all these jumpers. Nice steal by Jrue.
Great job, Thad. Great fucking job.
Thad two straight strong defensive sets - very nice - now stop taking jumpers
As soon as I get mad at Thad for the jumpers, three straight great plays. Got away with a walk on the board.
As soon as i compliment lou for taking the assist route he makes an AWFUL drive to the basket :)
Eat shit, Wallace.
Get this fucking lead!
Wow, you should be embarassed Gerald Wallace.
Fuck me.
Jesus - seems like every time these fuckers NEED a basket - they get it -
turner needs to make that corner shot
I'm confident he will, in time.
And sometimes he will - no one makes that shot 100% of the time - it was a good look - a good set to get the open shot - he missed - but it looked like a good shot to me
See - he made it this time
Zoom said turner first
F me! Batum again before the buzzer. Crawford 3.
That sequence and the one before where Iguodala cheated off Batum are so key so far. Just crucial. ugh
................
Marcus Thornton just got 'blocked by world peace'
Man that's funny
Still have a chance. Comes down to stops.
WHew! Lou 3! lets go
oh god spencer hawes 2 dimes away from a trip-dub.
That's so killer. Thad putz zero body on Wallace. Zero.
Come on - just grab a damn rbeound
Malik Rose: if you didn't say that (about Hawes being close to a triple double), I never would have known that.
Well, then.
Great rebound andre - but wtf were you doing after that?
Sixers just giving the game away
Dammit! all this one on one Dre. ends in a 3 on other end.
wow ......... just friggin' wow
Afraid that may be game. Ugh.
I hate you spencer hawes - that three by wallace is your fault
ET at the point here? Jrue pulled again.
F'n Hawes
Jrue with sort of a nightmare night to start the season. Oh well, long season ahead of us.
God hawes is out of shape. If drafting Vucevic at 16 keeps our front office from giving Hawes a long term deal it was a great pick imo.
Out of shape near triple-double, I can't wait to see what he does when he's in shape. Sheesh, haters gonna hate I guess.
Are you even watching him play defense?
Well in his defense - no one is watching hawes play defense :)
And the sixer are going to lose - and one BIG reason is piss poor defensive rebounding by the great white hype
Out of shape? What happened to the PX90 workout all offseason?
Guess P90x lacks cardio. His rotations on defense are 3 steps too slow.
aaannnnndddd Hawes caps it off with a damn airball. 3 on other end. Terrible fuckin' game.
Annnndddd Dre with some more one on one. Run something guys, it's called plays, sets, or offense ..................
thats bs, doug please go crazy if thats a block]
*charge
Yeah, that's complete fucking bullshit. In no world is that a charge.
Exactly - when the fuck was Batum set on that play? Horrific.
He's fucking moving and that's not even close. What a load of horsecrap.
Helluva sweat by Collins tonight
Gerald Wallace - kick ball doesn't apply to him
Before Jrue becomes the All-Star that everyone says he gonna become, he needs to show up for games like this.
What exactly is a game like this?
Winnable
A season opener on the road...loud crowd...your team is out of sync...
The point guard MUST settle things down...set a tone on BOTH ends of the floor...and Jrue did neither. Turning the ball over...letting Felton have his way...
Look - I love Jrue...think he's gonna be a good one...but this game isn't one that he'll keep the video of.
I hope he does keep a tape - you learn more from watching yourself suck - I hope he watches the damn thing every day and uses it as motivation and to learn from - this is a learnable game for him - he sucked from the beginning - he needs to see that
Oh yeah, I agree he's been bad tonight. I just think he's been good on big stages before.
He HAS been good on big stages before...but the great ones show up every night.
I know that he will learn from this.
.but the great ones show up every night.
Like kobe last night when he gave the game away to the bulls?
I agree 100%
spencer hawes one assist away....... andre with the sweet and 1
Hah, Dre still complaining about the last one and Richardson says "I had a block." THEN WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU CALL IT.
Good D. Get a hoop.
One on one Evan.,, SHit i give up
The refs seem to think the sixers charge a lot no matter what - not sure how that's evans fault - wes fell over
Alright, this one looks like an L. Let's play good ball down the stretch at least.
Who flops more than this fucking Portland team??
San Antonio?
All of Europe.
Regardless of outcome, loving that Sixers are being aggressive and driving a ton tonight -- getting to the line a lot more as well.
That's great
Maybe they'll learn how to get rebounds and run a half court offense some day?
I'm just saying it's nice to see that when compared to last year, but I wouldn't expect you to be positive in any way.
Maybe you'll learn to acknowledge that spencer hawes is an inefficient - poor rebounding - low bsketball iq dough boy...the sixers are LOSING because of PISS POOR REBOUNDING
That's spencers job - NOT TAKING 3's
You call it negative - i call it the sixers are losing and the terrible rebounding is a major reason because hawes can't box outr a a bag of groceries
When he does something positive I'll be positive about it
Hey, crazy guy on a tangent, I wasn't even talking about anything but the Sixers getting to the FT line. Take your rage somewhere else, or at least pick a fight with me when I'm actually trying to argue about whatever you're talking about.
Sheesh.
Neither Hawes nor Brand has attempted a single FT tonight.
Hawes is FEELING IT (and bricking it) - here I was hoping his inflated stat line would draw interest from another team. Only in fantasy basketball.
Can't be traded without giving up his bird rights - sixers are stuck with him all season
Good call - forgot about that.
Jrue 3. And, a foul I don't quite understand.
Don't like these fouls so far from the hoop. Play solid defense.
Doug gets these guys to play hard, but does he run an actual offense? this looked like the beginning of the 09/10 season.
Excellent question and I think the answer is no they are not running an offense. Really looks like a bunch of guys running around like banshees, chucking shots as they feel like it. Luckily Iggy's last two shots went in.
Utter chaos; new trailblazing trendsetting offense. Copycatting to ensue.
100 points with 3 1/2 minutes to go .
Pahetic defense.
Bang.
7
the fuck?
Wow, Dre has been feeling it all night tonight. Those two stupid fouls from Jrue and EB looking especially bad right now.
Oh, and that three point play he had robbed from him.
Spencers inability to box out the balzers ain't helping much either
Puncher's chance. Have to be pretty close to perfect though.
Flop, flop, flop, flop, flop.
Ball does lie, apparently.
Thad taking jumpers - must stop
19 turnovers...erk
20 turnovers...6 by Jrue
Get a fucking stop.
What's the record for charges called in a game?
Another fucking charge - ridiculous flop by Camby. come on.
Good call there on Jrue. Left his feet.
That was dumb Jrue.
Think that was Iguodala's fifth block.
As it has been for years - this team really has no half court offense - combine that with the horrible ass rebounding and ball handling by the point guards tonight - the blazers really should have won by more.
An all around bad game - so many flaws - and not a lot of time to work on things...stupid shortned season
Felton is a turnover machine down the stretch. Good thing I've got him on my fantasy team. I get screwed both ways - Sixers lose, and tubby blows the TO category for me.
Doug with some passive coaching. First situational timeout I can remember all game.
Bulls getting waxed in Oakland to start the fourth
GREAT game by Iguodala tonight...gotta be the POTG.
Bang.
can we win this?
Sure - but the sixers can't depend on the 3 every night to win a game
lou.
Get Jrue out of there so he doesn't give his 6th foul. Put meeks in just to foul.
please dont foul right away, and try to do what the bulls did yesterday
they tried. not a bad attempt either.
Lou angling for the Sixers cover! Now I'm twitter-fighting with Spencer Hawes fans (mostly roto fantasy guys not watching the game).
Where's the foul there? That's a good trap.
Fuck, who did they give the foul to?
Why have Turner and Jrue in there when they each have 5 fouls?
Lou's in playground mode right now.
lou for 3, stil enough time to trap and not foul right away
Holy shit, Lou.
that's gotta be a three
Yep, that was a two. Fuck me.
Lou is fucking money
Man - you got sixers on your fantasy team you're getting some quality threes tonight :)
That's a two though
Wow - gave it to him
Way to tease me guys. Only down 2. If you'd only grabbed two of those many loose balls being tipped around tonight. ugh
Really bad game to open on the road and they're still right in this? Good or bad sign? Hell, I sure don't know.
It's a really good sign, although the end is a little inflated with the 6/8 from 3's this quarter.
Just imagine if Hawes didn't take those terrible jumpers this quarter.
The turnovers were really out of the ordinary for what this team did last year - so maybe it's a good sign - tighten up the turnovers (and the rebounding but I have less faith in that) - saw some good stuff - even if it wasn't consistent - tonight - lou made some great passes - Evan looked good (at times, I'm not saying he had a great game but he had some really good portions - it's a good sign).
There's good stuff to take out of the game but the bad thing is that they're still not ready to be one of those teams that comes out and beats the teams they're supposed to beat - they should have wone this game easy
And Iguodala shoul have given the ball to Lou for that 3
That angle makes it look like a three. I don't think they can overturn that.
whoohoo! it's a three!
Lou and Dre's shotmaking has been amazing.
Jrue's still in there to foul out, I guess.
#BOSS
The Portland color guy keeps calling Lou "sweet" Lou Williams. Unintentional comedy. Good to have him around.
Fuck, Jrue's gone.
felton will miss 1
Why was Jrue in there if you are going to foul?
Why did Dre force that from that far out? Did we not have any timeouts there?
why didn't they call a fuckin time out???
Gives Portland time to set up their defense.
Andre should have given that ball to lou - someone should have gotten lou hopen - lou has the hotter hand
fuck
Damn, would have liked to see a better one there, with Lou taking it. That was a bomb.
And let the un-clutch AI9 nonsense begin.
im not gonna blame iguodala for that shot, but i think they definitely should have taken a timeout there. draw up a play to set up a better shot.
They aren't even in the game without Iguodala. He's the only guy who played any defense out there tonight.
Of course you would write that after Iguodala takes a contested 26-foot jumper to end the game. Apparently he is above criticism at all times.
iguodala, above criticism? don't make me laugh.
Fuck
Next verse same as the first. Horrible shot by Iggy. HORRIBLE.
Dre does it again. Why not find lou?
wow, you're gonna blame him for that?
great game by dre but lou just hit 2 straight 3's so why not give it to him?
Good try. If Brand and Jrue had better games the 76ers would have won that game.
Can't believe Doug didn't call that timeout to set up a look for Lou or better one for Dre. Just poor coaching there.
Agreed, or at least Iggy should've called timeout when he couldn't get the ball to Lou.
I'm usually a fan of just going, but once it was clear nothing was happening there, I would have gone with a TO. But then again their out of bounds plays hadn't been good tonight either.
POR 107, PHI 103 final.
0-1 start. 65 to go. Not sure when my wrap will be up.
20 turnovers - things will get better.
I'm cool with that game. Good effort tonight. How long before we hear the turner should start over Meeks? Turner looked aggressive tonight.
20 turnovers, gave up 17 offensive rebounds, that decided the game
that said they were still in the game
Hmmm, not a very good effort, but Portland's a really tough matchup for this team. Their game in Portland last year felt a lot like this game. For all of the Sixers shot-making down the stretch, Matthews and Batum hit some shots that I don't think they make that much.
I trust Collins to make the necessary adjustments. The things that I didn't like were turnovers and rebounding. Hope they can get more from Meeks.
Don't get too low after this one, that's a tough situation for the team to get a win. Also, Portland's a pretty unlikeable team right? What a bunch of flopping.
Disappointing is all you can say. They made a great run there at the end, but they started off so poor. Lost in the 'almost triple double' talk could be the terrible rebounding to start the game from the sixers big men. Jrue had one of the worse games he's probably had since his rookie year. The sixers turned the ball over almost 50% more than their average last year. They can't win 'on the 3' but it's nice that the 3 made the game close, but there was a lot of bad in that game that is just mental, or even fundamental, and this is a game that the '4 seed' in the east should win. They are the better team than the Blazers, but for much of tonight they didn't play like it (and yeah, the refs were weird, but the refs are always weird)
Thad needs to stop taking jumpers, jrue needs to stop getting lost when his dribble is interrupted by defense, two of his turnovers he pretty much just threw away. The sixers need SOMEONE who can play in the low post...anyone, I'm begging...and somehow collins has to find a half court offense from this team, cause while transition basketball is awesome - you gotta be able to score in the half court set.
What the hell was wrong with Meeks tonight by the way?
After watching the replay, that 3 wasn't as awful as I first thought. It's short sighted to say he automatically should have gotten it to Lou (like the post game is saying).
I don't think so, Lou was the hot hand, and he had just as much of a look as Andre, and Andre had aldridge on him
I agree. Also, Lou faded into the corner and wanted Iggy to take the 3. It was just good defense. That's why the Trail Blazers are such a good team at home.
Bulls making a run (Curry injured his ankle again) against GSW right now
That was a hard fought game. The Trail Blazers are a good team and we hung with them tough which is all you can ask for. That would have been honestly the most ridiculous comeback I've ever seen if Iggy hit that 3, so it's hard to complain.
I was pleased with what I saw from players like Hawes and Turner. I was displeased with some of Jrue's turnovers and Young's shot selection.
Overall, it seems like this is the team that we were expecting to see. The Trail Blazers are simply better and they showed that tonight.
So 17 offensive rebounds for the Blazers doesn't bother you?
It doesn't bother me because that's what I expected to see.
If you read any of my predictions, you would have seen that the Blazers are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league while the Sixers aren't very good at getting defensive rebounds.
The Sixers will give up offensive rebounds but they still manage to win games. Tonight it just didn't happen because Portland is a great team at home. It's just what happens when you start a guy like Spencer Hawes at center.
The sixers are a better team than the blazers
Whatever your praise for the blazers, I don't care. Basic basketball, rebounding and taking care of the ball and the sixers win this game.
GOOD TEAMS win this game...teams that aren't mediocre win this game...teams ready to take the 'next step' or whatever I'm told this team is going to to do, win this game.
Accepting that you're going to lose the rebounding battle that poorly is ridiculous, it excuses how bad it was...nonsense
It is one game though. Good teams still lose 30 games on a regular NBA schedule. It happens. It also happens a lot of the time in Portland.
Now, if we see the same stuff against Phoenix, who lost to the Hornets tonight (Yikes), then we have a problem.
Also, we gave up 12 offensive boards in the first half (I think most of them came in the sloppy first quarter). So we held them to 5 offensive boards in the second half which isn't too bad. Hawes stepped up his game in the second half, which is good to see.
Excellent points. Agree with everything you wrote.
Thank you, stoned81.
You're welcome sir.
Having the #1 Hawes apologist on your side isn't exactly convicing though :)
I also am starting to agree with you about starting Turner. Meeks looked really bad out there tonight, on offense and defense.
Thanks dude, yeah tonight was a pretty good night for me, Hawes shined and Meeks blew. Throw a win in there next time and I'll be thrilled!
I guess if you need built in excuses to still be able to praise Spencer Hawes - you can have em...he's still useless, he's still terrible, and he should have been let to walk and the organization should have ponited up some money to pay a big man who knows how to rebound (and you know who the guy is - but you won't admit it even though you got schooled last night about how much better he is than hawes)
GoSixers, I honestly don't how many times I have to tell you this.
I don't like Spencer Hawes either!
I only like him better than Dalembert which isn't saying much.
We need to get a true defensive center who can grab rebounds if we want to be able to compete against good teams like Portland.
Who would you rather have this year?
The answer is Dalembert - and he was actually hitting his long jumpers tonight.
Iguodala played 40 minutes tonight, no Battie, Brackins or Voose. I guess we'll see a little more depth around the back-to-back games later this week.
Did you guy see this about Lou and his almost car jacking?
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7391657/lou-williams-philadelphia-76ers-says-won-armed-robber
Clutch imo.
yeah.
466 comments and counting for a midnight game. Safe to say we're pumped up for 76er ball.
My summary of the game would be turnovers, breakdowns on defense leading to 3s. Everything was pretty much caused by all the attention we had to give Aldridge.
KUDOS
Iguodala for being aggressive all night
Lou for being Lou. (I'm becoming fine with having the ball in his hands at the end of games)
Hawes for killing it for 3 quarters (yes I just said Hawes)
Brand for doing his best to defend LA
Turner for injecting energy and defense
GOATS
Jrue - thanks a lot rookie.
Meeks - did he actually do anything??
Thad - keep shooting fadeaways Kobe
If you really hold Jrue in as high esteem as we do here, you could basically say this game was on him.
Why? It was what he did not do. Because he turned the ball over and played like crap, DC yanked him and it wound up being the Lou show at point until Iggy mercifully took over late in the 3rd and shared responsibilities with Turner. This is how a Lou game ends up. This is why we need Jrue so bad.
EB was a minus 20 tonight. Yikes. Looked at last year's game at Portland, minus 18. Maybe it's just a tough matchup for him.
portland has long athletic people that he cant shoot over
I would add that I think our entire team had a height disadvantage. Small lineups tonight.
Brand was pretty bad and Meeks was nonexistent but I'm putting this game squarely on Jrue. Yeah, he turned the ball over, commited dumb fouls, and made bad decisions, but so did everyone else. My problem is that if Jrue shows up this game has aa totally different outcome but he lost mentally to Felton imo.
Also pissed that Collins didn't sub in ET for Jrue early on when he was clearly ineffective. ET/AI looked good together late splitting drives. If ET can knock an open 3 without hesitation - look out.
take a couple of my eggs out of the Holiday basket and popping 'em in the Turner equity.
Not for nothing, but Aldridge did exactly what he always does against the Sixers. 25 points on 25 shots.
but we broke our perimeter defense just trying to help on him = win
Well, here's what happened around the league tonight. Bismack got six minutes of play between the first and second quarters, and the only stat he recorded was a turnover on a 3-second violation. After that, he didn't play the rest of the game, Silas preferring to go with Byron Mullens and Desagana Diop instead. In the same game, Diaw had 9/11/9 from the center spot, and Kemba had a highly inefficient, albeit turnover-free debut. Somehow, the Bobcats won. For Toronto, Ed Davis, probably their best player, had 14, 7 and 2 blocks in 18 minutes, on perfect shooting. Kyrie was 2-12 with 7 assists, 1 turnover; Tristan Thompson had an efficient 13 and 5 on 6 shots. Indiana had three guys with double doubles and out-rebounded the Pistons by a huge margin. Brandon Knight was awful. Beasley shot Minnesota out of a winnable game; Derrick Williams wasn't much better (13 points, 14 shots), and Rubio looked astonishingly composed for a rookie point guard. Ton of brilliant passes. The Spurs' plan for coping with Duncan's senescence seems to be a ton of Tiago Splitter. Leonard's first game was mixed - lots of offensive rebounds and lots of missed shots. Ty Lawson carved Dallas up - 27 points on 15 shots, 21 at the half. Eric Gordon missed all six of his threes but was great otherwise, and hit the game winner. Landry's going to get way more shots this year than he deserves. Markieff Morris had a nice first game for Phoenix - 7, 9, 2, 2 steals, 2 blocks. Against LA, Marcus Thornton and Tyreke Evans scored a combined 47, and Cousins picked up 4 fouls in 25 minutes but played well otherwise, 12 and 11 on 9 shots. Jimmer didn't embarrass himself. Finally, in the Bulls-Warriors game, Rose laid an egg, shooting 4-17 from the field and 1-8 from three. Curry, as always, had a million turnovers and fouls (4 and 4 to be exact), but was great otherwise, 21 7 and 10 on 12 shots, and Monta had 26 and 7 assists on 17 shots. Klay Thompson didn't score.
Helluva review, thanks Tray. Lawson is going to be a beast this year now that he's finally in a starting role. Could reignite the Lawson-Holiday debate (I think both will be very good and the Sixers couldn't have gone wrong with either). Nice to hear that Markieff played well.
Kyrie also got dismantled by Calderon.
On defense that is.
Portland Trailblazers 21 consecutive home opener wins. Crazy
of course the NBA.com game recap is a bunch of Portland highlights with a tiny mention of the Sixers comeback at the end.