The Sixers will take the floor tonight against the Atlanta Hawks without Spencer Hawes manning the middle. Someone other than Hawes will lose the opening tip (most likely) for the third time this season. Hopefully, the Sixers can find a way to move the ball without Spence handling out above the foul line and pull off a win over an 11-4 opponent.
I said pretty much everything I had to say in the preview, so I'll leave you with one final point. It's imperative that Joe Johnson is not allowed to get off to a quick start. Doug Collins needs to start Iguodala on Johnson. Meeks can't handle him and Johnson is the type of guy who is hard to slow down once he gets on a roll. If Meeks does wind up guarding Johnson, expect to see Johnson take Meeks down to the blocks and work him over.
The tip is at 7pm. This is your game thread. Join me if you love nothing more than watching NBA hoops on Friday nights.
Prediction: PHI 95, ATL 87
If there was ever a game to start Evan Turner. This would be it.
Starting Meeks and Iggy against Johnson and the towering Marvin Williams will be tough matchups.
Johnson is one of the best post guards in the league. He eats guys like Meeks for breakfast.
If he insists on starting Meeks, you still have to put Iguodala on Joe Johnson, in my mind. It's preferable to have ATL run their offense through Marvin, if w/ a huge size mismatch under those circumstances.
Voose to start, according to Tom Moore.
last week when atlanta faced the t'wolves luke ridnour was guarding marvin williams and the hawks didnt really use williams to post up ridnour, be interesting to see if the hawks learned form their mistake and use williams to post up meeks(if hes guarding him), i know williams doesnt really have a post game but they should still try to give him the ball when meeks is on him
OK, Sixers favored by six, over/under is 184, and I'm setting the attendance over/under at 16K.
I'll take Sixers, under 184 (barely) and over on the attendance.
you gotta be kidding...how the hell is hawes out again he hasn't played since monday. this is really scary. taking Jrue over 14 again. He killed me on Weds...took him over 14, he finished with 13, including 0 in the OT.
I would've taken the Iguodala Ast+Reb line. He'll go over 11.
if willie green kills the sixers like andre miller did, i might die
these got bumped on the last thread, green man fan guy is blogging: http://matthasher.blogspot.com/
and posted video of BIG DADDY doing his dance the other night (while Mirakovitz is right in front of him and trying to ignore everybody): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X13aK7WufmY&feature=player_embedded
If Doug wants to start Meeks, why not put Jrue on Johnson and Meeks on Teague? Best idea would be to start Turner on Johnson in this game though.
He could do that as well, but then you've got Meeks at the point of attack, which I don't want. I really just don't want to have to worry about covering for people w/ cross matches for large stretches of the game, but that's the world we live in.
Uggh. Let's hope the Sixers used the day off to come up with an half-court strategy which does not involve Hawes.
Vucevic played well the other night, but was in foul trouble early and did not see any minutes down the stretch. I'm positive that he can grab the defensive boards and handle their bigs (which are not that impressive) ... just worried about him picking up the early fouls again.
Hawes is out tomorrow night in Miami as well.
I say there is no need to play him until he is fully healthy. Every team has similar problems it's paramount not to make things worse.
Looks like they may have rushed him back, hope they don't do it again.
As i understand his back is at 100% now it;s his achilles that's causing the new problems.
anyone know nyc bars that have league pass? i always go to tonic on 29th and 3rd b/c they have it, and usually put sixers on for me, but the douchey scene in there gets tiresome on friday and saturday nights.
I used to work right by there, douchey doesn't shock me.
I don't know of any first hand, but check the last post, I listed some Eagles bars and some that say they have league pass and show all the games.
Duke's on 3rd and 35-ish has a ton of TVs. It would shock me if they didn't have league pass.
OK, bout that time. Work days really seem to drag when there's a Sixers game that night.
Confirmation, Meeks is in the starting lineup. Hope he doesn't start on Johnson.
will the sixers ever win a tip?
Someday - yes
And we're off...The Voose loses the tip badly to Josh Smith. Looks like Iguodala on Johnson, good.
Josh Smith 21-footer on first possession, good.
#9 on #2. good.
Start off with a deep jumper, sounds about right.
Jrue in the post, lost it on the way up, hopefully they go back to that.
Jrue to EB on a nice little play.
Splash, Jrue
long 2 for jrue
Jrue with the long two, should've taken the three.
How many moving screens are they going to let Jason Collins set?
7
To be fair, he never really "sets" anything, he just keeps moving.
Iguodala to the line, not sure if he was really shooting that.
Don't let it be that easy all the way for Teague.
And a careless, unnecessary dribble from Jrue. come on
Ugh. Picked at half court and he gets all the way to the hoop unmolested?
Fuck another turnover. 3 turns already, sloppy dribble.
Both nba.com and yahoo are missing Jrue's jumper in their box score.
Meeks three, nice.
Jodie 3! but i was wondering why EB stopped trying to post Teague...
Jrue all the way to the hoop, blows the bunny, tips it in.
Another missed long two by Josh SMith.
dre loves that jump pass
Jrue is all about scoring this year. I hate to see that.
And yet if doug collins hated to see it - he'd bench him
Teague is eating Jrue's lunch right now.
Remember when you said you didn't want to draft Teague because he'd be another Lou?
Yep. Still not convinced he won't be. Wouldn't want him over Jrue.
No, me neither, but he's way more of a point guard than Lou.
Well that would be because lou isn't a point guard at all - he's a short shooting guard
Indeed, and my point was that that was what Brian said Teague would be.
agreed.
Andre has gotten into the heart of the lane at will 3 times already, but hasn't done as much as could've nearly every time, they sort of dead-ended. He was getting there almost unchallenged it seems, it was so easy.
He needs to just go up strong against Collins. He's not going to block your shot, just don't charge into him.
Jrue a bit to sloppy on both ends.
*too
Fast break decision making has been pretty bad so far.
get jodie out now, t-mac or johnson will post him up at will
McGrady is a terrible matchup for Jodie, even in his advanced age.
EB finally converts.
Vuc looks like he isn't jumping that high at all, yet he always seems to at least get a hand on the ball.
Even w/o Horford, these guys look better than in past seasons, less of a Joe Johnson one-man show.
Thad to the line on his first touch.
thought he had an open hook if he didn't hesitate on that one.
Like the idea Evan, just harness it a little
Thank God Smith shot that, Teague was wide open for three.
Voose with the shitty foul. Come on.
Who's running the point for them, McGrady? They had Joe Johnson on Lou, gotta attack that off the dribble.
Jrue eerily looks skittish at times, like he did a lot in his rookie season. If he'd just rein it in somewhat, he'd be OK. Like, he looks unsettled and erratic momentarily, just any moment.
Battie to the line.
They don't seem to be very energetic tonight, do they? Need a lift from someone.
No more lou led team meetings
Zaza kills the Sixers. So does VladRad.
He tries hard, but we just need somebody else out there besides Tony.
Turner to the line. Sort of nice step through.
I agree they're sluggish, the crowd is too.
Hawks would be well-advised to let T-Mac handle the backup point duties, not Pargo.
willie green in
this game is hard to watch right now
They're booing the shit out of Wille G! ?? dag ...
sometimes Philly fans confuse the shit out of me - I'm well aware of the disdain for Willie, but c'mon
I mean, his sister died tragically when he played for the team....
Ugh. miscommunication on that rebound. Iguodala thought Thad had it, Thad ran out for the leak.
Doug is hollering like hell at somebody? Who was that, Meeks or ET? He was pissed
meeks
They. Are. Free.
think we can make a t-shirt out of that.
The Lou show.
We played very well against Denver for the most part, but in this game we finally seem to be regressing towards our traditional .500 mediocrity.
36 minutes to go.
Oh yeah, we may well win, but for the first time this year I feel like I'm seeing a Sixers team I actually recognize.
PHI 18, ATL 24 after one.
Really sluggish start. I'd like to see JTI Thad and Brand to start the second. Turn up the heat on the defensive end.
What the F is the point of Lou dribbling the clock out and just throwing it hopelessly towards the basket?
That is a very low percentage shot.
I don't mind Lou getting the last shot at the end of most first quarters considering who's out there sometimes but, I wish he'd use it to his strength which is penetrating and getting a look, if not a trip to the line, not settling a high percentage of the time.
So frustrating, cause that's the role they give him. And he helps himself fail at it.
Where's the friggin' energy gone, that made this team win games? That was no fun to watch...
At the end of the first quarter, WAS 37, DEN 27. Nick Young with 17 points. Wizards are coming off an upset of the Thunder.
Another great shot to end a quarter. Collins does a heck of a job calling these plays.
No energy at all from the plays or the fans.
Worst quarter to watch so far this season.
I really don't understand why Jrue plays the way he does this year. He seems to regress instead of taking the next step.
Thad jumper. He's better on the catch and shoot, have to admit it.
Turner fouls McGrady.
Think that was our lowest shooting quarter of the year. Pitiful
I will never understand why we end every quarter without even trying to attack the basket. If that's what we want at the end of the quarter, why not want that the whole game.
McGrady is making Turner look old.
Ugh. Turner got a piece of that and it still fell.
tmac is beasting evan so far
Go through Thad.
Time the fuck out.
Somebody better wake the heck up besides Thad.
ok don't dribble into that trap again please
First blowout loss of the season?
Anyone besides Thad even care? This is tough to watch.
Yes this is tough to watch.
What the hell is this we're watching, not what we've seen 14 games of that's for sure. Who the eff are these guys?
We're losing to a Pargo-Willie-McGrady-Radmanovic-Pachulia lineup.
it looks like battie is going to get over 10 minutes this game, that's never a good thing
Did he just pull Thad?
no hes out there
Willie G! miss you buddy
I really didn't feel like seeing willie hit a shot in jrue's eye
Thad's awake, but he needs to stop dribbling. he can't control it to save himself.. ugh
When it rains, it pours. Contested 22-footer for Willie, good.
Thad dibbling in space.
Lou air ball.
Ugly, ugly basketball
Hit the fucking freebie.
Did Lou's buddies come up to party last night? what was that airball?
Teams that had 'established' rosters (continuity) had a leg up when the season started, but it's around the time that all the 'strangers' and such start all becoming one team, sixers coming back to earth wouldn't be a huge surprise as rosters all become more comfortable with each other
Show some life.... Well I'd take a pulse right bout now
Jesus.
Keep getting the ball in the paint, all these long twos for ATL aren't going to drop all night.
Good contest Jrue.
what a finish by jrue where was the foul though
Push the ball off misses.
Jrue should've gotten the and one there. Good work.
STOPS!
That's a foul. Damnit.
And Jrue is digging in looking for his offense. He's got to be coaches to do this or something. It's too frequent and often for it not to be.
Good take though...
*coached
That's what I'm thinking.
if that;s true I wish they'd say it to evan and let jrue do what he does best and run the offense
I wouldn't be so sure they haven't said it to Evan too, considering how much he's looked for his shot lately. freedom appears to have been given there too...he gets shots up for what minutes he gets
Yes, only Hawes and Iguodala are allowed to pass the ball on this team.
I think evan has taken that upon himself more so than the coaches giving him the green light or something. I mainly think that because his minutes are fairly sporadic.
He's leading the team in minutes.
I should have said meaningful minutes
Thought you were talking about Jrue, nevermind.
Wait, who's leading the team in minutes?
Good hands, Voose.
What was that offensive possession?
wtf Dre?!!! shit, what did these guys do last night? or today? they friggin partied didn't they?
The eskin comment of the game
Sorry Spike, the more eloquently was stated at the same time stamp above. Apologies.
You'll pardon me if I don't understand a damn word of that - words seem to be missing"?
eloquent, my apog's again
ok - substituting eloquent still doesn't let the comment make sense - and apog what now?
Are you posting from an auto correcting phone?
good teammates don't let each other air ball by themselves.
Comment of the game
Looks like Josh Smith wants to be friends too
Jrue, to the line, a rarity.
Jrue is dribbling the air out of the ball. move the damn rock
Jrue to the line. Hit them, please.
Good work. Get in the open floor.
what was that jrue? hawks give it right back
What the hell was that?
and that?
Ugh, clean this shit up, you're right in this game despite the crappy play. Collect yourselves.
iguodala's pass hit off voose's knee i believe.
Like what the hell was that Andre? that stupid pass, just no chance at connecting
Oh my oh my, what a shit of a game.
No more team meetings please.
yeah thats the reason why
Sixers lucky to be this close. Could use one of their big 3rd quarters tonight.
As requested
5!!! steals for teague
5 steals for Teague.
C'mon, finish this half strong and you're right back in it, all crappy play aside.
Good D Vuc!!
under 5 at the half.
What was the call?
Jrue kicks the shit out of balls, doesn't he? always doing it
Good defense. Collins better get Lou in to jack up a three. Good timeout!
No. He leaned in to a 18 footer instead...
Turner takes a three and doesn't airball it, moral victory.
odds lou comes in and its a lou iso?
I don't mind giving Josh Smith long twos, but there should at least be a defender within 10 feet of him
Wow can't wait for the master plan of collings.
sub in lou for a contestet jumper. Yeah baby!
Can they quit it with that Passionate, Intense, Proud string concerto?
PHI 39, ATL 47 at the half.
Only lost that quarter by 2, solid improvement. They woke up for about 5 minutes there. Collins better rip some ass in the locker room.
How many long two is smith going to drop this game?
Honestly, I'd give him 20 more of them in the second half. It's a defensive win if he takes that shot.
im literally just shocked he's hit that many
Hahaha. Wow! I could have called that play. What a master plan.
I'm really angry right now. I think Brand was angry too. What's collins thinking? If he doesn't want to give the hawks another look, just run the clock down and don't take these jumpers. What a fucking joke.
in basketball you rarely run a play to get a specific shot. usually you run a play to get a mismatch to attack. The Sixers got Lou Williams on a mismatch with VladRad I don't have a problem with that final call.
great thread people - even better win
really think we're better than Atlanta & the Knicks but not as good as our Western counterparts like Portland & Denver - yet.
did Turner play well despite only 5 points?
Non factor tonight. Two late buckets when the game was pretty much over. Struggled guarding McGrady in
Pretty useless first half but looked ready to go in the second. Didn't earn himself any looks because of aforementioned laziness but played more than Lou because of his D.
Collins was pissed earlier at what someone said was getting on Jodie. He was reaming his ass. Hope he does the same to all of them in the locker room. This team is not better than them, even though it doesn't say so at the moment. Unacceptable.
Sixers shooting and turnovers are why they're losing. Atlanta isn't getting o-boards, they aren't getting to the line. They're hitting way too many of those long twos. Just get your shit together on the offensive end.
Oh, and Collins didn't go to the lineup that brought them back in the last game for a single second in the first half. Not sure I understand that.
yea I thought a light would go on for collins after seeing how effective that line up was at the end of the denver game
by the way, I'm watching NOH-HOU highlights from last night's game and MAN do I wish the Sixers had a big man who could hedge the pick and get back to his man like Sam Dalembert does.
Much better to have a white, bearded malingerer at the five.
That back injury can be more advantageous every day. Business wise - not literally of course.
Don't you know that Sam Dalembert is s selfish locker room cancer who only cares about himself and if he were on this team they'd be worse than the wizards":
Please show some fucking balls and start JTIYB in the third quarter here.
did you guys know whatever lola wants lola gets?
At
At the game, they look even worse in person tonight.
Not possible. If this keeps up, the fans will do the wave and I'll have to find a new team to root for.
Display a fucking sac here? what do ya say?
i have no idea how he caught that pass
Nice hands, Voose. That ball was fired.
Well Dre at least the wasn't a jump pass on that penetration.
Vuc! let's go
Good hands Nikola
well done voose
Jrue ought to incorporate a fake on those open three's.
why? to draw the foul? if he's open, I just want him shooting them.
dont disagree with him pulling them, but I think for the misses he has, he can draw and penetrate and create, either for himself or for others, not saying to stop shooting all of em though
It's pretty sad when Vucevic is playing the best on your team
....how is it possible to miss Hawes *this* much??
As I watch this game, it feels like it's a Hawks 15 pt lead as bad as it's been, but it's only 6. Weird. They look very odd. It's so close to em, yet so far away-like.
meeks 3
4-point swing. Come on, Jrue. You can't do that shit.
Smith 0/3 on jumpers this quarter.
Bad call on EB, I'm assuming.
I don't get why jrue is always looking to score. We need a fucking pg.
I like how they keep getting tempted with the Josh Smith jumper, and he's missing them.
Joe Johnson looks so effortless.
That's because he isn't doing anything.
Jrue jumper.
I just mean his swift passes, or his flow in his court game, running off screens and such. Not that isolated play.
Meeks blows a look. ugh
Ha Meeks freaking out on the wing when he didn't get the ball on that last Jrue jumper
Jrue splash. again.
Meeks was wide open on that one, at least jrue hits it.
Shit was that a three?
did jodie just stomp like a 4 year old because jrue didn't pass hime the ball wtf
Come on. Turn it up.
Vuc.
Don't need to get it all at once, come on. Get to the hole.
Great D. Great hustle. More of that shit.
Does Andre Iguodala have any moves to get him to the rim in a half court set?
meeks!!!
Jodie three off Jrue penetration. Perfect.
COME THE FUCK ON!
OK! the crowd is here! is the team? come on!
M33KS!
Jo-3! up 2! dammit
Turner went nuts on that last Meeks three.
Then the arena ruins it with a Ke$ha track.
OMG he did it! He did it! Jrue penetrated and kicked it out! He did it! Why the fuck isn't he doing that all the time and let the scoring come to him? We would be killing teams if he would play like last year.
Well, we have been killing teams.
He's playing like he's coached to or he would have been benched - seriously folks
btw, Josh Smith shooting them out of this game w/ his long twos.
him hitting them early was a blessing in disguise i guess. i wonder if larry drew's gonna tell him to stop shooting those.
meeks again!!!!!!
JODIE!!!!!!!!!!!
How the hell did we get this lead?
We should even be in this game anymore.
But I'll take it.
That is just sick fucking defense. Holy shit.
HOLY FUCK!
The Hawks shooting has gone cold.
Meeks hasn't.
THAT is Sixer basketball!!
That's the jrue I'm loving!
Where was the foul there?
And that is the Jrue we all know and love. Perfect pick, perfect pass placement.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......... Dre yes
And that's the jrue I'm hating. Why does he do that so often this year? Run a fucking playQ!
there's our pg
Nice to see you again, Jrue. This is your game.
Vuc! dag. let's go keep it up Jrue like that
JRUE!!!
Yeah, set your teammates up, that's the way to go!
JRUE!!!!!!
Annnddddd they booo the shit out of Willie G again. even louder
Was that a left-handed full court pass from Jrue? wow
Hopefully Jrue returns to this! If he plays that way, we're tough to beat.
I cannot believe he just took Jrue out.
Dre feet splayed. Brick!
Vuc brick...
shot clock violation, more of that please
and stop taking those early threes, you should be up double digits...
Heh, Thad interrupted. Good.
Fuck you Willie.
are you kidding me, willie green
Yeah, boo Willie G!!!! shit
What's that with the former players?
Malik Rose is great btw
Pretty unhinged lead-in to the break.
not sure if rose is legitimately good or if this is just because the slop that's been sitting next to zumoff over the past two years has just been terrible.
I like him.
PHI 64, ATL 57 after three.
They won that quarter 25-10. Should've been 25-7. Willie, what a joke.
12 more minutes of work. And I do mean work. Do not fucking let up on the defense.
cotgt
Think Jrue had 3 boards, 5 assists and a steal in that run.
sky hook for thad
Knicks and Celtics each down at the half
to the bucks and suns
Good job, Lou.
Keep going to the hoop.
(Hit the freebies, please)
Thank you.
Brand is a man possessed on the o-glass tonight. Love it.
Come on.... sequence topsy turvy there
come on Lou, shit
blow out coming?
EB save! Thad second chance! let's go pour it on.
Stop w/ the jumpers.
The old school Chevy
EB block that?
Get Iguodala in there for Lou and end the game.
ET!
agree on the J's. we could be up by so much more if we'd just stop that shit.
ET!
Long two's kill momentum and break down leads Lou be fucking patient
+ 1
Thad with 14 in 14. Awesome energy.
Love that lefty long pass by Holiday to AI9 for the slam.
Marakovitz, relieved to see we won't be needing her to man the 5 spot after all.
Please put Iguodala in for Lou. Pretty please.
look jrue passed it instead of taking the shot
nice pass jrue dunk that thad
Great find by Jrue. Thad needs to finish.
Jrue with court vision!
OK, here's the lineup. Now step on the gas again and blow this shit out.
Thad, you showed up. Props.
Just keep plugging away. Don't let up. too much time.
Jrue to the line. Excellent.
jrue distributing and getting to the line love it
I love this fucking lineup. Love it.
Jrue to the stripe again. Nice move to attack like that. More please.
That should've been a dunk. Don't get overly cautious, keep distributing, Jrue.
EB with the block, Turner on the other end.
If anything, I'm happy with Thad's contract because he's been the one guy who's been ready for this game since the tip, and kept us in it in the first half.
Love that Andre has settled into his role as a transition ace. 4 slams so far on the break. World + soon to be Olympic champ = unselfish. Pay the man!
cut the carelessness please.
EB block!
ET. finish!!
Don't like that shot Jrue.
Thad!
Man oh man, maybe EB is the best center on this roster??
Wow. Brand has been a man tonight. Jrue piling up TOs.
he wont win player of the game but thad deserves credit for showing up in the 1st half
Elton Brand has got to be POTG
EB beasting! Manchild.
Sick below the radar pass by ET.
EB circa.... man
Blake Griffin Kia commercials - all of them suck
Agree. You can tell he's trying to act exactly like Will Ferrell, with whom he worked at Funny or Die. And he just doesn't pull it off.
Well, ferell is freaking brilliant - people need to see a movie like stranger than fiction to see just how good he is
doesn't help that griffin is very very ugly
Good movie. Hated the ending though.
LOVE that movie - all of it - and well - i mean - sure eveyone says secretary - but maggie gyllenhall was uber hot i think
Would really like to know why the 'second half effort' can't show up to start a game
jerry stackhouse is alive
Jrue.
Do the Hawks really have 10 turnovers and 9 made baskets in the second half so far?
10 and 10 now.
What a fucking second half.
Jrue with the cold-blooded dagger
Jrue patting the dribble J. Yep.
Thad Young's footwork inside is impeccable.
What.
a.
sudden.
blowout!
I absolutely LOVE the way Turner snatches defensive reounds...
...with ATTITUDE.
EB!!!!!!!!!!
What a fucking man, tonight. Holy shit.
the best thing to come out of this game is jrue's play in the 2nd half. Even with the turnovers he played more like the pg he is, just hope he can build on that
PHI 90, ATL 76 FINAL!
Just a superb second half. Superb. Fucking awesome.
Don't forget, though, it doesn't count. No Al Horford :)
That, was what a lot of us were asking for. Superb.
Doug ripped em huh? heh
That Jrue in the second half. That's what we need. Just awesome. Great win. Now do it again tomorrow night.
I hope they keep making Jrue watch the film from this game multiple times. Drill it in him. That's been rare form from him this year, and the team so desperately needs that, what without a big man and all.
Pretty stellar defense in the second half.
And 'that', is the team I'm used to seeing in the first 14 games.
wow, don't stay incognito for so long next time.
Friday night basketball!
Awesome second half. Great W.
No idea what happened in the first half, but the second half was a thing of beauty.
Would really like to know why the 'second half effort' can't show up to start a game
Just enjoy the second half. It's Friday night, don't dwell.
I forgot to record the darn game so really only saw the fourth - taping one of the replays
You just want to ignore the consistently bad starts :)
Great way to start the weekend.
OFR in the second half: 123.19
DFR in the second half: 70.05
15 assists on 21 FGs in 2nd H.
4 turnovers in 2H
8 OREBs, 7 steals, 4 blocks in 2H
Did it appear we just swallowed those guys? Rather quickly?
Yup. That second half was just amazing. Defense is what does it. That's the engine.
"Is Carmelo Anthony becoming a tall Allen Iverson?"
Comment by Bucks broadcaster as the bucks are building up a big lead
Down 12 and Cetics up one.
Oddly, the Iverson-size Iverson, Brandon Jennings, has been great, as he has pretty much all season.
Lou with back-to-back sub-20 minute games. If you take out Lou + Jodie from the rotation and add a defensive, deep shooting guard and steady minutes for Vuce as the 8th man then they'll be favorites for the three seed unless they suffer the Perkins Effect.
LaMarcus Aldridge with a monster night so far.
Hell of a game. Iguodala and Jrue were all over this game. Voose and Brand looked good on the boards.
Is this the first game Iguodala whore that knee brace on his right knee?
He had it on in the game Wed.
i thought he's had it all season.
Not sure. I was at the game vs. Denver and that was the first i noticed it.
I like your spelling of wore.
Sure hope AI9 noticed how many cheers there were for him tonight on the receiving end of those tosses...keep games outside of his free throw range and this time will be in mighty fine shape...excellent win, let's do this again tomorrow night!
Man, the mood swings from you guys
ready to give up on the team after a bad first quarter now all positive and stuff - seriously - should go back and read the entire threa
That's the evolution of a game - thread.
The moment constantly changes - living in the 'moment' is a bad idea
Compelling argument. Perhaps we should live in the past, which constantly stays the same.
Seriously though, what I actually think is that we scored a lot in transition in the second half off of turnovers we forced, but continued to look throughout the game like a team that will soon regress to offensive mediocrity. That said, we will finish with a much better offense than last year thanks to improvements from Jrue and Turner. I suspect we finish the season with something like the 6th defensive rating, the 14th offensive rating, end up around .600.
Haha
Yup, that's what I said isn't it
Raptors announcer who always sounds drunk talking about how crammed lockout scheduling is such a "blur" for him. Earlier he gave the opposing team the "Miller Genuine Draft Power Play of the Night" to the other team and screamed, "do you like power basketball? Then this play is for you!"
Why is this whole post-game show about Jodie Meeks?
No way BOS and NYK both lose on the same night we make sort of a statement win. I like.
The heat will be wearing odd uniforms tomorrow - hopefully not the shorts though?
The Miami Heat will jump in the ol' time machine and travel back to the 70's this weekend during ‘NBA Hardwood Classic Nights'. For Saturday and Sunday of this weekend the Heat will be wearing ABA Miami Floridians jerseys from the 1971-72 season, and enter the game to special ‘groovy' player introductions with 70's theme music. This is the second time in franchise history that the Heat will dress in the Floridians uniforms
That was the Jrue I have been waiting all year to see; he had the look of a leader out there and ran the show. I guess we will hear how Horford was out now by the doubters. We looked real good defensively with Elton and Vuce together in spite of the early offensive woes.
Well what I'd really like to point out is that maybe spencer isn't as important (or good) as the early season over reactors were saying?
Not as good but still as important. Makes decisions a lot quicker on offense than Vuce and his absence is likely the reason for their stagnation there.
But maybe the 'give him a long term deal' insanity will knock off
I have to say less Lou and less Spence may prove to be the way to go.
I think Lou proved it tonight. How he started the season appears to have been a mirage which is so disappointing but I guess should have been expected.
I think Lou is realizing that the future is JTI in the guts of the game, and he won't get the minutes and premium burn that he needs to get PAID if he exercises his option this summer.
Yep, those two guys manning the big spots were noticeable. Jrue was something you've never seen before this year, in any game. His assists should be near that every single night.
Hey look - sixers highlight is the 'game update' on ESPN game break - can't remember the last time I saw that happen
Jennings killing the Knicks Carmelo getting mad just got thrown out the game lol Knicks suck
What did he do? I love watching the Knicks lose, this Time Warner/MSG thing is killing me.
Celts lose also, beautifull. Brian, do you think Collins will change all the dribble handoff stuff when Hawes comes back if Jrue earns his trust more ?
I think he'll probably mix it up, which is fine. Jrue doesn't have to be Rondo, I'm fine with him being a finisher for stretches, it's better to have options. Tonight was important because they've looked lost a lot in the half court w/out that set w/ Hawes as the pivot out past the foul line.
What a sad realization it will be when they seen how poorly they chose Big Three and begin the dismantling.
Jennings hit a 3 on him should have been a and one Jennings said something to Carmelo Carmelo didn't like it both got hit with technicals after Carmelo got in his face Carmelo kept going on and got tossed Jennings had like 38 points lol I love seeing the Knicks lose
Just got home from the game. This may have been mentioned earlier, but Dre got a nice ovation when they announced his 1,000th steal. 5th all time for the Sixers behind Iverson, Charles, Doc, and Mo (forget what order they are in). That is pretty damn impressive to be mentioned with those players and I was proud of our fans for that. It almost made up for the boos after he missed a foul shot in the first half.
Good for him, those four are nothing to sneeze at. Arguably the four greatest; no disrespect to Greer, Wilt and few others.
Gortat with 24 pts, 12 rebs, and 2 blocks. Otis Smith is an idiot.
I seriously wonder if Phil Jackson would consider joining the Sixers in a couple of years after Collins wears out and the Sixers get more mature.
Jackson always talks about his dream of having a perfect team offense. His triangle was designed on that principle. Maybe he'll join the Sixers because he recognizes how much of a team we are.
A man can dream.
Just get Dwight Howard this summer. If that happens, Doug will be here for 5 more years.
Is it really that far-fetched that Howard wouldn't want to come here? Those glamour cities, that's what they are, glamour. A near-contender should be more enticing. How can Philly not be looked at like that? The storied history is evident. The off-court accolades will come, in due time. Endorsements, pub and all.
It's all still a dream until the trade deadline passes.
Not so much a dream, just a pertinent thought.
As Thorn and Collins keep saying, some free agent may decide to come whether it is Dwight or not. This may be wrong to say but part of me wants Elton here when this team finally gets there even in a smaller role for less money.
He will never fully earn the "Philly max" but he is becoming part of this teams' storied history in a lot of positive ways.
What positive ways do you speak of pertaining to the history aspect?
Smaller role? It's kind of insignificant now, no?
In a D.Dawkins or C.Jones kinda way he is helping to get this team to a certain level but may have to go to get the missing piece. [Moses/Dwight?]
It's very easy to look at us and think we're not a near contender. Now, maybe that's wrong, but I think the average observer of the NBA - and Howard doesn't strike me as a terribly astute guy, so what the average observer would think is the relevant question here - looks at the Sixers and sees a guy who was supposed to evolve into a big scorer and failed, a fairly promising, very young point guard in a league full of equally promising point guards, and some nice bench scorers in Thad and Lou, and they think that's not enough help for Howard to win with. In reality, we'd probably have the best defense in the league and a good enough offense that we could easily contend. But most people will think he has a better chance of winning with Kobe or with Williams. And they might be right; if you look at the past 20 championship teams, it's easy enough to come to the conclusion that Howard's not good enough to be the focal point of a championship team's offense and that he needs to team up with a really potent swingman in order to win.
How is it very easy to look at this team and say that? In the utmost context of "team"? I'm aware you attempted to qualify it with 'maybe that's wrong', but how do you arrive at that conclusion? 15 games in?
It's easy, you just say it's a flukishly hot start. I doubt Howard watches our games, and by the end of the year he'll just see a .600 or so team in the standings.
Who mentioned Howard?
The guy I was replying to who said that Howard could easily sign with us because he'd see us as a near-contender. I sure don't think we're a near-contender in any sense other than the this team + mega-superstar sense. Other than adding Howard or someone of that ilk, this team simply won't turn into a contender. Anyway, what I was saying is that even in the one superstar away sense of near-contention, a lot of people would look at this team and say we don't qualify.
I think it's nonsense to assume that a player would have no idea of a potential teams composition. Even if he isn't familiar with it first hand, I'm sure he would have very knowledgeable folks around him that can say more than "Deron. Nuff said." and fully elaborate the details of his suitors.
The plain honest truth about the 76ers is they have a really good coach and staff who are equally able as teachers and game-planners, both before and during games via adjustments. Their core of Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holiday, Thaddeus Young, and Evan Turner are both youthful and battle tested. He'll have a capable backup in Nikola Vucevic who brings a vastly different, and complimentary, skill set. The owners are said to be willing to pay for a winner and want to bring glory back to Philadelphia basketball. The city is a big market known for backing its stars and supporting winning teams.
If Orlando doesn't trade him and if Deron goes to Dallas, i say that there is a really good chance we'll sign him. If i had to bet money on Dwight's future destination it would be NJ
Thad was so strong throughout that whole game, but how do you not also consider Jrue and EB for POTG? Thad looked like the only one to show up for a brief period. EB was extraordinary though.
Cousins looks very good today. 17 (on 12 shots), 12 and 2, 4 steals, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls. Depressed Fan fave LMA also with a good night to say the least, 33, 23 and 5.
That was a great second half of basketball. Enjoying my friday night.
+1