If you're into excuses, you'll have your pick tonight when the Sixers attempt to protect their home court minus their entire center rotation. If you're into wins, this team needs to find a way to make up for the absence of Hawes, Vucevic and possibly Brand and put the Wizards out of their misery, again.
It's already been confirmed the Voose and Hawes will miss tonight's game. Elton Brand is considered a game-time decision (with stomach problems). If those three guys are our, or even if Brand plays, the Sixers are probably going to have to make some schematic adjustments to take the Wizards down.
They're always an outside-in defense, meaning they focus their defense on their perimeter players. They use a lot of rotation, they close out on three-point shooters, they double down on the post, they switch a lot of things on the perimeter. This is all designed to keep guys out of the paint, and minimize the damage done by opposing bigs. I'm sure you've heard Doug Collins talk about keeping teams in the yard (the restricted area is the house, the three-point line is the fence, you want to keep their shots in between the two, so long twos). I think maybe tonight you worry a little bit less about guarding the three-point line, and focus a little bit more on the lane. If there was ever a team to do it against, it's the Wizards. Nick Young is currently leading the Wiz in three-point accuracy at 35.1%. Take a look at the percentages for the other guys on the team who attempted at least 8: John Wall, 0% on 8 attempts; Jordan Crawford, 29% on 51 attempts; Rashard Lewis, 24% on 33 attempts; Chris Singleton, 32% on 31 attempts; Shelvin Mack, 33% on 9 attempts; Roger Mason, 25% on 16 attempts. As a team, they shoot below 30% from three.
Obviously, you don't want to let guys like Young and even Rashard Lewis get wide-open corner threes, but at the same time, if you're having problems keeping the Wizards off the glass, or McGee's height is giving you fits, I'd think about really packing the defense in. Clog the lane, and live with the kick outs when you double McGee or slide over to cut off penetration.
I don't think Tony Battie has 30 minutes left in his legs, so no matter who plays, expect to see Lavoy Allen get some burn tonight. Expect to see Andres Nocioni see some time at the four. Hopefully, Collins will buy some time by using Iguodala at the four and Turner at the three. The key here should be finding creative ways to use combinations of the healthy perimeter guys to mask the dearth of able-bodied bigs. Iguodala can guard Andray Blatche and Trevor Booker. Turner, Iguodala and Jrue can team up to keep them competitive on the defensive glass. Go with the eccentric lineups, get by on the defensive ends, then attack on offense.
This game won't be as easy as it should've been, but those are the breaks in the NBA. It's imperative they find a way to pull this one out.
The tip is at 7pm. I'll be right here throughout. Join me if you want to see the Sixers play 3 guys who don't belong in the NBA vs. about 7 guys on the Wizards who shouldn't be in the NBA.
Prediction: PHI 94, WAS 80
It would be amusing to see a Jrue Lou Turner Iguodala Thad lineup. Certainly would lead to some interesting matchups on both ends.
Thad on McGee, yikes. Though I really don't think they have anyone on their team capable of exploiting a mismatch, outside of Wall. Just keep Jrue on Wall and you could definitely make that lineup work against WASH. Someone asked Collins that at the shootaround this morning, he basically said they might go super small for a little while, but you can't do that for any amount of time. He mixed that in between saying you can never have too many big guys about 25 times. Guess Thorn got the message.
Eccentric lineups = Small lineups
Smaller than small.
Eddie Jordan's wet dream
Lavoy Allen must play tonight.
sounds like brand is going to try to play
Past 6 games for Dalembert- 15.3 pts, 2.67 blocks, 11.3 rebounds.
Horrible, locker room cancer, terrible person, kills puppies
Also - he eats kittens
Every minute he plays another angel looses their wings and plummets.
Man - those angles really need to learn to keep their wings tight.
Francisco Elson apparently averaged more minutes than Fesenko last year when they played together in Utah.
Well, Lavoy gets his chance tonight. Really hope he doesn't have to play more than 1 or 2 games.
First of all we don't need and need did need Dalembert. He is garbage and gave us nothing. His presence is not missed. Unfortunately I think the author (Brian?) hit it right on when he said tonight we'll see 3 guys who don't belong in the NBA vs 7 guys who don't belong there. We should win this handily even w/o Brand, Hawes, or Voose.
BTW, fans will note Miami got embarrassed one night after our disappointing loss to them. They're win over us was part fluke, but more than anything else our fault.
(Sorry the loss to a quality team ie Den, Mia still burns)
First of all we don't need and need did need Dalembert. He is garbage and gave us nothing. His presence is not missed.
I agree with this 100i(squared) percent
Whoohoo! High school math!
Another easy win that will tell us nothing about the Sixers. Though surprisingly, even after the recent losses, we still lead the league in pythag, defensive rating, bk ref's Simple Rating System, and are 4th in offensive rating. Other oddities from the basketball reference leader board:
The Bulls are third in the league in offense (and 2nd in defense). This in spite of 5 missed games for Rose and a second scorer, Deng, with a .500 TS%. They lead the league in offensive rebound percentage, and that seems to be the driver.
Shumpert's second in the league in steals and steal percentage. Iguodala and Jrue are 8th and 10th and steals, Iguodala, Thad and Jrue are 10th, 13th and 17th in steal percentage.
Deng leads the league in total minutes.
Ryan Anderson and Jodie Meeks are first and second in the league in turnover percentage. Lou is 10th.
Anderson's second in the league in win shares per minute, offensive win shares.
Chandler leads the league in TS%, Splitter is 4th, Chalmers 6th, Nash 7th, Harden 8th, Mo Williams (!) 9th, Meeks 19th.
Anderson's 6th in PER, Monroe is 10th, Lou is 12th. Melo is 13th, suggesting that PER is a lousy stat.
A quarter through the season, five guys are shooting over 50% from three - Brewer, Allen, Sefolosha, Brandon Rush, and Ginobili.
Cousins is third in the league in rebounding percentage, first in offensive rebounding percentage.
Bismack leads the league in block percentage. Hawes is 13th.
Barbosa's 8th in the league in usage. Lou is 14th.
Tonight's opponent's leading scorer on his many haters, in a recent interview with Dime:
Dime: Some guys have criticized you, saying you only like to score the ball. What do you think about that, and how do you respond to that criticism?
NY: Hey man, there’s a lot of haters out there, for real. They tell me I’m dribbling too much, I need to learn how to come off screens, how to do that. I’ma just keep working hard. That’s the definition of Swaggy P.
Dime Magazine, making us all dumber, one page at a time
Fortunately some of us are smart enough that we're impervious to Dime Mag's dumbing down influences and can just read it (or occasionally glance at an article, as the case may be) for amusement. Also in NBA news today, Baron Davis practices, tells Howard Beck of the New York Times that he's still so out of shape that "I couldn't play dead right now in a movie if I was asked to."
And some people just really can't get any dumber
Sixers Monday pregame interview: Doug Collins on there being "no excuses" despite injuries to big men Hawes and Vucevic:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/blogs/sports_columnists/tom_moore/doug-collins/youtube_97c9c2ee-73d7-5499-b7ac-6e3cbf3ce02b.html
Rod Thorn via email: Elson not working out for Sixers tomorrow. "Maybe in a couple days."
Good to know they're getting right on it.
They say if you play with fire you'll get burnt. Guess they want to see if they can get charred first.
I guess Elson called him.
too good ... lol!
Guys, I'm not sure about this one. McGee almost killed us the last time, and we'll be softer and smaller today. I think the injuries affect the collective energy of our team. Overall, I've just a bad feeling. :S
Hey Rodney King Thorn!..i'll come work out tomorrow u don't have to wait a couple days!
So I'm guessing Battie, EB, AI9, Meeks and Holiday to start.
I've got Sixers broadcast in HD on LP, nice.
sixer lose the tip, i know the game hasnt started yet
sixers*
I am really worried about this game with all the injuries. Hopefully, the healthy guys will step up and figure out a way to win this one.
Sixers going w/ the startling lineup I guessed.
Washington puts Rashard Lewis and Booker in there for Singleton and Blatche. Kind of a mixed bag. Or maybe I got wrong info off twitter.
And we're off...Battie loses the tip. The team is 1-18 on the season (1/19 if you count ceremonial tips).
Blatche is starting re-replacing Booker.
There we go, turnover into a dunk on the opening position. About 20 more of those.
Andre w/ his 1st steal. He had a lot of them last time vs them I think.
EB!
Turnover, Wall 20-footer, Blatche 22-footer.
Keep that defense up.
Contested Young three, missed. Good D.
gotta finish that eb
Jodie should have given the foul there.
Agreed. He's not going to be in there long enough to use 'em all.
Ugh, Meeks. Two good looks, missed 'em both. EB w/ the o-board on the second.
AI9 step-back. Don't love the shot, good result.
EB. Is this a zone by WAS?
Andre just smothered Nick Young, literally. heh
what the hell?
Uh, Jrue that was a bit high.
OK Jrue, let that be the first and last one. Careless pass.
Meeks with the flop
Jodie w/ a first-class flopola.
There you go Jodie, pick up where you left off the last Wizards game.
And another one!
Jodie for the three.
Great D by Jrue robbing Wall.
Another three for Jrue.
Good basketball.
Another three for Jodie, not Jrue.
Guess the fans are still suffering from the letdown in MIA.
Jo-3! x2
That, and they don't want to pay good money to see the Wizards play.
back to back 3's by jodie
Brian maybe u should switch to direct TV I get sixers in HD 95 percent of the time
Wish I could. Can't put a dish on the building.
Damn that sucks u live in Brooklyn right
Yeah, I'm stuck w/ Time Warner, can't get Fios either.
Love how Evan is leading the cheers from the bench everytime Jodie readies to launch one.
3 guys contesting M33ks: https://p.twimg.com/Aj4hplyCAAEwALb.png ^^
(via bulletsforever.com game thread)
Block on Jrue, but man he was quick getting over there, almost another TO.
Potential triple-double night for Iguodala. They'll need his rebounding and he already has 4 assists
Gosh, Blatche is such a terrible player to watch. I'd hate myself as a Wizards fan having to watch him on a nightly basis.
Brand looks great considering he was having gastro issues all day.
Heck of a start here. Good to see after that meltdown 4th in MIA.
Great ball movement in transition, Brand gets the J as the trailer.
Jrue w/ the J.
Transition clinic being put on here.
Lou is the first off the bench at the next stoppage.
Brand again.
Where is Spiller with the obligatory "Collins hates Turner" comment?
Asleep at the wheel, apparently.
Hell of a two man game from Dre and EB there. EB with the swish.
lou in for jrue
and Thad for EB.
He stuck w/ the starters longer than usual. No slow start tonight, starters +13 in their run.
Please dont' forget Elton brand after the first quarter
lou on wall
And Wall settles for a jumper. He's 2/6 so far, w/ a couple turnovers.
The Wiz can't save themselves from shooting J's. You'd think they'd maybe try an entry pass or two to McGee w/ Battie on him.
Meeks catch and shoot. I'd prefer if that was a three, but I'll take it.
Lavoy sighting early. whoa
lavoy allen at center
Lavoy in here early.
Lou should've gotten a whistle there, he got hammered.
How easy was that for Thad?
Thad making people look foolish already
"The helpless John Wall." Zumoff w/ the comment of the day.
I can't believe it. Thad actually went right on that break. Though he still scoop-shot it w/ his left hand.
Meeks, that's lazy defense. Move your feet.
blatche has a chance to back down allen, settles for a jumper
Fortunately he almost always does that :)
Lou for a free pair of freebies on the loose ball foul.
Well, can the Wiz make it to 65?
they only scored 4 pts the last half of that quarter. nice
PHI 33, WAS 14 after one.
Pretty demonstrative ass kicking in the first 12 minutes. Show me 24 more of those and Lavoy can play the entire fourth with Noc and Brackins.
Great defensive effort.
Washington is.... not good
Great quarter by the whole first unit. Got their hands on everything defensively, ran a clinic on how to properly run the floor offensively.
Yup, i think it's safe to say they decided to show up tonight for their injured buddies.
A Lavoy Allen sighting in the first quarter and it feels OK :)
Javale's first touch inside and he gets to the line. Maybe want to exploit that Flip?
See - I knew Flip wouldn't see the advantage :)
That's really mind-boggling from a Wizards point of view... :S
Lavoy with the Spencer-esque J!
Allen 20-footer, good. Let that be the last of those he takes..ever.
he made another one
Evan w/ a nice drifting pullup J.
Turner makes from the baseline. He dribbled into a harder shot there.
Well, Jrue went for it.
I love the attack, but he looked like he could have used the rim to shield him from McGee. He very often rims out on those attempts for lefty flushes.
Dag Jrue, almost yanked that one.
Allen hits another J.
Lavoy with the hawesome J.
30 minutes for Lavoy would be a good indicator for the Sixers, I think.
Nice o-board by Lavoy there.
Allen looks a tad to aggressive sort of on defense. He's fronting the post and very aggressive on the help. Maybe he's sort of just going to fast on the rotations?
On offense, he's done a nice job though.
nice pass lavoy
Wow, great pass by Lavoy.
Uh-oh! Lavoy w/ a nice head-fake and then assist to Thad. Heck of a look and pass.
Jodie just completely rushed that airball.
Jodie, just take the three.
Turner can't let Roger Mason blow by him like that.
Good ball movement, assist from ET to Thad.
Great transition ball for the Thad dunk after ET one-hands a rebound over two Wizards.
Good in-traffic dish from Jrue to Thad.
OK, here's the killer lineup.
Great feed by Jrue to Thad for the layup.
long 2 for jrue
Jrue. Take a step back and hit it, but I'll take it.
Man the Wizards could really use Lavoy. They need ANY kind of help and Lavoy looks better than all of them sso far :)
Wall just plays so under control. It's really pretty to watch.
turner for 3
Turner corner three off the drive and kick by Jrue. Nice.
Hell of a find and dish from Jrue to Evan for the J!
Heh, Jrue.
Jrue looks to be back in pretty good rhythm.
As does Evan.
Turner with the Iverson-esque crossover on Wall. I bet he loved that after getting drafted after him
Corner three looking a lot better for Turner. Smart for him to focus on it.
take a look at the supplemental numbers for JTI
3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl for J
2 reb, 8 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk for I
3 reb, 3 ast for T.
I love watching those guys play together.
Super small lineup here.
JRUE +1! Nice.
Holiday w/ the continuation. Way too long continuation.
shh.
Ugh, they're free, Jrue.
they're free!!!!
what is with the fuckin free throws this year
On that 2nd free throw Evan looked to have his guide hand back around in front of the ball. Wish i could see it again...
JRUE43!!!!!!!!!!
AI9's 9th assist on the no-look kick out to Jrue.
Jrue ..... SPLASH!!
ET steal .... ahhhhhhhhh he didn't get it off in time, thought he was gonna float it up there.
PHI 62, WAS 32 at the half.
Yeah, I'll take a 30-point lead into the break.
Sick defense on Wall by Jrue, w/ ET swooping in for the steal before he got rejected by the rim at the buzzer :).
So far so good for not letting up against inferior opponents this week.
That's what you do to a bad team.
If you can get this type of play from both Turner and Meeks, watch out.
The Closing Time lineup pushed the lead by 7 in 3:50 of action.
I think my screen just started blinking.
Missed three free throws and missed a dunk by 1 second in that span as well.
Money and all, i cannot believe Saunders can endure a few more of these games. He will resign if this continues.
Sixers 1st quarter point total - 33
Wizards 1st HALF point total - 32
...some good shit right there
20 dimes on 26 made. Loving that.
Kelly'sDad: "Iggy is such a scrub. He only scored 2 points!"
Should I sort of be rooting for the Celts tonight?
Never.
I'm going to have to root for the fucking Giants in the Super Bowl, again. Feel so dirty.
You just dislike the Pats that bad or something? I don't like the Pats but I can't root for the Giants.
I hate Brady more the LMA and Cousins combined.
I care more about keeping the division lead, although I'm not worried about the celtics.
YES!!!
Not allowed.
Wall with a representative -29 in the first half.
Washington in-studio halftime guy: "Let's check out some actual "action" around the league, cause what we just watched doesn't qualify as that."
Ugh. That's hard.
Alright, no letdown. Put this game away right here.
I know I should watch the second half, because during the lockout I would have killed to watch this, but highly doubt I make it far into this half. Terrible fandom by me.
It's much much easier to watch when it's on tape - fast forwarding through th ecommercials (and free throw attempts) is awesome
Heh, Blatche almost walks, then takes the shitty jumper anyway.
roger mason instead of nick young
Jrue.
I would love to see a replay of how these cats beat OKC. How in the world?
Jrue J.
EB.
Didn't need to switch that one between AI and JH.
Um, call the foul there on EB! damn
Jrue with a sick feed for EB. AI9 turnover in transition. Don't get sloppy.
Jodie 3, 10 dimes for AI9.
Dre 10. Meeks 3.
I just shits and giggles love games like this. So selfish.
Whoa, from that camera shot I think 11 more fans trickled in at the half.
In the Recap of yesterdays' games they said that Deron Williams never had a triple double. That's astonishing.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pgl_finder.cgi?request=1&player=&match=career&year_min=&year_max=2012&age_min=0&age_max=99&team_id=&opp_id=&is_playoffs=N&game_num_min=0&game_num_max=99&game_month=&game_location=&game_result=&is_starter=&is_active=Y&is_hof=&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&c1stat=pts&c1comp=gt&c1val=10&c2stat=ast&c2comp=gt&c2val=10&c3stat=trb&c3comp=gt&c3val=10&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=pts
Iguodala needs to get to 10 points.
free throws!!!!!!!!!!
6/14 from the line? Yeah, that's unacceptable.
Still don't get why Andre struggles so mightily with darn free throws. They're just not even close some of the time. Long, short, off-aim. ugh
Jrue should've just pumped the three. Need to know the shot clock when you catch the ball there.
Has Jrue hit the rim on any of those jumpers?
ha, he didn't hit rim on that one - at all
Didn't hit the rim on that one either.
Collins is fucking pissed at that shot by Jrue.
Ugh, no need for Jrue to shoot that w/ his left from the right side of the basket. He helped McGee get the block sort of.
Annnnnd Jrue casually goes SPLASH again!
This is a laugher, but I don't like the energy right now.
Wall should have T'd up there for hanging on the rim. Spare me...
sorry if this was mentioned already but the sixers are working out francisco elson tomorrow, for whatever that's worth.
He called Thorn back?
i don't know maybe, elson is just going to end up taking what used to be speights minutes
Yeah, they do appear to have let up a bit.
Run something for Brand.
Hit the freebies, Thad.
Evan w/ a whip-pass to Lavoy!
Nice feed by ET, nice finish by Lavoy.
Lavoy Allen. 4th string brigade. Gotta love it.
Jesus, Thad.
FREE!!!!!!! THROWS
Crawford finished that, but active D on that possession.
nice the sixers field goal % is better than their free throw %
I wish Thad would watch tape of Lou and how he initiates and absorbs contact.
Wow, nice move by Lavoy!
sissy hook for all
Lavoy Allen, you can only hope to contain him. Or just let him play vs the Wiz.
Don't like the Thad contested J. Should've driven.
PHI 85, WAS 58 after three.
Lost the third quarter. Interested to see if Collins just empties the bench here at the start of the fourth, or if he goes for a run to put them to bed.
We actually lost that quarter. Dag.
potg is gonna be hard tonight, kind of
Blow it up
Meeks off the curl. and-one. with the rare assist from Thad.
Jodie +1.
Liked that play, Turner on the near low block, w/ the curl behind it. Good job by Thad to wait for the better pass.
I like this Seraphin kid.
stop the ball, Lou. That's terrible.
EB back in up by 23?
Has Thad every had 4 assists and 7 FTA in the same game before?
Dre 3! swish
Ugh, 10,108 in attendance tonight.
AI943.
Don't like those two early shots from Turner there.
At what point do you get EB rested for Wed night?
Noc or Brack time.
Up 20 w/ 6 minutes to go. It's safe now, but I don't think Collins likes the way they've been playing. He may not rest them yet.
How about a quick spurt of stifling defense. Push it 25+, then take the rest of the night off.
Thought he was going w/ closing time there, but yanked Turner instead of Lou. Deservedly.
Jrue, nice.
Looks like Collins is just trying out combinations to see what he can/can't use if these big guys stay out.
Jrue!
and I say that b/c he pulled ET for Thad not even a few seconds out of a timeout
here it is. Up by 20 he goes w/ closing time.
And now he brings ET right back in for Lou.
Turner corner three around and out!
These fans love Big Macs more than anything that happened in the game. Sad. Loudest they've been all night. I thought they just showed up or something...
I'd sure prefer a 20-point win.
I'd prefer we not get our ass handed to us this quarter, so far we have. I mean, if he's going to keep the studs in and all.
Lavoy!!! Still perfect from the field!
Everyone clog your arteries tomorrow! 100 pts!
Lavoy sends them home happy. Didn't see a foul there.
Get a stop, keep it at 20.
There you go.
Jan Vesely has shown me absolutely nothing in every WAS game I've seen this year. Seems like a complete waste of a lottery pick to me.
Now, THAT, is what you want to see coming off a road thrashing and down 1st and 2nd string centers. Good job.
PHI 103, WAS 83 Final.
Pretty bad second half, but they got it done. Can't complain about a 20-point win.
Need suggestions for POTG. The rook?
EB for setting the tone early.
Winner.
Just thinking about that - EB early, and being sick and all and he came in to settle things late, Dre for just taking over early setting guys up, Meeks for being efficient, Thad for stat-stuffing, Jrue for daggering everybody that tried to check him tonight, Lavoy for stepping up big in his limited minutes perfect from the field. Too hard, I don't know.
lavoy allen had more rebounds then mcgee
Didn't catch the game till the 4th quarter. How did we limit JaVale to 2 points? I love how Nocioni didn't get any minutes in a 34 point game
Flip limited him, and John Wall, and Blatche. They were gunning early when he was actually in the game. Went to him in the 2nd quarter I think two times when Lavoy was guarding him and that's it.
Flip really needs to be fired, sure they're immature and bad, but they have no offense and they had a dinstinct advantage tonight they ignored
Even though it was the Wizards, Allen showed very well tonight. If they only need him for 10 minutes a night for a week or so, he'll do. His biggest problem was how lethargic he can play at times. Hard to have little energy when you only play a little.