The day we've all been waiting for is upon us. Willie Green, the scourge of Broad Street for so long, is finally bringing his talents back to South Philly. By the time this post is up, I'll be on my way down to the WFC to watch the glory of Willie Green playing against the Sixers. This will be your game thread.
I know, I know, Willie was a good guy and in his last two seasons in Philly he wasn't nearly as destructive as he was earlier in his career, but I still think of the Willie trade as a watershed moment for this franchise.
New Orleans started the season on fire, but they've since sunk like a rock. They come into Philly having lost 7 of their last 10 games, and a couple of those losses came at the hands of truly awful teams. Chris Paul has been outstanding, as usual, but his supporting cast has completely let him down. Let's take a look at the matchups.
- PG: Jrue Holiday vs. Chris Paul
- SG: Jodie Meeks vs. Marco Belinelli
- SF: Andre Iguodala vs. Trevor Ariza
- PF: Elton Brand vs. David West
- C: Spencer Hawes vs. Emeka Okafor
Obviously, you pay the price of admission to see Chris Paul, and how Jrue Holiday handles him (or doesn't). On the other end, the Sixers should look to post Jrue up on CP3. It's going to be critical for Jrue to stay out of foul trouble, something he's struggled with this season. Two defensive keys: (1) Handling the P&R. David West loves to shoot jumpers off the pick-and-pop. I'd look to steer New Orleans in that direction, it's much better than the alternative. (2) Controlling the defensive glass. Okafor isn't exactly a dominant center, but he's more than capable of pushing Hawes around and grabbing a handful of offensive boards. I'd consider putting Brand on him.
On the offensive end, I think Brand will be able to work on West. It's kind of a shame that Meeks is starting at the two, because Belinelli is a terrible defender, but a catch-and-shoot guy like Meeks isn't really going to take advantage of that, not in the same way Iguodala (or the guy we hope Turner will eventually become) would. I'd like to see Turner get some burn when Belinelli is on the floor, or Willie for that matter.
Prediction: Sixers 96, Hornets 93
This is your game thread, I'll be at the game so please keep it civil. If you'll be at the game as well, I'm in section 113 down on the floor, stop by at the half to commiserate or rejoice. By the way, I'm going to keep predicting a close win until it happens.
My wrap will be up late tonight, probably after the Eagles game, this afternoon we'll have our weekly Sixers Around the Web column from GoSixers.
For those Vegas lovers out there....this game is either a PK or Hornets -1 in all books. Sixers are 9-1 in their last 10 games ATS. Pretty amazing that hasn't translated into a better record.
Wonder if there will be a Marcus Thornton siting today; he seems to be a smaller version of Spieghts for them, and in both cases, what a waste of talent.
Brackins is back from D-League.
Column: Speights must get his act together:
http://ow.ly/3nQra
Video: Collins on the Sixers recalling Brackins from the D-League, Holiday facing Paul:
http://ow.ly/3nS9i
I said it in the summer and everyone here disagreed with me. Evan Turner is a SF, that's his best position in the NBA. With Turner at SF and Jrue at the point the perfect SG would be someone like say a Jodie Meeks. Lol, I Love Jodie!
You may be right, but if that is true he will never be the great player many thought he could be. He would be a shorter version of Lamar Odom if that is the case, which isn't necessarily bad but without Odom's length he's a much less valuable player.
Enjoy Chris Paul while we can before he goes the way of Brandon Roy
What do you mean by that exactly? injuries?
Jodie and Jrue looking aggressive early. The defense seems sort of lax though.
Hawes with the spin-lefty-hook. He didn't even fade away all that much.
big day for Thad if the energy level/pace stays like this
Jrue seems pretty nifty with the dribble today.
Hawes defending the paint well. Almost got his second block there.
holy cow Eddie did you see Jodie's handle right there? yikes
Dag Lou, two guys open to kick it to for open three's and he forces it, but gets fouled.
Derek and Brian are both in my line of sight. What a thing.
are they eating popcorn together?
Derek is in press area one row from me -- Brian has a second-row seat near midcourt (only row in front is the heavy hitters). Neither eating that I can see.
Hilarious.. if she fell that or dropped something that would have made a great gif
Dre for three. His jumper looks good so far.
Wow... what a slam.. this crowd is so lame
I'm pretty hypocritical saying that when I'm a subway ride away... but I spent way too much money this weekend already
thad with the Hammer.
They need to put the foot on the pedal harder here and go ahead and bury these guys. NO doesn't appear to have come to play today.
Love the rebounding effort from this smallish group
NO 5-for-27 from field (0-for-6 in 2nd quarter)
Turner is aliiiiiiiiiiiiive
Was that a double dribble by iggy lol?
Pit bull scrapping for that board! ha
Jesus Lou I hate you so much.. only idiot on the team right now (maybe Speights too)
What the eff Lou? He's got to stay in there though b/c Jrue has 2 fouls. ugh
NO is 1-20 so far in this quarter w/ a minute to play. 15% for the game.
Will they even get to 60?
Only up by 22? Feels like we should be up by 40. They only have 6 made fg's but 14 ft attempts. Only one assist but we have 13 assists on 18 made.
NO has to make a run right? The Sixers never make it easy.
just wondering if Hornets' 1 assist in a half is an all time record.
It should be, I think/hope
Good timeout Doug, we look sluggish here to start the third.
Wow, an 8 sec violation.....E Snow is cracking the hell up about it b/c it was off a missed free throw...lol
Good charge taken by Meeks, beating Paul to the spot. 4 on Paul.
Does Brian have on a red Sixers sweatshirt/jacket w/ white lettering/stripes?
Yep, that was me.
EB has been all over the o-boards today.
Nice pass by Thad on a rope to Dre with the shot clock at one. For a dunk.
Just awesome watching this game... The Hornets obviously are completely out of it but we are a good team.. Must give so much credit to Collins and the players for buying in
Arguably our most convincing win, but in a weird way it seems our most boring also.
Are we becoming that good of a team? Or was NO just that disinterested in playing today?
I think somewhere in between - we're getting close to being consistent in the good department, but NO was just atrocious probably b/c of the noon start.
Agreed, it looked like NO didn't want to be there. To the sixers' credit, they capitalized. I thought Jrue, Brand, and Iggy were especially good today.
Wow great game!!!
Stat of the night for me is not the terrible shooting of the Hornets, but the 24 assists on 33 FGs. And that's against a very solid defensive team that are the Hornets, on a mediocre shooting night. The defense is clearly massively improved over last year, but i am really surprised just how much the offense has improved over the past few games.
Stat of the year: We have now officially outscored our oppoenents this year. And our record is 7 games below 500.......
crazy
If someone had told you before the game that there would be 24 assists on 33 made fg's, wouldn't you have thought it would be the NOH?
This team is playing so much better than last year.
New Jersey:
102-86, W
Portland:
88-79, W
Atlanta:
93-88, L
Charlotte:
109-91, W
Cleveland:
117-97, W
Boston:
102-101, L
New Orleans:
88-70, W
99 PPG (Sixers) vs 88 PPG (Opponents)
That's pretty impressive for such a young team. This 9 game road trip is going to say a lot. I hope we can go at least .500 to stay afloat.
And let it be told, this should have easily been our 7th straight win.
Not only that, but also thinking about the two absurd Wizards collapses - this team should be +.500 right now.
Great to see they are still pushing and not hanging their heads after a lot of tough breaks.
Video: Lou Williams on the Sixers' 88-70 win Sunday over the Hornets:
http://ow.ly/3nVD6
I find it funny that Lou joked about playing noon games...if there's one player who clearly hates them, it's Lou - the team's biggest partier. He's off to AC tonight already.
I didn't watch - how did Turner score his 7 points? Honestly that's all I really care about.
He actually hit a 3. He also had a long pull up 2 off the dribble. Didn't see his other 2 points.
All jumpers.
This was an awesome defensive performance, lead by your POG Andre Iguodala (though Brand was good again).
Stat of the game: 3 boards for Willie! Who would have guessed? Great to see him shoot the way we all know he can though. Our record could be better, but 2 very winnable games now with the Nets on the road and Clips at home. This team is going to be late in the lottery regardless, so I wanna try to make the playoffs.