Late night, west coast, Friday night, game thread. Can't think of a better way to start the weekend than Sixers at Warriors.
The Warriors are getting deadly-efficient scorer from two point guards and two power forwards. Steph Curry and David Lee headline the starters, while Jarret Jack and Carl Landry are carrying the second unit. On the periphery, Klay Thompson is heaving better than 7 threes a game at a rate approaching 38%.
The Warriors push the pace and lean on those five players to carry the scoring load. On the defensive end, they're pretty much average (which is a tremendous improvement in Oakland). Here's the thing about the Warriors, though. Curry, Lee and Landry are all tremendous defensive liabilities, and they really don't have a legit paint-protector on their roster with Andrew Bogut occupying his usual spot on the end of the bench in a bad suit.
Here's the formula for beating the Warriors on the offensive end. Attack their shaky perimeter defenders, get into the lane and finish with little-to-no resistance from David Lee and Landry. Here's a formula for how to lose this game. Let David Lee and Landry continue to dominate the offensive glass.
Curry, Thompson and Jack are all very good three-point shooters. Two types of threes seem to hurt more than any other: open threes in transition and threes off offensive boards. The Sixers perimeter guys need to do a good job of not only getting back on defense, but not getting sucked into the lane. They need to stay with their men out past the three-point line and trust the bigs will hustle back to close off the paint. They also need to make sure they don't get caught leaking out on the defensive end until the defensive board is secured. Lee and Landry will work the offensive glass mercilessly, and their guards will be lurking, looking for the kickout to turn a zero-point possession into three.
The Sixers have done a decent job keeping Steph Curry under wraps in his five career games against them, Jrue has had a ton of success, shooting 52% from the floor and 45% from three against Golden State. This is a matchup I always look forward to, and it's one the Sixers need to win. If Jrue can take his matchup and Thad can take as much as much from Lee as he gives, they have a decent shot. I'm afraid this is going to be another tough matchup for Turner. Harrison Barnes hasn't done anything on the offensive end, but he's athletic with really good size. Thompson isn't a great defender, but he's not small either. There won't be a ton of opportunities for Turner to back anyone down near the hoop. I'd like to see him moving off the ball, getting open for corner threes or maybe getting a couple easy hoops cutting to the basket from the weak side. This front court also presents a solid opportunity for Hawes to build on his success from the other night in Memphis.
Oakland used to be an easy stop on a left coast trip, that doesn't appear to be the case this year, but this is a winnable game. It's a big, big game for the Sixers. They need to scratch out every win they can on this trip and picking one up tonight would bring them back to .500 with an outside shot at getting back to Philly still treading water. That's the goal.
The tip is at 10:30pm. This is your game thread. I'll be here throughout, reliving the glory days when I could actually stay up past midnight. Join me for some late night fun.
Does anyone remember this?
I'll never forget San Antonio tanking and stealing Tim Duncan from the Sixers and what could've been, but didn't realize the Sixers were poised to get either Jordan or Hakeem.
Didn't Robinson miss that entire season...not so much tanking as their best player was out for the season?
I think it was like a 'wink-wink' he's done for the year deal. Like how Pierce was done for the year the Celtics tried to tank for Greg Oden.
I remember doing the 'research' in the Lebron draft to see what history showed, in the 14 team lottery the worst team had gotten the #1 pick, I think, only once, if that, before the Cavs 'tanked' for Lebron (I'm sorry - if you think the knicks lottery was fixed, you should think the lebron lottery was fixed as well, 75% chance they don't get the pick yet somehow the worst team finally wins the lottery when they can get the best player in like 20 years to his home town? )
Tanking for a player hardly ever works out - though don't you wish it worked out for the celtics when they tanked for oden :)
Yep and neither of "fixed" drafts (prior this past draft, of course) wound up with a title for that city.
But keep in mind - it's ok if players fix it so they all end up in the same place - just not teams working it out in advance :)
Well, player movement isn't sold as the luck of the pinballs. Right now, I'm just wondering which team is going to facilitate the Dwight to Brooklyn sign-and-trade this summer.
Or ping pong balls, even.
It's going to be some 3 way deal involving bynum where the sixers end up getting back all the 'stars' they gave up for Bynum
Wouldn't shock me. Howard and Chris Paul really limited their options, though. The new CBA left the window open for sign-and-trades last season, but they're different starting this year (they gave the extra year specifically for Howard and Paul who would've been free agents last summer, had they not exercised their player options). I can't remember what the limitations were, but they were big. Basically, there was no financial bonus to the player for a sign-and-trade, so to get the extra Bird money, they had to re-sign with their current team.
Remember it well; heartbreaking after realization. But after all these years of questionable management it's surprising they weren't interested in Sam Bowie way back when. Imagine the possibilites, which whet the appetite even moreso than Bynum.
I had always buried that memory, forgot how blatant it was when Houston was losing all those games with Ralph Sampson starting 82 games, and that it was, after all, the immediate cause of the institution of the draft lottery. The Sixers got jobbed both times.
I remember them talking up Sam Perkins, whom they would have picked before Barkley. The latter was a borderline circus act while the former graced the cover of SI alongside fellow blue blood MJ, and they were going with the consensus pick. They were basically stuck with Barkley, that's how they saw it IMO.
Thank you Lloyd Free. And Bill Fitch!
Also seem to remember that the Sixers, i.e. Pat Williams, were lusting mightily for Jordan, to the tune of offering Andrew Toney and the 5th pick to Chicago. Sadly, the offer was refused.
when they play jack and curry together id like to see if Evan or jrue can post up one of them
I was wondering if maybe they'd switch Curry off Jrue, put more size on him, but they can't put Curry on Turner or Wright. I think Jrue's going to have to attack that matchup. If/when they go with Jack and Curry, then you've got something to work with, definitely.
Jrue attacks. Oh does Jrue attack. With relish. A little mustard. Sometimes with stale buns. Our very own Earl Monroe Lite.
By the way, Holiday's defensive rating to date is identical to paunchy-but-only partly punchy Raymond Felton's, 108. Yes, that's right, Jrue devotees - 108, cliff territory.
Holiday's WS/48, .080. Advanced staticians swear that's below average.
Tennesseean nutcruncher Conley's numbers: DRtg, 99; WS/48, .153... "Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier. Born on a mountaintop in... ."
SHOOTING:
JH TS% .512 EFG% .481 FT% .741
MC TS% .547 EFG% .495 FT% .814
Both players were the basketball equivalent of dogmeat Wednesday night. The Monitor & the Merrimack, a tie; slight edge to the Union vessel if a "victory" call must be made.
*intermediate spelling statistician sends regrets
Wins.
JH - 1
MC - 0
Sorry, just using your argument against you.
And DFR where you're taking it from is a team stat. The team's DFR when he's on the floor. Last year, when he was playing with Iguodala, Brand, etc, Jrue's was 101, Conley's was 102. This year, playing with Turner as his wing "stopper" and the slop down low, the team defense is trash. Not a lot Holiday can do about that.
Stars make their team mates play defense better
I mean look how better Dwight is defensively this year playing with Kobe, oh, wait, sorry
I wonder if Teddy KGB is going to offer Phil Jackson an ownership stake in the team (and his sex trade import/export business).
Can you do that with a coach? I mean Oakland did it with Billy Beane (and did the red sox really offer beane the job before they gave it to theo or was that just dramatic license)
Here's a better way to look at Jrue's individual defensive performance.
last year
this year
I usually go with synergy for the best measure, can't access it here, though.
Then ya gotta adjust for variants in schedules, opponents, teammates, contemporaneous matters - - numbers, fun but faulty, as we both know.
Thanks though.
Happens. More so than not without cushioning buckets of leading scorer. Memphis guards Conley, Allen, Ellington, Bayless - aggregate 8-37 shooting... that's no way to win Cybill Shepherd's heart.
Richardson's absence actually helped Sixers: Dorell's pump primed by Collins, mind freed of bench worries. Bingo!
And what can be said about Spencer that hasn't already been said? GET OUT OF HIS WAY!! The man's a freak. 5 returned-to-senders!!!!! And a J that turned automatic. "Please, please, Mr. Postman, look and see, if there's a letter in your bag for [Lee]."
By PER standards, Jrue is at 18.1 this year. The players he's guarding are at 13.9. I could make a definitive statement about those numbers and say he's winning the battle every night like you do (except the other way), but that wouldn't be right either. There's a context to every statistic.
Saying he has a bad defensive rating (a team stat, one that of course is going to go up without Brand and Iguodala) accomplishes little when no context is placed on it. Mike Conley is a pretty good player, but I think his shooting numbers, win shares, defensive rating, and all that good stuff might go down a bit if Z-Bo and Gasol are replaced with the Sixers' frontcourt. I think his defensive numbers might be a bit worse if he was playing with Jason Richardson at the 2 compared to Tony Allen as well.
But Conley is actually a pretty damn good player. It's not embarrassing for Jrue to have worse numbers than him in some areas. Especially when comparing the team's talent levels.
Off topic here but has anyone noticed Maynor has lost the backup pg duties in OKC. I'm sure there is some rust on him but does anyone else think hed be an intriguing add in? We probably don't have the assets to acquire but I'd sure like an upgrade to our current options. More of a pipedream but I thought it was noteworthy given his early success.
Big game tonight. I wonder if Jrue's atrociously low vote total will change his attitude at all. Being an all star seems to be the only thing he has been relatively "Outspoken" about.
yeah, not a positive in my opinion
i also would love ot have maynor...backup pg who can hit a three
Yea it looks like that kid from Boston college took his backup spot. He's bigger and stronger than maynor and probably a little more disruptive defensively. I've always liked maynor though and he can even play off the ball a little. I think he's a free agent after this year
any ruling yet on whether Deron is still a superstar now that he's gotten two coaches fired and his team is still only at .500?
Speaking of drafts, this upcoming one appears to be rather weak. Here's what the sixers owe from the last two trades: http://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Future/76ers.htm
I hope the front office will consider giving up the 2013 pick even if it's protected. For example if they get the 7th overall pick and they don't love anyone there. 2014 appears to be a much better crop.
Obviously things can change and maybe this draft shows some impressive talent, but the early returns don't indicate much.
With regards to Bynum and Bogut... Aside from Shaq, how many quality 7 footers have stayed on the floor for most of their careers?
Is it a 'newer' problem? I mean did kareem, wilt, russell have prolonged injury issues? I honestly don't know
I always wonder if the 'advancements' in physical working and muscle toning might cause 'taller' folks just to be carrying too much weight...shaq was just built like a football player - like lebron
Well yeah. I think you have to consider a CAREER AVG minutes per game of over 45 (Wilt Chamberlain) "staying on the floor."
Russell wasn't close to a 7-footer. Kareem was extremely durable, arguably the most durable player in the history of the league.
hes 6-11 but Duncan
You'd think, judging by Turner's season thus far, with the Warriors' small and not overly athletic backcourt, that he could have some success tonight. I had a bad feeling about Allen and Pondexter the other night, and he was worse than I thought, barely able to even muster a shot. Well, as always, we'll see.
I keep reading that Curry's defense has improved. As a team, they're 9th in efg% allowed and 4th in defensive rebounding percentage. I expect us to lose by a reasonably comfortable margin.
‏@preston76
Dorell Wright will start again tonight for #Sixers, Coach Collins calls Jason Richardson a game time decision.
Ugh, looks like this game isn't going to be in HD on DirecTV. Garbage.
Or maybe it is, just no labelled as such. Nice.
btw, I haven't gotten the Sixers feed in over a month, if at all this season. Wonder why.
dont have league pass but when games are on NBATV i usually get the home team feed
Yeah, on league pass even when they're home, I get the other team's feed. Might have something to do with Comcast, they don't like airing their broadcasts, or something. Who knows.
Alright, I'm pumped. The Knicks are losing to the Kings. PJ Carleisimo is undefeated (Andray Blatche is the most likely guy on that roster to pull a Sprewell on him, btw). Get this win.
they won the tip!
Aaaaaand we're off....Lavoy wins the tip.
Thompson on Turner, tries to post him. Bad shot.
That play was supposed to be Jrue in the post, no entry pass, winds up in a bad shot late in the clock. Ugh.
Lavoy to the line to hopefully end the shutout.
splits them
turner in transition
Turner slam off the turn. Let's go.
They're running the P&R on the sideline for some reason. Not sure why, they don't usually do that.
d3!
Bang, penetration, kick to corner, kick out to D3.
Come on, Thad. Don't need that with 17 left on the clock. Curry for three.
jrue and one maybe
More of that, Jrue. Abuses Curry for the traditional 3-point play.
Ugh, Turner.
evan jumper
jrue stop trying to cheat on the screen the guy just goes the other way
Jrue, can't jump the screen if there's no help the other way, not on Curry.
Good job by Wright to push the ball and get the lob to Thad.
Bucher is GSW's sideline guy.
I kind of like Bucher...do feel like it's not an accident he's posted in the bay area but maybe that's just me
Well, he just said Turner is trash at running the offense.
ha!oh no!
This has been a great game thus far. Loving the Jrue/Turner/Wright...like JTI with everyone on the perimeter ale to handle...loved Jrue's and one on Curry(he got a pretty friendly whistle, didn't see any contact really). Turner's one on three turnover was painful; his foul line j was nice. Holiday looking nice...etter perimeter ball movement than we've generally seen this year
Jack and Curry in there now. Turner should get the ball in the post, methinks.
thad jumper
Knicks down 22! to the kings
yeah i was just saw that wtf. no melo right?
no melo and felton
Is Cousins playing?
yes
Wow, that's the first I heard Livingston was headed to the Sixers when he was dropped.
Come on, get some fucking d-boards. 3 tries that trip.
pitiful rebounding.
Jrue to the line.
jrue to the line, now royal ivey!
Ivey to the line, good job holding onto that board in traffic.
They're free.
Ugh, come on Spence, gotta hit that.
i guess memphis spencer is officially back in hiding
malik loves the pace!
PHI 24, GSW 25 after one.
Let's not have a letdown here to start the second. Turner probably back in, Jrue out.
wright probably back in too
keep trading baskets and we'll lose.
need to get Hawes out, GS bigs are too quick for him; go small
agreed dorell at the four
Turner in, not Wright. Get Nick Young out, his shot isn't falling and he's useless when that's the case.
bad shot evan
Turner drive is cut off, bad shot.
sissy hook
nick young has def not caught ball movement fever
bad turner jumper, nice turner steal, NYOUNG LAYUP SMACKED AWAY BY BIEDRINS, ha
Sissy hook. That was one of the ugliest post ups I've ever seen.
spencer t, sheesh. where is dorell!
Smart, Spence. Really fucking smart. Stupid offensive foul, then a tech on top.
he is feeling his oats after his second good game of the season
nice turner drive can't finish, lavoy tip in
need to get nick young out now
lavoy tip in
GO AWAY NICK
Sit Young, please.
evan but i think he had young in the corner
nice job turner. stop yapping at the refs tho. malik says so
Think Turner got contact there. Also got nearly 2 inches of air, but converted.
DEF got contact there!
i mean by biedrins a play or two later
stop shooting 3's hawes
Turner to the line. Spence, enough w/ the threes. 4 fouls on Biedrins in the first half, heh.
keep driving Evan, keep driving.
amen
bricks first free throw
they are free
Jrue back quickly.
They're free, Turner.
come on dude make your effing freethrows
I think someone should get a piss test from Landry after the game. He looks like a completely different human.
+1
DWright hits
malik: good hustle "unfortunately hasn't been a staple of lavoy's game this season"
DW stroke just looks sooo good.
well definitely the letdown brian feared. shoulda started the quarter with et and wright
turner miss
jarrett jack killing us
Great D, Jrue. Going for the o-board cost you on the other end, though.
great D by Jrue, not so good shot selection ET.
need to get a hoop out of this timeout, this game could get away real quick if we are not active.
I wish I had one of those mechanical rebounders in my driveway.
jrue jumper
jrue long two
nice finish by turner from jrue
OK, Jrue. Get hot. Now let's have some stops on the other end.
Turner finish. Nice.
someone threw wrights shoe
Is Turner on Jack?
malik just said hes on klay thompson
Put your fucking shoe on, Dorell. We don't need Nick Young in there right now.
evan to thad
turner got contact on that last drive too...he is definitely better at that than jrue...but the ref community despises him, it's his own fault
turner decent look from the baseline but misses, throws the lob for thad off his board
Thad is so fucking fast.
wow well done Curry
That's a goaltend on Landry.
nice!jrue to thad
Good job, Thad. Good look, Jrue.
Bad shot, Jrue.
Come on, close this gap in the final 2 minutes.
need to save some face this end of Q.
Kwame sighting.
Just ugly.
i like that this followed "Kwame sighting"
Malik always hated Utah..."they say the people in utah are nice, but not the sports fans, i can tell you"
malik is a black man which might be the crucial factor there
Jesus Christ. Can't anyone guard Landry?
Festivus is back in, thank God.
15 ugh
ugh kt343
dwright airball...here's it from his old crowd
PHI 42, GSW 57 at the half.
Need some big adjustments, Doug. Do your thing.
what would yours be?
Don't know. One thing I'd do is go to Turner in the post when they play Jack/Curry. Didn't see any of that. On the defensive end, no idea. They're just getting eaten alive by Landry. Thad's the big in that p&r, they don't have anyone who can play it better than him. I don't see an easy adjustment to make to help the D, other than boxing out.
i do not trust in doug
Adjustments are his strength. Rotations, maybe not (though he doesn't have much of a choice this year), but adjustments he can do.
tray called it
Yeah, Golden State plays decent team defense and we don't have the size to give them difficulties, nor the shooters to compete with them. I was kind of shocked that the oddsmakers only favored Golden State by five; they're about five points better than us on a neutral court.
so you make them an eight pt favorite at least...whatd you have on gs tonight?
this is nuts.
cannot keep this up, Kwame Brown is not the answer.
go small, put thad at the 5, live with the results.
if we get the lead back, we can go conventional again.
terrible pick and roll defense.
Was Jack Turner's man?
turner still STUFFING THE STAT SHEET
With missed shots.
yeah i'm more concerned about the man he's guarding.
even jrue cant stick to Curry through those picks.
personnel change needed.
i know i know he did not have a good half, i was kidding
1/8 for 3 points from the bench isn't helping.
Here's an adjustment, Thad should blitz that pick-and-roll. Really double Curry hard, see if he can get the pass out of there. Playing it safe isn't working. Other option is to go the other way and sag, make Landry and Lee catch and face the hoop if they get the ball. That leaves Jrue on an island, but that might be a better option than Landry/Lee catching going toward the hoop with a head of steam.
....for perspective, we gave up 57 pts in the 1st half.
well let's see.
ugly evan
Knew that was a terrible Turner jumper waiting to happen as soon as I saw the fucking horns setup.
but he used to run that with grant hill!
Nice pass, Turner. Hit the freebies.
ugh evan
lee lets turner shoot an awful jumper
malik hates late whistles passionately
Yeah, they doubled the screen there.
Stop shooting, Turner.
Why are they running plays for Turner? Did they not see the first two fucking shots he took? Then they run him off a bunch of screens on the third play?
They're fucking free, Dorell.
jrue airball
Jrue's pissed he didn't get a whistle on that last shot. Shot fake there and he's standing on the line, though.
thank god turner finished that...had a godawful run starting this quarter...zumoff was palpably nervous when he didnt pass to wright
Come on, Turner. WAKE THE FUCK UP.
Suspect we'll see Nick Young out of the timeout here. Not that he's been any better.
nope just spence!
Nope, just Hawes.
This needs to be under 10 by the end of this quarter for them to have any chance. I'll be shocked if it is.
still a lotta time tho
the whole team has been cold from outside since the 2nd.
need to follow jrue and get shots inside
agreed...dribble penetration is killing them on the other end youd think theyd make the connection
Now it's Nick for Wright. Doesn't matter.
Excuse me, Ivey for Wright. Going smaller on the outside.
JRUE
jrue to the line
Jrue to the line.
Lane violation! (they're still free)
curry crosses over jrue and feels good about it
That's on you, Jrue. Flat footed way out on the floor.
thad
Damn thad
Heh. Thad w/ a highlight.
ok.....some nights it's just not your night, but there are still ways
KEEP PLAYING!
more kwame?what?
thad
oakland crowd is great, glad they have a good team
Ivey on Jack, I assume.
Nick Young, finally, on the drive and kick from Jrue.
warriors' announcers lamenting our matador defense
just get it down to 9....
Jrue to the line again.
Come on, finish this fucking quarter strong.
he made 'em, yay!
Ivey to the line.
Fucking scrub.
nice flop royal!
they are free
bonus time!
Jrue needs the ball on every possession now
jrue 3!!!!
yeah jrue!!
BANG MOTHERFUCKER JRUE43!!!!
Shit. Shit, shit shit.
jrue!
FUCK YES JRUE
WOW!!!!!!
PHI 71, GSW 80 after three.
Under 10. Let's fucking go!
This is our game....I hope.
need thirty from jrue tonight
Man, keep Jrue in the game to start the fourth. Gotta keep this run going. Come on, Doug.
bad shots by Jrue and Nick Young but we're in single digits, sweet flush by Jrue, that'll be on the nightly reels.
of course jrue sits
get turner in, let him post up.
keep the bakl in jrue's hands.
keep an eye out for nick young.
rebound thad.
win this game.
Ugh. Look at this lineup.
Nick to the hoop for two. Come on.
nick young, give me 5 good minutes
kwame has actually been big on the dboards here
kings just hit a 3 at the buzzer to win
turner looks terrible where is jrue
This is what I mean about Turner not being able to initiate.
gotcha. four steals!
turner is about to get t'ed
put jrue in
OYVEY
Put Jrue back in the game, please.
nice job lavoy. more kwame!
Turner hurts my eyes some games.
tonight has been brutal
Thankfully I don't have that problem, he blinded me pre-draft. If only I didn't still have to watch him...
lavoy 5
Lavoy with two man's rebounds, and scores 4 in a row. Nice.
big lineup works, well I'll be...
down 5. enter jrue?
Jrue for Turner.
two bad decisions in a row by jrue, says malik and i agree
First one was end of shot clock, had to take that jumper. Second one was bad.
he mentioned going to lavoy in the post with six or seven seconds on the shotclock
bad shot jrue
Shit. Lavoy had another one. Nick should've shot that three.
ivey 3!
IVEY43 off Jrue penetration. Come on.
nice kick out by jrue to ivey. four pts
why did the shot clock reset?
I wouldn't have taken Lavoy out.
so they made shots. big deal. still got 5 mins.
get a good play for that zone out of the timeout DC
why go to kwame there jrue
Wait, that Curry save should've reset it. Same way Ivey's save reset it on the other end. Damnit.
ugh bad pass
That's game. Ugh.
Doug went with two zeroes on offense for too long here in the fourth. 10-3 run to bury them.
jrue's not playing well.
he's trying but this wont do.
37 mins of play and counting for Holiday, fatigue might me making him sloppy.
The offense went to hell in the last 3 minutes. Looks like Game.
Playing 3 on 5. That tends to happen.
hard for a point guard to play well when he's running with ivey, kwame, and nick young.
well, that too
young 3
Nick.
Thad had his hand on that ball. One of those nights.
they are free
What are they?
14-23 from the line
looked worse
the cover is on the line here. look out for creative refereeing
Don't use the timeout after this one.
And that's your ballgame. Bleh. Not with a bang, but a turnover.
ugggghhhh
all of a sudden this team can't take care of the ball
eh. They have 9 turns on the game.
blazers got crushed by the lakers tonight
they made free throws. we didn't.
they have David Lee. we don't
we couldn't stop David Lee. they didn't have to.
game.
we also went 5-20 from 3
PHI 89, GSW 96 Final.
Too little, too late. This team isn't capable of getting down 15 and coming back to win.
I'd say Jrue for POTG unless someone else has a viable candidate. No one played particularly well. 21 inefficient points, 10 dimes, 2 turns. Yeah, it's Jrue.
Actually, let's go with Thad. 19 points on 16 shots, 10 boards (all defensive), 4 dimes and 5 steals. Yeah, Thad gets it.
How about Thad with a reasonably efficient 19 points, 10 boards, 4 assists, and 5 steals?
Yeah, see above. The 10 defensive boards did it for me.
the defense on Lee and other bigs does it for me
See you guys tomorrow night, 10pm.
New Rule: There needs to be satisfactory evidence (at least 3-4 consecutive FGs made) before we can declare Nick Young to be "hot" and start feeding him the ball to jack away.
for comparison, ET whose ass deservedly tasted bench for the rest of the quarter was 5-14, Swaggy hoisted 17 shots, made 5.
Of coyrse not to be bested by Jrue with 7-19. Someone's gotta take these shots, but I'm not ok with off balance heaving.
Turner: 10 points on 15 possessions (14 shots, 2FTA)
Swaggy: 13 points on 18 possessions (17, 2)
Jrue: 21 points on 22 possessions (19, 7)
Can't have your three highest usage guys all getting less than 1ppp.
Turner better pull his head out of his ass on this trip. 1 pt against MEM, 10 on 14 shots tonight. Tomorrow, he's going to have Batum on him, I'd assume.
Dollar Bill will disagree, but Jrue's string of opposing PGs outplayed is now Teague, Williams, Conley and Curry. 2-2 in that stretch doesn't cut it, though.
That was about as bad as the Sixers can play offensively. Contested long twos (often airballed or blocked) and missed FT's. Unfortunately, it seems like that is the Sixes game. They are soft.
A whopping 28 long twos (four more than the average of the most prolific long two shooting team), of which we made just 6.
If you watch this sequence, Cousins makes a few plays that win Sacramento the game last night.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/kings-deny-york-huge-comeback-james-johnson-wild-061122871--nba.html
So 12 points on 28 possessions... essentially spotting the opposition about 15 points. Throw in the continued poor FT spotting and you have next to no chance unless you also hit a ton of 3s.
The sad thing is that they often seem to want those shots. They could have lived in the lane, and some of their drives were wasted setting up long 2s.
Funny enough, the only team worse in expected field goal percentage is Golden State. Big difference is that they shoot 44 % on long twos where the Sixers shoot 34. Steph sure helps that percentage.
Teams that consistently shot wheel on long twos are very hard to defend as what do you do when a team beats you taking the shot you normally want them to take?
Two recent express are the Celtics and
Mavs from a couple of years ago. Dirk, JET, PP and KG all take and hit a ton of long 2s, although those players augment this with either FT's or 3s.
Sorry for the autocorrects.