It's New Year's Eve, and much to the chagrin of my patient wife, that must mean the Sixers have a game on the west coast. This year, they're in Oakland to play the Warriors. On the second night of a back-to-back, this young team needs to bounce back in a big way against a rested squad.
Monta Ellis probably won't be playing tonight, he's been excused to attend a funeral. Steph Curry, however, is expected to suit up despite rolling his ankle twice since the beginning of the preseason.
Early returns on Mark Jackson's coaching career have been surprisingly good. The Warriors have beaten the Bulls and Knicks at home, and despite playing three solid offensive teams, their defensive efficiency rating is 11th in the league. They've slowed their pace considerably and utilized some odd strategies on the defensive end, but so far, they've worked. On the offensive end, they've been pretty bad, but they've done just enough to get wins.
In years past, you could concentrate on getting back on defense and pushing the issue on offense and Golden State would buckle. If the trend we've seen through the first three games for the Warriors turns out to be more than smoke and mirrors, the Sixers will have to play a better, smarter game to come out with a win tonight.
Not having Ellis may or may not be a detriment to the Warriors, considering Brandon Rush will replace him, and Rush has been the Warriors best player thus far. I'm going with two keys for this game (1) Attack Curry. If he's guarding Jrue, I want to see Jrue in the post, and I want to see Jrue running pure pick-and-rolls (or pick-and-pops, since the Sixer bigs can't finish a roll to save their lives). Make Curry the point of emphasis on the defensive end. (2) Limit the hustle plays for their bigs. Keep Biedrins off the offensive glass, and foul him when he gets a point blank look at the hoop. No dunks for Biedrins or Kwamee. Play tough up front.
Here's a quick look at the minute distribution last night in Utah, keep this in mind when you see Collins' rotations tonight:
- Iguodala: 39
- Hawes: 38
- Holiday: 37
- Brand: 29
- Lou: 29
No one else played more than than 22 minutes.
The tip is at 9pm, Eastern. This is your game thread. I'll be here throughout, desperately trying to forget about the game in Utah. Join me if you want to ring in the New Year with a win. If you're out and about tonight, be safe and have a great time.
Biedrins has looked somewhat improved this year.
I do think voose might have the skills to finish a pick and roll but more concerning us the sixers continued inability to defend the pick and roll. Year after year after year and so forth.
Incredibly, the Sixers are again favored, despite GS's success and Sixers being on a back to back.
In the last two meeting with the Warriors, Jrue is averaging 19.5 points 9 assists 2 steals on 55.6 percent field goal shooting. Also Dorrel Wright is averaging 22 points 4.5 rebounds 4 assist 3 steals per game on 59.1 percent shooting in his last two games against us. It's going to take a big defensive effort from the whole team tonight. we really need a win tonight.
Wright absolutely exploded on the Sixers in GS last year when Iguodala was out (28 points on 11 shots). He had 16 efficient points in the other game, when Iguodala played.
Brian - hope you got my link on props. Speaking of Wright, one of the props tonight was, who scores more Wright or Brand.
Tough call.
Yeah, thanks for the link, I just got home from a kid-friendly NYE party. I'd take the over for Jrue again. 18.5 pts+assists.
I took Jrue's again. I also took Sixers over 96 points. Those are my 2 bets of the night.
I feel more confident about the Jrue bet. GSW has been good at slowing the pace down.
Oddly I was intrigued by Lou's under 16.5, but can't possibly take an "anti-sixer" bet.
Maybe I missed the memo, but can someone tell me why Speights doesn't get playing time anymore?
Cause he shows no desires to get better and the sixers have been trying to trade him since the lockout ended.
I figure the only way he plays is if a team wants to see that he's healthy. Not even sure why he's active (is he?) for games
No one tries less on defense than sleights. That won't make Doug Collins like you
Well, the Pacers just lost on the road to a terrible Detroit team, so I guess their season is over as well.
As bad as we looked versus the zone in the second preseason game with the Wiz, should be really interesting (or disappointing) to see how we handle it tonight when Jackson calls it to throw a wrench into the gameplan. He will use it and often. Shooters will be key. Meeks? Maybe Lou? Andre keep it up from deep?
Shooters will be important, but there's more than one way to kill a zone. Personally, I like flashing people to the foul line and then cutting off them. Also, crash the offensive boards. It's very hard to account for everyone on the glass when you're in a zone. Also like pick-and-rolls/pops w/ two smalls.
Fesenko not signed by the Warriors. Look-see?
Just turned on the Knicks/Kings. First play is an offensive goal tend by Cousins on a free throw that was going in anyway. I think he picked that move up from Dalembert.
Lou better have his jock strap on tight when Ish Smith comes in the game. Can't be lazy or have lapses.
I'd really like to see our guards posting up Curry and Ish.
Looks like we're going to get to choose which team's feed we want on LP tonight.
Time Warner can be useful for something I guess.
Heh, apparently they're dropping MSG tonight at midnight. Knicks fans won't be happy about that.
Happens quite often for games if they have free channels
Time Warner has little to do with what feeds on the un demands any more than cox does for me,
Part of this is on the cable/satellite company. DirecTV has more games in HD. Time Warner has 1 at a time, at most.
Well e high def feeds yeah. I got zero un high def and one NHL high def channel. But I also have both feeds tonight so I found out Evan turner is under the weather and will endure Malik rose :)
Not on DirecTV.
Man, I hope the Knicks blow this lead. What I wouldn't give for a useful game from Cousins.
I'm going w/ the Sixers broadcast. One last dose of Zum in 2011.
According to espn mobile alerts the game has already started
klay thompson starting for ellis tonight according to the sixers broadcast
Mychal Thompson has three sons in professional sports right now.
also according to the people that do the pre-game show turner was sick yesterday and that could explain his bad performance
As long as they have an excuse at the ready for Turner. If he wasn't sick, it was Collins' fault.
He sick often then?
I kiddd, I kidd .....
Or it is an after the fact excuse to give a reason oth than he had a bad game. Investing comment during the lakers broadcast today. Sometimes a player just has a bad game and all it's about is having a bad game. It was in regards to gasol but the point is good. Sometimes people have a bd game. There doesn't have to be a reason sometimes it's just a bad game
Turner sucked last night pure and simple. Not sure why it has to be explained. He was just bad. Everyone has a bad day. The packers lost to the chiefs for gods sake
Surprised they didn't go w/ Rush, maybe they like him w/ the second unit.
Lineup looks undersized compared to GSW. Don't think Thompson has enough of a game to take advantage of the height over Meeks, though.
David lee. See him sleights. With s work ethic you could be better than he is and look at his big fat contract.
Are you drunk, or just auto-correcting?
or both?
And we're off....Hawes loses the tip.
My iPad mis behaving. I don't drink :)
Banks are open for Hawes.
No way! Spence with the Duncan-esque bank shot
Might want to keep track of Curry, especially in loose ball situations. What was that turnover?
spencer falling in love with the backdoor cut. it's not ALWAYS gonna be open...
Fucking long twos. Come on.
Rushed shot by Jrue a sec ago, rushed shot by Jodie
don't let this team go on a big run. need to get a lead going into the 4th quarter, these fans can go nuts if you let them.
ANother rushed shot by Jodie, 3 this time ... come on
Starting in a zone?
Do teams not usually practice on road trips?
Also that's another Jason asking about Speights lul.
Iguodala was passing until he heard the whistle there, then flung the shot over his shoulder. Smart play, got him two freebies.
at least he made 1
iguodala needs free throws early. going to the stripe for 2 here.
Really good play on that P&R by Jrue. Points for GSW anyway.
hawes again with the backdoor. not sure that pass would have connected even if jrue wasn't fouled.
Jrue wasn't looking would have gone straight out of bounds.
EB.
curry with a long two over Jrue. Tight D, bad shot, good result for GS
Nice block by Hawes.
and good job by Iguodala to get that board wrapped up before Biedrins ran in to draw the foul.
Iguodala's shot looking like it's back to normal.
2 on curry
Two on Curry. Nice.
Too many early in the clock J's from the guys. Move the ball some.
Thought that timeout came a couple possessions late. The team looks like it's going through the motions.
Ugh, that was terrible. Meeks fucks up the drive then never finds his man in transition, Thompson drains the three.
Nice flat start after the egg in utah.
Early, but we just look lackadaisical. No life or spunk or positive energy.
My guess is Collins comes in with an early sub here. Need Thad to get untracked here.
on track*
I'd honestly prefer getting blown out tonight to losing a close game. Really don't want to hear about how close they are.
Another Meeks turnover.
Damn Meeks. Ish walked there.
Jodie....................
Building a house.
My goodness Andre. What the fuck was that?
The GSW guy just dared him to take it too.
Nice box out, Hawes.
Dre looks like garbage so far. Drive into lane followed by pass to the top to no one, drive to the bass line then shoots over his head, long-range J that banks off the far side of the rim....
On cue, great move to the rack.
They all look like crao. No need to single out one player unless of course it's just hate
Get Meeks the fuck out of there.
Come on and make a shot
Damn Jrue, another forced shot. Then passed up a wide open one.
Dre to the line finally, ending the love of the early jumpers.
Remind me why Dre didn't work with a shooting coach during the extended time off?
Remind me why hawes never gets better at rebounding or thads shot continues to suck as well
he did. that's why he shot well in the first 3 games. haha
ha, sorry, didn't know that ...
Aside from the two Meeks shots (which of course he missed, ugh), they aren't getting good looks at all.
I love that Iguodala got to the line, even if he missed one.
Most players use the free throw lane to get in rhythm. Free throws kill Iguodala's rhythm.
That was sick D by Iguodala on Wright.
At least the bench is making an effort to go the basket
They are in the penalty, can the bench brigade do some damage at the line?
Get them off the schneid, Lou. Well, he clangs one too. sheesh
fuckin Hawes. if he had stayed with that rebound he woulda had it. Kwame was just begging someone to take that from him.
Love that ball movement and great vision by Dre to Hawes.
Thad with the picked pocket. Nice.
Spence on fire.
Man, Hawes' shot is looking wet, though.
turner to dre
Holy lob.
Nice. Had no idea where that lob was going. Bench brigade saves the day, momentarily.
Man I saw that thing I thought it was in the tenth row or something.
NICE!!
oh my god!!!!!!!
It's awful to say, but I have no idea where this team would be without Hawes.
I totally and sadly agree.
Depends. Would they replace hi with a league average center?
He's been at least league average so far this year.
That was the point. Big deal he's a league average center. He still can't box out friggin Darrell wright
He's been excellent offensively though, and I hate Hawes.
I'm thrilled that you think he's been excellent offensively. He still sucks on e boards. And that is his primary job.
His job is playing 10-20 feet from the O-Board, tough for him to get position.
What the fuck does that have to do with defense.
You said E boards, he's done good on D rebounding this year imo.
He sucks on D, no question about it, might be the worst P&R defender in the league.
He does good on defensive boards when no one is around. You could do good that way. He gets moved around by freaking guards.
well*
It has to do with his play. He's been very good on offense, that's a fact. That's half the game.
He also hasn't been horrible on the D-Boards, he was leading the lead in defensive rebounding rate after two games.
Hawes has been a plus player up to now at this part of the season, and I hate Hawes.
They'd probably still be 1-2. They could've beaten the Suns w/ me at center. But Hawes has been good.
It might be a much uglier 1-2 though.
1-2 is 1-2. Who cares how pretty or ugly. Who knows. With a center who plays defense maybe they win in Portland.
Did you watch that game? Hawes was excellent the last three quarters of that game on both ends of the floor. And the first quarter, everyone sucked, so don't give him all of the blame.
Meeks 1/5 with 2 turnovers in that run. And Collins stuck with the starters a lot longer than usual.
Bad look lou
if that outlet pass had a little bit more juice that would have been another dunk
I really hate any rotation with Vuce at the 5 and thad @ the 4. Might be able to get away with it vs GSW.
Good look ahead Lou. Thad, find your stroke please here at the line.
Vucevic's P&R defense is head and shoulders better than our starting bigs'
Ripped off nine straight, with a bunch of missed FT's in there.
Hey Thad. Udon isn't good. Defend m a bit
on the contrary, udon is very delicious.
Atta boy, Lou.
Ugh, Mark Jackson calling for a 3-2 zone.
Lou busts it. Atta boy.
Oh come on who left curry open
Mr. Williams.
PHI 19, GSW 25 after one. How do you let curry get that wide open. Pitiful.
Bench came back strong.
Could have been way, way worse. Show some life and they'll be fine.
Runouts are there up to this point. GS is not getting back at all.
Starters other than Hawes: 3/14 from the floor in the first.
On the floor with Jrue and evan and Lou is still the initiator. That's awrsome
Hesitant, but effective baseline drive for Turner there.
Jrue has to get out of his funk when he gets re-inserted. Someway, somehow. Snap out of it please.
Lot of his decisions seem a step slow tonight.
did kwame or voose tap that in?
Kwame.
VOOSE w/ the tip in. Nice.
And then he volleyballs a rebound to the Warriors on the other end.
wth Turner? come on, run the offense
The sixers don't have an offense to run.
lou for 3
C'mon, give that up earlier on the break. Jrue had an open lane to the rim.
Lou again. OK, 0-0, now build a lead.
Lou 3! off a nice flare screen
I guess it worked out. I'll take a Lou 3.
Jrue, dag man, don't make it so hard.
Jrue threw to an Asian guy in the 4th row.
Turner you're lucky Wright missed that. Just bad positioning on D there by him.
Funny how yo don't call anyone else out when the warriors get open threes. You know like at the end of the first quarter when Lou did nothing on curry?
Lou was guarding the inbounder on that play.
Thanks, sometimes I wonder what he's watching, or maybe he's just arguing. Voose was near Curry on that 3 I think.
I was going based on what brian said. Nothing personal if I think your opinoin is based on air
Killjoy; buzzkill.
Thad's shooting work over the summer might have made his touch worse.
I didn't think that was possible.
Doug. Please tell Thad his jumper sucks
Wait, has Thad made a jumpshot yet? I think we need to move that electric fence to the painted area.
I think he made one. Maybe in the Portland game.
Andre icing his head after kwame tried to kill him.
Thought we left the New year glasses in the 00s.
Good look ET.
Sweet transition play.
OK. 0-0, take 3. Let's try this again
Give a foul there, Thad.
Please rebound betterr
Flopper.
Jrue just looks hesitant right now. I wonder what happened to him since preseason ended?
Why double clutch that 3 JRue?
Hey, Thad made one!
Thad buried a jumper!
Thad with nylon? Say it ain't so....
zone, lou promptly hits a 3
Lou! 3! Light em up kid.
Man, Lou's just been automatic lately.
3/3 from three for Lou. Those corners are wide open against this zone.
Great drive, Turner.
Good take ET. Off the d-board. Nice.
There's the Evan Turner we saw in the first two games.
Evan turner just doesn't look that fast but a nice coast to coast
And-1, Turner!
Five assists on five hoops previous to that Turner drive. Keep moving the fucking ball.
Knicks not helping Brian out tonight n
Can't give Curry an inch. Jesus.
thad jumper again
Kind of the same spot. Maybe that place he can make em from :)
Thad? You ok?
Thad likes the baseline, I guess
Jrue can't cheat on Curry making the 1-4 cut. Let the bigs block him if he catches, but that shot is looking like a layup.
Great ball movement.
Great ball movement, Brand in the middle, cut by Thad.
Terrible defense on the other end.
Good ball movement leading to a Thad layup
Was ET suppose to have Rush there? Couldn't tell....
Got stuck in what looked like a moving pick or a block from a tiny offensive lineman
EB-Thad rotations are their best.
Dre 3! Nice form on that one. Wish he could repeat it.
He's been pretty good from the three so far this year
Iguodala for 3!
Shit, that's great ball movement.
Iguodala from three, swish.
He shoots better with his legs splayed, which makes no sense.
What kind of D were we in there? Dre and Thad just kept cheating toward the middle of lane then gave up a Lee lay-in.
They trapped, and the two wings stuck to the shooters, leaving Thad 1 on 1 with the two bigs. I'd prefer that he left Biedrins to catch it though. Not as much of a threat.
Andre. Just finish what you started there. You had the shot and double guessed
Bleh.
C'mon, Dre. Focus on these free throws.
I've always though Iguodala shoots the ball way too high from the line. Way too little margin of error.
I've always thought that for some reason the more arc he puts on the ball the better chance it has to go in. He puts in some rainbows that you never think would go in.
The more arc he puts on it, the less control he has over the shot.
All of his shots have a really high arc
I'm aware, and he's not a great shooter save for this season so far. From three through, he has the same amount of arc as his free throws.
It's just my opinion, but wasn't Turner, broken jumper and all, still like an 85 percent shooter from the line last year? I think that's because he would just get the ball on the rim and get some friendly rolls, almost if he's passing it into the rim. When Iguodala hits the rim, there's so much arc that he'll rarely get a roll. He looks like he doesn't know where it's going when he lets it go.
hawes
Loving hawes' elbow jumper this year
lou
SWEET LOU!!!!
"Nothing? I'm asking in a nice way"
Classy
2 for 1. Lou 4 3!
D up
2 for 1 Lou strikes again.
Man. That just encourages Lou :)
PHI 50, GSW 42 at the break. Very good second quarter. Great job by Lou to punish the zone. He's the leader for POTG. It would be nice if someone could wake Jrue up for the second half, he was MIA.
In terms of creating for others he has been pretty mis all season.
Nice team effort after a really flat start. Jrue still having some issues. Not just with his shot but being a point guard. I think turner bounced back nicely so far and just a good recovery all around after a horrid start. Couple defensive lapses they need to work on. Can't give lee that shot, don't leave curry open for three.
Come on Jrue! Get some others involved
Lee 5-18... Incredible.
Heck of a comeback. Spencer and Lou carrying us. heh, most disliked on the blog community. I'll take it.
Jrue, you in the building tonight?
Too much of him off the ball when Doug brings him back in when Dre goes out (suppose he's keeping one of them on court at all times as Brian pointed out last night in 2nd quarter). He needs the ball, though he's done nothing with it when starting games but drive it to deep or jack 'em up.
Spencer carrying the team from the bench? That's when they came back
He was with the bench guys with Iguodala for awhile though. Collins took Jrue, Jodie, and EB out to start at least.
Ten offensive rebounds
Not all of em occurred with hawes on the bench
Fast pace to the first half (about 94 possessions for 48 minutes). Way too many offensive boards for the Warriors, otherwise, solid half. The 0% Free Throw Rate certainly doesn't hurt. Of course, the refs will even that out in the second half, so it's going to be an uphill battle.
Bad defensive rebounding? Unpossible
What's to take from the first half?
David Lee is 5-18, but 5 OREB
Warriors total 10 OREB
Jrue is 0-3, two 2 TOV
Meeks is 1-5 with 2 TOV
Spencer and Lou are perfect
Iggy on his way to a triple double 8-5-4
I liked Lou's D on Curry. Jrue has been a step late...
Six points on seven shots for Turner, but 4 assists and three boards for a plus-17. Fair to say he's affecting the game in a positive way.
Will Hawes continue to play with this much life for the New Year? He actually resembles a big who can provide something other than 6 fouls
So the best Knick is Josh Harrellson?
The Kings would only be losing by 5 if they kept Cousins on the bench the whole game.
banks are still open
Hawes w/ another banker.
Aannnnnddd .... Spencer opens the 2nd just like the 1st. BANK!
Sweet trap, EB.
Great trap.
Way to get on the floor Jrue.
Good trap by the Sixers on Curry.
AI943!!!!!!!!
Iguodala for 3!
There you go, Jrue. Be aggressive, good things will happen.
way to stick with it jrue
Maybe that gets jrue on track
Good board by Spencer on one end, good effort by Jrue to stick with that one on the offensive glass to put that one back. Hopefully this gets him back on track.
Put em away NOW, if you don't ... then .....
Nice work, EB.
Iguodala's help defense and recover on that play was sublime. Made Lee give up the jumper, contested Wright and forced an airball.
Hawes doesn't know how to tap the ball in. I would have thought that'd be the easiest skill...
One of em has to get some lift that should have been a tip in for someone
Keep an eye on the free throws. The NBA is essentially pro wrestling when FT disparities come into play. I think the refs go into the locker room and look at that stat.
Sick drive by Jrue.
That's it Jrue. Go to the hoop.
Jrue right to the cup.
Yeah, baby. That's the type of basketball i like to see.
does brand travel every time he tries to drive?
Warriors tonight:
Bad defense, worse offense!
A clinic right now. Loving the energy on the second of back-to-backs
That's how you should come out when the game starts
Hell yeah! Keep the pedal down. Don't let up.
Doug peeled the paint at halftime, no? That, or they've found a pulse.
Surprised they didnt call iguodala for a charge on that pass to jrue
How did he miss that dunk? Jesus, H.
Ohhhh, sweet pass in close from Jrue to Spencer.
Sissy dunk followed by a sissy free throw haha
Two of 'em.
Finish
Iguodala, you have to finish that layup c'mon.
Ish Smith just got an o-board over Hawes, just FYI.
Unpossible
Need some fresh legs Doug.
another good bounce pass from Jrue, in close. Our spacing could be way better on breaks though.
Geez. If Kwame gets the ball that close, just foul him. Not only will he miss the free throws, he won't be able to catch the ball for the rest of the game.
can anyone make a free throw?
Seems like they're letting up a little here. I'd bring the bench in before this lead shrinks.
Doug. Wait until a time out and take out jodie not jrue
Get Meeks out of there.
Jeez, wasn't Meeks like 89% last year?!
With that great open to the third quarter, the starting lineup is now -1 on the game (+11 in 3rd, -12 in the 1st).
Starters are +10 or +11 (only Meeks is -1)
wth was that spin from Jodie? he's lucky he got bailed out
F.r.e.e. That spells free. It means non-challenged or contested.
Bad shot, Dre.
Iguodala's jumpers are either a swish or way off to the side.
Need this freebie to get up to 50% from the line. Got it.
Hey, a Sixer made both free throws!
Lou, Thad, and Turner with nice communication in handling the screens on that play. Thad should have just played straight up on Udoh though.
Clear foul there.
Nice find Lou.
Heh, Hawes unconscious.
Man, it's hard to chase Curry around all those picks.
Good pick and pop from Lou/Hawes.
The difference between Hawes FT's and mid-range shots is literally the most baffling thing I've ever seen since I started watching basketball.
Lou got hammered there.
PHI 72, GSW 54 After three. Would've liked to see them keep it at 20 or more, but 18 is OK. Step on their throats to open the fourth and watch them fold.
Good consistent quarter. Good news.
It could have been even better. Really good news.
Make a wide open 15 foot free throw. Priceless.
Strong third. Built and maintained a solid lead. Now put it away. Finish what you started. Make it so brackns okays
Plays
Screw Brackins, make it so Nocioni plays.
I was gonna say sprights but I'm realistic.
Whistles. Watch the whistles.
Three fouls in the first 48 seconds. Awesome.
Three team fouls in less than a minute. Refs playing catch up
Ugh, three quick fouls already. They're going to be in the bonus soon.
Keep running your sets here.
Leaving the door still slightly ajar
They. Are. Free.
man, the entire warriors team started b*tching on that call.
Jrue just got run over by lee?
Another foul. sheesh
Yep, there's 4 fouls in 1:16. Bonus the rest of the way.
please make your free throws
Good hands by Lou, nice over the top pass by Turner.
Good hands Lou. What do you say, make both?
Lou. Give that one up to Jrue.
Back iron. Ugh, need Jrue to find his stroke.
Jesus the refs are just going to screw ther sixers out of ts game aren't they
Thad got there late.
Turner must really be struggling off the ball if he's running/initiating sets w/ Jrue and Lou in the game.
Or he's you know good at things like that.
Sure, pass the ball off to the closest man, that takes some skill you know.
He's a plus-20 though. Hasn't shot the ball well at all, but made a positive impact.
Eh, he's just been fortunate to have been on the floor with Lou during his hot streak early.
That's right. Turner can't do anything right ever cause you wrote him off before he played a game
Rebounding, defense, assists, and taking good shots on the offensive end mean nothing I guess. Oh well.
No, they all carry weight. But Thad also has 3 boards and taken seven shots too for a +16, although only 1 assist, and I don't think you'd necessarily make such a convincing case that he's impacted this game so positively. I just think you look way too hard to find something positive in Turner because you're rooting for him so hard, when to me, he's just another ordinary/average player on the floor, that's all.
Why wouldn't I say Thad was good? 18 and 6 on 12 shots, of course he's been good. Turner hasn't been setting the world on fire, but his first four games are something he can build on. See, I think that you think he's gotta play to like a Kevin Durant level and are still so mad that they picked him, and you can't see any positive contributions he makes.
Last night you said that he didn't make the slightest bit of impact on games. In 3 out of 4 games thus far, he's helped the team more than he's hurt it objectively. And that's without efficient shooting. I'm perfectly fine with that.
My feelings on the draft have absolutely no bearing on his play. I'm a fan of this team (just like you) and have no problem being objective with any player on it. If you're fine with him being a bit role player without efficient shooting then I guess we can agree that our expectations are on different levels as far as the future outlook of this team and how transformative that high pick should be.
I stated the few things he did carried some weight, but really, how much?
For comparison's sake since the lines are final: Look at EB's line and Turner's - would you honestly say that EB was an 'impactful' player in that game? ...... Meaning, he was only a +3, whereas you were touting Turner being near a +20,... with my argument being he was just a beneficiary of being on the floor with Lou and Thad to polish up his number.
Lou and Thad 'impacted' that game for the bench; not Evan. Spencer and Andre 'impacted' that game for the starters; not EB.
Yes, any and all contributions count, big or small, but the guy just blends in with the other second teamers and shows nothing to distinguish himself or stand out.
It's one thing to want him to do well, it's another thing to cast sunshine on mediocre inconsistent performances. You say he can build on it, but he had a slew of games like this last year (last night and tonight). Small sample, but nothing's glaringly or even normally changed with him. At some point, don't we all have to say he is what he is? (or what I've been incessantly shouting all along?)
He played very well in the playoffs (two very good games and one decent game) which count more than regular season games in which he plays 18 minutes. The talent is there, if you can't see it than I suggest you get a hobby because you don't seem to know much about basketball.
"Jo-3!" is really cute though, I really enjoy when you say that.
How about we table the Turner arguments for the New Year? Or at least until they play another game. Talk about the 28-point ass whooping delivered to Mark Jackson's crew in the mean time. That sounds like a good resolution to me.
Or, a better resolution would be to table the ad hominem attacks whenever a differing, countering opinion is voiced over his golden child. I see Turner's game one way, he sees it another, yet I don't stoop to questioning his intelligence or knowledge of the game.
He takes an opposing logical position as an affront to his own ego for some reason. Why else would you detour the discussion to a personal level? We're fans of the same team ... it's beyond me ...
He played very well in the playoffs (two very good games and one decent game) which count more than regular season games in which he plays 18 minutes. The talent is there, if you can't see it than I suggest you get a hobby because you don't seem to know much about basketball.
"Jo-3!" is really cute though, I really enjoy when you say that.
And yet you again only call out turner for just handing the ball off when the sixers seem to enjoy doing that a whole lot
That's a 50/50 call. After the 4 fouls in 2 minutes, I would have hoped they got that one. I liked the rotation by Thad.
Brand has 5 steals.
JRUE 43!
That was huge.
Jrue 4 3! Big bucket.
Jrue for three!
Last couple times old bad non passing Lou has been back
dre for 3
AI943!!!!!!!!!!!!
Iguodala for 3!
JRUE 43!!!!!!!!
jrue again for 3
Jrue for another three!
Dre three!
Jrue with an early dagger!?
Jrue finding his stroke
Game. Set. Match. What a fucking run.
Savvy move to slow down and get that foul Lou :)
Mama, there goes Lou Williams again.
hahahah ... cotg!
Voose/Noc/Speights/Brackins time?
We want speights
We want speights
We want speights
We want speights
This game might be over but vegas is keeping this fun....need sixers over 96, and jrue over 18.5 points/asst (he's at 16 now, and doug might bench him soon if he's smart)
Think you're going to split your bets.
Maybe not. Give Jrue a block.
yep it's official. split the bets. pretty crazy how cold jrue was yet almost pulled it off.
Zumoff
Enough with the word unprecedented
i think we just saw 2 consecutive airballs in NBA basketball.
Three days off seems like a lot of rest in this compacted season.
GS is 4-17 on 3s
I still don't get why Ryan Gomes is in that NBA commercial
Me neither. Augustin is in it too, but at least he's turning the ball over.
Lou in speights mode
by that you mean he's eating lots of donuts?
All shooting. Late in this game he hasnt been passing as much as he has earlier un the season
Brackns?
and 1 for Thad - nice
Voose with a block
So does Speights take off his warmups?
No but at least he seems happy for voose and his 3
Can spencer even get high enough to goaltend?
probably on one of those hit-the-backboard-first goaltends.
voose for 3
Keep it over 20, please. Funny that Meeks is in w/ the scrubs. He needs reps, though.
Voose is 2/2 from three. Zumoff has no idea.
Talking about old farts playing hockey
Did you see Hawes' reaction on the Voose three? Like a proud mother.
Like the one at a high school game when her son's team is down by 30 in their own gym and he strokes one from deep and she stands up and whoops and hollers boisterously. ha
Thad getting extended time at the three here.
Brackins w/ the three. I love it.
brackins for 3, thats how you bounce back after last night
The sixers have to be near the top in threes. That can't last can it?
thats how you bounce back
PHI 107, GSW 79 Final.
I want to thank you guys for spending your New Year's Eve w/ me. 370+ comments for a game thread, that's just amazing. Enjoy your night, fellas. Happy New Year.
11-20 from the 3-point line. When was the last time the Sixers did that?
Great thread as usual guys, enjoyed it.
Happy New Year!
Here here
Good work tonight
Had this as a loss. Good win. Now if they'd only win their next 11 straight my preseason optimism can ring true.
#onhandsandknees
Thad and Lou: 41 points on 23 shots
does anyone know what the starters were coming out of the half? +?
Starting lineup was -12. They only had that one run together, then Meeks was glued to the bench for the rest of the half and Collins mixed/matched the rest of the starters w/ the bench.
Interesting stat: Everyone who played recorded an assist.
Every Sixer, I mean.
4 games is enough for me to truly say that Hawes is a different player this year. You can't discount double digit rebounds every single game. Just amazing. I had us at 2-2 with the next game being a win. Just had this one as a loss and Utah as a win.
What a draft class. Cousins is completely inefficient but everyone just is begging for him to turn into a star. Wall might be electric but he won't turn the exceedingly bad Wizards into winners and I wonder how much he contributes to that himself. Wesley Johnson is a back-to-back sub-40% shooter (so far). Favors high note could just as easily be being the central piece of the Deron trade if he doesn't develop properly and continues relies solely on athleticism and instincts. And Turner simply can't knock down open looks. Pretty moves are nice but if you do nothing with the looks you create then they're worthless.
Turner also has a tendency to trap himself with his dribble. Probably not endearing himself to the coaching staff with that.
Do games blacked out by LeaguePass remain unavailable for the rest of the season? Is the black out ever lifted for archived games? Thanks.
I think they remain blacked out, but I'm not 100% sure.
Nice solid win tonight..and it's lame but probably the only thing there is to complain about: still no time for Battie, Speights or Allen? Two blowouts in the first four games, if ever there's a time to use teh bottom of the bench, those would seem to be ideal...