This game should not have been
decided by two points. The free throw shooting was atrocious in the fourth quarter, and the Sixers should've put Orlando out of its misery much, much earlier. Still, a win is a win. And a win in the playoffs is gold, especially in a swing game. Thoughts on game three after the jump.
- Courtney Lee spent more time whining to the refs than playing basketball. You're a rookie, stop acting like someone owes you something because you had a couple of decent games when the defense really didn't care about you at all.
- Thad completely disappeared for about 45 minutes of this game. His second and third hoops were both huge, though.
- The play that got Lou benched was unforgivable. I watched it on replay, the call was to switch the screen, Thad switched, Lou did nothing. He didn't go and double the passer hard (which may have made the pass difficult) and he didn't react when the ball went to Lewis for the three. In fact, Thad realized what was happening and did his best to get out there to challenge the shot, but guarding two men by yourself on the perimeter is not possible. Lou stood and watched, eight feet away from either man.
- The biggest key to this win, and also a sign of the heart the Sixers have. Orlando tied the game up at 86 with 6:00 to go in the fourth. They tied it again with 6 seconds left, but they never took the lead. The Sixers clamped down on the defensive end when the game was truly on the line. Good sign.
- I came to two realizations about the Magic after watching them play three games in a row. Number one, Stan Van Gundy is a moron, or he has no control over his team. Out of every timeout, at the beginning of every quarter, Van Gundy would go to Howard in the post a couple of time, and Howard would score or get fouled. Without fail. Two minutes later, Howard would become nothing more than a big guy who sets screens way out past the three-point line for Rafer Alston. If there was any kind of commitment to feeding Howard in the post throughout the game, he would've scored 60. The second point is just how much this team misses Jameer Nelson. Pretty much every time Howard set those high screens, he rolled right down the middle of the lane either completely unguarded, or with a small on him. Not once did the Magic even attempt to hit him on his dive to the hoop. If you can think back to the first time these teams met this season, Howard was getting the ball from Nelson on those rolls.
- As frustrating as his lapses can be, this team functions better with Sam Dalembert on the floor. They rebound better and they defend better. I'm not sure they win this game if Theo doesn't pick up his fifth foul with 7:31 left in the fourth.
- The Magic have now tried to guard Andre Miller with Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Anthony Johnson and Mickeal Pietrus. The results: 23 points/game, 7.7 rebounds/game, 5.7 assists/game, 52.7% from the floor.
- The enigma that is Andre Iguodala will never cease to amaze me. By all rights, he had a dominating game last night, yet he bricked two free throws down the stretch, which is the only thing his detractors will remember.
- Lou's shot selection was much better.
- Willie really can't guard anyone on their roster. Alson abuses him in every imaginable way. When DiLeo is making offense/defense switches, he'd be much better off going with Ivey instead of Willie.
- Reggie was actually a positive on the game in his brief run in the first half. He brought energy and drew a bunch of fouls.
- Finally, when you think about it, isn't this Sixers team exactly what Philadelphia sports fans supposedly want from their teams? Underdogs, who play with max effort and win by out-working their opponents? Why the hell aren't they selling these games out?
Player of The Game: Andre Iguodala, 29 points on 15 shots to go along with 7 boards, 4 dimes and 2 steals.
Series: 2-1, Philly
Next game: Sunday at the Wach.
I'm not always on the same page with Dileo, but he was a maestro in the 1st half. It was as close as a coach can get to a perfect quarter.
Case in point: he sent in Sam, but Howard walked to the bench, so he instead swapped Evans for Sam. he did not wait till the next dead ball. He used the home teams ability to get the last sub in to put Sam in and then pull him all in the same stoppage.
Seems like a small thing, but you saw the havoc Reggie at his best unleashed in blessedly limited minutes.
DiLeo also showed some growth by leaving Marshall in even when he initially was unsuccessful and by uncharacteristically going to Sam on defense down the stretch.
It is hard for coaches to go against their normal rotations. All season DiLeo went with Lou to close games (instead of WG) and never used Sam in the last 6 minutes (justifiably).
I give props to DiLeo for realizing that against the Magic last night Lou needed to sit and Sam had to be in there. Sam's played the last 6 minutes as well as he could. He was great at forcing the driver to alster and still getting a body on Howard- a tough task that Theo lacks the quickness to pull off.
Its good to know DiLeo is flexible. If they somehow can get past Orlando to face Boston all of the sudden the match-ups should dictate lots more minutes for Ivey and Speights. I'm hopeful at this point that DiLeo is the kind of coach who will change up the rotations to take advantage of the match-ups... but I still doubt he'd be willing to make the big move of putting Iguodala at SG.
i definitely agree that dileo has done a good job of getting out of his comfort zone & switching up his rotations. i was glad to see speights not even leave the bench last night. but, like you said, the matchups against boston should allow him more playing time, and i think dileo will see that.
I was shocked to see Donyell in the first quarter. I thought maybe Thad had picked up his second early, but he didn't pick it up until the second quarter. He gave him an extended run in the first half too.
Like I said before, I was pissed Willie was in there in the fourth, but he proved me wrong.
The interesting thing is that Van Gundy is really tightening his rotations. Basically went with 7 men last night. DiLeo seems willing to try anyone and roll with the hot hand.
Still think Sammy at the end of the game is absolutely our best option.
I actually thought DiLeo went with Donyell too long in the first half. He was really getting hurt defensively. Every pick and roll, Donyell couldn't stop the ball, and he couldn't rotate back fast enough to get back to his man. It was tough to watch. I just wish we had some option, any option, that could open up the floor without being a complete and total liability defensively.
Well, it was 20-12 Sixers in his 8-minute run in the first half. Battie burned them twice, I remember one coming on a pick and roll situation, can't remember the second. Otherwise, the scoring came from Howard and the line. I think Donyell on Lewis is actually a better matchup for the Sixers than Battie, but either way. 12 points allowed in 8 minutes is still good team defense and 20 points scored is excellent offense.
I'm not so concerned about score. +/- in a few minutes doesn't always equate to the whole story. Bad defense can be played and not necessarily reflected on the boxscore.
It's hard for me to comment too much. I was at the game, and the view from the second level is obviously not ideal for the details. I haven't had a chance to watch the game, which I DVR'd, I'm hoping to do that tonight. But generally, I don't like Donyell on the floor for too much.
the Sixers were also -11 in the second half with 'Yell on the floor.
Good point, he was in there when they cut the lead from 15 to 4 in about 4 minutes. Lewis hit one three, Pietrus hit two and Alston had an easy layup. Some of that could easily have been his fault.
Brian, I wish I could have been at the game. I am a philly fan living up in Boston, so I spend half the time cheering for 76ers the other half rooting against the celtics!
I agree with your thoughts on the game last night. It should not have been that close. I thought we might lose when Iggs bricked two free throws followed by Howard making 2 to tie it.
Reasons why the won.
1. Iggs hitting the jump shot. he had two shots in the third quarter that were just sick....seemed like he was in a good zone...he also did not commit a foul despite playing over 40 minutes.
2. I agree with you about Sammy, he seemed ready to play, gesturing to the crowd....rebounding....but most importantly pushing Howard out of the paint to receive the ball and getting his hands to tap the pass away
3.Willie Green...he had had his one game of scoring, i wouldn't expect another night like tonight...but to sub him for defense is silly. He gave up that Rashard Lewis three to bring the game to 1...def need Ivey in there
4. Donny Marshall...not a shocking game...but got some run in the flow of the game. His presence opens up everything. I especially liked the offense/defense sub at the end of the game. for the sixers last shot they trotted out....AI, Miller, Thad, Green, and Marshall. I can't imagine this is a lineup that they have used too often during the season. Thad hit the game winner with Marshall wide open on the wing...Howard will not leave the paint.....a good lineup for end of half offense posessions.
Overall thoughts: WHen Howard scores at will....and the 76ers bench contributes...the sixers will win. Another underrated subplot is how ridiculous the 76ers shooting percentage is! Iggy and Miller on fire!!!
Add to that Miller stepping up his defense and shutting down Lee. A big surprise.
Thad did an ESPN chat:
http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=26211
He's a bright kid.
He is. I'd hate to read a Lou chat. I was surprised to see, though, that Willie off a double screen was one of the options on the last play. While Donyell, apparently, wasn't.
I think they put Donyell in specifically to draw Howard out of the paint and open up a driving lane. Turned out, he was wide open for a three, too, so it worked.
Personally, I'd go Iguodala, Miller, Thad then Donyell for that last shot. Willie would be my fifth option.
The more DiLeo disappoints me, it seems the more he teases me. No complaints with any rotations last night, masterful job. Just when I feel that he isn't the long term answer as coach, hence his decisions in game 2, he delivers a splendid job like last night.
But is it really DiLeo? With the admittance of McKie orchestrating the defense before games and Loyer clearly drawing up the last two plays last night while DiLeo intently listened, maybe we are on to something here. A collaborative effort from a coaching staff isn't necessarily a bad thing, just use the NFL with all its coordinators or MLB with most managers having a bench coach as examples.
The franchise is going against the grain of your typical NBA coaching staffs with these specific designations and multiple inputs that occur during the games themselves. Now I know that other staffs collaborate at the start of timeouts, and have a defensive oriented coach etc., but you just don't see the head coach loosen up the reigns within the game as much as we do, particularly in crunch time as DiLeo did last night.
Didn't I just read somewhere that the Cavs have the same sort of coaching by committee?
Well, it's a two-man thing with COY still in control of calling the defense.
Miller today, when I asked if he feels like the Magic have a different switch like Detroit turned on in the second half of Game 4 last year: "I do. It’s their 3-pointers. You saw when we were up 17 points what two or three 3-pointers can do to a team, as far as energizing a team and getting ‘em back in the game. The game turned around in three or four minutes. That’s the main thing — controlling the 3s.”
I mean, a different switch would be Rashard and/or Hedo showing up in any fashion. Hedo doesn't have to shoot threes to have a huge impact on the game, he's usually this dynamic point-forward playmaker.
Hedo's been very mediocre since the beginning of March. 42% from the field, 30% from three. In April (7 games) he only shot 16.7% from three. Maybe last year was the aberration for Hedo.
Dalembert's shoulder is still bothering him. He aggravated his already strained right shoulder in the middle of the first quarter of Friday's 96-94 Game 3 victory over the Magic, though he managed to play 30 minutes and accumulate four points, nine rebounds and three blocks after two forgettable games.
Dalembert said Saturday that he cannot fully extend his arm without being in considerable pain.
"I’m going to go out there and play," he said. "After the series is over, I’ll rest for a few days and get back again."
You could see when he hurt it, I think he was trying to block a shot.
Any word on Reggie's quad?
I saw him grabbing his shoulder a couple of times.
Sammy does drive me insane when he makes a silly play but overall I've always stressed that overall he is our best option at center and it was clear as day the impact he had on the team's rebounding in Game 3.
No mention of Reggie on injury report. They met with the media before practice, though they were probably only going to watch film.
Young said he had 30 congratulatory texts on his winning shot when he woke up this morning.
At the game last night, all around me the men were saying why in the world is Green in the game? Constantly. My feelings about Green are clear so...
Sammy has been playing very well this series, IMO. I am not a fan of his so this is big. He was encouraging the crowd last night and really trying. Thank you, Sammy!
I thought the crowd was louder than most of you think. It definitely was the loudest this year, IMO.
For about the last six minutes it was deafening in there. Earlier, it didn't seem very loud to me.
It's odd, I think the Sixers only had maybe 2 or three dunks last night, one very early by Sammy, one by Marshall and one by Donyell off that sweet pass from Iggy. Not sure if a monster dunk would've gotten the crowd going earlier or not, just something that stuck in my mind.
I thought it was only fair Lou got benched for that bad play defensively. About damn time Lou lost his immunity. Dude has to realize when he's helping the team and when he's hurting them, and how to do more of the former.
- How deceptively quick is Miller? If both Andres keep going off like that we'll be hard to stop.
- I felt that our defense became suspect once Thad went to the bench with 4 fouls.
- I was screaming for Marshall to come in on that last play, because it just made sense to have a shooter there to spread the floor.
- We need to make free throws. Lou and Iggy in particular did poorly in Game 3. Howard embarrasses them in that respect.
- Yes we should have won this game earlier but now that it happened the way it did I'm thrilled because there's not much better for young teams than pulling off close victories in the playoffs. It's a great learning experience and for Thad it's a great moment in his young career and I'm sure it will further accelerate his progress. Hopefully we see a breakout game soon.
Great moment in Iguodala's career, or at least it was until the foul shots. Probably the best playoff game of his career.