The Sixers look to make it two in a row tonight in Philly against a disadvantaged Memphis squad. The Griz lost at home to the Hornets/Pelicans last night, and they also lost their starting point guard, Mike Conley, to a sprained ankle.
If Conley is out, which seems likely, I'm guessing Jerryd Bayless gets the start at the point, and Jrue Holiday has a gigantic mismatch. Marc Gasol played the heaviest minutes in the first half of the back-to-back (40).
Memphis has a ton of trouble scoring points when fully-healthy and rested. Without Conley, the Sixers really have an opportunity here to turn the screws on the Griz. Rudy Gay has been horrible this season (TS%: .472), Zach Randolph's efficiency is down a bit. Gasol has to be the main concern. This is one game where the Sixers absolutely must push the pace. I'm not one of the people who think they need to play at a faster pace all the time, but against a shorthanded, tired team that needs to rely on it's less-than-svelt bigs? Run them 'til they drop.
A couple other matters of import, paramount among them, Andrew Bynum should begin
full-contact workouts later this week, and might return before the All Star break. That's kind of a big deal. NO SETBACKS!
Also, with Rajon Rondo going down for the remainder of the season, you'd have to think the Celtics are going to look to rebuild. If they do, would you do
this?
The tip is at 7pm. Use this as your game thread. I'll be watching on DVR, with a decidedly better attitude about the team (unless/until they lay another egg).
I'm thinking that the sixers look at Thad as one of the core pieces moving forward. I'm interested in seeing how he works next to Bynum.
Plus, we don't need Garnett to shoot 20 footers. We have Hawes for that :)
Garnett is still a great defender and very vocal, something they have always been lacking. he calls out rotations and lets everyone know where they're supposed to be.
offensively, yea he is basically a spot up jump shooter, but he can still function by drawing his defender out of the paint to give Bynum room to operate.
Yeah, I totally agree. He would make our team better both on defense and just as a vocal leader and motivator. I just don't think the sixers would want to move in that direction. I'm not saying I wouldn't. I'm saying I think they view Thad as an important component to their future core.
Garnett shoots them at 50%, though.
Sweet, 1.0 ppp. That's something to build our offense around.
(sarcasm)
:)
If 1.00ppp is your third option, and your bailout, you're doing pretty good.
Heh. I thought Turner dribbling the air out of the ball with his head down was our third option.
If he gets the defensive board on the other end, it's our only option (at least until his first attempt is blocked, then we have a chance at someone else getting the offensive rebound).
Is there a stat that tracks how often shots get blocked (and/or at what locations on the court). He has to be somewhere near the top of that list.
HoopData has it. Think it's drastically under-reported, though.
nba.com has it in their boxscores but they don't keep it as a stat.
According to hoopdata, Turner is not that bad. And there are some pretty good players that are far worse than him.
Does Turner's number seem legit to you? I swear he's blocked a couple times/game.
I think, when he gets blocked he gets blocked badly, and we really notice it but i'm not sure that he actually gets blocked more than reported here which is 0.86 times per game. 0.86 puts him at 15th, but as a percentage he is 40th. I think these are real numbers, there are games where he gets blocked 2-3 times in the same game, but there are also others when he doesn't get blocked at all. Also, there are situations where he simply loses the basketball in the paint without being blocked.
All in all i think our view is not objective in this case and the stats are real.
I can definitely make a strong argument for not making the deal. But on the other hand, Garnett's mid-range jumper opens up space for Bynum down low, the defense would get a huge boost, and really, you'd have to expect Garnett's offensive output to increase. Look at the guys other playoff teams would have to guard him with.
NYK: Melo, Amare, Kurt Thomas?
NJN: Reggie Evans/Brook Lopez (not sure who they'd put on Bynum)
MIL: Ilyasovic
MIA: LeBron, I guess. They'd have no answer for Bynum or Garnett
BOS: Boozer
ATL: Josh Smith
IND: West?
It's obviously a short-term move, and you might wind up regretting Garnett's contract in the third year (when he's 38), but I think the team as whole is much more imposing w/ a Garnett/Bynum front line for the playoffs this year and next.
Just imagining double screens for Jrue with Garnett popping and Bynum rolling, and the room Jrue would have with defenses trying to account for either or both of those things. I mean, it wouldn't matter what you had on the wings. Just guys who can knock down the WIDE OPEN looks they'd get all game.
Yes Garnett would help the team in the short term. But no they shouldn't trade Young for him because the team is not in the position to be thinking short term yet. Now if you can get Garnett without the losing any of the core players i'm all for it, but Jrue, Bynum and Thad should be out of the discussion.
I agree with Jrue and Bynum. I don't see Thad as anything that special where you simply can't move him. I think he's good, but I also think he's kind of an awkward piece and I'm legitimately worried that his jumper is completely gone since he added the bulk this summer. He's shooting 31% on long twos (which are always with his feet set, squared up to the hoop) and his free throw shooting is just abysmal. I'd love to have a guy like Ryan Anderson next to Bynum, a guy who could legitimately spread the floor w/ three-point shots, but overall, I'll take a defender who shoots 50% on long twos over a soft-defending stretch four with three-point range.
I generally agree short term isn't the way to think right now, unless a move makes short term a viable possibility, which I think this move would.
My main concern would be depth, because Garnett's only good for about 30 mins/game. Of course, you're also adding in Bynum for 30-35 in the front court, so you'd be looking at anywhere from 30-36 minutes/game for Lavoy and Spence (they currently average a combined 46 mins.
i don't consider Thad an untouchable piece at all. i understand the fanbase loves him because of the way he plays, but you can pretty easily replicate his production elsewhere. he'll always be a tweener whose greatest asset on defense is blowing up pick & rolls. he still can't guard bigger 4s or quicker 3s one-on-one.
Do you think even with a healthy Garnett and Bynum that we could win a championship this year and next?
I'd say we'd be a contender, but there are so many question marks, mostly in the area of health issues (either age-related or chronic health problems).
Then comes the question of pick n' roll defense. Thad's has improved greatly where Garnett's may have dropped off or if not, most likely will drop off in the near future.
Again, I'm not disagreeing with the value of this trade, just trying to bring up some things to consider.
Garnett's the best in the game at pick-and-roll defense, I don't think that's changed, yet.
Could they win a title in the next two years? Mabye. I don't know. OKC is really the only playoff team in either league who even has a prayer of defending them on the inside. It would make for some really interesting matchups. Can the Miami perimeter guys beat a really good front court? How good would their defense look if they had to handle a legit post threat, and another 7-footer who can hit out to 20 feet?
I'd take the shot, mostly because I like Thad, but don't view him as anything near untouchable. And I think you're a legit contender with Garnett at the four and the rest of the roster mostly unchanged for the next two years than you would be with Thad at the four under the same circumstances.
If we'd be in a position to possibly acquire another star-caliber or good-very good PF after his contract expires than I'm all for it.
It's a gamble, but if they stay healthy, then a Jrue/Bynum tandem could lure in other FAs.
Heh, Reggie Evans would be available.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/2015-nba-free-agents/
LBJ, Love, Bosh. A couple other big names in there, including some restricted FAs. Thad could be a FA that summer, too. He has an ETO.
I think if was making the calls, I'd do everything I could to make Jrue and Bynum the only two deals left on the books in the summer of 2015. That means you don't re-sign Turner, and you might have to move Thad and Moultrie. If they do that, they'd have $31M committed to their two core guys. Then you try to convince LeBron to win three or four more titles in Philly as the third wheel at the ripe old age of 31.
I don't think we'd ever get Lebron. Miami is a pretty nice place to live, especially if you're rich. But you never know. And you're right, there's a pretty nice list of FA's available that summer...a number of aging veterans who may be interested in winning a title.
isn't LeBron going back to the Cavs that offseason?
The other thing is that other than maybe Damien (not a closer obviously), Thad's the only guy that can hope to cover the upper tier big wings in this league. I think we've seen this year that ET isn't able to cover most good SF's much less stretch fours. Who's covering Melo, Lebron, Deng, Durant in iso's?
Plus I'd rather have Thad's prime for the Bynum and Jrue yrs than an aging Garnett, though he's better in the short-term. When I first saw this (trade) I was worried you were trying to get Pierce's whiny ass. I don't know if I could take it.
i was thinking about trades with the Celtics too. don't you think think they'd want another young piece too, maybe Turner?
as far as Bynum goes, has his only running been on the anti-gravity machine? i don't know how those work, but i assume that means he has not yet run putting any weight on his knees. i'd think that would make a big difference.
It's reduced weight. I think he's been ramping the weight on them for awhile. the man weighs 300 pounds... I have no idea how much weight he's actually putting on when he runs but it's not ZERO.
mack back on another 10 day
ok yea, that makes sense
from rotoworld.com:
Coach Lionel Hollins said that Mike Conley (ankle) will "probably" play on Monday, but there is "no real word" on his availability.
This looks like good news after Conley was lifted from Sunday's game and was in a walking boot on Sunday night. However, it's still very possible Conley misses Monday's game depending on how his ankle responded overnight, but the initial report is that Conley escaped serious injury. It's also worth noting that Conley said he was dealing with "a lot of pain" and said that it was more of a "bone bruise than a sprain."
I'd say Jrue's got a sizable advantage if he plays injured or doesn't play. They need to press that.
Marcus Hayes w/ a readable Sixers story, about how Jrue learned that bump separation move.
my favorite part is McKie's nickname
I'd love to make that trade, but the long term effects concern me. KG does have a no-trade clause and last year he was on the brink of retirement. I'm not sure if he'll stay past this year. I would still make the trade, even though I'd hate to see Thad on the Celtics.
A KG+Bynum+Jrue is too good to pass up. I'm not sure how much is guaranteed on the last year of KG's deal, but the Sixers could head into 2014 with only 3 players (Jrue, Bynum and Richardson)on contract.
Would you trade Thad for Ilyasova and Ryan Anderson?
Anderson, yes. His three-point shooting is legit (there's a question about Ilyasova, still).
Thad definetly looks like a tweener on paper, and on paper you would think most of the leagues 4s would torch him, especially considering he plays with terrible centers. However, to my eyes, his man on man post defense has been really good this year. Sort of like how we often thought Brand would struggle guarding centers, but actually played really good defense.
If Bynum was healthy and playing at a high level and the team was playing at a high level, I would be more inclined to trade Garnett for Thad. However, I wouldn't do it because we are now more hopeful that he will come back and play, and hope that his effect on the team will be to make us a Garnett away from being a contender.
I've warmed up to the idea of trading Thad for KG, but I really doubt Boston makes this trade, especially to a division rival.
Boston still makes a shitload of money from having a consistently good team and 3 superstars. I honestly don't think Boston decided to give KG, Bass, Jeff Green, Jason Terry, and Courtney Lee those contracts without realizing that there were building a 50 win team and not a championship contender.
An ailing Rondo (who might not be fully recovered till 2014) and a team comprised of Courtney Lee, Thaddeus Young, Jeff Green, and Jared Sullinger might turn off the fan base for a few years. Especially if they know that there's no possible way that their team can overtake their division rivals.
Yeah, I don't know how Thad is viewed around the league. I'd assume if they move KG (he has a no-trade, btw) Pierce would follow immediately. They might try to tie the Terry contract to one of them, and they'd look to retool with younger pieces. Thad's young, but he's not cheap.
I'm not saying no or yes to that deal right at this point, but I'm curious if anyone besides me is less likely to do young/garnett deal just because of where we sit in the east with less than half the year remaining. I mean, if we were the 5th seed right now, my willingness to do the deal goes up. It just has to. Maybe it goes up from 50% to 60% but the point is, it goes up.
Yeah, that makes sense. I think, for me, I don't see such a huge downside to the move even if it doesn't work out. I like Thad, but I'm not going to lose much sleep if they wound up letting him go for a shot at something great that didn't work out. He's fairly paid, but it's not like he's a huge bargain. It would be different if they were giving up a guy with his production who still had a couple years left on his rookie deal.
We're only 5 games out of the #7 seed. Do you think a lineup with Bynum/KG/Jrue can beat the Knicks in a 7 game series?
Honestly, I think a team w/ those three plus Wright/Young/Turner/Richardson (assuming any two of those guys have a pulse at a time) can compete with anyone. Also assuming Bynum is healthy enough to play 30-35 minutes and KG is healthy enough to play 30.
Whereas a Garnett/Rondo/Pierce/Terry team is only .500. I think that, in today's NBA, you need a lot of good role players (and shooters) to contend. Also that taking the league's second best center, its seventh or so best point guard, and about its fifth or sixth best power forward doesn't really measure up to Durant/Westbrook/Ibaka/Martin or LeBron/Wade/Bosh, before you even factor in the huge advantages that those teams have in supporting casts.
The Boston team, and all the other teams you mentioned, lack a post threat. And really OKC is the only team that even attempts to have an interior defense that can handle a guy like Bynum (because they build the team to stop he and Pau).
I don't know if they'd win a series with Miami, but they'd be built to take a team like that apart. I mean, they'd have to use either Bosh or Haslem to guard Bynum. You don't get a bigger mismatch than that. On the other end, you've got Garnett and Bynum to lock down the paint, meaning getting beat on the perimeter isn't an automatic deuce.
It'd be very interesting to see, at the very least.
Unrelated, I sort of like the idea of starting N.Young. Sure, he is a hugely flawed player, but he is not afraid to score, which taes pressure off of Jrue.
I think we will be seeing a ton more double teaming of Jrue the second he crosses half court. And the rest of the Sixers do not seem to have the makeup to respond when their man leaves them to double Jrue.
While N.Young is the type of player who would get insulted and start firing up open 3's- which in the circumstances would not be the wrong thing. Potentially it would rack up quick points and force the opponent to abandon the double team, putting the ball back in Jrue's hands.
You think we see Tony Allen on him right from the start tonight?
By him, I obviously mean do you think Allen will be on Nick or Jrue?
I think he will start on Young, but they will use him on Jrue at times or even Turner if he gets hot.
Does anybody have a decent recap of that trade the Grizz made the other day to unload Mo Speezy? Is the guy they got back in that deal any good or was that a straight salary dump?
dump.
Salary dump, but Leuer might actually be able to play a little, he was decent in Milwaukee.
no conley tonight
jrue fade away goes in blah shot
tony allen 3,ugh
Jrue to Thad.
bad evan shot goes in
sissy hook
Hawes hook over Gasol. heh
swaggy 3 from jrue drive
Good D there from Nick.
Nick for 3!!!!!! They're on fire!
Ugh Hawes that was terrible.
2 on other end after his fumbling display.
free
of course he splits them
Thad is just awful at the line anymore...
jrue right to the rim
evan to nick young 3
NYoung for 3!
Nick with another three, nice set up by ET after holding the ball too long
thad long 2
They did a lot of switching screens and men on that last possession.
jrue jumper
Jrue steal. To thad. to hawes for the .......DUNK!
NYoung on the drive. And-one opp.
good job by nick to not settle for the jumper
+15 when jrue goes to the bench
Shut up Evan... just play man
bad shot evan, good o-board thad
Evan often gets allergic to passing, particularly when Jrue goes out.
dont switch on defense please
mack sighting?!
Don't know if they ran it Saturday or not, but they seem to be running this weave play a lot tonight. It's created quite a few good looks too.
Turner bailed out with the foul. He's trying too hard, keep the ball moving
stop switching
bayless three smells like a nad omen
65% shooting in that quarter. 12 pts in the paint. Shooting is sure to cool off, but keep attacking that lane please.
WTH was that Hawes? damn
bad shot wilkins
Need a timeout. They're in a bad lull here.
Jrue to the iron. Lefty finish
ivey 3
Ivey 4 3!!!
jrue to lavoy
Good pass in traffic by Jrue. Lavoy.
jrue
Jrue lazy fighting over screens. Johnson 3. come on
Jrue answers w/ a fadeaway.
Tighten up the D please.
Jrue J.
bad jrue shot goes in
sissy hook
Hawes w/ the weakness.
thad jumper
Good move Thad, need to finish that though. ugh
Gay 3 over Evan. ugh
Bayless is matching Jrue. Need to put that guy in check.
too many jumpers
bad shot Jrue, we needed a bucket there to stop the bleeding
tie game, fuck
meant 1 point game
hated jrues early long j that led to memphis cutting the lead to one. great feed of thad next time tho. turner making good contributions again, playing underneath the foul line, getting to his spots. he's money on that little seven footer if he gets space with his misdirection moves
bad evan shot goes in
did not like that shot by Turner at all, goes in though
Just as we looked in the first quarter, the Griz are looking the same in the second quarter. Mirroring each other. They're now shooting better than us at 60%.
Jrue airball. ugh
why is Wright in the Doughouse? I don't get it
Yeah, I don't get how Doug can play Wilkins over him.
encouraged by turner's seemingly improved grasp of his own limitations offensively. his shot charts last couple games are a thing of beauty. everything below the foul line. getting thoroughly worked over by the refs tonight
MOTHERFUCKING JERRYD BAYLESS
well the double digit lead was nice
This never happened. He took 5 twos from 16 feet and out the last game, four against the Bucks, four against the Spurs.
lol this poster is blinded by e'rything with et..mesmerized
well the reason he has been scoring consistently is that he was been able to get into the paint and score, on short pull up js and old man moves. when he was effective earlier in the year, he did that consistently. in his recent drought he was living beyond the foul line indicatin a worrisome passivity
Bayless is making Jrue his ragdoll. Rather Conley had played after the way this guy is lighting it up.
Griz 14-17 in that quarter. Inexcusable.
Jrue started out hot but Bayless is lighting him up right now...he's a fast little fucker, they need to figure out a way to contain him in the second half.
why kwame?!!!!!!!!
Well, they've dusted Kwame off. Wonderboy in foul trouble.
bad shot thad
Evan goes way too far under the screen, Gay 3.
Thad coast to coast.
nice thad
Atta boy Thad, good ass effort causing the turnover.
bad nick young shot goes in
Young is having an incredible third quarter.
Turner has to pass ahead to Jrue there
good fast break there
Turner with a cherry-picking dunk.
kwame!
Kwame putback.
Good leak out by Nick and pass ahead by Jrue.
nice move evan
ET with a sneak-in duck under layup
some stops would be nice
ET has to cheat too far down to help on Jrue getting beat on Bayless' penetration and ends in a Gay 3.
ET.
Dammit, Johnson 3 on other end.
ET crossover J.
Gasol answers. Trading buckets isn't gonna cut it.
Bayless is pimping Jrue on both ends.
gotta start the 4th strong
ET crossover pullup contested J. 14 in quarter for him. All of the last 8.
I keep catching myself thinking...
"Charlie Villanueva at the point?"
Was Ivey fouled there? Tony Brothers has been quick w/ the whistle most of the night.
EVAN
MARCEL
TURNER
nice start to the quarter
evan jumper
Evan pullup.
Evan heat check. Blocked by Gay.
wild from turner, gets it blocked. would have been a bad shot anyway
ivey 3
Just watch the motherfucker shoot it,Spencer. Just don't even get a hand up, will ya.... geezzzzzzzzzzzzz
turner is engaged on defense, like vs chicago in the playoffs
turner in the lane with the scoop
thad
Come the eff on Jrue! Protect the ball kid.
jrue has been a mess this 2nd half
shocked by jrue this half. thought he was ready to throw up thirty and fifteen. did he have even one assist in the third?
ugh thad
sissy jumper
Good call on that illegal screen, he nudged his hip out.
How the hell was that not a walk on Evan there? Heh the ref was standing right there watching ...
wow that was ugly evan
jrue
did turner tap in that fasol shot battling his teammate for the board?
JRUE
no i think it rolled in
Get some STOPS !!!!!!!!!!!!! come on
Dammit Jrue .......... shit man
Thad fires a 3? come the fuck on, execute guys, get a better look than that.
i hate holding the ball the whole clock, just run something
get a bucket here!
And Jrue settles for a 20 foot pullup. sheesh. MOFO! they score.
Terrible execution and shot selection more importantly here down the stretch.
They double Jrue, and NYoung fires a not too good 3. ugh
Box the fuck out TUrner. shit......................
If they don't score here, they downright pissed this game away in the last 2 minutes. Straight pissed it down the drain. Turnover and shitty shitty shot selection.
ugh
Thad missed a short shot, ball game....this one fucking stings
This game is far too similar to the spurs game. I want to puke.
jrue is doing an all star job taking the sixers leading scorer totally out of the offense
another wild pos play by jrue and completes his pissing away of this game. earlier i was predicting a decade of stardom now i want to punch him. turner probably does too. he did not get a touch in the last three minutes~!look at his line. and the offense coincidentally ground to a halt. worst loss of the year
I'm glad you think Turner shooting from 20 feet magically turns into a great shot just because he hit his last 4 or 5 ill-advised 20-footers.
ordinarily I would agree, but it was one of those extremely rare "Evan Turner can't miss" nights. He should have had a few more looks down the stretch.
agreed, especially when jrue's shot wasn't really falling in the 2nd half
Look at it this way Tray, if for one day pigs were able to fly and Cousins was shooting his long twos at an efficient clip then you'd probably want him to be part of the offense when the game is on the line.
All my mymanjrue said was that Turner should have been part of the offense in the last few minutes of the game. A box score junkie like yourself should have noticed that ET also had 7 assists to only one TO. This was one of those rare games where Turner had it going on, he should have at least touched the ball.
Smh I'm use to this already
Why the hell did Thad rush that shot so fast like that? It's like he wasn't aware of how much time he actually had. Like he just threw it up there quickly or something. Anyhow, an off-balance fallaway half hook that was ugly and the ending was ugly too. UGH UGH UGH
thad rushed the shot cause jrue rushed the pass
bullshit...the pass was perfect in its placement and timing. clearly the correct play.
Terrible pass. Jumping towards the baseline and passing behind himself. Did not set him up with momentum and Thad overcompensated and gave the shot a heavy hand.
Preposterous. He dumped the ball right down into Thad's left shooting hand with about 5 left on the clock. Thad flubbed that play all by himself. Jrue couldn't have done anything better. It was damn near a lateral pass, just slightly backward. And he'd have been crazy to throw it to Thad with "momentum" as Gasol was standing in-wait right in front of the hoop, also Randolph was cheating back over to help with Thad whom he originally left to stop Jrue's penetration. There was not one thing terrible about that pass. Ludicrous.
watch the replay. jrue threw it behind his shoulder. thad had to stop his move to catch the errant pass.
Seriously man, you really need to watch the replay it seems like. You didn't view that properly. There was nothing errant about the pass and nothing over anyone's shoulder, it was right in the bread-basket for Thad's shooting hand. Thad was going to stop anyway (he was alerady pulling up) because he had two 7 footers right in front of him. Jrue did a superb job delivering the rock away from both defenders, not giving them a chance at a reach-in and poke-away or swipe.
he had to stop and throw his arm back to corral it. hence the obviously awkward release. that's what happened. jrue played extremely poorly in the second half and down the stretch he deliberately froze out the guy whose offensive performance had the team in position to win. it was a disappointing game from jrue. im sure he will bounce back.
evans postgame comments were classy by the way
Turner was the hot hand and only got one shot in the final 4 mins.
THANK YOU. only one TOUCH, i believe. he was reduced to standing there watching jrue dribble, turn the ball over, brick long js and generally murder the offense. this one really hurts.
I don't mind that Jrue controlled the offense, that's how it should be, but Evan got froze out... didn't look his way despite the hot hand.
So what's new here? Neither Jrue nor Thad look Turner's way very often and that's been going on for a couple of years. Doesn't matter what kind of game he's having. Then people around here wonder why Turner goes to the bucket instead of passing when he finally gets the ball.
Both the Sixers and Turner probably would be better off if he were traded because there are two or three players on the team that don't seem to want to involve him much and at least a couple of them aren't going anywhere.
This is what happens when you over-hype a player. Eventually he begins to believe too much in his own his own press.
evan gets his share of the blame for failing to wrest that board away from gay before he scored for the lead...gay had position but i thought turner could have made a better play on it
that thad shot was a good look, just didnt go it happens
I just watched the replay, and both Gasol and Randolph were guarding him. He had a wide open Hawes running across the baseline. ouch. Either he was too short to see over Gasol and Randolph or just panicked and put up the shot.
Yes, well, Thad has averaged 1.2 assists per game in 404 career games with an average of 29 minutes per game, so court vision and looking for the open man obviously aren't his forte.
We got torched by Bayless the whole game!
Just out of curiosity, how many points did he have in the second half?
two straight DNPCDs for Wright, I wonder if we are going to trade him and his expiring...who knows what we could get for him if we did though
I only got to watch the last 4 minutes of the game, and I was shocked to find out that ET had 27 points. I don't blame this Sixers for going with Jrue in the end. Memphis put Tony Allen on Turner and Jared Beyless on Jrue. I'd take the Jrue matchup any day.
Well, if you watched the rest of the game, you would have seen that Jrue was not getting the better of his matchup with Bayless.
Oh, Jrue was not efficiently scoring on Bayless? What does what Bayless did to him on the other end have to do with it?
I just know what I saw. If you want to consult your advanced statistics for guidance, knock yourself out.
the superstar performance vs the knicks and hot shooting in the first half shouldn't obscure the fact jrue has been subpar in three of the last four.
against new york, he did so well recognizing evan's quality play and integerating him into the offense. tonight it seemed like he was eager to reestablish alpha dog status after the hot scoring from et in the third. pounded his dribble and forced the issue every time rather than risk allowing turner a touch which might turn into a clutch hoop. i dont know what was going on, maybe this was all by design and he was trying to do what his coach asked. i would not be surprised. it was pretty ugly
the offense was so good against ny and in the first quarter and a half tonight because of the ball movement. ball movement means you reward good cuts and the like, making guys more likely to continue making them. thad was thriving in the first half off feeds from jrue right under the rim.
i do think jrue will work through these remaining issues. but watching him go from making great decision after great decision in the first half...dishing when an easy hoop was there, generally very good shot selection....to playing like a rookie in the fourth and not creating a single well executed look around the paint
if i recall correctly, et's lone touch while we were stuck at one hundred was maybe the best opportunity. evan handled at the top of the key, doug used jrue as a decoy and hawes was underneath the basket. et go him the ball but the seven footer failed to finish. thad almost scored on the second chance too. that play was the only high quality offense i noticed in the waning moments. yes, there were some open threes but i don't like those looks in that setting...streaky shooters playing tight...didnt expect any of them to go in. esp when we had the lead, we needed jrue to probe the paint and find an easy two for someone.
he was too amped up, more frantic than methodical. results not pretty
Tough one to stomach. Defense on Gay and Gasoline was atrocious all night. Defense on Bayless killed them in the first half. Thought Thad was really the only one focused on the defensive end all game. Funny, I was going to commend them on their defensive rebounding, thought they did a really good job, then two o-boards killed them late.
Think Jrue's hangover from the Knicks game was his jumper falling. Hate ith when he gets in ruts of just pulling up, it's lazy, it keeps him from getting to the line and when he goes cold, he doesn't adjust yucky enough. Cost them tonight. Don't have a problem with that play to Thad, it was the right play, and that's a shot Thad makes more often than not. Would've had a problem with a 20-footer in that situation.
Turner was unconscious, on both ends of the floor. He was also gassed in the beginning of the fourth. Thought that had more to do with his disappearing act that getting frozen out, but whatever. Good for him. Still can't believe the shot defense on both ends. Can't leave winnable games on the table like that.
Ignore the autocorrects, you get the point. Shit loss.
"Gasoline" sounds about right.
I was surprised the refs allowed Bayless to body up against Jrue all game when he attempted to drive. But maybe just really good defense. I have not seen anyone else keep Jrue out of the lane.
Not all that surprised that key O-boards killed them on the last few possessions. Its a reflection of why the Grizzlies are the better team. They missed their initial shots just like the Sixers, but had active bodies on the boards to get second and third looks. It did not happen most of the game, but it did when the game was on the line.
this thread in instructive. turner plays a great game, unconcious shooting, yet the thread is littered with complaints about his play by eddies. i think he posted et check after every one of the SIX shots he missed.
Really unlucky loss. I thought the Sixers didn't play bad actually, it just wasn't their day. The game reminded me a bit on the Timberwolves game. The Grizzlies, who are one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA, without their best shooter (Conley) scored 54 points on long jumpers and threes. They were held to 49 points in the paint and on free throws combined. I doubt they had won a game when they scored more on jumpers than paint + FTs all season. A fluky game.
Also, for all those who think Thad can't defend in the post, watch this game. Randolph is probably the toughest PF in the league for Thad to guard and he did an awesome job. I don't get why very few people want to acknowledge that Thad is really good at the PF spot in every aspect of the game. He is still not a great defensive rebounder, but that won't matter with Bynum.
Forgot to mention:
Allen first three of the season
Gasol first three of the season
Wasn't meant to be, i guess.
Randolph did have a rough game offensively, but he did grab 12 rbs I think including some crucial ones down the stretch. Good defensive game or not from Thad, the Sixers continue to be outmanned upfront.
Jrue did an incredibly poor job facilitating the offense yest again down the stretch. Dribbling into double-teams, taking bad pullup jumpers, not setting up his teammates, playing out of control. Turner needs to touch that ball. I blame Collins, too.
Here's the final 10 possessions (6 points):
Jrue, 2/3 from the floor, 1 assist, 1 turn.
Thad, 0/2 from the floor (corner three, missed shot at the rim, both passes from Jrue)
Hawes, 1/1 (assist from Jrue)
Turner, 0/1 (missed long two, think he dribbled into this one)
Nick Young, 0/2 (two threes, one open pass from Jrue, one blocked at the buzzer).
I don't know, maybe you'd prefer a Turner long two to the Thad corner three. Otherwise, can't say a Turner shot was a better idea than any of the other shots. Even the long two that Jrue missed, he was 5/10 on long twos prior to that, Turner was 5/9 on the game, so it's not like Turner was red hot while Jrue was cold on those shots (and Turner had missed his last two while Jrue had made his last two).
This game wasn't lost on the offensive end. They got three straight stops in the final 1:49 with a three-point lead. That's a win. Unless you let the other team get three straight offensive boards and convert on two of them. The coup de grace being Turner's man getting an o-board and winning the game for Memphis.
The irony here is that Turner would've gotten another shot at the end of the game if he'd just secured the defensive board that lost the game for them. You know he wouldn't have given the ball up.
can anyone tell me what wilkins does better then wright?
shaves his head? veteran-ness?
Dunno. I do know the bench crew he's throwing out there right now is helpless.