Lost amid the Sixers amazing win streak and their GM's protestations that defense is of the utmost importance is the aspect of the Iverson signing I feared most, stalled development. Upon further examination, I have to admit that not a whole lot of the damage being done to the Sixers is directly related to Iverson's presence.
He's been a net positive for the team on the floor so far. He's gotten them away from the meaningless Princeton offense and he is showing the young players on the team the benefits of involving the bigs, near the hoop. On the defensive end, he is what he is. Horrible.
If we're talking about development, there's one man to blame for the lack thereof. Eddie Jordan. His rotations remain mind-boggling. You know the rest. Jrue's minutes are way down, Thad's minutes are way down, even Speights has seen a dip in his minutes recently, but I'm starting to come around to the idea that minutes don't even matter. I'm starting to think that the damage Jordan is doing to this roster goes way beyond a lack of development. There's evidence out there that Jordan could actually be making these players worse.
Last week during a post-game tirade, Flip Saunders basically said Washington was a defensive laughing stock under Jordan and he simply cannot believe exactly how bad the players on that roster are defensively. With rare exception, these are all players who cut their teeth under Eddie Jordan.
Last night, I read
this quote from another guy who spent his formative years under Jordan, Roger Mason Jr.:
"I can't say that I really was the most experienced defender when I left Washington, I did the best I thought I could do. But when I got in this system [with the Spurs] that first year really stripped me of a lot of my bad habits, and I've learned how to compete defensively."
Looking at the numbers, you can clearly see not only Jordan's disastrous effect on the team's defense, but even how his asinine system is affecting individual players. Compare Andre Iguodala's PER against from the previous two seasons for one example.
Here and
here. See how playing mostly out of position, and being forced to rotate out on point guards from the center position is decimating Elton Brand's defensive rebounding rate
here. As a side note, if you think it's diminished skills that are hurting Brand's defensive rebounding numbers, explain his rate from last season, then compare the rest of his numbers, especially recently, to those marks. Why would he drop off only in that category if it's directly related to playing the five (against larger opponents) and being drawn away from the hoop, not by bigs who can shoot the three, but by the rotations dictated by this defensive system.
The deleterious effects of Eddie Jordan on established players is a problem, but it's hardly the most ominous side effect. Consider, for a second, the young core of this team. Guys who, for the most part, spent a year in college learning to defend. A cold, hard fact of early entry into the NBA is that these young players learn the finer points (mostly defense) at the pro level now. They don't come in with four years of training, and a sound understanding of defensive fundamentals anymore.
So of the core, you've got Thad Young who spent a year and change under Mo Cheeks, mostly out of position, then three-quarters of a season under Tony DiLeo, who did his best to at least emphasize defense. Now he's got Eddie Jordan, teaching him the wrong way to do just about everything. Marreese Speights got tough love from DiLeo, a message was clearly being sent that he would have to defend to get onto the court. Now he's got Eddie Jordan rewarding nothing but making shots. Jrue Holiday actually spent a year learning how to defend in college, now those skills are meaningless to his head coach, and he's finding that the only way to get minutes is to hit jumpers. Lou Williams has been here a while, and I think the damage has already been done, but Jordan certainly isn't helping matters.
For me, the question isn't really how many minutes these guys get anymore. Obviously, I want to see the young guys play, and playing isn't going to hurt them anymore than sitting on the bench for Jordan will. The question is how long is it going to take for the young guys on the team to un-learn everything Jordan is "teaching" and will the bad habits be so deeply ingrained that no coach will ever be able to correct everything.
Every day Eddie Jordan is here is setting this franchise back in so many ways, some obvious (losses) some extremely hard to quantify, like the reinforcement of horrible defensive habits. I'm afraid that if the Sixers wait too long to replace him, we're really going to have no choice but to blow the whole thing up and start from scratch. Whoever comes in to replace him may just find himself in the same spot Flip Saunders has in Washington.
The decision to hire Eddie Jordan will live in infamy in the Sixers history. Of that I'm convinced.
Tip is at 8pm tonight, in Denver. Ty Lawson will probably explode against the Iverson/Williams back court and at least for a day distract some people from the tragic mistake Ed Stefanski made last summer. Lawson vs. Holiday isn't even close to meaningful when you consider the man who was brought in to coach this team. My preview will be up some time in the afternoon. Let's go Birds!
No doubt about it...with such a horrible coach, I feel like the Sixers are just playing "Jungle Ball"...lol.
Fire Eddie Jordan already! He's a cancer to this team.
Kate fagan ripped him a new one
http://m.philly.com/phillycom/db_41077/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=KdHZZ6yH&src=cat
Yeah, most of the time if sportswriters want to criticize the home team's coach, they'll use softer language or at least obfuscate somewhat (probably as they'll have to deal with them later). She really took the battleaxe to EJ. There isn't any way to put a good spin on this or say something was 'taken out of context'.
It is quite a good article and greatly needed with the way things have been going (deteriorating rapidly). I'm curious if this will put EJ or Stefanski 'on the clock'. I have to say, originally, I was quite hopeful with Stefanski but his stewardship has been less than enthralling. EJ I never thought was the right coach for this team. I always wanted a defensive minded coach for this team.
Awesome piece but a month or two late compared to the depressed fan. Still, we need more of this.
it seems like this has been building for a little while between fagan & jordan. she included a few disparaging remarks about him in a recent piece. i'm glad she finally just let it all out. she's going to have a lot of trouble getting any more interviews with him this winter.
Bravo, Kate.
She's no dummy. She has seen EVERYTHING we have seen. She tried to do the whole "beat writer" thing...say everything in code-words...but at some point, you have to take out the napalm.
Obviously a love-letter to the hard-core sufferers out there (which included the entire Depressed Fan community).
Phi-nally
I really do think this team should stay put until the draft. I mean anything is possible. I hate playing these what if games but if the sixers have the first pick, would this franchise fire another head coach and spend some real money on a real one?? I say they would (Avery, Van Gundy, or Collins) If its John Wall the direction would just change immediately. With a starting lineup of Wall, Holiday, Igoudala, Brand, and Dalembert could be one of the top defensive team in the league. The key benches of Williams, Young, and Speights would be a very deep one as well for scoring. Just need a defensive minded coach and this team is a second round playoff team. A dangerous team as well in the East. So everything plus Jordan should stay put until the draft. Patience is the key.
The draft pick would be nice, but even with a horrible record getting the top pick is still a crapshoot. The point of Brian's post is that Jordan may be permanently ruining the young core. If that happens, adding one great player won'thelp because we'd have to get rid of everybody and start all over. Fire Jordan today.
Welcome to the party, Kate. We've all been drinking up the Hatorade since about Game 4 so I'm not sure how much is left. But by all means grab a Solo cup and get a pour. Besides, there'll be a new keg to tap after we finish watching the guys in Denver...
Thank you for your comments Brian as after reading many from other fans regarding the players & their lack of play/developemnt, I was wondering if this was getting over-looked. Plus, add in the mind games & his criticisms voiced through the media...the damage could be far worse than any of us may know!
Denver game should be fun, no billups, no carmelo
Does anyone know how much it would cost the Sixers to fire Jordan? Is he just here at this point just becuase they dont want to pay his contract. Are the sixers front office content on blowing a season to finally get a top pick? I personally would love to see these young players with a real coach and not another washed up Jordan. Gerry Mac mentioned Avery J. This was the coach that I wanted from the start. He took a horrible Don Nelson defensive minded team in Dallas to the finals. (They did blow it in the finals, but they were still there with the best record in the league that year). Also with drafting a top player, besides Wall, who else is really a superstar?
i'm not sure what his contract is, but the funny thing is that he's still being paid by washington right now
As long as Stefanski's not happy about it, it's alright.
http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/63786/20100103/stefanski_not_happy_with_76ers/
*sigh*
So he's unhappy. What, if anything is he doing about it?
Hopefully these comments aren't a precurser to ES pulling a deal in the near-term! Which, obviously, would give him & EJ more time to give this franchise a proper burial!
His comments about the defense and the players was really awesome weren't they?
He flat out says that Jordan will not be fired this year. He says he is a first year coach and it takes time to implement his system. Jordan's job is not in jeopardy. This is such BS. I guess the only hope left is that both Jordan and Stefanski get fired.
Loved the article by Kate. It looks like there's momentum building up in the quest to remove Eddie Jordan as head coach. He's just a bad coach who doesn't know how to use his players or know what he's doing in general. The Princeton offense is a complete joke and NOT working, obviously. The Sixer's pathetic record says it all.
Nobody plays defense or rebounds and those that do (Elton Brand, Dalembert) get to sit on the bench. It's pathetic.
FIRE EDDIE JORDAN!
This team would need a miraculous turnaround to get the 8th seed. We're at the point of no return in my eyes. Let EJ finish out what he started, and then promptly fire him as soon as the season is over. I'm convinced Stefanski is tanking, bringing in AI was just something to kind of soften the blow for the fan base.
Uh...exactly what did EJ "start" that would entitle him to this? Maybe his helping to erode the fan base or destroying player confidence in themselves & their abilities? Well then...yes by all means...
I wonder if this would be an appropriate place to mention that, though Billups and Melo being out should help, the same team with the same injuries easily beat Utah on Utah's home floor, thanks to 23 points on lights-out shooting and 9 assists from a certain rookie guard and a huge game from Nene. Speaking of this rookie guard, one reason I'd doubt that Stefanski could be seriously considering blowing things up just because he made the mistake of hiring the wrong coach - and that's all this is, it's not like there are serious questions about whether this team is capable of defending, and our inability to do so this year is why we've lost all these games - is that, if the plan wasn't all along to mold our young core into a contender a few years down the line, by which point Brand's contract will be tradeable, why would he have drafted a point guard who's plainly two years away? And I don't say that to malign Holiday or the pick - most players his age, playing his position, would be a couple years away from being ready to start, and he has the ability to develop into a really good player, although the potential for him to never be anything more than a really good defender who doesn't score or run a team particularly well is real. But I just don't see Stefanski being that impatient when he just drafted a teenager to be his point guard one day.
stefanski has become so soft. remember at the beginning of his tenure when they traded korver and he pretty much demanded cheeks to let the young guys play? he was aggressive. he acted like he actually cared for the team. now all it is: "uh yeah... in practice we're focusing on defense... it is not eddie jordan's fault."
so him tanking is the only likely explanation for what seems like passiveness. otherwise i would expect him to say: "EJ play some effing defense."
Man, really good writeup and thought provoking.
I've always felt that even young players can't be ruined by a not-so-good coach. Kind of, they've been playing the game their whole life and have been instructed under multiple coaches. They will carry bits and pieces of these lessons learned from each coach with them forever. So they would know and recognize when they are dealing with a head man that just doesn't quite have it.
But if, as you say, it is ingrained so deeply and reinforced ad nauseum, it could be extremely difficult to 'break' these bad habits by any number of coaches especially with the impressionable and young minds of some of our guys.
Very interesting and good piece again.
With the situation in Wash. lets hope no stupid trades are made to bring guys here famjliar with our "system".If Arenas!s deal can be voided if he commited a felony it may be time to get our coaches D.N.A, and fingerprints so we can set him up.
He's surely facing a long suspension, right?
Since Ed S does not feell the fiasco on the field is not Ed J fault, I move that we urge the firing of both!
Maybe hiring Jordan was ES's brilliant move to ensure John Wall ends up in a Sixers uniform?