Don't bother looking at the lineups too closely for tonight's showdown in Miami. If you do, I'm sure you'll be filled with a feeling of dread. LeBron James vs. a one-legged Andre Iguodala. Dwyane Wade vs. Jodie Meeks/Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams. Chris Bosh vs. Elton Brand and Thad Young. It's not pretty, on paper. If you want something to feel optimistic about, instead look to the benches, because Doug Collins is Philly's clear advantage tonight.
The question isn't whether Collins can come up with a game plan to force Miami into doing something they don't want to do, that's pretty much a certainty. The question is whether he's going to break it out tonight, or keep it in his back pocket for a potential first-round matchup in the playoffs. I have a feeling he may just wait.
The Sixers lost to Miami twice early in the season (both games were part of their atrocious 3-13 start, and both games were competitive). This Miami team doesn't really resemble that Miami team. Of course, the Sixers have changed quite a bit over the past four moths as well.
Personnel-wise, Miami has added in a couple of decrepit vets in Dampier and Bibby. They're far from a complete team, in fact, they only go three deep in terms of legit NBA players at this point. Their centers are stiffs, and their other perimeter guys basically just shoot threes. Of course, their front three is composed of two top players and Chris Bosh, who used to be pretty good.
If the Sixers are going to have any chance, they're going to need to do two things. (1) Get Wade and LeBron to fall in love with deep jumpers (2) Take care of the basketball. Miami is a lot like Philly in that they can struggle in the half-court offense. They thrive on forcing turnovers then unleashing their ungodly athleticism in the open floor. These two keys kind of go hand-in-hand. If you can force them into the half court and then clog the lane on Wade and LeBron, they will settle for jumper after jumper. They'll fall into streaks of poor isolation play.
This game is probably going to be a loss, especially with Iguodala's injury. If they do shock the world with a road win in Miami, it's probably not going to come down to x's and o's, it's going to come down to 48 minutes of effort. They're out-matched, undermanned, and I'd say they probably won't get the benefit of the doubt on many whistles either. That's not exactly a winning combination. If they're going to have any chance, it's going to come down to Doug Collins convincing them they belong, telling them no one else thinks so, then motivating them to go out and send a message to a possible first-round opponent.
The beauty of this Sixers season as opposed to the last is that even though I know they should lose, you just never know. Maybe Collins and the Sixers can pull another rabbit out of their hat. I do know one thing, 7:30 can't get here soon enough.
Prediction: MIA 97, PHI 85
The tip is at 7:30pm (and about 200 pseudo-fans will be in their seats at the tip). Game thread will land around 6pm. Let's hear why the Sixers have a shot in this one in the comments.
"The beauty of this Sixers season as opposed to the last is that even though I know they should lose, you just never know."
LoveIT
take care of the ball, force the heat into half court offense, attack bibby on offense.
yea this ones gonna be tough with iggy not @ 100% , n plus the fact the game is away @ heats homecourt... not too sure if under these circumstances they can pull it out... although if they give a full 48 mins of effor and playing the good basketball we've seen from them most of the season they can win it, sixers are just a way deeper team COMPARED to the heat
I like everything in this post, except I feel Bosh vs Brand/Young is definitely an advantage on our end. It definitely depends on a few main things, as mentioned above:
1. taking care of the ball
2. how many (bogus) whistles the heat are gonna get and how many of their free throws they can make
3. effort and intensity
4. keeping with the 3-point shooters
If the Sixers can somehow end up causing more turnovers than the Heat and scoring more off turnovers, they can actually win this.
I think it can be close. Not sure if the Sixers can pull off the W though.
Tough, tough game with Iguodala not at 100%. I'm not as interested about the outcome of this game as i am about the way they will play. The Heat play a very similar style to the Sixers in a way: defend and run. Just like the Sixers they prefer to play small if the opponent allows them. The big difference is the Sixers actually run an offense, while the Heat go isolation after isolation. When you think of the way they play, think Sixers when Lou goes into full-blown iso mode (Of course the Heat have Lebron and Wade so they can afford to play that way).
Anyway the key to the game to me is stopping Wade. Iguodala even injured can keep Lebron in check and limit him as much as possible. Wade is different situation though. Jrue has shown in the first two games that he can't defend him. Meeks certainly can't. I'd actually like to see Turner on Wade. I think he has a much better chance. Another key to the game is defending the three. The Heat are basically the big three stars and a bunch of three point shooters. If anyone of them gets hot, the Sixers won't have a chance to win the game.
I disagree that we have a clear advantage in the coaching department, i actually think that Spoelstra is a pretty good coach, but is very limited to what he can do, due to the type of personnel and more importantly personalities.
Hoping for a win, expecting a loss... Hopefully it'll be fun.
I think tonight's game can go a long way in getting Turner back in our coaches good graces, simply by giving great defensive effort on Wade and Lebron; scoring also would be icing on the cake but games like this are when Evan could earn playoff minutes.
I think Coach Collins won't pull out his full game plan if he sees the guys are struggling in the first. H emight just let them play because we might just see Miami in the playoffs...But Coach Collins and this Sixers team has a lot pride so I would not be surprised to see him go their hardest and push the Big Two (and RuPaul).
Story: Meeks making a difference for the Sixers:
http://ow.ly/4mfxM
Sixers game with Heat could be a playoff preview:
http://ow.ly/4mkpu
turnovers, transition defense and defensive rebounding. if we can take care of those departments, I like our chances.
Pretty in-depth article (brief nevertheless) detailing Sixers tendencies. Very well put. (I guess I give ESPN too much grief.)
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoopmiamiheat/post/_/id/5524/philadelphia-at-heat-5-things-to-watch
thanks for the link.
Reading that totally psyched me up for the game. this guy seems to have watched the Sixers quite a bit.
Playoff tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon.
Here's an interesting angle for tonight's game, would a Sixers win sell more tickets this weekend? I think it's possible. Pretty good chance they play Miami in the first round, if they can take a game in Miami right now, people may be inclined to believe a little bit more.
Where do they go on sale?
It's a presale. You have to sign up on the web site.