If you are, you better hope the Sixers have enough karmic capital in the bank to make up for tanking the rest of this season, because tonight we saw the first clear signs that they plan on making every effort to lose as many games as possible.
If you don't believe me, take a look at this rotation chart:
Love it or hate it, you're just going to have to accept it. Eddie Jordan is waving a giant white flag, probably at the behest of Ed Stefanski, and it's going to mean even more ridiculous lineups for the rest of the season. The one bright spot from this game: A DNPCD for Willie Green. That was sweet. The rest of it? Tough to watch, honestly.
I don't really know how to feel as a fan at this point. It pains me to see this team play this bad, but I think I'm kind of numb to it. I mean, when the games actually mattered, it tore me to pieces. Seeing us fall this far, it was like pulling teeth. But at this point, we're already here. We're already firmly in the lottery, this coach has already done a ton of damage to this roster, so now I'm left simply weighing options. If you're having a problem getting your mind around the situation, try looking at it like this:
What does a win get you? Honestly, I can't come up with a single positive, outside of 2.5 hours of decent basketball (you'd hope). Worst-case scenario, success under a foolish coach with despicable systems and basketball values reinforces a few bad habits among some of the younger players.
What does a loss get you? A better shot at a higher draft pick. Plain and simple, there's infinitely more to be gained by losing. It means you're probably going to be subjected to more boneheaded decisions and lackluster play, but odds are you were going to be subjected to that anyway. Any way you do the math, losing is the best option right now. I held out as long as I could that they'd fire Jordan and turn things around, but there's no point anymore.
Back to tonight's game. Jason Kapono broke his 0-for-2010 streak from three, it took him 25 minutes of action, but he finally broke through. (If 25 minutes for Kapono doesn't scream TANK to you, something's wrong with you). The box score just looks silly. The Sixers shot better from three, 11/24 (45.8%), than they did from two, 32/86 (37.2%). They grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, and got 40 points off their bench. They still lost by 13 points.
Player of The Game: Kapono. 17 points, to lead the team, and 1 rebound in 25 minutes.
Team Record: 23-43
Up Next: Tonight, vs. the Knicks
Lottery Update: The Kings picked up a big win. The Sixers are now tied with the Pistons and Knicks for the 7th-worst record in the league, only a half game ahead of/behind Sacramento for 6th.
and we're the 7th worst team right now ! goodbye 9th spot !
#6 may get us W.Johnson or Aldrich, that would be as good a choice as we probably will get. Brian, a good coach would take advantage of Kapono, but coach Joran took a deadeye shooter and screwed him up bigtime, probably had Ayers work on his shot with him.
Jordan did not mess with Kapono in the least.
If anything, he actually tried to make Kapono into a useful player. The problem is that Kapono failed.
His 3PA per36 is at a career high, by a decent margin. The guy just sucks at basketball and only likes wide open shots.
I strongly disagree with you on Jordan not messing w/ Kapono. Even Ed S agreed that Jordan messed with him. Ed made the statement last Monday that shooters need minutes to get out of their slump. Kapono was the BEST 3 point shooter in the league. If he played regular minutes (could be 5 a game), he may have had his stroke still and we would have more wins. Thankfully, Jordan was not that smart to keep Kapono hot and/or use him in games he could have won. Thankfully!
Kapono was 'messed with' before he got to Philadelphia, ever since he signed his long term deal with Toronto he wasn't the player he was in Miami. There are numerous explanations/theories why, but Kapono was broken before he got here which is why a team that couldn't give a rats ass about defense traded him for Reggie Evans
Looking at history, since 1994 (when the current lottery format was instituted), the team with the 6th-worst record got a top-3 pick 25% of the time (above where the lottery percentages say it should turn out), and the team with the 5th-worst record got a top-3 pick 50% (!) of the time.
'Nuff said...
the only statistics that matter are on the grid in Brian's previous post. what happened with 5 or 6 seed in the last 5 , 10, years means nothing.
the 5 seed has a 21.5% chance of getting in the top 3. the 6 seed has a 29% chance.
Link to my Sunday column on Jordan:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/126/2010/march/14/fans-tiring-of-jordans-act-2.html
First graph should read:
Eddie Jordan doesn't get it.
I'd like to thank EJ for 1 thing. With all the $ I saved on not going to games this year I was able to purchase a Yamaha 7.2 receiver & Paradigm speakers.
Kapono is what he is, a one-dimensional pure shooter who might get hot every once in a while. For shooters, the difference between a scrub and a star is consistency. If Kapono happens to be hot (and let's face it, 3-for-8 from 3 isn't setting the world on fire, but it's scorching compared to his 2010 to date), he can be an asset if the rest of the lineup covers for his weaknesses. I saw him in person put about 20 in a half on Ray Allen, his one shining moment of the year. For the most part, though, he's Tankman.
A couple other comments:
- It seems to me that Brand and Dalembert aren't even bothering to cover their teammates on the pick-and-roll now. Add this to the "ways to play a pick-and-roll": the Sieve Option, allow the perimeter defender to get picked, don't come over to help, then allow the dribbler to get all the way to the basket for an easy lay-in or dunk. This is Exhibit A that the Sixers have packed it in for the year (I do think that Brand and Dalembert are trying in other aspects of the game), and the primary reason they haven't been able to get stops recently.
- I like Iguodala's aggressive mindset the last couple games. Not the taking of more shots, but the attempt to drive more. He needed to have this mentality all season, because it plays to his strengths.
- There was one play in the first half that was a perfect microcosm of Thad as a defender. He gave great help on a pick-and-roll, stopping the dribbler. He hustled back to his man. Then, when the ball went back to the perimeter, he started watching the ball, lost sight of his man, and gave up a 3.
- Poor Jason Smith. He might be the only 7-footer who jumps and is still below the rim.
You know what's been missing for 10-15 games from Iguodala, is the defensive rebound, instant fast break. He just hasn't been doing it. Maybe he's tired, maybe he just isn't motivated to kill himself. Whatever the problem is, that's a huge part of his game and the team's overall transition offense. We'll probably have to wait until next season to see it again, though.
Does Jason Smith have alligator arms?
iguodala did do the one man fastbreak a couple times in the cleveland game. then again, everyone actually got up for that contest. I think he, like everyone else on this roster, is just waiting for this season to end. "just trying to have some fun" in his own words.
Iguodala has played all but 6 games in the last 6 seasons. I really wish we'd give him a rest, especially considering we aren't playing to win. I won't be shocked if at 30 or 31 his games falls off because of it.
At the very least, cut him down to 30 minutes/game and let Thad play some three. That serves a couple of purposes.
"Tank, tank, tank"