 If At First... Game two of the Sixers' back-to-back with the flying LeBrons will happen tonight, in Cleveland. Filed under, "Coaching to lose," comes the revelation that Mo Cheeks will use the same starting lineup as he did on Wednesday.Now, I hate having Willie Green in the starting lineup. Absolutely hate it. But the mere fact that he's in there doesn't bother me nearly as much as the reason Mo has given for inserting him. Mo said he thought the Sixers matched up better defensively with the Cavs with Green on the floor. Meaning he likes the idea of having Willie Green on Delonte West than either Iguodala or Thad. (If they went with the traditional starting lineup either Iggy or Thad would guard LeBron with the other picking up West.) This leads me to a very important question. Is having Iggy or Thad guarding Delonte more or less of a mismatch than having Delonte try to guard one of them? It seems to me that the clear answer is the latter. Mo is weakening his lineup to create a more-favorable mismatch for him on the defensive end, and erase an advantage they could exploit on the offensive end. It's misguided and it's a defeatist way to coach. Good teams don't juggle their starting lineups dependant on their opponent, good teams take advantage of size mismatches like this and exploit them. Good coaches look at a situation like West on Iggy or Thad and salivate. It's easy offense, and you should be able to force the Cavs out of their comfort zone. A good coach would make the Cavs make the adjustments. In tonight's game I'm going to keep track on how the Sixers use Brand within the offense. I didn't keep count last game, but if I had to bet I'd say that about 75% of the time he was on the floor the Sixers ran an unsuccessful pick-and-roll at least once per possession. Brand was sprinting all over the floor and the guards were unable to get him the ball because the Cavs were handling the play very well. It was like watching someone run into the same wall again and again. Coaching is more about adjustments than it is about planning. The early part of the game should be used to figure out what works against a team's defense and what does not. The second half is then going to be about how you counter their adjustments and find another way to score. Far too often, the Sixers seem intent on running one particular play (if you can call it a play), and when it isn't working the ball stops moving. Luckily, Andre Miller has been bailing them out of these situations recently, but something has to change in the way this offense works, and it has to chage quickly. Finally, when I was updating the +/- worksheet last night, I came across an interesting tidbit. With LeBron on the floor on Wednesday the Cavs were -1, with him on the bench they were +9. The bench, and more importantly, Mo's insistence upon trotting a lineup out there with 4 bench players and no real offensive leader, failed completely in this game. It's gotten to the point where if the Sixers can survive the beginning of the second quarter, say the first 6 minutes, with the lead, they'll win the game. If they don't, they can't. It shouldn't come to that. The tip is at 7:30. Good news for the Sixers, Ilgauskus will miss the game. 
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If the Sixers dont make this a game I would say it puts Mo at about 25 % gone
I agree. Mo can't be feeling very secure right now. I figure Ed is working the phones pretty actively now (feelers about a new coach and possible trades).
i hope it work
what is up with RUSH
Rush isn't the answer
then again neither is starting willie green
Yeah. Rush is horrible. Like Willie, he shouldn't even really be in the NBA. Every time I watch Rush he looks like he is moving in slow motion... especially on defense.
Seriously, Stefanski gets a lot of credit for signing elton brand (a no brainer in my mind, if he says yes you sign him) but in the 'real' GM work, building a solid bench I gotta say he gets a C-, maybe even a D.
It wasn't just a matter of "if he says yes, you sign him." He had to create that cap space in the first place. The Korver deal and then the Carney/Booth trade in the offseason.
As for how he built the bench beyond that, who else was available for the veteran's minimum? He brought in two guys who were better three-point shooters than anyone currently on the roster and a veteran big man.
Can you point to anyone better who was available for the minimum?
This year he'll have the mid-level and the bi-annual exceptions, so maybe he can get something done, depending on who's available. It's really not fair to blame him for the state of the bench when he had nothing to work with but minimum contracts. I actually think he did pretty well under the circumstances.
My comments seem to not be going through as often. I agree with Brian. If he had the MLE or something to work with he could have made some moves for a shooter, but he didn't. He did a very good job with what he had. If he had found a diamond in the rough who was young and could shoot like Anthony Morrow or something I would have been much happier. Overall, tough to give him worse than a B.
I totally agree Brian, but then again Mo doesn't know how to take advantage of favourable mismatches so obviously he thinks it's better to have a Green-West matchup. With each game I lose hope in his ability I can't wait for him to be gone.
It looks like starting Willie paid off...
Anyways, here's a stat for you:
In the 9 wins, willie averages 11.9 points a game in 25 mins. in the 13 losses, he averages 4.5 points in 18 mins. I'm not sure what this says about Willie Green, but i think it says a lot about what a 2 guard with a good jumper could do for us.
Good first quarter nearly ruined by two lapses which turned into three pointers for the Cavs.
They did a great job of getting the ball to Brand in dangerous positions, but he isn't shooting the ball well. Great start for Willie.
So far so good, but we should have a sizable lead at this point, I'm not sure how much better we can play.
Miller has taken just one shot but has five assists. Dalembert is crashing the boards. Brand is drawing a lot of attention down low.
Ultimately the important thing is how our bench performs.
The early results from the bench aren't good. I swear this group just gets blown out of the water every time.
Mo kept the Andres in there and the ball ran through Thad for a minute or two, now it's scrub city and the Cavs are pulling away.
It says a lot when they're pulling away without LeBron on the court.
They did the exact same thing on Wednesday. It's not really that LeBron is out, it's who's in for the Sixers. LeBron was -1 on the court on Weds.
Willie says "get on my shoulders. I can carry the load."
I'm pretty sure he reads this blog for motivation.
Willie and Iggy splitting time running the point. Interesting.
Ilgauskis isn't playing folks - neither is gibson - and the sixers seemingly own the first quarter this year - it's the other 3 quarters that are just sad.
And Williams just went back to the locker room...and the cavs are winning
Willie - the umpire/referee is NOT on your team - don't pass it to him
Willie didn't throw that pass, he was trying to catch it and the ref reached out and grabbed it.
Ah - i was only listening to the game - not watching at the moment - they indicated (cleveland feed) that willie passed it - whoever was announcing it.
Ah well - passing to the referee is bad - who made the pass?:)
Green is having one of those really good days. 1-7 from downtown means we should stop trying so many. It feels like we have Antoine Walker out there the way we're throwing them up.
Is there a reason why neither Speights nor Williams have been out there? Surely apart from Thad (who shouldn't be on the bench in the first place) those two are most likely to produce points from the bench?
I read in another game thread that Lou Williams is reported out with the flu.
As for speights - Mo limited his minutes last game against the cavs as well - maybe this is some of the 'rookie coaching' that mo talks about so they don't get big heads - play the vets who are crappier than you so you learn your place.
Donyell is definitely getting his minutes.
Reggie Evans and Ratliff get his minutes as well - any minutes they play should go to speights.
So now we're stunting the development of the young potential that we actually have, to try to win games that we're going to lose anyway. :)
Gotta love it, obviously I still support this team because I'm a sucker for punishment.
Remember how long it took mo to play thad last year.
Recall how many games reggie evans AND willie green started.
I know Brown has the (undeserved) rep for not playing rookies but Mo seems worse to me because he doesn't play the good rookies over the bad veterans
I made a post that doesn't seem to have gone through but remember last year - mo with thad on the bench STARTING reggie evans and willie green.
Mo seems unwilling to play rookies - (the fact that brown doesn't play rookies is a myth, someone did some research and found that brown plays his rookies pretty much the 'average amount of minutes based on where they're picked' at least when he was the sixers coach)
Those touch fouls that give the guy an and one really piss me off. That's twice Dalembert has done it to Varejao.
It's a turnover parade in the 2nd quarter, and Varejao is killing us in all respects. Kinda funny every time a big man from the other team's bench has a career game against us. It seems to happen to us so often.
Have Marshall and Evans been bad out there or something? I'm not watching. Their lines look like they have been non factors. At a glance, Brand seems to be the problem.
Brand's touch isn't there at all. They've done an excellent job of getting him touches in his comfort zone, the shots just aren't falling. Not sure if he doesn't have his legs under him, he's rusty or both. These Cleveland announcers are pissing me off.
I'm starting to worry that Brand is hurt more than he is even saying - i'm starting to worry pretty badly that he still isn't recovered from the original surgery and shouldn't be playing yet.
No doubt. And to think we have him locked up.
Awesome. Marshall fouls Delonte on a three with .2 seconds left in the half.
Dalembert is playing at an abysmally low level right now.
Our offense sucks so bad that if we don't force turnovers and we don't own the glass we lose, period.
Let's face it, this game is out of our reach at this point, since our entire team is out of sync. Play the kids, look where that got us last year.
Speights and Young would be so much better off at teams where they can play 25-30 minutes per game, even if they were at Minnesota or Memphis. Their development would be accelerated instead of here where they are not learning much at all.
Speights and Young should play 25-30 minutes per game here.
Young should start - not willie green
and Speights should play over reggie, theo and most nights sam.
Both are already good enough to get 25-30 minutes on this roster - but the coach don't get it.
And i think the sixers have used the D-league once for like 2 days with Lou Williams?
I think it will take just one season of 30 MPG for Speights to become better than Dalembert. And I think there are NBA coaches out there who'd play Young 35 minutes per game.
For all the positive things that Ed has done, I cannot believe that he has kept Mo Cheeks around this long.
Speights was a better player than Sam when he was drafted
I suspect so, but you know I was thinking I have to see him play the same minutes as Daly before I can do a comparison since people are so crazy about stats these days.
Sam can't dribble, he has no touch or post up moves, Speights has already demonstrated all those things, and he can pass as well, not to mention he has a basketball IQ above forrest gump (who has a higher basketball IQ than Sam)
You don't need stats to know that Speights is a better overall basketball player than Sam because sam is just that bad at fundamental basketball
Anyone else find it ironic that Willie comes out on fire at the two, coming off screens, knocking down jumpers. Then in the second Mo decides to put him at the point so he can dribble around?
I'm so sick of the friggin' second quarter.
I'm so friggin sick of philadelphia sports franchises, really that world series victory seems like it's going to be the last in my life time if these franchises don't get their crap together.
The Eagles are befuddled, the Phillies, WTF are they doing this off season and the sixers have let Mo coach this team WAY too long
I don't think there's any point talking about rotations or trades anymore, I think it's flat out the coaching that is killing us. I bet even if Mo coached Boston he wouldn't win a ring.
Thad and Iggy showing some life.
Stupid Mo, I want Speights out there right now!
And am I the only one still watching this game right now? This is usually the point Andre Miller gets fed up and starts getting assertive offensively, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm not sure if that would be a good thing or not.
Ah Iggy realized that he had Wally on him, drove in for the dunk. That was actually good.
Good offense. 24-second violation w/ 2.4 seconds left.
Iggy's hurt.
When there's no Lou and Ivey is struggling and we have to let Willie or Iggy run the point in spurts, then we definitely need more depth at the 1. Who's available?
Still no love for Speights.
Cleveland have 13 offensive rebounds. Ouch. This is one game where the other team has shot worse than us yet we still lose because of free throws.
Nice delay by Iquodala on that fast break, he held the defense just long enough.
Miller heaving threes...it's over.
There are things that should be fines - or beatings -
A. Willie Green holding the ball for 24 seconds without passing
B. Sam Dalembert Dribbilng or shooting beyond 2 feet
C. Passing the ball to reggie evans - EVER
D. Reggie Evans shooting or dribbling - period
E. Andre Miller shooting a 3
F. Iguodala complaining
Seriously - FIND A WAY to break these guys of some of their more atrocious habits
Will we get 70 points?
I've had enough. I kept track of Brand's touches for my post game, so check back really late tonight or tomorrow for that. I'm going to eat dinner and forget about the Sixers for a while.
I'm convinced that Brand is hurt and either he or the sixers are covering it up...which is always a good idea
Why Speights isn't getting the minutes he was getting when Brand was supposedly healthy is puzzling. Brand's somewhat dinged up or supposed to be coming off being hurt, yet he gets major minutes at the expense of Marreese. I understand that Donyell is getting more burn, but that's OK, just sit a not healthy Brand down more and still let Donyell get his minutes from someone else, not Speights. Have Speights on the floor, too.
The answer - to this and all things it seems these days can be traced back to this - Mo Cheeks, bad coach, more worried about saving his job now than anything else
While I don't agree with the Mo saving his job theory, he was given new players by his GM that have not exactly worked out as visioned, with not alot of time to ascertain exactly how to incorporate those parts. This isn't all on Mo. I would feel safe to surmise that he and Stefanski collaborate and 'coach' on a near daily basis. They were collective last year after Ed was hired, so I would expect this year is the same. We're all frustrated, but to place blame singularly is short sighted.
You know what - training camp isn't exactly a week - a good coach has MORE than enough time to ascertain the talent level on his team - and it's even easier when there aren't any plays in the playbook for people to learn.
Mo Cheeks is a bad NBA head coach, and has been for a couple years now, and now the sixers are suffering on a daily basis.
And if Mo can't figure out that speights is better than evans, and ratliff and possibly even sam, then he's not even a real good evaluator of basketball talent.
I have some feelings on Mo as a coach that I've been hesitant to put into words until we got to a certain point in the season. We're pretty much there so I'll use the next off day to write them out as a post.