 Jumpers Aren't The Only ProblemAs I was pouring through various stats last night, mostly doing research for the Thad piece I wrote earlier, a few things jumper out at me. First, take a look at the league leaders on Basketball-reference.com. The Sixers don't have one player in the top five in any statistical category. I can't think of any Sixer who's even close. That may be more of an oddity than anything else. I also noticed that they're third from the bottom of the league in eFG at 46%. Only OKC and Charlotte are worse. That stat is more telling, however. It may seem like beating a dead horse to talk about how badly the Sixers have shot the jumper this season, that's because it is. According 82games.com data, 60% of the Sixers' shots are jumpers and they have an eFG of 39.8%. That ranks them third from the bottom. Not shocking news, considering what we know about this team. What is shocking, however, is how badly they shoot close shots. Only Charlotte, Chicago and OKC shoot close shots at worse rate than the Sixers 49.6% mark, and that just should not be the case. We probably don't need to look any further than the failure of the running game and ball-hogging tendencies of certain backup point guards for the reasons, but the numbers are still shocking. Take a look at each player on the roster's eFG% on close shots (Close shots are defined as anything in the paint, excluding dunks and tips.)
The bottom line is that the bigs have to convert at a higher rate in the lane, the guards need to drive to the hole with the intention of finishing, not merely drawing a foul and whenever they get out on the break they need to finish. Far too often this season we've seen two-on-one breaks turn into turnovers or blown layups because the pass wasn't made at the right time, or wasn't made at all. This team is too athletic to shoot this poorly in the paint. 
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"This team is too athletic to shoot this poorly in the paint."
Or maybe the guy taking the greatest number of those shots, Brand, isn't that athletic anymore post-operation. I wouldn't say he quite reminds me of the post-injury Webber, but so far he hasn't looked like the player he once was.
EB shot 66% from close last year in those 8 games, and 62% the year before, so I sure hope this is corrected for him.
His 44% certainly isn't helping the team number thus far. Let's hope it continues to go up.
In the mean time, how about getting Thad the ball in the post once in a while. He doesn't exactly get a ton of easy layups, his high % is due to good moves and great finishing skills down there.
This is a good idea.
Nice post, Brian. This is a statistic that our guys really need to bring up.
By the way, I have to say, I'm pretty shocked that Iggy's almost at 50%. I've always thought of him as "Mr. Botched Lay-up". He can certainly dunk with the best of them, but his touch around the hoop is sorely lacking.
Iggy's game has actually improved drastically recently, even his layups. I think if we had checked this stat about 2 weeks his numbers would've been very bad.
I'm with you on the bothced lay ups. Iguodala has always been ineffective finishing a drive unless dunks it. When I watch a guy like Brandan Roy use both hands effectively and finish in a variety of ways it just makes me think aboiut Iguodala.