The good news is this game was much more reminiscent of the way the Sixers played earlier in the season than their recent stretch of hopeless play. The bad news is that this was reminiscent of their early season play in that they did everything they could to lose a close game. (
game capsule)
So the Sixers last two losses (against two very different teams) were examples of the Sixers producing on the offensive end at a completely unsustainable level, and not being able to stop their opponents on the defensive end. At least they're finding new and interesting ways to flush this season down the toilet.
Here's your rotation chart. Note the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth:
If you were the type of person who liked to point fingers and needed to come up with a reason for this loss beyond the obvious (the team is in the worst kind of tailspin and desperately wishing for this season to end), you probably wouldn't need to look much further than the lack of rest. Last night, against Orlando, Doug Collins used an eight-man rotation. Tonight, against the physical Indiana Pacers, the Sixers rotations on the perimeter were uncharacteristically slow and sloppy. They were lazy on the defensive end, sagging into the lane, leaving shooters wide open on the perimeter. Tired legs? It looked like it to me, but I'm no doctor.
Anyway, the Sixers didn't play a particularly bad game, and Indy is the hottest team in the league right now, so in a vacuum, not a terrible loss. The fact that it comes on the heels of so much futility, well, it's just fuel for the fire. I seriously wish Spencer Hawes would just fake an injury so I'd never have to see another second of him in a Sixers uniform. It's beyond pitiful at this point.
Player of The Game: Iguodala. I typically wouldn't give it to Iguodala when his defense was average, at best, but his offense was very good and there isn't another viable candidate.
Team Record: 31-30
Up Next: @ Cleveland, Wednesday night. (The Cavs lost by 39 points to the Pistons tonight, and it took a late run to make it that close)
Playoff "Race": Knicks won. Sixers are solidly in eigth-place with a 1.5-game lead on the Bucks for something like a 1% chance at moving up in the lottery. The need two wins to finish at .500 on the season. Odds?
Last night was the first time all year where I wanted them to lose. Lose out and get a chance to land a big with a pulse in the draft. If not Davis than Robinson or Sullinger.
Playoff experience doesn't matter with this group because most of them may not be back.
I think it's just so sad and embarrassing how the season has turned out. For years I had been ridiculed and passed off when I mentioned my team is the "Sixers"...then all of a sudden the beginning of the season made me so hopeful and made me proud to say, "Yes I have been backing this team for years regardless of what has happened (esp. when Iverson left) I have been a depressed fan these years and now things seem to be going good."
And now everything is just going to shit again. Not good enough to proceed and not bad enough to get high lottery picks. We are stuck in Limbo.
As a fan I just feel embarrassed when we have Dr.J in the building and have nothing to show...same goes for having Will Smith there.
/endrant
I understand your frustration, but one thing I never understood was feeling ashamed to support a certain team.
If that's your team, then that's your team. The only people ridiculing you are bandwagon fans. Those people aren't true fans of anything, you know.
Having scanned the team picture this morning, I've come to realize that my favorite Sixer, by default and presentiment, is Sam Young, to whom the nutty professor Doug Collins attached the endearing, one-for-the-ages nickname
"Gladyoureexcitedtobeherenowyoujustsitthereandclap."
I actually like him as a player. We got fortunate in finding Vuc, Lavoy, and tradingI for Sam Young all cheaply. Unfortunately, collins decide Hawes and Meeks should get 30 mpg
Auto correct is brutally retarded
Hah, happens all the time.
I like him too, some; dirty work guy. Remember his strong Pitt play. Contributed to last year's Grizz playoff team. Appears tough, ego-reigned, ready for no-nonsense battle. Sixers need infusion of that type. Collins executively disagrees; loves him some Lou, Jrue & Jody... the Boy Scouts of America Jamboree.
Vuc & Lavoy, neither excite, but they've already equaled the contributions of '70 and '71 #1 picks - 6' 9" Al Henry of Wisconson (2 yrs, 49 gm career) and 6'10" Dana Lewis of Tulsa (didn't make team). When a Philly reporter called Henry and said, "Congratulations, you are the 12th pick of the 1st round," Henry replied, "Don't you mean the 1st pick of the 12th round?"
Worth noting that we may be 1.5 up, but the Bucks control their destiny for the 8th seed.
good point.
The Sixers can also lose all of their remaining games and still make the playoffs. Milwaukee would have to lose every game except the game vs. the Sixers.
So you're saying there's still a chance
For the future of the franchise, honestly, I think the complete cock up of missing the playoffs after that hot start would be better. The new owners seem very 'fan reaction' related, and the team will get shredded by the media and fans (the media who aren't paid by the sixers, but even zumoff and malik are calling folks out) if they miss the playoffs.
If the sixers miss the playoffs they probably end up 12th in the lottery (Out of houston, phoenix utah, whoever misses probably has a better record than the sixers), no real shot to move up into the top 3, I mean yes, there's a slim chance, but history isn't on their side.
(re-posted)
Staggering numbers...
3-18...28-12
20-9...11-21
It was 3-13, wasn't it?
The 1st numbers are:
Games decided by 7 points...games with more than 7 point margins
The difference in how bad they are in close games vs. games that are not close is hard to believe. They win 70% of games that are not close and lose 86% of games that within 7 points.
That brings us to H7 on the jukebox, the great Jimmy Ruffin song, "What Becomes Of The [Chicken]hearted (who had love that's now departed)."
Cavs playing 5th game in 6 nights tonight at tail of 20-40 season with key people out; were down 50 at end of Q3 vs. Det last night. They should be fired-up bunch. In a clever marketing ploy, team is paying fans to attend the "Midweek Quicken Loans 'Wine & Gold' Soiree."
I have a request. As a fan who's not been able to watch many games lately because of work, can anyone help break down exactly what has happened to this team? None of the papers or websites that cover the team has really examined where the team is breaking down, apart from the generic "the defense isn't as good as it used to be." Is it Hawes when he's on the court? Is it Meeks and his cold streak? What are some of the specific causes for this historic meltdown?
If I had to point to the #1 cause, I'd say center play, but that doesn't tell the whole story. They've just been playing bad basketball, and it manifests itself in different ways each game.
As #12 the Sixers would have a 2.5% chance at a top 3 pick (0.7/0.8/1.0 for #1/#2/#3.) Sad to say it, but a 1 in 25 chance of a top 3 pick is probably better odds than their chances of advancing far by building around this current squad.
2.5% is 1 on 40, not 1 in 25. Unless my brain has finally melted all the way down.
TK is wrong, you're right, TK is probably broken up over the Pat Summit News
Hah, more signs that my brain is failing. And numbers used to be a relative strength. 1 in 25 would be a 4% chance.
I wouldn't hold my breath on a Top Three pick. This is probably the toughest stretch of Sixers basketball I have watched in a long time. Even the Eddie Jordan year had Jrue's emergence at the end and rooting for competitive losses.
so who will win more (any) games between now and the end, these guys or the historically awful Bobcats?
Oh God...
RT @SixersCEOAdam: YOUR OUR TWITTER GM: Name 1 or more current Sixers you believe MUST be on roster next year, 1 or 2 you'd trade and why...
That being said, I did write into him.
yeah, can you imagine the slop he'll get from dumb fans about trading iguodala for a cardboard box?
shouldnt it be you're instead of your?
i always get them confused
So does a very rich man as well, apparently!
Maybe he was trying to be cool?
Don't buy it - too many people make that mistake too often :)
At least he didn't talk about the 'loosers' on his roster.
See - that kind of thing right there - that demonstrates to me that Adam Aron is clueless as to how to run a professional sports franchise...more worried about 'fan interaction' than intelligent people.
I now no longer think for sure Thorn will be fired.
There are no MUST keeps on the sixer roster
your = possessive. Something you own is "yours".
you're = contraction for "you are." As in, "you're a fan of a team experiencing a terrible collapse."
Must be on roster - Jrue, unless we can get a better point guard, but I still hold out faith in him.
Thad - he's a true sixth man, and worth his contract.
People I would trade -
Iguodala - deserves to be on a better team, or at least off this team, plus I think he's our best chance at getting draft picks, expirings, and/or a young stud who can be part of the future core.
Turner - I don't think he and Jrue work well together. He's almost finished his second season and I have yet to understand what his role is on this team. If he has to be the centerpiece to be effective, I'm not sure he's worth the gamble. I would try to package him to get the best value back as possible.
I sort of hope Brian writes a post about what his plan, especially how important having one, is. So I sort of hope this season ends soon.
I'd like to keep Jrue, but he wouldn't be untouchable. I think an Iguodala/Thad package might land a pretty high draft pick, so I could say goodbye to Thad as well. The key is of course having a plan and sticking to it.
Agreed. If the plan is to blow up the roster, then you package away anyone and everyone to get the best deal possible - in this case, as high of a draft pick(s) you can get, cap relief, young prospect you can potentially build around. I would think a big man is of the most need, which point guard coming second (if we don't keep Jrue).
I have about 30,000 words swirling around in my head, just waiting for this mess to be over.
Well don't use em all up at once - then you'll be like eddie murphy in that movie that sucked
Think I might just blow my load when the season officially ends, because the day they re-sign Hawes is the day this blog goes dark and I reintroduce myself to my kids.
Nice, looking forward to it.
Like a lot of people, I'm in despair about these Sixers. It looks to me that over the past 20 years (and holding aside the fluky 2004 Pistons), if you don't have one of a tiny handful of transcendant players (Jordan, Olajuwan, David Robinson, Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Garnett AND Paul Pierce, or Dirk Nowitsky) you simply won't ever win a championship. And most championship teams have had 2 of them. I just can't see how we're ever going to get a player of that caliber, let alone 2, particularly if we keep ending up an 8 seed in the playoffs. If anyone has any reason for hope, I'd love to hear it.
Raise your hand if you're in despair.
Hand up?
If you said yes, seek therapy
"If anyone has any reason for hope, I'd love to hear it."
It seems like this recent downswing has shown the owners that this team is less than they thought. Whether that results in moves in the right direction remains to be seen. But I would not worry about championships right now, and focus more on the ride. Hopefully a ride down will result in a thrilling ride back up- even if they don't win a title any time soon.
That's a good point. The first 30 or so games this season were pretty fun. I'd just like to see it all amount to something.
The new owenership was soliciting fan input today on possible roster moves - there's absolutely no way that is a good thing in my mind - be it as a way to make the fans feel 'heard' or whatever - I have little faith in new ownership at this time
I am in a season ticket group and go to about 10 games per year, plus playoffs. The team announced that the price of tickets (face value) remains the same next year! Wow, how generous. These guys are so fan friendly! Then I read that the season ticket discount has been reduced, and we will have to pay $5 more per seat. Our tickets (section 106, row 3) have a face of $54, and we paid $44 this year. They increased our tickets by 11%. We get another year of Thorn, another year of mediocrity, another year of .500 ball, another first round thumping, worst of all another year with no hope of a deep playoff run. And, I have to pay 11% more.
Thank you for the forum for a depressed fan to rant.
The only team i care about in this town and actually would pay $$$ for are these sixers. That being said, this team has been unbearable to watch since the all-star break. Its clear that we dont have a go-to player or have one thats experienced enough to handle that type of pressure besides maybe iggy. There isnt any player i can see that creates double teams or has the whole defense worried about where he is and that has been one of the main complaint ive read in every article related to the sixers this season. I'm a big fan of this young squad(minus elton brand) and we are a few pieces away from being something special, at least consistently entertaining. i've hated the elton brand signing as soon as i heard it, i literally had a countdown to the day we were going to sign josh smith. I was drooling over the idea that we ould have andre miller running the team, iggy at the two, thad and jsmoove on the wings and dalembert clogging the lane. It wouldve been highlight heaven with all the fast break dunks from what wouldve seemed like a stellar team on defense. Our bench wouldve been nice too with lou, jrue(who they drafted that offseason)carney being able to run and hit an open three, speights(couldve had roy hibbert,javalemagee and ibaka btw), jason smith anyone? theres other names im sure maybe reggie evans? i forget but thats just one scenario that couldve played out.
This teams management skills are poor and only want to accomadate to fans when in reality it should have more dedication to the internal aspects like our other home teams do with the eagles and flyers. Flyers consistently make the playoffs and that's due to incredible scouting, farm system and recognizing when to let players go ala mike richards and jeff carter. This management needs to be more strict with its internal planning and figure out how to make a real basketball team. THEN the fans will come. I hate to see our gm ask us the fans what to do, that's exactly why this team is nowhere now. Honestly i would've loved to see iggy be traded when his value was the highest at the allstar break. Idk many possible trade scenarios honestly but wouldnt the jazz listen for offers for al jefferson? maybe not but im sure there ws something out there.
I honestly would rather blow up a part of this team for draft picks and take a chance in next years lottery with potential franchise players in Nerlens Noel and shabazz muhammed becasue we have no chance in this upcoming lottery since im pretty sure making the playoffs is a bad idea for everyone.
If i had my way, id give evan turner point guard duty starting next season and this offseason. maybe we can use jrue as trade bait to get a higher pick. we have to amnesty brand and we have to let iggy go to a place where he is appreciated wherever that may be cus it certainly isnt here. in a crazy world iggy for amare would happen but i wouldnt bet on it. who would like to see that?!