The Sixers survived their third-quarter collapse and bounced back in a big way to notch their second win in as many games, and their fifth on the season. They won this game with a tremendous defensive effort in the second half, and the fourth quarter in particular. Portland only scored 11 points in the fourth.
Charts:
Thoughts:
- I gave serious consideration to LaMarcus Aldridge for the player of the game nod, but I don't want to set a bad precedent. Aldridge did what Aldridge does, drift further and further from the hoop, play a generally soft game and use up a ton of positions to score his points. Thanks, LMA.
- Collins benched Turner for almost the entire second half, and he had a reason to. Turner is just completely lost right now and I'm not sure what the solution is. The only time he looked comfortable on the floor was when he made a nice defensive play under the hoop, pushed the ball himself, then found Jrue for a wide-open three. One suggestion would be to put the ball in his hands for a couple of plays per quarter when he's on the floor with Jrue and exclusively when Jrue isn't in the game with him.
- If I told you Iguodala would only take four shots and Jrue would foul out after playing only 23 minutes, how many of you would've guessed the Sixers would win the game? Me neither.
- Going into the game, I thought Jrue might have foul trouble considering he was guarding Andre Miller. The crazy thing about his game is that not one of the six fouls was committed on Miller. The kid needs to stay on the floor.
- The Sixers only attempted 66 field goals, a season low.
- If not for the 15 offensive rebounds Portland grabbed, this would've been a tremendous blowout.
- Brandon Roy is a shell of his former self.
- Thad was only 2/8 from the floor, but I thought he played some solid defense, especially in the fourth, and he grabbed 7 boards in only 22 minutes of work. Solid night without the scoring touch, a rarity for Thad and a good sign.
Player of The Game: Andres Nocioni. The mullet only played 16 minutes, but he had a tremendous effect on the game. 4/7 from the floor, 3/3 from three with 5 defensive boards and a +/- of +15.
Team Record: 5-13
Up Next: @ ATL on Friday
Game Capsule
Glad I got to attend this game. The loudest cheers of the night sadly came when Lil Bow Wow made an appearance on the JumboTron sitting courtside.
I'd just like to point out that Speights is improving in his limited minutes. Had a nice jumper, a couple smart assists (ball friendly?) and did a good job on the glass. More Speights, less Hawes is in the future if Speezy can keep this up and not revert to his lazy ways.
Also I'd like to point out Mo Speezy's habit of yelling out caveman style every time he approaches the rim. Doesn't matter if its a dunk with authority or a layup that he gets fouled on. If he's in the paint and going up with the ball, expect an earth rumbling yell from Speights. This is ususally embarassing when he's playing garbage minutes and the team is down 15...last night, it was just funny.
Sort of like Mark Jackson, without the explicatives.
I kind of liked Jackson. He would just scream at people. I remember one time he yelled "JUST DUNK IT!" at Iguodala, AI9 sort of looked around and realized he could just go up and throw one down in traffic. Funny moment.
Jackson was just horrible, though. He loved to shoot.
Jackson was great to me, it seemed at least once a game you could hear him yell 'SAM' in a defensive set...
Jackson was one of my favorite vertically challenged Sixers bigs. He could not leap over a loaf of bread, and 60% of his shots were blocked... but he was entertaining and seemed to really be into the game.
Marc Jackson or Mark Jackson?
Regrading your 2nd bullet point above:
The ignorant masses like to point at Iguodala as the player "stunting Turner's development" when the reality is that it is Lou who plays the role that would be best for Turner at this point in his development.
Giving Turner the ballhandling opportunites that go to Lou when Jrue is off the floor and at the end of quarters/games would put Turner in a role that he's had success in at OSU rather than exclusively force-feeding him minutes off the ball.
IMO, this would be beter for the team since so many of Lou's isolation opportunities are ending in off balance jumpers rather than breaking down his man and getting into the lane.
Yeah, I agree. I'm not sure why Lou handles the ball exclusively when Jrue isn't in the game. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.