The break is over, the trade deadline is tomorrow and the Sixers will lace 'em up in Minnesota tonight sans Andrew Bynum and Thad Young. The TWolves have been atrocious since Kevin Love went down with a broken hand, the only thing uglier than their 3-16 record over their past 19? Rubio's shooting percentages.
Rubio is shooting a sparkling 46.6% at the rim so far this season. I say sparkling, because he's shooting 34.3% outside of three feet and he caps those impressive numbers off with 13% from deep. Play off him. I mean WAAAAY off him. Jrue, go under every screen until Rubio proves he can hit shots. Lag off him, cut off passing lanes. You have to dare Rubio to beat you with his jumper. If he's hot, adjust, but this has to be the game plan going in. Make him shoot jumpers, and don't send him to the line. In their last game, Rubio was 2/13 from the floor and 12/13 from the line. Absurd.
The guys you need to worry about on the offensive end are Pekovic and AK47 (who is returning from injury in time to get matched up with Evan Turner). Truth be told, the Sixers should probably stick to a similar defensive game plan that saw them lose to Minnesota by 17 back in December. They concentrated on protecting the defensive glass and packing the lane. Minnesota, the team's worst three-point shooting team (30%) hit 13/25 from deep that night. I'd say if you get hold the T-Wolves to 7 o-boards and get them to jack up 25 threes you're going to win about 99% of the time.
On offense, Jrue has an advantage, but Rubio's very good at getting his hand on the ball. He needs to concentrate on his handle and especially watch for the backdoor trap Jennings got him on a couple of times in Milwaukee. Attack the paint. Minnesota doesn't have a legit shotblocker. Their only truly legit defender is Kirilenko, who will probably tie Turner in knots. Nick Young should have no problem working against Ridnour, but the defender guarding him is rarely the problem with Nick. If he's hot, the opportunities will be there all night.
A couple things to keep an eye on. Derrick Williams is coming off his best game as a pro. Ridnour is excellent on the long two, a shot the Sixers will give Minny. Pargo needs to do keep Barea out of the lane when he's guarding him. It'd be great if Lavoy could use his size and strength advantage against Williams, there should be a ton of o-boards available. Pekovic concentrates his glasswork mostly on the other end and Williams isn't exactly a dominant defensive rebounder.
31 games to go. The Sixers need to finish strong in a big way to have any chance at the playoffs. It starts tonight.
The tip is at 8pm. This is your game thread. NJ Transit-willing, I'll be here throughout. Join me if you'd like to get caught up in an empty playoff push!
And here's my proposed trade of the day.
Turner, Wright and Kwame for Redick and Afflalo.
This assumes the Sixers plan to re-sign Bynum. Afflalo is overpaid and miscast in his role with the Magic, but in the right role, he's a valuable piece. This would be your starting five next year (again, assuming Bynum is healthy and they re-sign him, two monumental assumptions)
Jrue, Redick, Afflalo, Thad, Bynum.
Two 40% three-point shooters who can defend on the wings, Thad and Bynum down low w/ Jrue orchestrating.
I read today that Redick is looking for 4 years/$40M but would probably settle somewhere in the $7M/year range. That means the Sixers would probably be a tax paying team w/ only trades to add significantly to this core for the next 3 years. Redick is 28, Afflalo is 27.
Orlando is probably very interested in getting out of Afflalo's contract. You might be able to pull this deal off w/out including Turner, which would leave him as either a bench piece on the team this year and next, or trade bait. Something like this works.
Making either of these deals means you're 100% committing to re-signing Bynum, though. If you make either of these deals, then decide Bynum isn't worth the risk, you're left with a middling team that's locked in for a couple years.
Where do i sign? It's the kind of deal that could make the Sixers a true contender assuming Bynum is resigned and healthy.
I'm not sure the Magic want out of Afflalo's contract though.
I'm sure you've all seen this, but just in case.
http://www.crossingbroad.com/2013/02/it-took-less-than-a-season-for-andre-iguodala-to-irk-denver.html
Someone linked to the original article, which is rubbish. This response is doubly so.
that's one moronic writer's opinion. Denver has plenty of scorers on the roster. they need even less offense from Iguodala than Philly did. their problem now is interior defense.
3-23 from deep? I don't think I've ever seen a lower percentage from a guard.
Apparently, you don't know John Wall. 4/55 from three over the past two seasons. 7.3%.
Goodness gracious.
In the past 14 games Kobe has missed 29 out of the last 30 3pt attempts he has taken.
Man, if the Thunder actually pull the rumored Gortat for Perkins + Lamb and a 1st rounder, they will definitely be front runners for the championship. Presti is trying to work his magic again.
I looked it up, and Tom Garrick, a guard for the Clippers, shot 0-22 from 3 point land in 90-91. "Honestly Coach, I know I can make that shot."
Ironically, former Seton Hall-er and Boston Celtic Chuck Connors, TV's sharpshooting "Rifleman", shot just .252 from the field (99-393) and .471 from the charity stripe (41-87) in 53 career games, but that was before son "Mark" was born and inspired his best triggering. In summation, Chuck was a brickmeister, but "Paw" sure had an eye!
Some dude of some repute named Michael "Air" Jordan shot only .327 (581-1778) from 3-land.
John Wall's rookie year deep shooting (.296, 34-115) tells ya his "cold snap" 4-55 of last 2 yrs is an anamoly. A chat with former Bullet Don "Waxie" Ohl could do the trick.
3 years of evidence. The 1 year is the norm, while the other two are outliers?
'115 attempts number' vs 'interrupted 55 attempts & post-injury number' - - I'll bet on eventual improvement. Your anti-Wall bias is showing.
Eventual improvement from 7.3% isn't exactly a bold prediction. I don't really have an anti-Wall bias at this point. He's irrelevant.
Hard to label a starting #1 pick irrelevant, especially as he's 86 days younger than young Jrue. Both have talent, both run the point as if they're playing on a raquetball court.
Man the contortions you put yourself trhough to try and justify your daily Jrue bashing really are impressive
Lack of growth, lack of improvement in almost any area, low basketball iq, terrible team
yes, John Wall so far has been irrelevant
And much like evan turner being #2 doesn't matter any more - wall being #1 doesn't matter any more except affecting his rookie salary
"Daily" is inaccurate. As is "contortions"; it's straightforward and easy - all you have to do is watch, then type. Jrue was the East's fuzzy mascot at the AS game, thanks to carney Collins.
Again you use a meaningless argument to try and make your increasingly strained 'hypothesis'
Your Jrue hatred is rapidly approaching other irrational hatreds seen here
Do you always respond to "meaningless"-ness?
Of course, he does. In fact, he responds to himself.
Though if it's what you want to use as a 'point' - Where was john wall on Sunday night - as Jrue took the court with the 'best' players in the league. Did I miss the announcement that he made the team?
Rah-rah from La-La.
The comparison to Jrue, with his 51% true shooting percentage and his 17.7% turnover percentage, are a little too close for me to take such a hard stance on Wall's relevance.
They go about their gross inefficiencies in drastically different ways, but they are both grossly inefficient point guards on bad teams. With Wall's built in excuse that he's both younger and coming off a major injury, I'd be hesitant to make such harsh statements.
#1 pick doesn't really mean much to me after a couple years in the league of piss-poor play. Evan Turner has been better than John Wall, and my opinion of Turner is pretty low.
Disappointing to date, for sure. Hard to be of great positive impact when you dominate ball and lay bricks. Outside shooting and decision-making must improve or he'll remain disappointing.
To me, he'll remain irrelevant. And the fact that he's a legitimate dullard leads me to believe he'll remain irrelevant.
Just out of curiosity
Are there any recent Kentucky players you like?
Meeks and Doron Lamb. Did you know Lamb shot 48% from the field and 47% from three in his 2 years at Kentucky!!!!
I had not heard that - thank you for letting me know
NATIONAL CHAMPION!!!!!!
These things are important
Do you happen to know how highly he was rated when he was recruited out of high school?
#4 TOP RECRUIT!!!!!!!!!!!! ZERO BUST EQUITY!!!!!!!!!!!
Excellent. Good to know.
I don't post often but I felt compelled to say that is the funniest exchange I've seen on these boards in awhile. Thank you.
While I'm here, what do you think about the Sixers trading for Granger? He's coming off a lower body injury. Those types of injuries usually intrigue the front office.
Yes, I did know that, but some of us do follow college basketball and Kentucky was among the most frequently broadcasted teams by the networks and ESPN.
I thought he was Kentucky's steadiest player during his time there and part of me would of liked to have seen him drafted by the Sixers. I was surprised that he went as low in the draft as he did. He's having a pretty silent rookie year but I still have faith that he will come around.
I was kidding around. The troll yesterday was going nuts about him, just kept saying 48/47, nat'l champ, top HS recruit over and over again.
Never know. Careers can be a game of "Chutes & Ladders."
I wonder how many classic novels Jrue read in his nine months at Westwood.
I'd be shocked if Wall can read 9 words.
So 29.6% from three represents a good shooter? And one year sample size is bigger than a two year sample size?
Who said anything about a good shooter? I said Wall's frigid cold snap will melt some.
I'd actually say the dramatic drop in attempts is commendable. He can't shoot threes, so he doesn't take many of them. Unfortunately, if he follows that logic he really shouldn't be shooting from anywhere but at the rim.
I've read reports (on basketball prospectus i think) that suggest players coming off ACL surgeries are pretty much the same players they were before, except for one thing: shooting. Every other important statistic is virtually identical for players pre- and post- ACL surgeries. But their shooting percentages go down, especially in the first season after coming back.
Fast forward to Rubio, he started his post-injury career without being able to hit a single shot, but he has slowly been moving towards his last year's numbers as the season progressed. He is at 41% FG% and 29% 3PT% in February.
I absolutely agree that the same tactic should be employed facing the Wolves, but Rubio may actually be able to make some wide open shots.
well, even if Rubio is working his way back to shooting like he did last year, you still want him shooting jumpers. The guy shot 35% from the floor. 34% from three isn't terrible, though. Still, make him shoot and don't foul him. Until he learns to shoot, it's not hard to defend against him.
I agree that Jrue should dare him to shoot. That being said, even though executing the defensive gameplan against Rubio is easy, actually stopping Rubio is less so. No matter how you defend him it's close to impossible to make him a scorer and successfully defend the pass.
Anyway, i don't think Rubio will beat them. It's all about rebounding and not letting Pekovic get 30 points at the rim.
Ken Berger reports at CBS that we've been in talks about trading Nick Young, but he doesn't say to whom or for what. Some sites say Monta for Smith is in the works, which if true would end any chance we have at overtaking Milwaukee.
Monta is a worse package than Turner + Hawes IMO.
He's probably going to opt out, so at least they don't screw up their cap space with that deal. MIL will probably have to throw in a pick, you'd assume.
Not sure how Smith would impact our chances. Probably less minutes for Ilyasova, who is much more efficient than Smith. Their defense would improve, though. And they'd get rid of the Monta offensive albatross (while inheriting the Smith offensive albatross). Overall, they'd be better, though. Think that's probably safe to say. Unless he hates being in MIL.
People who live in Milwaukee hate being there, it's sort of a pit, and though 90 miles away really is the poor ugly neglected sister of Chicago and a blite on an otherwise rather pretty state (if you ignore the majority of the people)
Smith's a better offensive albatross. You're also trading one of the league's worst defensive players for one of the league's better ones.
True. Creating a minute crunch for the team's best offensive weapon, though.
ESPN's 5 on 5 folk don't think anyone should come to Philly Here
I agree with the strategy, but remember last year when the Sixers played them in Minny? They did the same thing, and Rubio did a decent job with 22 points on 17 shots. He was in a good battle with Jrue that night, that the Wolves ultimately won (Well, they shouldn't have, Dre got the ball. But you know, "star" gets the whistle).
Just because a strategy doesn't work, doesn't mean it's the wrong strategy. - Eddie Jordan
You enjoying watching Braces wallow away behind the Lakers bench? He looks like he's doing literally nothing. Maybe the high school freshman team will hire him back.
I'd like to know what that freshman squad did when they were sophomores. I don't think you can undo the fast Eddie damage.
So Mitch Kupchak again said today that the lakers aren't trading dwight howard.
This is what I live about the 24 hour news cycle - the media will just keep using the term 'un named sources' and more often than not make crap up to get 'eyes' and thus Kupchak will have to deny this probably 2-3 more times before the deadline.
Jim Buss ego is too big for him to give up on Howard (or bring in the right coach)
At least their "sources" are team sources, not "league sources" like Cooney and Mitchell.
Or just 'sources' - the nice vague - could be the bartender where dwight was drinking last night
Honestly I haven't seen much reporting about Howard getting traded, outside of that one Rondo-for-Howard story. And that was from Ken Berger, who's a pretty respectable reporter. So maybe there were some brief talks.
Berger and Woj are the two best national guys in terms of breaking stories. I like Zach Lowe in terms of analysis.
Yes - but in terms of abject comedy - do you prefer NBA TV or TNT (and we're just talking analysis - not the comedy of Saegers god awful outfits)
I really like the personalities on TNT, and while they're not statistically sharp, don't know much about most of the teams or players in the league, and tend to fall back on the sort of analytic cliches you get on talk radio (e.g., so and so's not a true #1, various teams are doomed to fail because they lack a big man they can just throw it to in the post), they do have some insight into the more, I don't know, emotional side of the game that your favorite smart basketball writer can't give you. Like it's kind of hard for a writer to say what effect Westbrook's throwing a huge fit at a player for clogging up the paint during one of his post-ups has on his team; you either get this junk about how a guy like that can't lead or win the big series, or on the other hand this junk about how misunderstood he is and how that's just part of what makes him so good. Or a statistically inclined writer will say that they're still first in the league in offensive rating so clearly everything's cool. But a retired player can speak to what effect similar behavior had on his team's play, and I do find that sort of thing useful.
They know drama
Shaq is a boob, but I agree for the most part. I think the bigger the stars make shit analysts, though. Shaq and Magic are as bad as they come. I kinda like the lesser stars because I think things with teammates, coaches and game situations impacted them more, and they had to recognize and exploit the nuances of the game to be successful. A lot of stars were just physically so much better, it didn't matter what anyone else did.
This is probably not what you were getting at, but I often wonder if, knowing what I know now, I would've enjoyed watching Iverson in his prime as much as I did. I almost feel like really digging into advanced stats sometimes strips away the beauty of the game and its harder to just enjoy a magical play if it leads to the guy's 25th point on his 27th shot. I think that's why I love going to playoff games so much. You can throw the numbers out and just enjoy something even if its unsustainable, because get the win and who cares? Three more til the next round.
I've actually been thinking a lot about that lately, how stats have changed what players we appreciate and what players we don't. Today, we'd think of Iverson as a rich man's Monta Ellis, though to be fair, it was a way worse time for offense. I'm still waiting for an analogue in basketball to OPS+ or ERA+.
And yeah, replace Shaq with Webber full-time.
Alright, made it home in time for the T-Wolves feed on League Pass.
@WojYahooNBA
The Rockets will send Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas to the Kings for Thomas Robinson, sources tell Y!
morris to PHX for a 2nd rounder also
Houston also gets Garcia, Honeycutt
Garcia's contract is what SAC wanted to dump, probably. Still, that's crazy. I would've given them Turner and an expiring for Robinson and a salary dump :)
$6.4M team option next year for Garcia. Don't know what the buyout is. Good for Robinson, gets away from Cousins.
Strange trade. I don't know how often you see teams trade one perfectly good young player (Patterson) for another good young player (Robinson, although I guess Robinson's both higher-ceiling and more unproven). Why would either team want to make this deal?
Shuffling deck chairs? I don't know.
I guess Morey may think that Robinson will be a better player in the long term and give them more athleticism/rebounding/defense/size. Whereas Patterson kind of duplicates the stuff Parsons does.
Holy shit. They gave up on Robinson that quickly? Wow.
Aaaaand we're off...Hawes loses the tip.
Excellent work, Turner. Way to pick up your man.
Hawes can't back down Derrick Williams. Turner won't give the ball up in transition, turns it over. This is pretty.
Of course Rubio hits the long two. If he hits his next five from there, then you start fighting over the screen.
evan putback
Good follow, Turner. OK, settle down now.
Stop complaining, Turner. God damn. Looks like he hit the buffet in the Bahamas, too.
Ridnour with a fastbreak 3, not a good start
Bad shot, Jrue. but he hit it.
come on Spencer, go up strong man
And the TWolves can't miss from three.
BAd turn by Jrue. Worse turn by Rubio in transition, worse turn by Hawes in transition the other way. Pretty stuff.
is Jrue hurt? why is he out?
Didn't look hurt, and only has one foul. Maybe in the doghouse?
Jrue out. Did he pick up his second foul?
evan cant finish, rubio to the line
nice lefty finish Pargo
Pargo43!!!
pargo 3
Now Jrue coming back.
lavoy jumper
By the way, the Sixers have won two road games since November 30, and the last road win was on January 1.
This is a decent write-up on our season:
http://gothicginobili.com/?p=6104#more-6104
They haven't played a whole lot on the road.
Well, 2-14 in the last 16 road games doesn't seem insignificant to me, though the quality of the 16 opponents was pretty strong overall.
Jrue was out for 4 of them as well.
And now we're Thad-less, which isn't great either.
Get down the fucking floor, Turner.
Don't fucking bite on a pump fake from 22 feet, Pargo.
Loose with the ball, Jrue. Shitty.
Feel like they're down more than 10.
Jrue long two, good. Ugh. Play some fucking D and go to the hole.
wright 3
GET DOWN THE FUCKING FLOOR, TURNER. There are 2 PGs on the floor, you aren't one of them.
Pekovic looks like an All Star tonight
Hawes needs a perfect setup to hit that jumper.
down 10 feels like 20
Would Kahn consider Turner for Williams? That seems like a Kahn sort of thing to do.
Kahn had a boner for Turner in his draft.
PHI 25, MIN 35 after one.
35 fucking points. Pitiful.
Stop with the long twos already. Get to the fucking hole.
Hawes sort of just listened?
ugh looks like moultrie isnt going to play
Hawes walked like shit on that flail of a play.
Good push, good attack.
Turner why did you leave Williams like that?
Come on. They leave Barea wide open for three AND Williams wide open under the rim? How is that even possible?
Not that it's anything new, and mostly cause it's crossed my mind several times today but, someone just has to take Turner off our hands. For the love of whatever, please someone anyone just do it.
The organization is apparently split on Turner. How, I have no idea.
The split ought to be whether he's total garbage or just a scrub.
Turner, brick.
Hawes actually shows, but Young gets hung up on the screen for about 3 seconds. +1 for Schved.
If you're going to stick your hand in there Turner, foul the guy hard enough where he can't get the shot off please.
Wilkins sighting.
Jrue cheating early for the screen, leaves the middle of the floor open. Hawes watches Barea go right to the hoop. Textbook what not to do against the p&r.
Heh, the Wolves are heading for at least around 110 in this one. If they aren't gonna save my eyes from Turner I really wish they'd get rid of whatever few guys are actually helping Jrue from time to time and tank the shit out of the rest of this year. It's a waste, and has been for a while. This mess flat out sucks.
At least when Wilkins either drives or gets near the rim he can get his shot off without it getting blocked.
Shved that open for 3? come the fuck on.
Lavoy follow.
lavoy putback
Jrue, just fucking drive every time. Maybe try to draw some contact once in a while, too.
i forgot how bad this team is
yep the last week off was sort of a relief from my point of view as a fan. It kind of felt good not to have to watch this shit.
13/10 for Pekovic already.
Nice pass, Turner.
Turnerover you just fucking suck. Fucking suck man...
not sure what you were trying to do with that pass Turner
where is moultrie?!
Rubio flop
still an O foul though
Excellent work, Turner.
Heh, Turner pushes off and after the foul is called he looks over to the bench and Doug and the coach beside him just had their heads buried. ahahhah
Jrue to the line! It's like seeing a unicorn.
They're free, not that it matters.
Great pass, Jrue. Give Wilkins all of Turner's minutes in the second half.
Wilkins finishes with the left hand inside. See that Evan?
Good follow, Lavoy. Good move out of the post by Jrue, too much English on it, though.
Wilkins finishes in transition. Get your pen out Evan. Borrow Curry's notepad paper.
Jrue's 4th steal, I believe. Up to Wilkins for the conversion. Turner would've definitely gotten ahead of the pack on that play, right?
PHI 41, MIN 56 at the half.
They actually closed that quarter well. Heh.
Sorry fucking half. They're still on break it seems. Think it was two years ago, but we played Minny the first game after the break and stunk the joint up on their floor. Just like tonight so far.
0 minutes for their best big since thad went down
Think Collins is worried he'll get pushed around by Pekovic. Not sure why he isn't worried about Hawes getting bitched, but whatever. Couldn't hurt to put him in.
As disheartening as that first half was, I think they come back and win. Don't ask me why. I can't think of a single logical reason. Just a feeling.
Hawes + Turner = 3 points, 4 turnovers.
Hawes + Turner + Nick Young = 2/11, 5 points.
Could be worse, could be losing to the Pacers by 36, like the Knicks are.
they might fall to the 5 seed
I hope I'm not left with only rooting for Melo to fail in the first round again when the regular season is over.
And ping-pong balls.
Assistant coach is ripping Rubio.
Kwame will save us
well he benched hawes and turner
not turner lavoy
Turner's in thee. Or they got another fat guy. Benched Lavoy and Hawes.
Blown dunk by Kwame on Jrue spoonfeed.
Nick to the line! Didn't see the play, but he was in the paint moving in the general direction of the hoop, so I approve.
Damn I got happy when I saw Wilkins out there but then I saw #12 too.
nice shot selection Turner
Nice shot, Turner.
OK, two gifts on this possession, get some fucking points.
You have to put points on the board while the TWolves are stepping on their dicks. Come on.
Can't Turner play well and light it up just one time before the deadline? Just once.
He did. Back in November. There were a couple in there.
Yeah, then Jrue and Thad started freezing him out.
thought it was Collins first. Or maybe the refs.
you two are like the drunk guy at the end of the bar who swears people are trying to fight him when no one is saying anything. No Turner supporters around here anymore in case you haven't noticed
mymanjrue occasionally still uncorks a 20-post rant in Turner's defense. Only a couple weeks ago he said Jrue tried to freeze Turner out of a triple-double.
I remember that. Turner had like 4 boards and 4 assists in that game.
He was 40% of the way!
i think he had eight six and four in the first half. my point, however, was that if Jrue has so little confidence in ET as to blatantly refuse to pass him the ball, open or not, as he did in that second half-then Turner shouldn't be on the floor. I mean, what is the point?
there isn't any doubt in my mind that Jrue and Evan have a competitive edge in their relationship. over the course of this year, the debate over who is the superior player has basically been settled, but there have still been some flashed of immaturity from Jrue in my view. The last five minutes vs Memphis jumps out in my mind. If Jrue is going to continue to evolve into a team leader, he definitely needs to stop feeling threatened by the likes of Evan Turner
I'm sure some will distort my words here, as if I'm suggesting that Turner's struggles are Jrue's fault...which is basically absurd. However, there are occasional stretches where Jrue does freeze Turner out...sometimes it is warranted as Turner is killing the offense, sometimes it is unwarranted, as Turner is on a rare hot streak. But whatever the reason, if you guys haven't thought a handful of times while watching the Sixers this year "heh, Jrue totally does NOT want to pass to Turner"...well, I don't believe you, because it does happen
that Mark Titus guy wrote something about Turner, I think around the time he was drafted...if I'm remembering correctly, he intimated that ET was not exactly beloved in the Buckeye locker room...don't think it's at all farfetched to speculate that there is some volatility in the Jrue-Turner relationship
Don't get it confused, it's not volatility, it's just stark contrast, that's all.
I notice the same thing with Jrue, and it is for the good for it to happen.
Even when I know Jrue is ending with a selfish tough shot, I'm content with him not passing to "him", .... sitting over there, not cutting, with his hands thwarted out shot-ready, his defender only a length away.
You wouldn't pass to that particular player either if you were a heady, understand-situations-and-tendencies point guard. You just don't.
lol, colorfully put as ever. If you describe things correctly, Fearless Leader Paul Douglas Collins needs to not put "that player" on the floor, which was my point...it accomplished nothin
As far as Jrue goes-I would put the occasional freeze out of Turner in the same category as his occasional freezeouts of everybody else on the floor, his tendency to get drawn into dick measuring contests with his PG matchup rather than just getting the last laugh by making a smart basketball play, tendency to, in certain situations, overdribble and turn the ball overtrying to force some heroic one on one play-0or wildly passing off of a forced attempt at a heroic one on one play-all these things, in my mind, are Jrue reverting to a me first, AAU type mindset
I'm hard on Jrue lately, because I have seen enough from him this year to believe that I was wrong in the view of his ultimate limitations that I had formed by the end of last year. I now think he can be not just a very good player but actually pretty close to a great one, a guy whose ceiling is the evolutionary Gary Payton. I was totally bullish on Jrue, but very disappointed in his lack of improvememt last year. We've seen enough greatness this year to know what he is capable of. I want to see him make the adjustments he must make in order to deliver that brilliance on a consistent basis.
I am also desperate to see him play with an elite offensive player, someone who has to be the primary focus of the opposing defense. I'm smiling just thinking about it. Jrue could be absolutely lethal.
I believe in Jrue, and I'm ready for him to be a little less of a kid and a lot more of a man-want to see him channel all that brilliance so that he is playing and making decisions with a singular focus on what will put the team in the best position to win. He's not there yet. He's got a fantastic chance to get there, though. That's why the whiffs of a dysfunctional environment in the locker room and a rapidly deteriorating head coach are so frustrating...
It strikes me that Jrue is like the straight a student in a classroom full of kids on the verge of failing...the beleaguered teacher is so grateful for Jrue, and has his hands so full to overflowing with all the D students, that he kinda just lets Jrue do his sthing. So Jrue keeps getting his As, sure, but isn't really learning, or getting prepared to continue to excel even once he's in a classroom FULL of a students...
Jrue turn. Come the fuck on.
got it back.
evan gets the roll
ET with the roll!!! Hey hey now
Turner with the "shooter's" bounce!
Get it under 10 here. Chip away. They're coughing it up every time down.
Lazy pass, Turner. Got lucky.
evan jumper
Turner with the silky smooth J.
Someone call Danny Ferry, right now.
Nick to the line!
4 on Pek?
In the bonus w/ 7:10 left on the clock. And Jrue gets whistled for a shit call. 4 on Jrue.
In comes Ivey.
call every gm now!
TURNERJUMPERYESYESYES!!!!
Heh, Evan wails out after he misses a bunny. Poor guy.
there was contact there
I didn't say there wasn't.
Turner complaining on both ends. Awesome.
He's turned into such a little whiny bitch. Serves him well.
Pretty big swing there. Pek committed his fourth foul, but they gave it to someone else. Next play, they call a phantom foul on Jrue for his fourth. He goes to the bench.
They're free, Nick.
Yep, that was their run. Got it to 9. Now it's over.
What did Pargo do wrong in the first half?
Stop bitching.
sissy hook
evan jumper
Turner to the line after 21 seconds of Turner dribbling. Nice. Hit the freebies. TURNERISTHESAVIOR!
Wonder if he's auditioning for a possible trade to Minnesota? They were interested in him at draft time and it is Big Ten country after all.
hey eddie's, Turner sort of heard your prays...see, he likes you!
*prayers
I sure wish DiLeo would hear them. Or whoever the dumbfuck is that is "split" on whether they should keep him.
I think "split" probably means some want to trade him now, and some want to trade him in the offseason or let him expire after next year
Keep it under 10 heading into the fourth, please.
ha, nevermind
21 more secs of Turner dribbling and then a turnover. Got it back!!
Turner, of course, with his shit packed and then a turnover. Winner.
did you see that hustle though?!
:)
Turner botched that possession 3 times, and saved it 2 times.
PHI 67, MIN 76 after 3.
It's doable. See what happens when Jrue isn't in there to freeze out Turner? Leave him on the bench for the fourth.
Pistons won, Raptors lost. MIL up 11 on the Nets in the second half.
Jrue coming in to ruin everything.
That was a walk on Pek.
And back to 13 after AK47 drains these freebies.
Wright fouled Kirilenko with his chin.
Another spoon-fed dunk goes for naught. Well, Wilkins to the line, at least.
By the way (random commenthere) if anyone else here is in to the microbrew thing, do not ever try Green Flash Brewery's Rayon Vert (Belgian style Pale Ale). Just cracked one open and it tastes like acetone
thanks the green flash i partake in isnt liquid
LOL, I guess that makes sense
Ivey three. Get some stops, please.
Malik groaned when Hawes shot that three
Hawes building a house in late transition. I don't think Jrue has taken a shot this half.
Guess Doug thinks Ivey is this much better defender than Pargo against this daunting Wolves backcourt.
they don't call him "Smoke" for nothing
I actually don't even know what that means
one of my homies is called that bc hes darkskinned
Get some penetration, Jrue.
Nice pass, Hawes. That was another walk on Pek.
Awesome pass Spencer. That was straight to the wrong guy.
5 on Jrue. Collins will..................take him out.
Jrue with 5.
Nice foul, Ricky. That's five on him, too. But he's been hurting more than helping tonight.
come on Nick
They're fucking free. Damnit.
Nick Young is a wild man. You gotta love him.
wow, fucking wow
0 for god damned 3 from the line. You fucking asshole.
WTF Nick??????? damn man it's an open 15 footer
Thank you, Wilkins. Thank you.
they are in the penalty early, that's good at least
Wilkins with a nice block
Wow, big rejection by Wilkins.
1.7 on the shot clock and Hawes fouls him on the inbound pass.
1.9 on the shot clock and Hawes fucking holds.
One the whole, this is likely Wilkins' best game for the Sixers this year.
sissy putback
Turner rejected by the rim...a bunch of slop...Hawes follow 20 seconds later. Down 7. LET'S GO!
HEH, Turner that was some ugly mess there.
Hawes follow.
Jrue back. Put him on Ridnour.
Jrue back in with 6+ left. Hmmnn
Jrue scores in paint.
What do they have to lose, really?
Back to 7 on a strong move by Jrue. Come on. 7-point game.
two at the line for Jrue after the mismatch
Oh snap, here's the inevitable tease. Should have known it was coming.
FREEEEEEEE!
Bad contested shot Jrue. come on. got it back on Pek illegal screen
Wilkins is having a game
Wilkins, money. down 6.
Damn, the Wolves might want to trade for Wilkins instead of Turner if he keeps this up.
Jesus, another fould?
This fucking flopping spaniard gets bailed out of more shit.
Screw you, Hawes. That weak ass J.
they are in the penalty, take it to the fucking hole
Turner blocked 2x. Fouled on the second. Hit the freebies, please.
LOL AK47 making ET his girlfriend. Twice.
fuck you Turner, another missed FT
5 missed freebies this quarter, right? 3 by nick, 1 by jrue, 1 by turner. in a 6-point game.
nice pass jrue
Jrue to Spencer. SLAM!
Great fucking pass, Jrue. Spence dunk. 4-point game. STOPS.
Pek to the line, bleh.
A hard foul from Turner? Balls.
5/11 from the line in the fourth. In a 6-point game.
Bad shot, Jrue. no stop here, that's game.
Hawes to the line.
Hawes to the line. Man, that corner three would've been huge.
Hit the fucking freebies.
well he made both of course
Brick city from 2 feet by Hawes.
Ugly, ugly ass lumbering move scoop hook from Hawes. Weakling.
Ugh.
Gota foul. Fucking motherfuckers.
game probably
We go to a Lavoy 15 footer in a 2 for 1. Grreeeaaattttt strategy. Or rather bad damn shot from Allen there.
Is that correct that the Wolves have only one made field goal this quarter, their first?
Yep.
Them's my Sixers.
Get someone else in to give the foul, Collins. Why is Jrue in there? Stupid.
See there's not a lot of Friday night games on the schedule coming up the next several weeks, and not even that many left the whole season. Bummer.
harden has 44 on 19, game still going too
Hit the first two, miss the third...or just miss all three.
phila blows
PHI gives it away, MIN takes it final.
POTG, Evan Turner. Someone tell his agent he's Depressed Fan's player of the game, see if that pumps up his trade value.
Doug calls timeout, Brian James drawing it up.
7 seconds left Dougie boy, let everyone go home already
Miami next
easy win.
harden ends up with 46 on 19
I found this comment on a Bucks Blog
by MadTown Hoops
"I hate Spencer Hawes as a player, but particularly as a person. He’s an insufferable know-it-all and his private comments have come off as racist and classist. His rebounding numbers and percentages are average at best and he likes to take threes, despite shooting at a 30% clip. We do not need that on our team. "
http://www.brewhoop.com/2013/2/20/4009698/nba-trade-rumors-2013-bucks-suns-lead-pursuit-of-josh-smith-jennings
WEll, the only thing I wonder is how madtown hoops was able to participate in private conversations with Spencer Hawes to know that he's a racist (his classism comes off constantly, in public discourse)
Harkless had 20 on 15 shots today, and 8 boards, 5 of which were offensive. Vuce with a typical 16 and 13 night on 11 shots, 2 blocks.
And he is 19, correct? I have a sneaking suspicion that he is going to be really good. Dileo has shown that he is not completely inept at scouting, and obviously the Magic really wanted Harkless to be involved in the deal for a reason.
did you happen to catch the final score of that Orlando game?
They lost by a significant margin, but I believe the game was tied going into the third quarter. So I don't think there was much garbage time. I actually thought about that before I posted the numbers.
Bucks and Celts both lost. The dream will not die!
So Houston is the only team making trades. Again. I even have a feeling they might not be done yet. I wouldn't be surprised to see some combination of the newly acquired Robinson and Garcia as well as T.Jones and G.Smith be sent to Atlanta for Josh Smith.
Aldridge has the Sixers among the teams chasing Redick hardest. It's not a small group, though.
Bucks, Pacers, Spurs, Sixers. That's the group. Sixers won't get him.
My hatred of JJ Redick makes it difficult for me to consider if it would even matter if the sixers got him - I mean - if it's only Evan Turner or Spencer Hawes - sure - just to get them off the team - but how much does he matter?
He's a really good fit going forward. Who knows how much it matters if Bynum either doesn't re-sign or isn't healthy going forward.
Even without Bynum i think Redick is a legit starting 2 guard who can be kept long term. And i think he would be reasonably easy to move if signed to something like a 7 million per year contract,if he is no longer a good fit. Legit 3 point shooters have value these days, and Redick has truly expanded his game of late.
He'd probably be movable at that price. It would be better if he was an add-on piece for them, meaning Bynum stays. Still think I'd try to get Afflalo and Redick from ORL.
Gotta have something the magic want - and the sixers roster isn't jam packed with pieces to want
Gotta have something they want and/or be willing to take something they'd like to get rid of. I'd probably be willing to take Al Harrington back in the deal as well (I think his contract can be stretched).
If saving money is orlandos desire
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine/?tradeId=atte8je
Also works if you sub Wright and Wilkins in for Hawes. Saves them even more money.
Yeah - but I wanna get rid of hawes :)
But yeah - there's a deal to be made - but purely a dump really - orlando doesn't get much talent compared to what they're trading away - but they do save some money this year and long term...the sixers would probably have to include a first round pick with protections to even entice orlando and, well, they can't really until like 2017 right?
I wonder if they could do something else, like remove the protection from the pick Orlando already has from them. They also have 2 second rounders this year, which are probably more valuable than a late-first from the Spurs (last pick in the first round vs. like #5 in the second round w/ no guaranteed contract).
Never thought about protection modification -
All the sixers can really offer anyone is cap relief really - though with the 'super tax' kicking in soon - maybe that's enough for some teams (like sacramento yesterday - saving a few million and giving up on the #5 pick after less than one season)
Who watches Orlando games to know if what Zach Lowe and others say is true, but supposedly he's become an above-average defender, shoots well standstill or on the move, is a smart cutter, and a decent passer. So basically a perfect glue guy to fill in between higher-usage players.
Now they're saying the Bucks have dropped back in Redick talks.
Not sure who chris palmer is but he's very disappointed that the celtics want be able to run out a rondo/tyreke back court
Broussard said the Pistons are out of it too
I bet the magic are over playing their hand :)
Yeah, supposedly the demand has always been a first-round pick and a prospect.
The demand for HIckson is a first round pick - no takers
Hickson's probably not good enough of a defender to be worth that much, but I'm glad he's rehabilitated his career. Actually, I take that back, I'd trade a pick in the 20s for Hickson.
The problem is Hickson is a free agent. Noone wants to commit to paying him a lot of money long term AND giving up a pick.
Oh I didn't know he was expiring. But I mean, what if it dawned on the Thunder that Perk gives them nothing and that a run-and-jump big man would help them play with the Clippers and Heat? Maybe their 29th pick would be worth it.
jordan crawford to boston, dont know for what
dexter pittman and a 2nd rounder to Memphis for a trade exception and the right to ricky sanchez
It's probably going to be Fab Melo to Wizards.
@WojYahooNBA
Celtics will send the Leandro Barbosa expiring contract to the Wizards for Jordan Crawford, league source tells Y! Sports.
@Chris_Broussard: Sebastian Telfair to Toronto For Hamed Haddadi deal done, source says
PHX also gets a 2nd rounder
So once again a lot of smoke but mostly a lot of small deals getting done it seems :)
If the hawks don't move smith for at least a first round pick and a 'guy' who maybe doesn't last another year or two and they let him walk for nothing - that's a mistake
Smith is gone IMO. They'll just accept the best offer available at the last minute.
@KBergCBS
Despite Evan Turner's name being "all over the place" in trade talks, league source says Sixers do not expect to make a deal.
Ken Berger tweets:
Despite Evan Turner's name being "all over the place" in trade talks, league source says Sixers do not expect to make a deal.
Does that mean people want Turner?
yea, kinda
Not necessarily - maybe it means the sixers called every team and tried to get them to take turner - for a ball of wax even - and no one wanted him
Sure that's less likely - but still :)
However, what it can mean is that while there is 'interest' in Turner it's not really 'knock me down with a feather' interest it's more like 'we'll take him off your hands here's a pittance' interest if none of the deals encourage the sixers to make the move
maynor to POR for a pick
redick to MIL for Doron Lamb, Tobias Harris and Beno Udrih
Well we all know Doron Lamb is a superstar waiting to happen so I'm saying the Magic got fleeced :)
@WojYahooNBA
Orlando sends Ayon and Ish Smith to Milwaukee as part of deal for Redick, source tells Y!
Hakim Warrick to the Pacers for Josh McRoberts.
this should be the magic not pacers
yea my bad
morrow to Dallas for Dahntay jones
Thunder got Ronnie Brewer from the Knicks
Brewer to the Thunder for a 2nd round pick. Interesting trade. I thought Brewer was a good fit for the Knicks because of his defense, but for some reason his minutes were reduced as the season progressed.
The knicks decided to stop pretending to play defense?
Saw this in a chad ford chat - made me laugh
However, with that said, I've heard rumblings that if Howard told Laker officials this summer that the only way he'd stay in LA is if Kobe leaves, the Lakers could end up choosing Howard over Kobe.
Either the Sixers thought that Turner was worth more than Redick or Orlando thought that Tobias Harris, Doron Lamb and the expiring contract of Udrich was worth more than Turner.
I'm gonna say the bucks thought it was worth more than turner - cause redick is more than turner
I think Tobias Harris may be worth more than Turner. (To say nothing of Doron Lamb!) Not sure what happened to him this year, but he looked good last season.
So we got Charles Jenkins? WTF?
i like him more than pargo
It's as if they think we're a contender that just needs an extra backup point guard to shore things up around the edges. Or maybe we're going to use him to tank games and give Jrue lots of rest. Hopefully that's the idea.
He's the next Jeremy Lin....wait....there's only one Jeremy Lin.
gave up a 2nd rounder
MOTHERFUCKER
its a 2nd rounder, not the end of the world
I'll be mad as Hell if they gave up NO's 2nd round pick for him.
hopefully its protected
It's a salary dump. I would assume it's one of those heavily protected second round picks.
@sam_amick
Warriors get draft considerations for Tyler (Atlanta) and Jenkins (Philly). No specifics, but I'm told they'll never see the picks.
There it is. No need to panic. It's getting a guy who will have a season long audition to be the backup PG for nothing. Can't complain. They didn't give up anything.
They finally got a point guard from Hofstra without using a first round pick! He might even be better than Speedy Claxton. He had pretty decent numbers as a rookie but his playing time decline considerably this year.
Your Philadelphia 76ers. 30 years and counting of institutional apathy.
There was that one year they acquired Chris Webber and Jamal Mashburn. I was soo excited.
Sorry, 30 years of institutional incompetence and apathy.
I remember being thrilled with the Mutombo-Van Horn deal. I was looking at his advanced stats in his time with us, and I feel like we underrated him.
I actually liked KVH. The Sixers had their 2nd best season of the Iverson era with him. I think they were only 1 or 2 games out of first place that year. I don't know why they got rid of him.
KVH had many flaws but was a breath of fresh air from Matt Harpring. I hated Matt Harpring. He's on my top 4 hated Sixers: Harpring, Hawes, Greg Buckner, and John Salmon.
Not a bad hate list, but the passion about Harpring and Buckner seems odd. Harpring was only here one year as I remember so that doesn't seem long enough to hate him that much. And Buckner was just a mostly irrelevant bench player.
Hawes is understandable and Salmons would certainly merit a high rank on mine. He even screwed up the Sixers' tentative sign and trade deal involving him before departing.
I remember this ridiculous notion that Harpring was a shooter when we traded for him. Coming into his season with us, he'd made 25 threes - in his career. Over three seasons. Shooting 31.5% over that stretch. And sure enough, he shot 30% from three with us on a little under one three a game.
He came to the Sixers following the NBA Finals season and the team still had championship aspirations. The 01-02 season was very frustrating and Matt Harpring frustrated me more than anyone else on that roster. He would get a lot of wide open jumpers and he would miss them. It was the only thing he had to his offensive game and he sucked at it. Whenever the Sixers were making a comeback or were in a tight game, he would ruin an offensive possession with a jumper that clanked off the rim. I hated that guy.
I dislike Greg Buckner because he reminds of every stiff with no offensive game that the Sixers loaded their roster with. I don't know why he sticks out, but I've chosen him as the ambassador of every crappy 6'6 guy that Billy King could dress in a Sixers jersey.
Greg Buckner was
In the last ten years, I'd go with Efthimios Rentzias, Willie Green... and Turner.
Larry Brown used to love guys like Buckner and Harpring because according to him "they played the right way". Meaning they played defense. True but I agree with you. They had no offensive games and Billy King would sign guys like that.
Funny and sad at the same time that you nor any of us were feeling or saying this back on August 10th '12.
I know it's just the minimum salary, but why did we sign Pargo for the rest of the season and then 4 days later trade for another back-up point guard?
"I heard from multiple people they sniffed around a Thad Young/Monta Ellis swap, but might have gotten cold feet — presumably because of positional overcrowding issues."
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8972027/the-trade-deadline-exchange-part-2
Terrifying. (By the way, the "they" in that quote is the Bucks, not us; we purportedly made that offer and got rejected.)
Who the fuck from this organization has been constantly pushing for a Monta trade?
this one seems like this was the bucks idea but if i had to guess collins
It says Milwaukee's the team that got cold feet.
i know but they(MIL) could of still offered it
But their getting cold feet kind of implies that there was a deal to begin with. Say you propose to a woman and are rejected; it makes no sense to say that, if you change your mind and decide you never should've proposed in the first place, you got cold feet.
It's a Bill Simmons article. Not sure how serious that is. But if they indeed are serious, ouch...
In the past 10 seasons, how many years have the Sixers had an injured F/C getting paid 10M+ money to be hobbled or washed up?
That is like 10 continuous years of Jeff Ruland re-runs. Is it Ground Hogs Day that the Sixers have to constantly relive their demise- the Prometheus of the NBA, and we as the fans get to suffer anew each season. I love this game.
I left out the list:
Kukoc to Big Dawg to Webber to Brand to Bynum. Ech paid 10M+ to be marginal, injured or both.
Hope!!!
At least we can look forward to a roster shake up this summer.
Wait, what is that based on?
dont we have a lot of contracts not guaranteed past this season?
bynum, nick young, wright, ivey,wilkins, pargo, jenkins
Bynum, but that depends on how comfortable the Sixers feel about his health.
Other then that there's Nick Young and Dorrell Wright along with some minor players like Wilkins, Jenkins, and Pargo.
Maybe we'll do something really earth-shattering like letting Bynum walk and signing Paul Millsap.
Yeah - but eliminating bynum - those contracts don't add up to a massive amount of cap room - if bynum is non tendered I'm sure they have some room - but - um - who do you spend it on (hint, not Josh Smith)
Even if they do resign Bynum, depending on how big that contract will be, they still might have some cap room. Additionally, they might trade Turner and Hawes. And they will have the midlevel exception as well. That's enough flexibility to be able to completely overhaul the roster (even with Bynum).
'some' cap room isn't significant cap room
Trading hawes and turner - damn you make me laugh...these are maybes - possibilities - and if Bynum is non tendered it's a huge blow for the sixers - unless of course the plan was just to save Iguodala's salary for a year anyway (which I believe is still 50% possible)
I see there are still people who believe the new ownership will spend on things like mid level exceptions and the such
If it brings them over the tax level - they're not doing it
Do the math. They will be far under the luxury tax even if they sign Bynum to the max and they don't trade Turner. They can easily use the mid level exception, bi-annual exception and whatever's out there with the new CBA without even sniffing the luxury tax line.
44.5m + 17m (i think Bynum's max salary should begin around 17m) + 2m (rookie contract) + 5m(mid level should be around 5m i think) = 68.5 million
That's still far below the luxury tax line which should be around 70-71 million. They can use the biannual exception if they deemed necessary.
So you think Bynum is going to agree to a less than max deal - if he plays 5 games?
Just look at Eric Gordon - if bynum shows up on the court he's getting max offers from other teams
Your premise is flawed because it vastly understates the bynum salary
To me bynum is a binomial option - he's either not here - or he's on a max deal - there's no inbetween - so add 8 million into your math
and look - luxury tax if they use the MLE - you're also making assumptions about the salary cap that might or might not be accurate
Where did i say he won't sign to the max? I just said it's not a foregone conclusion. But if it is the max it doesn't change anything. I did the math using his max numbers. The real truth is the Sixers CAN sign multiple players AFTER signing Bynum, even if it is a max contract, without getting into luxury tax territory. As for the cap and tax numbers there were several reports on them being around 60 million and 70 million respectively. Of course the actual numbers haven't been calculated yet, but the early reports are usually more or less accurate.
With so many free agents and cap space the team will inevitably look different next season. I also think Turner will be traded in the offseason. And Hawes is in danger of being traded as well.
I think the chances of Turner getting traded have dropped since the deadline passed. Think about it. Teams do deals to improve their talent, save money, or get something in return for players who are about to walk out. Now, from a talent-improving perspective, Turner's not that attractive, and anyone we'd get for Turner in a pure talent-for-talent deal would likely be even worse or at least about as mediocre, so why would we do it? From a cost-saving perspective, Turner is a free agent after next season (though he'll get paid 7 million next season as well), but I'm not so sure that we're willing to take on someone with multiple years left on their contract just to get rid of Turner. And whoever such a player would be, if he were actually good, his team would be able to make a better deal for him than Evan Turner. So yeah, we might be able to get a slightly better player who's on a longer contract, like a Wesley Matthews or a Marcus Thornton, but I'm afraid our front office thinks too much of Turner's unrealized potential to make that kind of trade. The best chance we had of dealing Turner was yesterday in return for an expiring contract, such as Redick or Jefferson or Millsap or Smith. Because in those cases, teams are willing to take some pretty iffy young players in return for a free agent who's going to walk just so they can say they got something. I mean, who was the centerpiece of the Redick deal? Tobias Harris. I'm not necessarily saying we could've had Redick for Turner - it's very possible that Orlando likes Harris better than Turner, as do I - but I think there's a pretty good likelihood that we could've gotten one of the expiring pieces on the market for a deal centered around him.
I don't think the team wanted to trade Turner for an expiring at the deadline to be honest. They wanted a good long term asset. Turner for Redick was never realistic IMO. The Sixers did want to acquire Redick but i don't think it was for Turner straight up.
And just because the Sixers fanbase thinks extremely low of Turner doesn't mean other GMs think the same. Half of the fanbase wanted to trade Iguodala for a bag of peanuts, but in the end he brought in Bynum.We''ll see what his trade value is soon IMO. In the meantime lets hope he strings together a solid 30 remaining games as a Sixer.
I don't think the team wanted to trade Turner for an expiring at the deadline to be honest. They wanted a good long term asset.
If this is true then the front office has no clue how to evaluate the talent on their roster or their value to other teams.
Agreed.
Is there any point in trading Evan Turner for an expiring contract? The Sixers would be basically left with the same amount of money to spend on free agency whether or not he is on the roster. If Kwame and Spence weren't on two year deals it would be a different story, but as I see it Turner has more value next season as an expiring contract then he does right now.
Even saying Evan Turner has anything resembling "value" when it comes to a trade, is being extremely kind.
Not in the way you'd think, I said all along that, picking up his option was gonna be just like Speights', a waste.
Even saying Evan Turner has anything resembling "value" when it comes to a trade, is being extremely kind.
Not in the way you'd think, I said all along that, picking up his option was gonna be just like Speights', a waste.
Turner averages 14 points, 4 assists, and 7 rebounds. There were a stretch of games in November when he was putting up good numbers and the team went 6-2. You don't think some GM out there would take a chance on Turner and hope that they can turn him around and make him more efficient and consistent?
There's also a difference between his return value for this year and next year. With the new CBA there are teams out there looking to shed salary in order to avoid paying a steep luxury tax. One year Phoenix doled out two future 1st round picks in order to have a team take Kurt Thomas off their hands.
I'd rather hold onto Turner and see what I can get for him next year instead of trading him this year for a bunch of bottom roster munchers. The Sixers won't gain any off season maneuverability by unloading the last year of his contract.
But it ain't about the manueverability, it's about the release. It's inevitable; for both sides.
Picking up his option in the first place was short-sighted. They had enough of a look-see audition to make a determination without having to do that.
Why keep holding onto it (him), why? It's relative to Iguodala's situation, but it won't end being classified as such.
Like, I often ask myself, if they do hold onto him next year, and "see what they can get for him", how much damn better will it really be if they do wait for that to maybe or maybe not happen?
But even if it does, how much better will the actual return be? When it's time to cut bait, you cut it, no excuses or reasons. The "return for", becomes obsolete at a certain point.
Look, I see what you're saying about the CBA, but you're not going to score that much more of a team-changing player(s) than if you just go ahead and get rid of the dead weight now. Waiting til next year is just putting off the inevitable for what is likely a marginal return.
I don't know. Look at the few lottery picks who have underachieved and gotten traded during their rookie deals. Beasley, 2nd pick in his draft, averaged 15 and 6 in his second season for Miami, and wasn't even catastrophically inefficient at the time (.505 TS%) but he was widely seen as a flop. What did Miami get for him? Cash and second round draft picks. And Turner's worse than Beasley was for Miami, and isn't seen as having as much upside. Tyrus Thomas, 4th pick in his draft and coming off an okay season in which he averaged 11, 6.5, and 2 blocks, got traded for Flip Murray, Acie Law, and a protected first-round draft pick that Chicago couldn't use until at least three years later (and in reality, given all the protection on it, six years later when it becomes unprotected). Randy Foye got traded for some bad players and the pick that became Rubio, but he was traded with Mike Miller so that's an unfair comparison. (Also, the Wizards are really stupid.) Mayo almost got traded in his third year for McRoberts and Indiana's first-round pick of that year. But there I think the attitude was that he was a good player who needed a change of scenery; his first two seasons were pretty good.
But the Sixers fanbase was really stupid when it came to Iguodala. We're definitely not wrong about Turner.
"but I'm afraid our front office thinks too much of Turner's unrealized potential to make that kind of trade."
At what point though does unrealized potential reach its' destination? Meaning, it's not "un" anymore.
Well - they gave Kwame Brown two years - how long have people been waiting for him to realize his potential?
Really isn't analogous to me, they didn't draft and initially believe in Brown. He was never their selection considered for team-building.
He's just more inept clutter.
Hold up, wait a minute.
I think I get this another way now having read it multiple times, I see what you did there, is what they call this I think.
My point still stands in its' context though.
I just think they think he can be something, not that he actually can be.
where were Moultrie's minutes last night?did I miss something?
I've been pleasantly surprised by his performance sans Thaddeus...he's got a nose for the basket, plays aggressive offensive ball, always ready to take a pass fromJrue or Evan or whoever, and flush it. Great feel for the ball in offensive rebounding situations as well, which is a decided asset on this team of bricklayers. I'm not as well qualified as many others here to evaluate his team defense-hs rotations, etc-but he does strike me as having great potential as a shot blocker in the Theo Ratliff mold.
Point is, I like what I see-notably in a couple of areas where the Sixers big men are woefully lacking. The numbers agree-small sample size rule is in effect, grain of salt and whatnot-but his O rating of 117 leads the team, as does his WS/48 of .151 and his TRB% of `15.6. D rating of 103 is encouraging as well.
If I were Doug, he'd be playing twenty five minutes a night in Thad's absence, and I'd seriously consider giving him a start.
Wanna see mucho Moultrie tomorrow night
forgot to mention that he's shown some ability to get to the line, another area of general ineptitude. His FT shooting has not been good, but still
OK, so I checked the box score...only saw the second half vs Minny so I was not aware that Moultrie actualy had a DNPCD!!
wtf??????
First of all Moultrie is not a shotblocker at all let alone Ratliff. Second, i too think Moultrie should've played but at the time i assumed that he may have been involved in a trade. We'll see if he plays tomorrow.
Minny-OKC on ESPN...goddamn, do I love to watch Kevin Durant play basketball. Not a sweeter stroke in the game. Westbrook is wildly entertaining as well...just drew a three shot foul with two tenths of a second left in the first half. I got see OKC when they came to Philly last season...that heartbreaking game where the Sixers appeared to have it in hand before pulling a memorable choke job in the last five minutes...I'm sure you all recall...
point is, I went to fifteen games that year and caught most of the marquee players, notable exceptions being Miami and the Clips with Paul/Griffin...and Westbrook's athleticism left a bigger impression on me than anything else I saw over the course of the season...it has to be seen to be believed
I HAVE to see Lebron in person sometime-doesn't look like it will be tomorrow night sadly-because I've heard similar "gotta see it to believe it" reviews
definite trip dub potential for Westbrook tonight...twenty points, eight assists, five boards four minutes into the third quarter
was at the MIAMI game, their 2nd game together vs the sixers a couple years ago
ah yes, ET's first nba game correct?is lebron as breathtaking in person as everyone says?
yes, but you could still see miami getting use to each other which meant alot of 1-1
right. now he and wade seem to have a mind meld in the open court. must be a sigh tto behold
which reminds me, i've definitely been missing Iguodala of late...particularly his gorgeous open court finishes...he had a few of those in that aforementioned OKC game last year...truly beautiful basketball
espn box score has kevin martin with nineteen on seven for eleven from the field in just thirteen minutes...the thirteen minutes has to be a misprint, right?regardless, damn good game. he really is a pretty perfect fit there.
Spurs-WArriors is the second half of the ESPN doubleheader...looking forward to that one