The Sixers outclassed the Milwaukee Bucks in every imaginable way today en route to a
119-97 win. This one was over in the first quarter, and the Sixers cruised to their fourth straight win, 12th in their last 15 games.
Thad was outstanding (career high 22 points on 8/11 from the floor and 6/6 from the line), Dalembert apparently "
got the fun back," with his second straight stellar game (18 points, 10 boards) and Shavlik Randolph even saw some minutes. Seven Sixers finished in double digits and if you want to know how bad it got for Milwaukee, late in the third quarter they resorted to playing hack-a-Reggie defense. How did intentionally fouling Reggie Evans work out for them? Well, he finished 7/10 from the free throw line.
One possession for the Bucks in the second quarter is a great way to illustrate how pitiful this Bucks team is. On one trip down the floor the Sixers committed 3 defensive fouls, were called for a three-second technical, got the ball and immediately turned it back over on a Rodney Carney charge, and the Bucks only came away with one point. Just a horrible, horrible team. I bet their fans are glad they tanked last season so they could wind up with Yi and another disgusting display this year.
The Sixers finished this 6 game stretch 5-1, 2 games better than was expected at the outset. Now it's time to set another goal. Here's the upcoming schedule:
- Tomorrow - vs. Boston
- Wednesday - @ Detroit
- Friday - @ Chicago
- Saturday - vs. San Antonio
- Wednesday, March 19th - Denver
- Friday, March 21st - @ Orlando
- Saturday, March 22nd - vs. New Jersey
That's quite a 7-game stretch, and the schedule makers have again been extremely unkind to the Sixers. The home/road split is 4-3, which should favor them, but 3 of those home games are on the second night of back-to-backs with travel involved. This basically negates the home court advantage.
Judging by records alone, the Sixers should go 2-5 over this 7-game stretch. I'm going to say they steal at least two games from playoff teams and finish 4-3. This is it folks. They're playing teams 1A and 1B in the East over the next two, then the defending champs, AI and Melo, Dwight Howard. The Sixers couldn't be hotter right now. We're going to see how they stack up against the teams they're going to face in the playoffs. I'm excited.
Player of The Game: Thad Young
Team Record: 30-33
Playoff Race: The Sixers gained a half game on all relevant teams with this win. They're still alone in 7th, .5 games behind the Wizards, 3.5 ahead of the Hawks, 4 ahead of the Nets, 4.5 ahead of the Bulls.
Is it possible for Thad Young to win ROY? He is really playing tremendous basketball
He is playing such great basketball. I watched the entire first quarter in some sort of Thad Young-loving daze. He ran the court every single possession. He got all good shots and knocked down all his Free Throws. He was open for a few more baskets where the play didn't really develop well. He plays basketball the way it is supposed to be played. And that South Paw really seems to be confusing defenders.
One problem. The Sixers seem to have a problem with bigger forwards. Amare, Chris Wilcox and now Charlie V. have all had their way with the Sixers. Guys like Josh Smith and Kenyon Martin may present bigger problems than expected in upcoming games. I'm gonna watch for this in future games probably.
That first half was a thing of beauty for Thad. I don't see any way he wins ROY, they're going to give it to Durant because they're all morons. Horford probably deserves it. Thad's limited minutes early in the year will do him in. He should definitely be on the all rookie team.
As for the big forwards, I'm not sure what the answer is. Villaneuva did most of his damage on the perimeter or on drives, it wasn't really a size thing. Wilcox did his damage on the inside, same with Amare. The odd thing is that Thad didn't start against Amare or Wilcox. Evans was out there and he's supposed to be able to cover those bangers. Luckily, it didn't matter in any of those games. Maybe the idea is that if you lock down the perimeter guys, a 20-point night out of PF isn't going to kill you. Meaning, don't double, let those guys get their points, stick on the three-point shooters instead. If that's the philosophy, I can live with it. It's been working.
I never saw him play in college and now I'm interested to see some Georgia Tech film. Was he this good or did he improve that much pre-draft? He averaged less than 15 points a game because he probably didn't get the ball much on offense in college. Just the attitude he has. Hopefully he can flip the switch on that offensive mentality down the road like Dre did and become our #2 option.
I can't say enough about this kid. He's so polished with his footwork inside. His lefty hook shot is basically automatic, he runs like a deer, yet he scores 20 with no plays run for him. How did he not go top 5? Just another credit to the once hated Billy King and his drafting expertise. Lou-Will, Willie Green, Korver and Young. His draft record is quite amazing.
Good point about the no 3's policy. That's another adjustment Mo has made. Earlier in the year, I remember guys like Anthony Parker, Kareem Rush, DeShawn Stevenson shooting threes left and right like they're Reggie Miller. Mo must have made the switch telling his guys--Let them get the two but not the three.
Another idea is he could've been saying it all along...only Kyle was too slow on his rotations.
Have you noticed the subtle change Mo has made on D? He's got Andre Miller matching up against the opposing team's best guard, whether he's the point or the 2. He did it with Dwyane Wade, did it with Redd today. Miller's defense is extremely under-rated, and I think that might also have a lot to do w/ the threes not killing the Sixers anymore.
Korver was garbage on D, but I think the difference is mainly philosophical.
If you get that film, let me know man. I'd like to see some of that myself.
Billy had a great record it turns out. I wanted to stone him myself, but in hindsight he drafted really well. Add Iggy, Sammy, Salmons, and even Jason Smith and Carney to that list. Jason shows signs sometimes that he belongs in this league. I can't fault the Carney pick because he is something athletically.
I am on board with the "Billy was a good GM" bandwagon.
I have liked what Ed has done thusfar as well though. The Korver deal made sense. I still agree with it.
The 3 point comment is a good one. They used to get killed by 3s. That doesn't seem to be the case so much anymore.
The Sixers need to take this part of their schedule one game at a time. They can't afford to worry about the Spurs before playing the Bulls. The more I see this schedule the more I think the Sixers are about to take a lump on the head in the form of 4 straight losses.
Celts have one day off. Pistons and Bulls have 2 days off before our match ups. The Spurs have the Pistons the night before playing us.
The odds would be against a team like the Warriors going into this stretch and that team just crushed us. I am weary of these games. I think that 2 wins in our next 5 games is somewhat realistic since that Chicago game has trap written all over it.
Having said that, I feel like this team will overcome the obstacles with effort and heart though and come away with 3 wins in the next 5.
I found some video of Thad in high school. No luck on college video yet. Here's the link.
We are in the minority but a growing one since he has left and we see what he has left us. I thought Billy was decent as well but his complacency killed me. The team continued to be stuck in the lottery but he made little moves. Sure he tried to bring in superstars but that obviously didn't work. He allowed Mo to do all the stuff on the court and he stayed in his office.
You can tell Ed knows the game of basketball. He looked at the team, saw everyone was freakishly athletic and traded away his only not athletic player.
Then all he did was subtly pull Mo aside and tell him--We should become a fastbreak team with all the young guys we have. Well, maybe it wasn't so subtle, if you make a coach change his philosophy with one sentence. Maybe an--or you're fired, followed. Whatever he said it worked, and Billy probably never gave Mo advice on his gameplan.
Yeah, I've seen Thad play a few times this year and he's good, but he's not as good as Durant. You forget that Thad is probably the fourth best player on the 6ers and isn't asked to carry them every night. Who else does Durant have? Imagine Thad getting lobs from Luke Ridnour and having to start along side Johan Petro and Earl Watson. Durant is impressive and should win ROY just for putting up with an all-around terrible situation in Seattle. Young is pretty good, but don't say you'd take him over KD.
Here's my problem with Durant, and it has nothing to do with being on a bad team. What is he exceptional at? What stands out about him that makes him a singular talent?
He's 6'10", good. There are a ton of 6'10" guys out there. He doesn't have a particularly good jumper like Dirk. He didn't have it in college, doesn't have it now. It may develop over time, but for now he's just a guy that takes a lot of shots.
What does he give you on defense? Little to nothing. How about on the boards? Little to nothing. Does he make the players around him better? No.
If you put Thad on the Sonics and gave him 20 shots a game, 35 minutes a game, he'd score just as much as Durant. There's nothing special about the ability to get a ton of shots up. All it takes is a bad team and a little bit of ego.
Maybe Durant will fill out his frame and learn some low post moves that will make him an impossible cover for other 3's in the league. If he does, that will be something special. Right now, there's nothing special about him or his game.
Being surrounded by no talent isn't a reason to give someone the rookie of the year. If he was on a better team he'd be scoring 10 points/game, maybe, and he wouldn't even be in the discussion.
Horford is your rookie of the year, even though he won't win it because Durant was the big name on draft night and he's been given an obscene number of shots to artificially boost his scoring average.
Durant will be an exceptional scorer in time, in the vein of a T-Mac. As for Thad, no, he wasn't good in college. He got the ball a lot, in fact he was their go-to guy, but he tried to show off all kinds of skills to the scouts that he didn't really have. Going into the season, he was easily a top ten, maybe even a top five prospect, but his play in college was really disappointing. Kind of like Rudy Gay, if you remember what his college career was like.