The Sixers played a spirited first half in Toronto tonight, but the tail of the this particular back-to-back proved to be too much for this young team. Toronto pulled away in the third and cruised to a
109-96 win, dropping the Sixers to 14-22 and forcing them to wait until at least Friday for their first win in 2008.
The Sixers shot a stunning 3/15 from three tonight, which raised their percentage to just over 10% over the last two games. 10% from three.
It's time to quickly turn the page from this game, and honestly the last six games. The Bulls come into town on Friday for a game the Sixers absolutely should, and must win.
A few quick notes from tonight's game:
- The Sixers fell apart when Iguodala went to the bench with four fouls about midway through the third. Which is odd, considering they hardly went to him when he was on the floor.
- Willie Green (7/19) and Andre Miller (5/14) both took more shots than Iguodala (5/13). Lou Williams fell only one shot short (4/12).
- On a positive note, Thad Young had another impressive game, finishing 7/11 including 1/1 from three with 4 boards, 2 steals and a block in 28 minutes. Young tied his career-high with 16 points.
- On a less-positive note: Thad was on the pine when the Sixers needed him most in the beginning of the fourth. He probably needed the rest, so you can't totally lay the blame on Mo. Willie Green was in there for him and he just wasn't getting it done on either side of the floor tonight.
I warned you that the Sixers were coming up on a really rough stretch in their schedule. You can't completely blame this stretch on the schedule, though. The team seems to be slipping a little bit, making sloppy mistakes like missed dunks and foolish behind-the-back passes to Reggie Evans (both by Iguodala tonight), or stepping over the end line when you're inbounding the ball (Jason Smith). Something needs to happen to shake this team up a little, so I'll say it one more time. Move Thad Young into the starting lineup.
One final note. Since Willie Green returned, Rodney Carney has gone back to his familiar spot planted on the end of the bench. It makes you wonder why he started in place of Green for that stretch. I'm not saying he deserves more minutes now, quite the contrary. It just makes it seem odd that a guy can't get off the bench when the team is losing by double digits with a minute left in the game, but he's the first option to start when Green goes down.
Player of The Game: Thad Young
Team Record: 14-22
You know what, it might not be such a bad idea to spend some of that cap space on Jose Calderon this offseason. His line tonight: 17 points, 6 boards, 9 assists, 2 steals and only 2 turnovers. He was also 3/5 from three. He's been lighting it up since T.J. Ford's injury.
Not specifically related to last night's game (though I did watch quite a bit of it), but more general: I know you've written in the past about Reggie Evans, and how he's not a starter, etc... but he's good. He's a proven rebounder, but he also works hard on defense. It's not hard to see why he's been a starter on almost every team he's played on the last four years or so... I think he's a solid role player, the kind that fills out a team.
If the 76ers can't get a PF this offseason (i.e. no Brand), then it'll be interesting to see if they decide to get a low-post center instead, and maybe try to move Dalembert (My take: He's really hard to trade, but you think otherwise). That might not be a bad move for the team, either.
Evans is a really hard worker on the boards, and on D, but he is such a monumental liability on offense that he really can't be out there for 30 minutes/game. It just kills them on the offensive side of the ball. Maybe a team with above-average offensive weapons at two other positions can handle that, the Sixers can't.
Can you think of any low-post scoring centers who might be available next year? There aren't too many out there.
I'm expanding my wish list to Josh Smith and Jose Calderon for the offseason.
First priority has to be resigning iguodala. I wonder what the cap situation is for atlanta because theyd probably match any offer for Smith if they have the money. im just hoping iguodala wants to stay here. what do u guys think?
First things first, Iguodala definitely has to stay. It'll probably cost them more than the $57M over 5 years they offered him before this season, so that's going to eat up some of the cap space they have. Lou Williams is also a free agent, they're expected to sign him at a reasonable rate (he's only making $800,000 this season).
Atlanta is way under the cap for next year (currently they only have $39M on the books, but Childress and Smith are both restricted free agents). If Atlanta is willing to give Smith a max deal, no one else can get him. I'm not sure they're willing to do that though.
The Sixers would probably have to move Andre Miller this season and get an expiring contract or two in return to have enough cap space to land Smith. It depends on how much Iguodala costs them.
Having Josh Smith on this team would make us contenders instantly even if we have to trade miller to be able to sign him. We would also be the most athletic team in the league. A lineup of lou iggy thad smith and dalembert would be the most exciting team in the league.
I agree 100%. No team in the league could run with them and they could match up defensively with any team. They'd need at least one or two guys who can hit the three coming off the bench, and some nice role players (Reggie Evans, maybe even Willie Green). Calderon would be ideal, a backup point who can drain the three.
If they can move Miller for expiring deals, they'd be roughly $19M under the cap next year (that's counting $11M for Iguodala and Lou Williams, I believe). That should be enough to sign both of them.
Forget about LeBron and Kobe in 2010, make your move in 2009 and keep this team moving in this direction.