 Run, Run, Run Since not many pundits seem interested in doing a little research to find an area of the game that favors the Sixers in this series, I'll do the work after the jump. We've gone over all five positions now, pointing out strengths, weaknesses and advantages. I think it's safe to say Orlando has two clear advantages at SG and C. The Sixers have 2 clear advantages at PG and SF, and the last time I checked the voting was heavily in favor of Rashard Lewis over Thad at PF as well. So overall, you have to give the position-by-position edge to Orlando. Let's dig a little deeper, though, and talk about a tangible advantage the Sixers absolutely do have, speed. Andre Iguodala, Thad Young, Lou Williams, Sammy Dalembert and probably Willie Green as well can all out-run their men. I don't see anyone on Orlando's roster who has a prayer of keeping Iguodala, Thad or Lou out of the lane in the half-court. Of course, venturing into the lane in the half court means running right into Dwight Howard, which is a crapshoot, at best. If the zebras are on your side, it could mean foul problems for Howard. If the whistles are silent it's going to mean a ton of blocked shots and bruised egos. Either way, that has to be Philly's game when they're forced to slow down. The overall key, though, is to avoid getting into that situation. At every available opportunity, the Sixers need to push the ball up the floor. Run on misses, run on makes, run on turnovers. Just run. Thad needs to force Lewis up and down the court at top speed, and I have no doubt he will. Even when you don't have the numbers, get the ball up the floor and get the ball into the hands of one of your playmakers so he can get into the paint before Howard is entrenched. Sammy needs to run as well, keep the pressure on Howard to hustle back on defense on every possession. If we're talking about traditional running opportunties, Orlando was middle-of-the-pack in taking care of the ball, but their three best players, Howard (3.0 TOV/G), Hedo (2.6 TOV/G) and Lewis (2.0 TOV/G), all cough the ball up at high rates. Sammy and Ratliff are going to have their hands full with Howard, and as we said before, Orlando doesn't really slashers other than Hedo, so I don't know how many breaks will be sprung off blocked shots. I was checking in on Orlando Magic Daily earlier and someone mentioned a big lineup for Orlando of Alston, Hedo, Lewis, Gortat, Howard. Personally, I'd love it if they went with that lineup and DiLeo countered with Dalembert, Speights, Thad, Iggy and Miller. Speights vs. Gortat is a much better matchup for us than Green vs. Lee. If we do wind up seeing these lineups on the floor, expect a jailbreak for the Sixers with Speights filling the lane. You could even go Williams, Iggy, Thad, Speights and Dalembert for a complete track meet. Overall, the Sixers need to push the ball up the floor to play to their athletic advantages. I know I'm personally looking forward to the one man break: Iggy grabs a board, Iggy dribbles 90 feet through traffic, Iggy delivers a facial to a helpless defender. 
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"Even when you don't have the numbers, get the ball up the floor and get the ball into the hands of one of your playmakers so he can get into the paint before Howard is entrenched."
Getting into early offense before the defense has a chance to set is something DiLeo harped on as soon as he took over as coach. It worked really well for us and paid dividends but late in the season it was as if we didn't execute this nearly as much. It was probably b/c the guys were just worn down with the heavy schedule of games and travel.
But as soon as he became coach he stated publicly that he wanted to run, even off makes or misses not just turnovers. We succeeded with this principal and it would bode well to have this mindset and gameplan implemented at every available opportunity.
I think the extra day off is really going to help the Sixers. They've just had a murderous schedule over the past 40 days or so. Hopefully we'll see a renewed dedication to the run now that they're recharged their batteries.
I guess I'd rather be a better team off of set plays and in the half-court than a better team on the break. Of course, I'd prefer to be a better team in both but if you have to choose, you want to be better in the phase of the game that comprises the majority of possessions, not the minority.
Absolutely, this is why it's vitally important to create more transition opportunities. They need to shift the percentage of plays run in the half court vs. run in the open court. If they can't, it's going to be tough to compete.
In the half court, I figure they will try to contain Iggy which means a few things: 1) Miller posting up Alston, 2) Giving Thad the ball at every opportunity, 3) The Lou/Speights combo.
Since the Magic's 4 is Rashard Lewis I'd give Marshall 10 MPG, but I'm not the coach.
Typically, in an NBA game, the phase of majority of possessions (half court) usually evens out. The phase of minority possessions is normally what decides it. Whether it be fast break points, free throws, or 2nd chance points, to name a few. These parts of the game generally are less pronounced but no less important.