I have no idea if the glow will last. I have no idea if the Sixers will come out flat tomorrow night against the Bulls. I'm not sure if there's a way to recreate it, but for about 18 minutes of game time tonight, the Sixers actually resembled a team. The catalyst? Sam Dalembert, and he couldn't even watch the results in person.
A series of plays starting about five minutes into the third quarter set the stage for the rest of the game:
- With 7:28 left in the third, Dalembert grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back.
- The next trip down the floor, Duncan came up high to set a screen for the point, Dalembert shadowed him, when the pick proved to be ineffective, and Duncan tried to roll to the hoop, Sam stood his ground. Duncan shoved him with two hands to get him out of the way. Sam was whistled for his third foul on the play.
- Duncan would eventually miss a 9-foot jumper on that possession, Iverson grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball up the floor. Dalembert beat Duncan down the floor and threw down a tremendous dunk.
- On the other end of the floor, Duncan went to work on the blocks with Sammy behind him. As they jockeyed for position, Sam was whistled for his fourth foul. Again, the foul was questionable. Eddie Jordan removed Sam from the game, but he threw the ball away in disgust, getting his first technical foul on his way to the bench.
- Exactly thirty seconds later, Elton Brand picked Manu Ginobili's pocket and broke away for what looked like a sure dunk. George Hill caught up to Brand from behind and essentially ran right into him, it looked to me like he was trying to give the foul before Brand could get the shot up. Brand used his off arm to deflect the contact and was called for an offensive foul. Horrible, horrible call.
- On the bench with four personal fouls in his front pocket and one technical foul in his back pocket, Sam Dalembert had seen enough. I don't know what he said to one of the refs who was within earshot, but it led to his second technical and immediate ejection from the game.
- From that point on, over the final 18:01 of the game, the Sixers outscored the Spurs 48-33 and simply ran them off the floor.
The run started with Iguodala, Brand and Jrue really asserting themselves on both end of the floor. As they kept their energy up, stopped settling and started attacking, the rest of the team jumped on the bandwagon.
By the time the fourth quarter came around, Thad Young and Lou Williams had joined the party. Thad got to work on the defensive end, started rebounding, and running the floor like a deer. Even Lou was doing work on the defensive end (after watching his man hit a three without even taking a step toward him in the third, Lou blocked two shots, including a three by Mason). The Sixers made the Spurs look old, slow and out-dated in that fourth quarter. For the game, Philly scored 38 fast break points and 58 points in the paint. They only attempted 8 threes the entire game.
The offensive numbers were nice, but this game was won with defense. They grabbed 77% of available defensive rebounds, held San Antonio to 5/21 from three, Jrue Holiday's 45 minutes were definitely a deciding factor. Tony Parker finished the game with 2 points in 27 minutes on 1/9 shooting. The two points were actually scored when Jrue was on the bench.
Here's the rotation chart, more thoughts to follow:
One thing immediately jumps out at me: We only saw the Lou Williams/Allen Iverson combo in the back court for 33 seconds the entire game. That's just outstanding. Jrue played every second of the second half, again, outstanding. Iverson was terribly ineffective, and sat the final 17 minutes of action, again, outstanding.
As far as rotations go, this was Jordan's best game to date. He was hamstrung by the injury to Jason Smith and Sammy's ejection, but he did have opportunities to mess with the guards, and he didn't. I said it during the game, and I'll say it again. I think they should absolutely play it safe with Willie's injury. In fact, send him to Dr. James Andrews, that guy always finds a reason to break out the scalpel. The best thing that could possibly happen to this team at this point would be lose one of the guards who takes minutes away from Jrue.
Here's the thing about tonight's game, Jrue wasn't perfect. In fact, he had a stretch in the second quarter in which he looked like the 19-year-old rookie he is. All three of his turnovers came in the second, he took a wild layup, he tried to force an impossible pass through traffic. But you know what, he bounced back in a big way in the second half. He played within himself, he contributed on both ends and his defense was stout.
I'll get to Andre Iguodala in the player of the game section, but first I need to give a hand to Marreese Speights. Speights played 15 minutes tonight, essentially because he had to. In those 15 minutes of action, he managed to get beaten in a 30-yard dash by a 300 lb man with no ligaments in his knees. He did, however, keep Willie's spirit alive with this stellar line: 4/8 from the floor for 8 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover, 2 fouls. Way to seize the opportunity, big guy.
Player of The Game: Andre Iguodala, 7/12 from the floor, 20 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 0 turnovers. I said this was the perfect Iguodala game in the comments, and it absolutely was. He only attempted 1 three-pointer, hitting it. He went to the line 5 times, hitting all 5. He switched onto the hot man when it was needed on defense, he keyed the break, he drove and dished. You name it.
Team Record: 21-33
Up Next: @ Chicago, Saturday night.
If you're feeling like tonight was a wasted opportunity for a loss, just remind yourself that Jrue Holiday played 45 minutes. 45. That's three games worth of burn for the kid. Definitely the most enjoyable game of the season for me.
A fun game to watch. 38 fast break points? How does a Pop coached team let that happen?
Looked like the Sixers from the previous two Springs. Defense and running.
Might as well enjoy the wins. Its really odd how they seem to e able to beat the leagues best... but I guess that's what they mean by talent wasted.
It tells you that the Spurs are old and have been on the road too long. Can't get up for EVERYBODY these days.
I can't stop thinking of Speights as another Charlie Villenueva. I hope he gets his act together so we can still trade him for something.
Figures that I went to a concert tonight and didn't tape it.
absolutely loved this game. watched it twice. i was one of the people saying "trade iggy"... not out of hate for him, but because i wanted that "franchise player". right now, i could give a shit if we have a franchise player, if these guy play their hearts out i will support them like always.
stone cold lock that tonights game against chicago is a loss.
The player of the game was Lou Williams. Lou didn't "jump on the bandwagon," he was the bandwagon.
Its interesting that you choose to take shots at lou (even lou played D) in a game where he was clearly the difference on both ends of the floor, just ask popovich.
how do you not mention the fact that lou had 14 points in the fourth quarter but go on about jrue playing 45 minutes?
Some observations from the game:
- Not sure how much to take from this one game, because the Sixers have always matched up well with the Spurs in recent years (you could say the same about the Blazers and Rockets). It also helped that Tony Parker wasn't his normal self and Richard Jefferson is washed up at age 29 (I was shocked that he's only 29 -- he plays like he's 35). Whatever the case, only the Boston win rivals it as the most enjoyable game of the year. (Ironically, one of last year's best games was the home blowout of the Spurs.)
- My favorite Iguodala play of the night was when he was left guarding two Spurs on the perimeter -- and neither one attacked him. He really was everywhere on defense (though he did get beaten by Ginobili on the isolation at the end of the 1st half).
- Lou had one of his vintage scoring 4th quarters, but that quarter might have been the best I've ever seem him play overall. In addition to the block of Mason's jumper that Brian mentioned, there was a steal and dunk and another play where he hustled back (after his own turnover) to strip the ball from a streaking Blair. He also made at least 4 nice passes (alley-oop to Speights, backdoor to Brand, fastbreak pass to Iguodala for a dunk-and-one, fastbreak pass to Iguodala that led to his own layup-and-one via Thad). Defensively, I've always thought of Lou like Thad -- they have the physical ability to play good defense, just not often the right mindset.
- Thad also seemed to play with more confidence in the 4th. It might have been one of the first times that his defense drove his offense. I loved his jump-hook over Duncan.
- I was glad for Jrue's 45 minutes, as everyone else was. Now we'll see what kind of stamina he has, having to guard Derrick Rose on the 2nd night of a back-to-back.
He's 19 years old. Stamina isn't an issue. The only question to ask Is he good enough to guard Rose at this point? Rose has a year of experience on him and is supposed to be an elite player. Tonight should be a good test, particularly if Willie is not available.
Great game gents!
I too watched it twice. Jrue's D is just so good against those guards that used to destroy us last year. The quick penetrating guys. At the start I thought iggy was gonna make this a statement game and go for 40.
The attacking mentality was what won it. Attacked the rim. Attacked the perimeter on D (Elton was playing like Evans on D). Everyone was attacking the glass.
I'm so happy there was actually some passion (sammy's ejection).
Play of the game:
three man break where ball touches the ground twice. That's was pretty basketball.
Lou steal and thunderous finish. I don't think I've seen him go this strong at the basket in a game since he was hammered and injured by Lee.
great. the sixers won. they played well. awesome.
this is not going to distract me from the fact that we have the wrong mix of players, the wrong coach, and the wrong GM to EVER be a CHAMPIONSHIP contender. You all need to stop being satisfied with an eastern conference 6 seed.
Besides not having a scoring SG, what is wrong with the mix of players. What positions would you strengthen?
We need a substantial upgrade at center and shooting guard.
I agree with your point at SG. I'd like to have a Reggie Miller type of player 0 one who can shoot under pressure and also defend.
At center, I'm not sure what you want. Our current starter gives double doubles in points & rebounds per 36 minutes and 3 blocks per game along with excellent post defense. We could use a backup center with some defensive capability. They currently use Speights as a back-up center. He can score, but doesn't have much defensive presence. He really should be the backup PF.
We don't like Sammy's contract - he's overpaid by $3-4M - but he produces when used properly.
How about those role players necessary to win a title.
Someone off the bench who brings 3 point distance - to stretch the defense.
Someone off the bench who brings defense, in the back court or the front court.
How about someone in the starting 5 that teams feel the need to double team.
Wouldn't Kapono be player #1 on your list?
Carney could be player #2 for the wings, but we don't have a back-up defensive "big".
AI9 gets doubled when he tries to drive and EB gets doubled when he is down low.
My point is that we have many of the parts but EJ does not use them. I don't understand why he has not lost his job. The only thing I can think of is this is a backhand way to "tank" - by failing to use the players in roles that maximize their skill sets.
I suppose if Kapono didn't suck - he'd be #1 on my list
#1 on my list is Kyle Korver whose a free agent this off season - but the sixers aren't planning on adding any one significant cause of that pesky luxury tax (which is also why lou williams is probably gone after this season in my opinion)
As for Carney, I see nothing yet to indicate he's not the same guy they traded, he has flashes every now and then, but he's the same inconsistent athlete (not basketball player) he's always been to me
There are many comments about the Luxury tax. Aside from tne fact that the Sixers would not give Andre Miller a 2-3 year deal, what tells you they won't pay the tax if the right player was available?
Not just Andre Miller (who only got a one year offer from the sixers because fo 2011 fears) but the entirety of the last off season. They weren't serious about getting anyone who could really contribute, who would earn 'real' NBA money...carney and ivey and brezec - all minimum salary guys miostly - for a 500 team losing a 'key' component like ANdre Miller - a guy they themselves though was so valuable to have they didn't trade him to leverage his expiring contract (if they weren't planning to re-sign him)
To me the way they've handled the team in the past 12 months is enough evidence to me that they're primary motivation is avoiding the luxury tax - which due to the recession they are most likely over already with existing contracts.
They're a corporation - corporations answer to stockholders - the bottom line is what matters, the P/L, the impact on comcast P:E ratio and EPS and EIBDTA, those things are more important to corporate owners than wins and losses...
I hear what you are saying about corporate earnings and all, but the Sixer dollars are small change to Comcast. I thin AM was a basketball decision both times. Apparently there were no reasonable offers at the deadline last year and they didn't see him being worth having beyond this year. Compared to many teams, the Sixers have actually added payroll while many others are dumping. We blast them for signing Brand and AI9. We would have blasted them for being cheap if they had let AI9 go or if they had all that cap space and didn't sign the best available player who happened to be Brand. We just like to complain.
Concerning Carney, you asked for a defensive presence of the bench. His shooting is inconsistent, but he brings defense all the time. Actually, he might be a more consistent player if he had a defined roll. What do you mean by "athlete, not a basketball player? He can defend, rebound, run, block shots, dunk over anyone and shoot sometimes. That's not bad for a minimum pay role player. His biggest weakness is his handle.
Why? I'd actually be pretty satisfied with that consistently. Im not sure where all this "championship or bust" stuff has come from in professional competition. Would I like them to win a title? Yes, but if thats all im rooting for, chances are I'm going to be pretty miserable for quite some time. Hard fought, good wins are just as much a reason to rejoice.
Love that picture Brian. Nice to see iverson and Andre sharing a smile
I have a solution for this ejection leads to win thing and I think it would make everyone happy.
Eie Joran could help this team most by being ejected every game?
This was a great performance. First game in quite some time I watched twice.
Jordan didn't do too much to annoy me or make the team fail, but outings like this make me daydream about how it could be if you had a coach focused on defense and could teach the players more and get their best defensive effort out of them on a nightly basis.
Jrue's on the ball D is better than solid. The play at the end of the 3rd, he was out alone on Manu and he didn't have a chance to get to the rim. He does however manage to get himself out of position when he isn't guarding the ball, and sometimes plays collapse because of it. I wish there were a coach that would talk to him when it happens. The only time EJ sits him or makes a fuss is when he doesn't do well offensively.
He goes on about Jrue playing so long because he refuses to give lou any credit.. not saying jrue didnt play well, but lou pretty much won that game by himself. i have never seen anybody so utterly obsessed with jrue holiday in my life. Lou could have 50 and do all the right things while jrue could go 0-15 with no assists and 10 turnovers and he would still find a way to say holiday was the catalyst for the win
No one forces you to read what he says
Lou Williams has had games like this before and if the sixers are ever going to win anything significant, lou probably won't be a part of that.
Jrue Holiday will be part of the future success of this team if they have anybody.
How long have you known about the existence of Jrue Holiday in his long time on the earth to see many people obsessed with him.
Joe, Lou was vital to the game last night. He both scored and played some defense. I read somewhere else that Mareese, Lou and Thad have the ability to play defense, but usually don't put out the effort. Last night Lou put some effort into it. (He did watch his man blow by a few times earlier, but we're giving credit for improved play.) If he continues to do that he could be an important part of the team's future. It all starts on the defensive end and that's why people get so excited about Jrue. He brings the missing skill - on-the-ball defense. He stops drive & kicks.
If you want to know why I'm so interested in Jrue and could care less about Lou it's pretty simple. Best-case scenario for Lou is an instant offense guy off the bench, or a carbon copy of 50 other guys in the league, with varying degrees of success in the role. That's pretty much what he was last night, utterly useless for three quarters of the game and then explosive in the fourth quarter.
Best-case scenario for Jrue is an elite defensive point guard who has the ability and mind set to run the offense, and the vision to make creative plays to set up his teammates for open looks. There are maybe three guys in the league who can do all of that, so his development is pretty much the most important on-the-court thing that's going to happen over the next 28 games.
When he gets to play 3x his normal allotment of minutes, and plays well, it's something I'm going to spend a lot of time writing about. In my mind, that was the story of last night's game.
Some observations from the game:
- Not sure how much to take from this one game, because the Sixers have always matched up well with the Spurs in recent years (you could say the same about the Blazers and Rockets). It also helped that Tony Parker wasn't his normal self and Richard Jefferson is washed up at age 29 (I was shocked that he's only 29 -- he plays like he's 35). Whatever the case, only the Boston win rivals it as the most enjoyable game of the year. (Ironically, one of last year's best games was the home blowout of the Spurs.)
- My favorite Iguodala play of the night was when he was left guarding two Spurs on the perimeter -- and neither one attacked him. He really was everywhere on defense (though he did get beaten by Ginobili on the isolation at the end of the 1st half).
- Lou had one of his vintage scoring 4th quarters, but that quarter might have been the best I've ever seem him play overall. In addition to the block of Mason's jumper that Brian mentioned, there was a steal and dunk and another play where he hustled back (after his own turnover) to strip the ball from a streaking Blair. He also made at least 4 nice passes (alley-oop to Speights, backdoor to Brand, fastbreak pass to Iguodala for a dunk-and-one, fastbreak pass to Iguodala that led to his own layup-and-one via Thad). Defensively, I've always thought of Lou like Thad -- they have the physical ability to play good defense, just not often the right mindset.
- Thad also seemed to play with more confidence in the 4th. It might have been one of the first times that his defense drove his offense. I loved his jump-hook over Duncan.
- I was glad for Jrue's 45 minutes, as everyone else was. Now we'll see what kind of stamina he has, having to guard Derrick Rose on the 2nd night of a back-to-back.
I think Thad's hustle and effort has been pretty good lately, and really for the past couple of weeks. I'd really love to see what he could do playing at his natural position and with a defensive teacher. i think he could be at least an average defender. I think he'll never be great because I don't think he moves his feet all that well laterally, but I think he can make up for that with his length and anticipation (where the coaching comes in).
My favorite play of the night was the williams->iguodala->young->williams fast break. great touch passing from the two forwards.
i loved iguodala's reaction after that fast break. dude really gets off on plays like that.
I'd really love to see what he could do playing at his natural position and with a defensive teacher. i think he could be at least an average defender.
Sorry to all for the double post, don't know how that happened. Re: Thad's defense, I thought during his rookie year that he would eventually be an above-average defender, because his anticipation is good. As you noted, though, his lateral movement has never improved, and he gets blown by a lot. I do still wonder why he doesn't get more blocks, because he's obviously a good leaper. At the least, he could be like Granger or Gay, who get their share of blocks despite being below-average defenders.
After enjoying that emotional high from last night, reality is creeping back in. These characters held true to form once again with playing either up or down to the competition.
Where the eff was this effort and intensity vs. MIA on Tuesday night? Where was the constant attack mentality since MIA played so much zone? Where was the defensive pressure and ball denial?
It's the players and for me it always has been. Eddie doesn't just become a decent coach one night and then a crappy one the next night and single-handedly lose the game.
And no, talent doesn't overcome coaching on some nights - effort does, and to a lesser extent heart.
It can't be just immaturity, because we have some veterans that coast on some nights. Play your ass off vs. HOU, vs. SA, vs. POR, vs. BOS, but just come out and float vs. MIL, vs. MIA, vs. NJ etc.
Welcome to your 76ers, and they didn't just appear this way this year. They've held serve regardless of particular coaches.