It took 64 games, but Eddie Jordan's words are finally ringing true.
Essentially, Eddie Jordan has spent the entire season telling us the Philadelphia 76ers team he was hired to coach is hopeless. He's used various colloquialisms to call the Sixers gutless, heartless, soft, devoid of leadership, devoid of talent, devoid of killer instinct. Well, it's taken quite some time, but he's finally managed to turn this team into all of those things, and much less.
To say the Sixers look like a bunch of stiffs out on the floor these days would be an insult to corpses everywhere. They look worse than listless. Selfish play would be an improvement, because it would entail at least a desire to pump up their individual stats. Right now, there's no desire for anything, but seemingly to get the 48 minutes of basketball out of the way so they can do whatever they do in their free time.
Folks, we have officially hit rock bottom. There are a few questions that spring to mind, the first being whether this is the team we've been watching for the past couple of seasons, or not? Is this their true nature? Are these guys really this bad? If you think the answer is yes to that question, then you must also believe that Andre Miller is possibly the best leader in the history of the NBA and/or Mo Cheeks and Tony DiLeo are simply master motivators.
This core group of players, minus Andre Miller, has followed a steady progression curve over the past two+ seasons. They did it by playing stifling defense, running off defensive plays, and scrounging for minimal offense in the half court. Oh, they did by doing those three things and they also did it with unbelievable effort, nearly on a nightly basis. That was their calling card. They rarely, if ever, mailed in games. They brought even more energy against the better teams in the league, and they made the playoffs in consecutive seasons really with a roster that was a couple of years away from maturity.
This season, we've seen a statistical regression from every player on the roster not named Lou Williams. More importantly, we've seen growing apathy from everyone on the team. You can draw your own conclusions as to why, personally, I think Eddie Jordan has been playing senseless head games with his players since day one, and his flawed systems have been exposed as just that, not only in the eyes of us unfortunate fans, but in the eyes of the players as well. Jordan has spent the entire season rewarding questionable play with minutes because questionable play is what he strives for. Hard work, dedication and effort was more likely to lead to extended minutes riding the pine than extended burn on the court. There were no set roles, no set rotations, no backing from the coach in the press. It was simply Eddie Jordan vs. the team, and when the playoffs were clearly out of site, there was nothing left to play for.
It deeply saddens me to see this team reduced to a collection of apathetic players going through the motions, because there was absolutely no reason it should've come to this. Ed Stefanski made a simple mistake in choosing his buddy to coach his team. It happens. I'm not going to crucify him for screwing up the initial choice. The unforgivable sin is that he let Jordan take the Sixers this far down the rabbit hole. The
writing has been on the wall for months, literally. There was no other way this season was going to end. There was no other possible direction this buffoon was going to take this team thar right where they are. The fact that he let it get this far is an error I'm afraid this franchise will be forced to pay for beyond this season.
Which brings me to the second, and far more important question. How much of this damage can be fixed? Does breaking a player ruin him forever? How about a year of development under an idiot, how many years does it take to unlearn flawed philosophy and technique? We've seen all of these players take a giant leap in the wrong direction this season, is it realistic to believe they'll even bounce back to where they were a year ago under a decent coach? What about the chemistry in the locker room? It seems pretty clear that they despise Jordan, but how much comaraderie can there possibly be after a dreadful season under a guy who thinks pointing fingers is a great way to run a ship?
I wish I had the answer to some of those questions, but I simply don't. It's apparently my lot in life to follow a cursed franchise religiously and keep myself awake at night trying to figure out how to fix it. It'd be nice if someone in the organization had the same problem.
If you're looking for a recap, all I have for you is the rotation chart, it should tell you all you need to know.
I gotta say, a big reason this is so torturous to watch right now is not the losing. At least for a little while, they were playing hard and finding ways to blow leads. My big problem with watching this right now is lack of effort on the floor. The selfishness of our offense was an embarrassment tonight, and I can't really even come to grips with the defense. Jrue was the only person I was remotely happy with, looking up and trying to find people. From a vet, that attitude might be infectious but not yet with the rookie.
They still played hard earlier in the season with Jordans asinine defensive rotations. It would be like, "Great Thad, way to overhelp with this stupid system, running around like a chicken with your head cut off." At least that chicken had effort though and was hustling like a madman. Now it's not even there. Even more disappointing is that, like Brian pointed out, we've been spoiled by the effort we saw the last two years. The other team was going to have to bring it to win a game at home or on the road. The NBA is a tough place to be when your team doesn't care, and we are there right now.
Pretty much my thoughts exactly. If this isn't "losing a team" I don't know what is.
It's time to make a change to at least get a proper message through to the players for the remainder of the season. It won't be easy to convince them another mistake won't be made regarding the next coach especially if ES is still the GM but hopefully they regain some trust in the organization. I see no positive's except the draft positioning if they finish with this coach. Gotta remove the main cause of this pathetic effort. Let's emphasize defense and effort for the remaining games and see who buys in.
I'm not the biggest SAS fan, but...
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/homepage/20100311_Stephen_A__Smith__Don_t_overlook_Luukko_s_liability_for_76ers.html
Remember when CSN did an in game interview with him during the Detroit series? He said he was really impressed with our veteran point guard "Reggie Miller" Said it 2 or 3 times...guy doesn't really strike me as a big basketball fan,it shows.
I want E.S. brought down to coach this group and told by management they have to show something or he and the players are gone. I want Jrue/Iggy/Thad/Elton and Sam starting the rest of the year, and Meeks getting 20 minutes a game, in place of Willie. I want Jason getting 20 minutes a game and maybe, maybe I!ll continue watching. We have a p.g. that is stretching the floor so maybe Thad and Iggy will work. And come draft night, if a big and a s.g. of equal value are sitting there, they may be able to go big, because it is a tougher position to fill.
They finally got that Dalembert, Brand, Thad, Iguodala, Jrue lineup in the game. Unforunately, though, it is listed in red in the rotation chart. I know the effort wasn't there last night, but seeing that lineup as the one in red definitely feels like getting kicked while I'm already down.
calculate how many minutes that rotation has played together in the last few months and you might understand why they couldn't excel together.
Random rotations thrown together is something we've grown accustomed to this season. It's at the point where even the right rotations don't work.
Like 15 games ago, I predicted a run from our sixers to take us to the bottom of the lottery. Boy was I wrong, Eddie the Tank exceeded my expectations 10fold.
Can anyone name a worse coaching job in any sport? Can Eddie Jordan's job with 09-10 Sixers possibly be the worst coaching job ever? im not a historian on coaching but 2 disasters come to mind....
1) Gerard Kemkers: the Dutch speed skating coach who cost his skater a 2010 gold medal by telling him to switch lanes. the guy was ahead by like 20 seconds in the end of the race.
2) Bill Callahan: Raiders coach that somehow caused a mutiny in the locker room in 2003. Tim Brown and charles woodson didnt show up for the last game of the season.
Historical look at 76ers coaching changes:
http://www.libertyballers.com/2010/3/11/1367790/worst-coaching-change-in-franchise
You say it very well, Brian. However, I do not agree that this will affect the team in the future IF we make the right moves soon. Professionals bounce back quickly if put in the right position.
I have NEVER left a game in the 3rd quarter before last night. But I could not stay and watch Willie Green play anymore on this team with MEEKS sitting on the bench in a blowout. I cannot and will not from now on.
Eddie Jordan is the worst coach I have EVER seen in any level in my life. I personally think Ed S needs to coach this "team" this year so he can see himself what mess Jordan has made of this playoff team.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/opinions/blogs/intell_blogs/tom_moore.html
If Larry Brown is so concerned with Allen Iverson, then why doesn't he find him a roster spot on the Bobcats or possibly the Clippers, or possibly the Sixers or where ever team the gyspy coaches next.
Larry seems like the father of a troubled child who wants to unload his kid on someone else's door step. Does Larry feel gulity because he gave Iverson to much leniency and now his bad habits have festered into potential self destruction?
Jordan had this really great line in the paper today:
Jordan cited Sunday afternoon's win over the Toronto Raptors, who are holding a playoff spot. "You guys push that aside like it's nothing?" Jordan said. "We split a road trip. I know we lost to an Indiana team that's probably not going to be in the playoffs. Our team is working hard, they're good-character guys in there. Like all teams, once in a while, they just need a kick in the pants and motivation and positive thoughts."
EJ's ability to contradict himself is like nothing I've ever seen. Almost everything he says is the antithesis of his previous statement. A kick in the pants and positive thoughts go together like peanut butter and jelly apparently...
I watched the Kansas/Texas Tech game today to get a look at Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry. Havent weatched much college bball this season so this is my only data point on these guys
Aldrich: In the first 5 minutes, it was obvious the guy was the best player on the floor. dominates the glass, blocks shots, plays D. Its not often you get a dominating defender with offensive skill. This guy has some serious offensive moves. I would love to see Aldrich playing in Philly next season. not sure why he is projected to go 5-6. I see him as top 3. Depending on specific team need, i would consider taking him 1 .
Henry: on the positive, he looks like a good on-ball defender, and hit a few open shots in the second half. Terrible first half . saw 2 bad plays that i really didnt like early on. I think he is a passive player.
1) There was a loose ball about 20 feet up court from where he was guarding his man. Henry was too slow in reacting when it was clear TT gained posession of the ball. it was as if his mind was still playing offense. led to an easy upcourt pass and TT bucket. Could have EASILY been prevented.
2) Assumed a teammate was going to grab the ball instead of reaching out himself... Kansas lost possession
he also missed a chance for a sweet putback dunk. he fumbled the ball coming off the rim - looked like he had 2 left hands. the two drives (from decent pump fakes) i saw were terrible. 1 led to a charge, the other was bailed out with a foul. the guy kind of just floats around the 3 point line all game waiting for a pass. he didnt seem to be a key part of the offense. his teamates werent going out of their way to get him the ball either.
I really wanted to like this guy. Looks like the top rated SG that will be on the board when Philly picks. This guy is not going to be a very good NBA player, at least not what you hope from a lottery pick.