Second night of a back-to-back, fourth game in five nights, 1,200 miles of travel in the dead of night to face a bad team. I'd say a 20-point victory is something to be proud of. The Sixers used a balanced attack, putting seven players in double figures (and Evan Turner at 9 points), and putting the Timberwolves to sleep in the process.
Charts (rotations coming later)
Thoughts
- It took the Sixers about 12 minutes to wake up, but once the second quarter began, they really didn't look back. They won each of the last three quarters, they shared the ball, shared the scoring. They teamed up on Kevin Love and made the rest of the T-Wolves beat them, which they couldn't.
- This game wasn't really about beating the Timberwolves, this was about backing up the San Antonio win on Friday night with a solid performance. It was about keeping the momentum going and not falling prey to a typical trap game against a bad team, on the road. This is probably a game they would've lost in years past, but something seems different this season.
- Notable good play from Thad (your player of the game), who came to life in the second half and scored in a variety of ways; Turner, who was excellent on the glass and made a handful of really nifty passes without turning the ball over, Jrue, whose defense was stellar, again; Jodie, who pushed the action early and canned a big three late; Iguodala, who played a solid all around game, but more importantly, got to the line 9 times (hitting 8); Lou, who really couldn't hit a shot to save his life, but got to the line and did a very good job of setting his teammates up; Hawes, who hit 6/7 from the floor and was only made to look foolish a couple times on the defensive end; and Brand, who took on Love and really worked hard to extend out to him at the three-point line, which is a tough assignment. Brand also did a good job on the boards, grabbing 8 defensive and limiting Love to only 3 offensive, which is an accomplishment.
- It was great to see Collins not only use Jrue, Turner and Iguodala together to great effect in the first half, but to go back to that combo in the fourth quarter to put the game away. More of that, please.
- Overall, just a solid win. Here's a fun fact for you, the Sixers have won their last two road games by 54 points combined.
Player of The Game: Thad. 9/13 from the floor for 18 points. 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and +28 in his 28 minutes of work.
Team Record: 26-28
Up Next: @ Memphis, Tuesday night.
Game capsule (coming soon)
DeMarcus Cousins Update!!!! Cousins had an inefficient 14 points and 7 turnovers/fouls combined, but that's not even close to being the story. Less than a week after being ejected from his first game, Cousins was kicked off the team plane after an altercation with Donte Greene, apparently blows were thrown, they had to be separated. Cousins boarded the team plane, then Petrie made a phone call and had him removed. Rumor has it he'll be suspended for the team's 3-game road trip. Also hearing that Cousins was yelling at Tyreke Evans all the way into the locker room after Evans missed a three that would've won the game. Apparently, Cousins thought Greene should've passed him the ball on the final possession, so he threw a tantrum all the way back to the locker room, then got into a fight with a teammate.
That isn't looking like a wasted pick at all, congrats Sacto.
Oh no! DeMarcus was left at the airport by his own team? I feel bad for him. I hope the Cinnabon was still open.
To be honest, I have not been following the situation in Sacto...but looking at RealGM, it sounds like many of the posters are actually backing Cousins...saying that there is a ridiculous double-standard between Evans and everybody else...that the last play was NOT drawn up for Evans (who BLOWS from 3) to take a 3-pointer when they were down 2 (the play was to either score a 2 or get to the line)...the thought is that Westphal and the coaches have lost the team, and Cousins - even though he is a rookie - is doing the coaches job.
FWIW
A perfect example of why RealGM is a crap board. They're defending a rookie who is "doing the coach's job for him"? Where does a rookie get off doing this?
They're saying the same thing at the Sacramento Bee's blog site.
Sounds like Evans has the coaches by the "short hair"...and Cousins is not the only guy who is pissed about it. He just happens to be that team's John Salmons - the only guy who has enough of a sack to say what other players feel.
It also sounds like when some of the other players realized that Cousins was being pulled off the plane, they weren't thrilled about it.
Fanhouse did a piece yesterday suggesting that Westphal is too scared to say anything critical of Evans now.
What ever the reason or rationale, Cousins behavior is completely unacceptable as a professional basketball player. Imagine if Iguodala went off like this after Lou decided to take a crappy shot instead of running the play called. People would call for his head.
Whether or not they ran the wrong play is irrelevant - cousins was rumored to have a maturity/temper/behavior problem and this is rather strong evidence that it's not even close to being under control.
Cousins reactions, multiple of them, regardless of the cause are grossly inappropriate, and anyone on his side after this behavior (regardless of the ccoaching issues) misses the bigger picture
I'm not defending the behavior...and I am VERY happy that - talent aside - we passed on the guy....but a supposedly smart guy like Petrie should have thought things through before bring a guy like Cousins in when you have a a self-centered "star" (Evans) and a coach who is too weak to control him (Westphal).
A recipe for disaster, IMO.
Supposedly Westphal called Evans out earlier this week and Evans got pissy about it anyway.
And I know petrie is supposed to be a smart guy - but what's the really last 'smart' move he made?
So many franchises are cowtowing to players egos and its costing them - the Kings doing the same thing isn't smart.
Getting rid of Nocioni's 2011-12 contract?
;-)
No, that's not true. Players get heated with each other all the time over bad plays. Jordan constantly fought with everyone on his team over their play.
There has been a lot of talk about Jrue being moved off the ball because of turnovers, but what if part of the reason was Collins wanting him to concentrate on the defensive end more. If this move allows him to lock up opposing p.g.'s is the tradeoff worth it?
Any improvement defensively is welcome for this team that is offensively challenged. If this has this affect, and they get a defensive big, maybe being a top 5 defensive team is a possibility.
I read on hoopshype that because of the weakness of this draft, teams are willing to move draft picks. Could Spieghts and Lou get a couple of #1 picks and does Turner and Meeks improved play allow Thorn to move Lou ?
Why would you want more picks in a weak draft?
It just means that you be stuck with 2nd round talent on 1st round contracts.
Exactly. I don't understand the reasoning either. This the year when you want to trade away your draft pick not acquire more.Both Williams and Speigths are probably more valuable than any non-top10 first round pick in this draft. Possibly more.
Because 3 #1 picks may allow you to move up and target a big or just stay pat and fortify the frontcourt. This team is unbalanced now and adding 2 young bigs and a shooter [ J.Hamilton, J.Johnson,[project big kept overseas] ] would help put the puzzle together. Spieghts can't get on the court and Lou is turning Turner into a s.f./p.g. and Meeks is showing he could be a 3rd guard.
That isn't very fair to Lou, Turner has turned himself into that.
Lou hasn't turned Turner into anything. If anything, Collins' unfathomable efforts to make Lou our "closer" has turned Turner into that.
PLEASE trade Lou...so that Turner can take Lou's place.
That depends. Some drafts are very top-heavy, others talent's more evenly distributed. So maybe this year's lottery picks aren't great but there's value in the second half of the first round. And of course, if you're a very good drafting team you can almost always find value at your pick.
The problem with this years draft is that a huge number of the talented players won't even declare because of the pending lockout. If it wasn't for the lockout it would have been a regular weak draft, but now if nothing changes in the next 2-3 months it's very likely that it'll be the worst draft in history because of players not declaring. All that will probably result in more or less the expected players in the top 5, and a huge drop off after that. You'll be getting second round talent at number 10. That's not really what you want is it? It doesn't matter whether you are a good or a bad drafting team, chances are you are going to get players much worse than Brackins on rookie contracts. And additionally you will have given assets for them. That doesn't make any sense to me.
"You'll be getting second round talent at number 10. That's not really what you want is it?"
It's better than getting it at #2 isn't it?
Ha, oh my lord.
Seriously, you don't have to try so hard.
Well, if it's really that weak, you'll be right. I hadn't really thought about the lockout.
Column: Defense holds the key for the Sixers:
http://ow.ly/3VvKe
The rumor is out there that Thad is on the trading block.
Would you go for this trade?
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=68p6rhv
More importantly do you think Phoenix goes for it?
Sure looks good from the Sixers end, but I thought Phoenix traded for Gortat because they really needed a decent big who could get on the boards and play some D?
Yes I agree. But I think with the awful year the suns are having they might be interested in shedding some salary and getting younger. Gortat is on contract for 4 years.
Sooner or later they'll need a replacement for G. Hill (38). Thad would fit the bill. He would flourish with Nash and the wide open game they play. I see him potentially averaging close to 20 at some point.
If Collins is in Thorn's ear to get him a defensive big for the playoff run, who do teams value the most and who does Doug value the least? Turner is probably going to get the minutes of the person moved, assuming it isn't an expiring contract. Does Turner do Thad's or Lou's job better. I would think Lou's job.
Absolutely Lou's job...especially if they keep running Jrue off the ball and let Turner run the offense.
Anything tyhat will get us MORE J/T/I is worth the trade.
He can do Thad's job defensively better...Thad seems to be better (faster?) at getting to the basket offensively
Video: Holiday on facing the Grizzlies again, the Sixers' progress and looking forward to rookie/sophomore game:
http://ow.ly/3WdkF