The Sixers used a horrible start to the first quarter, a disastrous end to the first half and consistently poor defensive rotations to submarine what was little more than a few spirited stretches of play in their 87-103 loss to the Magic. (
Here's your rotation chart. I highlighted the terrible opening and then the back-breaking 10-0 run to end the first half. The starters came out hot in the third, but it went to hell when Collins went to the bench:
If you take a look at the game capsule from the
last time these teams met, and compare it to
tonight's you'll see a stark difference in the eFG allowed and the defensive rebounding rate. It's almost as if the Sixers were so concerned with getting beaten on the defensive glass, they strayed too far from shooters, opening the door for Orlando to hit 15 of 25 threes and basically destroy each and every comeback effort. It would appear as though that was the case, but honestly, it was just lazy defense that sunk the Sixers tonight. Lazy defense, bad matchups and sloppy play.
Ryan Anderson torched the Sixers for 14 points in the first quarter, 11 of those came before Collins subbed Thad in to chase him out to the three-point line. Lavoy Allen was simply incapable of handling that assignment, and it was clear to Orlando where they could attack. The Sixers showed a lot of moxie coming back from an early 16-point deficit (only to allow that 10-0 run) and then coming back again in the second half to pull within four at one point, but it simply wasn't meant to be. Each time they made a run, they shot themselves in the foot either with a poorly-timed turnover, a slow rotation resulting in a wide-open three for the Magic, or both, which happened on several occasions.
This was probably the worst game Jrue's played in a couple of years. He started off attacking the rim, but he was clearly intimidated by Howard's presence. When he did shoot in there, he was timid with the shot, looking for a way to squeak around Howard, rather than going up strong, or going into Howard's body to draw the contact. His shooting wasn't nearly the big problem with Jrue's game tonight, though. He coughed the ball up five times, the fourth and fifth came on charges and the fifth was also the final straw. Collins sat Jrue down for the last time with 10:30 left in the fourth and you could see him lean over to his assistant coach after pulling Jrue and saying, "Jrue has five trucking turnovers." At least I think that's what he said, my lipreading skills might not be quite up to snuff.
Iguodala caught fire early in the third and the Sixers seemed to have a legit shot at coming back, but the threes just kept raining down on them, and Iguodala's heat check came at the wrong time and lasted about 3 shots too long. Throughout the game, Lou was their best source of offensive, which really is nothing new. Thad had energy, and did a better job of sticking with Anderson than Lavoy and Brand, but it wasn't nearly enough. Turner had a big chance when Jrue sat down in the fourth. He ran the point, and proceeded to run the offense right into the ground with incessant over-dribbling and ill-advised jumpers.
Brand did an excellent job on Dwight Howard, with help, and the team really limited Howard. If you went back and looked at the tape, I'd bet Howard scored about 12 of his 17 points on Voose, and Voose did absolutely nothing to slow him down. He essentially watched Howard push him under the hoop and convert on at least four really easy looks. The thought of fouling a 49% free-throw shooter never seemed to occur to him.
The key to beating this team is now, and will always be daring them to give Howard 30 shots. Put a big on an island with Howard and use every one of the fouls at your disposal on him whenever he gets close to the hoop, but don't double him. Stick with the shooters on the outside no matter how much damage Howard is doing, because Van Gundy gets bored of going to Dwight and the team is constantly looking for threes. Tonight, the Sixers were way too focused on Howard, and they only used the get-out-of-jail-free card of hacking him when he catches too close to the hoop one time.
Overall, a disappointing if not unexpected loss. Orlando has been shooting the lights out from downtown, that trend continued and the Sixers did their best to give the game away with uncharacteristic turnovers. The fact they were even in the game at any point in the second half speaks to their resolve, but resolve without defense isn't all that comforting.
It only counts as one loss. Get back at it on ESPN Friday night.
Player of The Game: Lou. 21 points on 13 shots and 7 dimes to only 1 turnover.
Team Record: 20-10
Up Next: vs. DAL, Friday night on national cable television.
Jrue's Goal: A terrible failure tonight. 0 FTAs to 5 Turnovers. He's 1/2 since the inception.
last night, PG superiority
full Nelson: 14 assists, 2 TO, 5-8, 12 pts, 29 min
subdued Holiday: 5 assists, 5 TO, 1-8, 3 pts, 25 min
'half-pint' throttled 'quart bottle'
Jrue with more turnovers than points. Cannot have that from the starting point guard.
We got a gift from the Celts last night though, and the Atlantic lead remains at 4. Very very soon it will be the Knicks chasing us.
For draft geeks, a good article.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/ben_glicksman/02/15/nba.draft.prospects/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_wr_a3
I was really down on the last few drafts... but this is the year. We have not even started hearing about the internationals and the NCAA players alone are good enough to make this a multiple future all-star draft.
If there ever was a time for the Sixers to acquire a pick in the 5-8 range this year is it. And if Drummond somehow slides down into that range because of other players emerging then it would be tremendous opportunity to get a Bynum-like center.
And how would the sixers go about obtaining a pick in the 5-8 range. They don't really have the assets to obtain such a pick. It's clear to many that this is a deep quality draft so the picks will have more value. The young guys that the sixers would offer like Nikola and Evan have not really shown enough to be picks in the 5-8.
Yes, it would be a great time for the sixers to get a pick in the top 10, but aside from a massive losing streak, I don't believe they have the assets to get one in a mediocre draft let along a good one
I was hoping that John Henson would slip down to #16 earlier this year but it seems like we'll have a bottom 20 pick. I would be willing to trade Turner or Lou along with Vuc and Lavoy for a lottery pick. I would to take on a bad contract just to get a lottery pick. Anyway, IMO Drummund is a top 3 pick.
Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, and an unprotected 1st round draft pick for Nocioni?
Feb 1 defeat of Deng-less Bulls and consequent 16-6 record may prove to be Sixers high water mark. Last night's defense reminded me of Doug's in the mid-70s.
Now 20-10, with freshly Lin-oleumed Knicks stepping on opponents' intentions, giving pause, breeding concern.
As some have said, Sixers current offensive approach is soft, too reliant on jumpshots and hurried slashes to basket. Dislike lane bumps? Forfeit free throws, increase scoring drought odds.
10 games over .500 can't be their high water mark, they were 11 games over heading into last night.
Sure can, winning %-wise - .727 (then) to .689 (heading into last night) to .666 (now).
If you're going by winning %, then their high-water mark was at 10-3, after beating the Bucks (.769), which is a 63-win pace.
You are correct; and I am corrected. I must avoid partial reverse ledger scans in the future. :)
you know, good ol' speights. maybe he had things more figured out than i originally thought. he knew what his game was and what he could and couldn't do as a basketball player. what collins wanted him to do, that wasn't his game. so, he was happy being the best team cheerleader they had until thorn found a nice new home for him. i don't really see what the sixers can do with two 2nd round picks, but from mo's side, he played it beautifully. good for him. i think it's a problem sometimes, at the nba level, when a coach tries to mold a player's abilities into an existing system rather than recognizing what they're already good at and finding space within the system for them to flourish at that. doug has heart, passion, grit, and all of the qualities of a great leader whom you would want to follow into battle. i'm gonna call it like i see it though, and say that he is not, however, the best of coaches. watching him during a game, it looks like his brain is working a mile a minute. i think doug over-analyzes everything, and consequently, the guy is a bundle of nerves waiting to explode. i think this is why his decisions sometimes seem erratic and confound some of us. we're in front of tvs/monitors, safely playing coach without the pressures of an in-game situation (whatchya call it, armchair quaterbacking), and from our calm vantage point we know what doug needs to do and isn't doing. i think there's some truth in that, which isn't me saying that i know basketball better than doug collings, because i most certainly do not, but it is me saying that maybe doug needs to relax a bit more during games. no, he's not getting thrown out of games for his temper and what not, that's not what i mean. it's in his face, he's twitchy. there's so much going on in that skull of his and he can't slow it down. do more yoga doug.
but 16-6 is a higher winning % than 20-9
Fair point. A .727 winning percentage is a 60-win pace in an 82 game season. If that's the high-water mark, I can live with it. They're currently on a 55-win pace in an 82-game season.
Mo Speezy with 20 and 18 last night...if you guys still think we are better off this season with Vuc and Lavoy playing minutes over him, you're nuts.
For this team, yes, I guess I am nuts.
Nobody ever claimed Speezy lacked talent.
Even including last night's game, he's been terrible in MEM. .463 TS%.
Grizz 13-9 since Speights was inserted as starter in Game 9 (3-5 until then). Has chipped in to team cause (spottily), helped fill rebounding gap left by Randolph injury/absence. Needed to get away from Doug, who's a basketball "purist" - and a nemisis to some.
Sixers widely divergent team rankings:
AST 3 coach scheme & instruction
TOV 1 coach insistence (bedrock demand)
DRB 1 player dedication & facility
FTA 26 player physical softness; regard by referees
FT% 27 player mental softness
ORB 28 player limitation plus caution via instruction
FTA is also at least partially a result of the TOV philosophy. They need to find more of a balance, I think.
Agree with both statements.
Collins has Jrue and Turner in straitjackets. Turnovers down (excepting last night) along with creativity of more natural rhythms of play.
On the other hand, he's really short of impacting veteran beef to complement earthbound Brand, "Gumby" Thad. Battie tries; end-of-line grunt. Rookies lend, but ya can't depend. Hawes, if he returns, likes the key area, not big on the rough stuff. Banger shortage will hurt come playoff time.
They are trying to turn lemons into lemon-aid, and there will always be major trade-offs when you are trying to maximize wins from this type of roster.
At this point I am fine with these trade-offs because the players important to their future are all getting PT (if not as much as some would like.) And I think it is teaching them some lessons about winning and ball protection that will help them develop into better pros.
I'm expecting that each of these players will gradually earn a longer leash as they gain further experience. It is the same for any on the job apprenticeship. You start be putting strict limits on what someone is allowed to do and then let them freelance more as they become more accomplished.
If you are teaching someone to play guitar you don't have them free-form jamming their first week. You have them learn to master some "boring" basics that they can rely on and it will give them the foundation to be more free and creative later on.
..I guess this makes me a brainwashed Collins lemming.
Or to sum it up... wax on, wax off.
Or a deacon in the Collins Evangelical Church Of Roundball Saints. :)
At the very least, it makes you voluble in a thoughtful kind of way.
This prose style and sense of wit sounds familiar. Is this the artist formerly known as something along the lines of "jjg"?
Rightchu are Hobbes. Long time, no see. How's the wife and kids? Last time we talked you were dreamin' of a Sixers championship. Now... oh yeah, same dream. The Philadelphia Sisyphus-ers.
Sixers story: Hawes' continued absence may not increase chance of a trade:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/blogs/sports_columnists/tom_moore/hawes-absence-may-not-increase-trade-chances/article_8b2d3ad1-37e0-5cea-a445-95c3757d1603.html
Had a 15-minute chat with Rod Thorn today and wrote a story off of it (Sixers' practice was optional and there was no media availability).
Would it completely shock anyone if the Sixers traded Nocioni and Turner for Kaman?
Don't think the Sixers want Kaman. Would be stunned if Turner is included - only way, IMO, would be something like Nocioni, Battie and Brackins to make money work and I think that's highly unlikely.
Wouldn't that require the Sixers to take on extra salary and possibly pay the luxury tax? I don't think the Sixers would be interested in paying for a guy that would make us marginally better
Turner for Kaman? Who wouldn't be shocked? That trade is a joke.
I would be. To trade Turner to rent a player that's not going to put us in the championship level would be unforgivable IMO.
I'd be pissed, but I can't say it would shock me.
Does it say something about me that I'm choosing to watch the Pacers/Nets over the Bulls/Celts? Rooting for Indy to drop their sixth straight.
Charles drafted Turner. These are the teams. I gotta go with team Chuck.
Here is the team Charles Barkley drafted:
John Wall
Kyrie Irving
DeMarcus Cousins
Paul George
Derrick Williams
Marshon Brooks
Gordon Hayward
Tiago Splitter
Kawhi Leonard
Evan Turner
Here is the team Shaquille O'Neal drafted:
Blake Griffin
Jeremy Lin
Ricky Rubio
Greg Monroe
Markieff Morris
Kemba Walker
Landry Fields
Norris Cole
Brandon Knight
Tristan Thompson
I think the last 4 players available were picked randomly, probably so no one was officially the last one picked. Turner went second to last.
Pretty amazing that Shaq picked Kemba Walker and Norris Cole on purpose. Shows how much these guys actually watch every team.
In this sort of game Kemba could do well.
I think all 20 of them should shine, considering there is no defense in this game.
Wow, how far has John Wall's stock fallen that he was drafted 12th? Shaq had an opportunity to pick Wall 11th but took Kemba Walker instead.
Poor ET wasn't taken among the top 16 picks. Like Thad in the rookie game a few years ago, Turner's game isn't flashy enough to stand out in a game like this ...
Can someone give me the order in which the players were drafted? Looking for it is very frustrating
There's video up on NBA.com
http://www.nba.com/allstar/2012/
The list that Steve wrote above is correct except that Wall was picked after Hayward by Barkley, not first. Shaq picked 1st and had every odd pick; Barkley had every even pick (not exactly fair). So the order was Blake, Irving, Lin, Cousins, etc. As someone else noted, the last four players (two on each team) were not "drafted" but assigned by random draw.
Lin picked 3rd?
So I guess it was
Blake Griffin
Kyrie Irving
Jeremy Lin
DeMarcus Cousins
Ricky Rubio
Paul George
Greg Monroe
Derrick Williams
Markieff Morris
Marshon Brooks
Kemba Walker
John Wall
Landry Fields
Gordon Hayward
Norris Cole
Tiago Splitter
Kawhi Leonard
Brandon Knight
Evan Turner
Tristan Thompson
Indy pulled it out over the mighty Nets. Meanwhile, looks like the Celts are going to lose to the Bulls minus Rose.
Allen, Rondo and Peirce all had more shots than points.
Kyle Korver kind of sucks. I would take Meeks over him
Korver is atrocious. Considering their respective contracts, I'd prefer Meeks hands down, and I can't stand Meeks as is well documented. If I had a choice I'd take neither, but Korver is one of the worst players in the NBA imo.
Meeks will be lucky to have half the career that Korver has had. Haven't watched a ton of CHI ball this year, but hard for me to believe he still isn't a useful player if put in positions where he can be successful. Always liked Korver, about 1000 times more than I like Jodie.
..does anyone else have a bad bad bad feeling that the Sixers are going to get destroyed by Lamar Odom tomorrow night?
Why is Chase Buddinger in the dunk competition? I watched his dunk video and it was less than inspiring.
Comedic value?
He may not be a great dunker but he will look good here next year if Lou opts out. He is unrestricted and all this Korver talk has me hoping they target Budinger.