 Sixers Disgust Me In New Orleans Thank God this mini-road trip is over because I couldn't take another second-half collapse like we've seen the past two nights. Going in, I didn't expect a win. After being tied at the half, I had hope. By the end of the third quarter the 95-76 final was a formality. The Hornets ran the Sixers out of the gym.Whenever you see Andre Iguodala shooting 2 for 15 from the floor, you know the Sixers are going to lose. Whenever you see Kyle Korver playing 5 total minutes, you know the Sixers are going to lose. (Korver left the game with a strained groin and did not return, no word on how long he's going to be out.) Whenever you see Reggie Evans with more points (6) than rebounds (2), you know the Sixers are going to lose. The Sixers did all of these horrible things tonight, but the loss really comes down to one guy: Willie Green. Don't let Garbage Time's shooting stats fool you (7/15 from the floor for 20 points) he killed this team on both sides of the floor. On offense, his 7 turnovers and allergic-reaction to passing short-circuited a couple of runs and made the offense look like it was running under water. On defense, he completely abused by Morris Peterson who set his season high in points in the first quarter. Peterson finished the game with 26 points on only 12 shots. Against Green he hit 6/9 from downtown and Green also fouled him on a three pointer. GT was consistently out of position, helping when he shouldn't have, and obviously a step slow. He was abused tonight, and if the Korver injury means Willie is going to see 38 minutes a game, the Sixers are going to be hard-pressed to win any games before he comes back. The Sixers ended the third down by 8 points, and I still had a glimmer of hope until I saw the lineup Mo Cheeks had on the floor. When the Sixers should've been trying to make a quick run to make the game into a sprint to the finish, but instead Mo sent Lou Williams, Rodney Carney, Willie Green, Lou Amundson and Jason Smith onto the floor to start the quarter. The lead ballooned to 17 before the starters got off the bench, and that was all she wrote. I'd like to take this opportunity to say that Rodney Carney is complete garbage. The guy is so jumpy out there, he cannot make any moves, he can't slow down to take a jumper, and he can't play defense. I really wish Mo would plant him at the end of the bench and give Thad Young his minutes. Carney doesn't contribute on either side of the ball (at least GT can get hot and carry the offense for a minute here or there), he's basically just an athlete playing the wrong sport. Thad Young can give you more than Carney right now, and playing him 10 minutes/night is not going to stunt his development. Heck, Thad might even surprise you. Portland comes to the Wach on Friday night, in a game the Sixers should win. Let's hope they can right the ship by then. One last note, Sammy Dalembert came up limp late in the first half with some kind of ankle injury. He didn't come out of the game immediately, and played regularly in the second half, but this is definitely something to keep an eye on. They can't lose him and expect to compete. Player of The Game: Sammy, 13 points, 13 boards and a block on bum wheel. Team Record: 2-6 
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whoah Brian, I didn't watch the game yet but u sum it up admirably and I have no reason to think it was different that what u said of course
I am impressed by your remarks about Carney, I also saw him "lost" on the last games and maybe he's really the kind of player you say... let's be patient for some more weeks
if KK is really hurt he will have a chance to play more, I have the feeling he's the kind of player that needs more minutes to warm up & be effective, because in short stints he might be garbage, u r right
I agree 100% on Rodney Carney, Brian. It sickens me how you can be that athletically gifted and that bad at defense. Even if your not the best offensive player, you can use your arms and speed to keep people in front of you without fouling! He doesn't seem to have a feel for the game and can't dribble, which leads to, how can be that athletic and can't get to the free throw line?
Was it just me, or did offense just have no clue what we were doing most of the game? It seemed we would dribble and pass around the perimeter until the shot clock got too risky and then would jack up a jumpshot. Maybe we can attribute this to NO's zone type defense that doesn't allow us to penetrate or Mo's simple offense.
I actually think Willie Green has been playing much better than last year. He is the only player that has shown he can make a jumpshot on a consistent basis and he has toned down his jacker mentality. Although last night was one of the worst defensive performances I've seen.
Kyle Korver seems to have had a much easier time scoring late last year and I can't figure it out. I don't think it was Joe Smith's blistering picks and I would think Reggie Evan's picks would be better. Maybe Mo has changed his offensive strategy this year. Kyle will always be a liability on defense and is a streaky shooter. Is that something we are willing to keep. i used to think that the threat would spread the defense but last night when they were clogging the lane and when the defense really needed to be spread, he was ineffective in 5 minutes.
Korver's in a really, really bad shooting slump. The whole offense will look better when he breaks out of it. Hopefully, the injury isn't that bad.
I have some thoughts on the Sixers offense as a whole, I'm going to write a post on this when I get the chance, but the fact of the matter is that teams don't have to honor anything but the lane, they are basically no threat from the outside. They're collapsing the lane and if Iguodala isn't hitting from the outside, it's going to be a long night.
They need to get out on the break more, they need Korver to start shooting like Korver and they need Iguodala to play within himself. Ugh, writing that depressed me. They should win tomorrow night, at least.
How many garbage cans did Willie earn last night?
I know this is past history, but Korver was hot when we had the original A.I. here.....another reason to miss the best little man the game has ever seen.
Nights like last night make you miss him even more.
I heard Kyle will be out 7-10 days. Hopefully he comes back FULLY healed and healthy because he's nothing if he's not.