With the memory of a 45-point drubbing burned into their minds, the Sixers took the court tonight shorthanded, but determined to send a message. It took 48 minutes of non-stop energy, but they got the job done. Without Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holiday and Jodie Meeks caught fire in the third while Elton Brand and Thad Young proved too much for Chicago on the defensive end. What was probably the best quarter of basketball this team has played in over year was enough to power them to their 15th win of the season.
Charts
Thoughts
- Let's just start with the third quarter. The Sixers scored 32 points, shot 14/18 from the floor and held Chicago to 18 points on 23 possessions. The Sixers also forced 6 turnovers in the quarter and basically shut down everything Chicago tried to do. Jrue and Jodie combined for 18 points on 7/7 from the floor and 1/1 from the line. The story of the quarter, though, was the night-and-day difference in the defense once Hawes went to the bench for Thad with 3:23 left in the quarter. To that point, the Sixers offense was clicking, but they were pretty much trading hoops. The score was 74-70 at the time. Over their final 8 possessions of the quarter, the Bulls scored 4 points and turned the ball over 4 times. The Sixers outscored them 12-4 over that stretch. Thad drew two offensive fouls and Elton Brand set the tone by sending Derrick Rose to the pine with a hard foul to prevent a dunk.
- Jodie's shooting quickly pushed the Sixers lead up to double digits, cashing in on the much improved defensive effort and this is why he's your player of the game, but it really could've been Jrue. Jrue was the catalyst for the third-quarter run, and there was really nothing Chicago could do to slow him down...until the fourth. Tom Thibodeau is one of the sharpest defensive minds in the league, and he figured out that the Sixers only go as far as Jrue takes them. In the fourth quarter, he decided it was time to make someone else beat them, and he started sending a hard double at Jrue every time he crossed midcourt with the ball. Jrue did not handle it well. He started rushing his moves, he was flustered, and he turned the ball over. Holiday finished the night 8/14 from the floor for 19 points with 4 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, but he also turned the ball over 6 times and committed 5 personal fouls. Derrick Rose is an extremely tough cover, and Jrue wasn't getting any help from his bigs in the first half, but he needs to take better care of the ball. Scouts around the league are going to see tape of how the Bulls attacked him in the fourth, he's going to need to learn how to deal with those traps very quickly because this team is rudderless when he's off the floor. His teammates are also going to need to step up in those situations and make teams pay for overextending themselves. I'm confident Jrue won't be caught by surprise again, and I'm also sure Doug Collins will look at the tape and put plays in that will result in high percentage looks once he gets the ball out of the trap.
- Lou was definitely good Lou again tonight. His shooting bailed him out of several wasted possessions, including a triple-pump three to bring the Sixers within 2 points at the end of the first half.
- Brand's numbers were mundane, but his effect on the game in the second half was extraordinary. I would've liked to have seen him get more touches all night long. He didn't have a legit defender on him the whole night.
- Hawes threaded the needle on some nice passes tonight, but overall I thought he played a much worse game than the numbers tell you. He was helpless on the defensive end all night and Collins really had to remove him from the game when he did late in the third.
- For the second straight game, I think Jrue got the better of his counterpart. Rose pouring in a bunch of points at the very end of the game during Chicago's desperate (and failed) comeback bid. Jrue came into the game with a gameplan - force Rose to drive left, into help at the rim - the only problem was that the help was consistently late, if it came at all. Rose scored 27 points, but it took him 27 possessions (21 shots, 10 free throws) to get the points and he shot a dismal 38% from the floor.
- Carlos Boozer was basically unstoppable. 14/19 from the floor for 31 points. Luckily, he may just be the worst defensive PF in the league. Brand, Thad and even Speights did solid work on Boozer on the blocks. I wish Collins had gone to those matchups more often.
- The three-point defense was exceptional. 3/15 from deep for the Bulls.
- Nocioni earned his mullet tonight. A dislocated finger couldn't knock him out of the game and he secured an offensive board (then nailed two free throws) to put the game nearly out of reach. The next time down the floor, he grabbed a tough defensive board, then hit another freebie to put the final nail in the coffin.
- Big, big win against a team with a .676 winning percentage coming in, without Andre Iguodala in the lineup. Excellent, excellent game.
- On the Evan Turner front, I think it's safe to say Andre Iguodala isn't holding him back. Since Iguodala's injury, Turner had that one good game in Phoenix and since he's disappeared again. Tonight, he was 1/3 from the floor for 2 points, with 1 steal and then zeros across the board in 15 minutes. Disappointing.
Player of The Game: Jodie Meeks
Team Record: 15-21
Up Next: @ Detroit, later tonight
Game Capsule
This was probably the best game they've played all season. And it comes at a time when they needed to prove doubters that they are really capable to win any game at a given night. The next thing is winning the games you are supposed to win. The Sixers have done a really lousy job vs. below .500 opponents. That needs to be fixed if they want to make the playoffs.
Interesting stat:
The Sixers trail only the Bucks and Nets in the eastern conference in games played vs. .500+ teams. And their 6-13 record is not much worse than the record of teams ahead of them in the standings. Tho problem is the 9-8 record vs. below .500 opponents where the Sixers are far behind the top 6 teams.
Bottomline is we NEED to win the next few games and take advantage of the easier schedule.
Yeah, tonight is a good measuring stick. Pulling out a gutsy win against the Bulls would be hollow if they can go out and lay the wood on Detroit the next night. If they really have separated themselves from the bottom teams in the league then they should be able to close the deal on the back half of the back to back.
Lets put it this way: They need to go 3-1 at worst in the next 4 games if they want to realistically show progress in the standings.
Watched the game and I'm just wondering if it's by design that Turner is usually away from the ball in the half court offense. I even think I'm seeing Lou look him off when he calls for the ball. I don't think it's that Iguodala is holding him back but it seems for some reason he's just not involved in the offense.
Its funny but I've been waiting 6 years for Iguodala to play like Jrue Holiday is right now.
Brian, is Nocioni winning you over at all? He certainly has his flaws defensively but I am seeing why our coach wanted him here. It can't hurt our young guys being around him and I can't help but feel WHEN we make the playoffs he will have an impact in a game or two.
Would you trade Evan Turner and Darius Songalia for Danny Granger
Yes, but no way Indiana makes that trade. Jrue/Iguodala/Granger would be tremendous... but a bit pricey.
In a heartbeat.
Granger is the kind of scorer we hope Turner can be - his ability to put up points would open things up trendously for Iguodala, Holiday and Brand.
tremendously
What do you guys think of this?...
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=288elrf
This is similar to the trade that Denver and New Jersey are working on, but with Philly in place of Detroit as the third team. Makes a lot of sense. Philly would have to send a first round pick as part of this and may try to move Nocioni (and his 1 year remaining) instead of Songaila, but trading Iguodala would free up playing time and space for Evan Turner and money would be freed up in upcoming years. One key change from the currently discussed deal with Detroit is that Favors would go to Philly in this scenario but I think that Iguodala is considerably more valuable than Rip Hamilton so Philly can make an argument to receive Favors in the deal.
this is based on the params in this article (with Philly substituted for Detroit). NJ would send at least 2 first round picks as part of this deal to Denver....
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=6000845
I would be really intrigued by our starting rotation in a few years....Jrue, ET, Thad, Favors, ???
hopefully we'll figure out how to fill those ??? in the next year.
This is a completely different trade compared to the discussed trade with the Pistons. Denver doesn't really want Iguodala. They want Favors and i don't think there is any version of that deal where anyone other than Denver gets Favors.
Meeks' jumper makes difference for Sixers:
http://ow.ly/3Atc9
This would be a nice trade, only if Orlando or Boston would fall for it
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=22le9ey
Safe to say they wouldn't give up 3 players that actually crack their rotation, and one big in Jermaine O'neal that they need just because of his height, to get Nocioni.
nice for ORL, worthless for everyone else
", and he started sending a hard double at Jrue every time he crossed midcourt with the ball. "
What adjustments do the sixers need to make to counter this?
Also why not have Evan/Iggy/or Lou bring the ball up when Jrue is being doubled?
If Lou brings the ball up it's offense over.
most overrated team Hornets, Suns
Up and coming teams Grizzlies, Sixers, warriors, Knicks
Hornets wont make playoffs
If sixers could somehow get a 2 guard and a center for IGGY it could be interesting
What do you guys think?
The Hornets were overrated when they were 11-1. They are not overrated anymore, i think they are good enough to make the playoffs.
I think the Knicks are the most overrated team right now. They just used a fairly easy schedule to their advantage. The Grizzlies are dangerous, but they are in a frail state right now. Mayo is probably on his way out, Randolph is in the last year of his contract, Gasol can leave after the season... If they solve those issues they will be dangerous, right now it's too much too handle.
Lou Williams has shown over the last 2 games that he can score the basketball in crunch time. Small sample size aside,is Lou the go to guy late when Iggy gets back into the lineup?
eh, Lou's OK, but as was said in the thread last night, he's nothing but a jump shooter when put into that situation. Jrue sure seems a worthy candidate, cause even if he is stymied by the defense someone else should be open as a result of his attacking or movement.
I remember last year during the end of game the Sixers were down by one point. Lou Williams was given the ball for the final possession of the game. He drove to the lane drew two defenders and threw a nice pass to a wide open Elton Brand for a dunk that he missed. Anyway, I have more trust in Lou to get to the basket, make a jump shot or get to the free throw line than I do with Iguodala.
Agree that I trust to do those things moreso than Dre, but Jrue is proving himself to be a strong candidate to take/create these looks at end of quarters/games.
He probably should be, but last night was a perfect example of the rest of the team tightening up down the stretch. People kill Iguodala on here for his late game struggles like it's on him that he has to shoot it. Besides those two Lou baskets, the team had some really indecisive possessions, and then Lou bailed them out. This was protecting a huge lead too, there was much more margin for error. Hopefully Jrue turns into that guy, but he hasn't shown it yet.
I would probably let Lou go ahead and try, but that's a small and flawed sample size. There was no crunch time in the Wizards game, that was a pretty comfortable win. He did want the ball, which is a good thing. When he's attacking, he can get to the line.
Well, it's not as simple as is he or isn't he - guys like williams (or meeks) they're streaky - when they're hot they're awesome, when they're not - they shouldn't have the ball and collins needs to sit their asses down. They do one thing, and when they're on, good for them, when they're off sit em down.
This team doesn't have a super star, there should be no set player, or set play, for crunch time - a good coach would look at how the game is going, who is performing at the moment and what's been working and call the play for them.
Supposedly Collins is a good coach