 Sixers Extend Preseason (Play) Check out the defensive intensity. Thoughts/gripes/rotations after the jump.
Well that happened. If you spent your night watching the World Series instead of the Sixers' opener, consider yourself very lucky. Actually, if you only watched the first quarter of the Sixers, then switched over to Fox, you probably had a pretty good night as well (assuming you're a Phillies' fan). Once the clock struck zero on the first quarter, all hell broke loose in Orlando. If you need to put your finger on one reason why the Sixers looked so bad tonight, it's not really that hard. Defense. The secondary reason? Defense. And it only gets worse from there. I kept track of the substitutions and everything took a turn for the worse when Eddie Jordan decided to make mass substitutions. After the first (in which the starters played the bulk of the minutes, together) the score was a 27-29. Jordan started the second quarter with four guys from the bench and Lou. The damage was done by the time he got his starting lineup back in the game to start the third quarter. The Magic outscored the Sixers 41-20 in the second. Here's a look at the full rotation chart, click to enlarge the image:  Two things struck me in the first half: (1) As Speights went off offensively, the team kept falling further and further behind on the scoreboard. (2) Eddie Jordan let the second unit flail out there for far too long. Dalembert barely got off the bench in the second, after playing an effective first. I'm not saying these two things are necessarily related, but what I would like to see is Dalembert and Speights in the frontcourt together. I think the effort was there on the defensive end for Marreese tonight, but the results just weren't. Best stat from tonight's game: Only 8:19 of PT for Willie (although he somehow managed to go -12 in that brief stretch). Worst stat from tonight's game: It's a tie between 3/11 from the field for Iguodala and 16/29 from three for Orlando. Let's file this one under "new coach, new players, new system, new season," rather than, "offensive coach could care less about defense," for the time being. Orlando looked very solid tonight, we can leave it at that. There is one thing I saw tonight that better not become a recurring theme, however. Jrue Holiday didn't dress. Primoz Brezec was the 12th man and his Rubenesque figure never found its way onto the floor. I understand there may have been a concern that they'd need another big body for Dwight Howard, but this had better be the exception rather than the rule. Player of The Game: Speights. It has to be. 10/11 from the field for 26 points. Team Record: 0-1 Up Next: Milwaukee, on Friday. I'll have more on this one tomorrow. Time for me to forget about sports and get some shuteye. 
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Brian, a young guy [R.Anderson] should be taken advantage of by Elton, that worries me a bit.And L.Will. better, as the season goes on, be held accountable when he gets taken to school by a guy ,Williams, out of basketball last year. Did you get the feeling Jordan was afraid to take L.Will. off the floor, I did.I just watched till 1/2 time, will watch 2nd 1/2 tonight before the series.
This was about as disappointing a start as could happen. If I wasn't watching baseball last night I think you would have to talk me off a ledge with this team. I know it is only one game but it was deja vu all over again with the Magic raining threes. At first they kept sucking in defensively in the lane and leaving players for open corner threes. They I saw a bunch of times Lou came to double team Howard which was ineffective and they never trapped any pick and roll. That is the one thing Lou has to learn, you need to fight over the screener not back up underneath. Where is Randy Ayers our defensive guru ?
Not much to say but, that picture is a classic! Spot on...
Milwaukee on Fri. just became all the more interesting. They better pick their pants up off the floor or they will get run off the court by them too.
Btw, on a side note, Ty Lawson sure looked ready for prime time last night with 17 pts, 6 assts, 4 rebs, with only one turnover in 26 minutes last night. Heck of an opening line.
We sure could use that in order to relegate Lou to where he probably fits better - as instant scoring off the bench.
Every stathead in the world said that kid would make a great player. Have to say, though, I caught some of Warriors-Clippers last night, and Curry can pass the ball.
It's about 3 years too early for mea culpas and I told you so's. Let's at least wait until Jrue dresses for a game :)
You know, I totally forgot that he was even there when we drafted; I was just thinking about how low he went.
Ty Lawson will turn 22 next week. So lets compare his 1st game with the Season opener for Jrue... IN 3 YEARS.
That's kind of begging the question, isn't it? If you draft a guy and think he won't be so good for 3 years, that's kind of a reason to not draft him, at least if you're trying to contend during those 3 years.
Right now Speights and Sam Play center. Smith and Brand play PF. Eventually they will learn the other position in the offense and be more interchangeable, but for now Speights will only be playing at C.
I realize in most systems the C and PF have similar roles, but that is not the case in the P.O. eventually Speights and Sam should be a good combo with Sam covering for some of Speights defensive lapses in a way Smith cannot. But Speights needs to learn the P.O. as a PF.
As for Speights, you always want better defense and rebounding... But at least he did not get timid against Howard (or Amare or KG.) That bodes well for his future in terms of potentially taking at least his offensive game to a star level. As for the defensive end, who knows if he will ever be decent but at least he has the physical tools.
"...what I would like to see is Dalembert and Speights in the frontcourt together." - Brian
Agreed. Though, as tk says, that's not yet possible. Moreover, I think the core issue that really needs to be addresses is having Smith and Speights on the floor at the same time. That simply can't happen anymore. Every other PF/C combination (i.e. Brand/Dalembert, Smith/Dalembert, and Brand/Speights) is acceptable.
Michael Redd has missed team practice for 3 days due to back pains, but says he will play in the Sixers' home opener. Perhaps we should be more optimistic about the next game.