 Sixers Hold On To Sweep Knicks The Sixers used a monstrous first quarter and an excellent final two minutes to hold off the Knicks for a rare four-game sweep. The second, third and most of the fourth wasn't pretty to watch, but the W is all that matters at this point. After the jump we'll take a look at how the Sixers did at what I pointed out as a key to the game earlier today.
Let's get right into the good stuff. I pointed to attacking the basket as the key to the game for the Sixers, here's how they did, quarter-by-quarter: 1st Quarter
Total
The Sixers were obviously the aggressors tonight, and they earned this win. They shot average (for them) from the line, but 75% gets the job done when you attempt 52 free throws. I would've liked to have seen a complete game from the Sixers, but whenever you get a win on the road, you're happy. You're especially happy when your best player has an off night and you still win on the road. A couple of notable things in DiLeo's rotation.
Andre Miller was Andre Miller. 25 points, 6 dimes, you know the drill. When the game was seriously in question with about 3 minutes to go, Iguodala came out of a timeout and hit a huge jumper from the elbow. Miller then took over and scored the next 4 points. Good to see those guys come up big when it mattered most. Player of The Game: Thad Team Record: 29-28 Up Next: @ Orlando, tomorrow night. 
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i absolutely agree a win is a win,and my player of the game is Thad also.I will e-mail this link yo him.
Good job highlighting the positives in an otherwise ugly win. They can't shoot, so I'm glad the kept driving. The refs rewarded them with a bucketload of FT's... and agree its great to see Thad get to the line.
Fouls drawn is the one thing that Thad must add to his game if he wants to be a star some day. The shooting and handle should come with time.
Despite the choking at the line, another solid game from Sam. He really can rebound in traffic.
BTW, I'm not a fan of this level of tough love towards Speights. He needs to earn his minutes, but they should be past giving him less than 10. I get the sense that Dileo is in win 1st mode, and could care less about developing the roster for next year.
So you think DiLeo should take minutes away from players who have earned them and give them to Speights? That is the basic idea I get from your last sentence. I think DiLeo should play guys who he thinks will help the team win. I think he should keep some other things under consideration like trying to limit Iguodala's minutes, but he should be in win now mode right?
Any team w/ a chance to make the playoffs should be in win-now mode at this point of the season, imo.
By the way, Shaq was 20-25 against the Raptors tonight, and that wasn't the most impressive line of the game.
Louis Amundson: 26 minutes, 9/11 from the floor, 10 boards, 4 blocks, 20 points.
I agree with the tough love approach. Too many NBA players have been given minutes without accountability when young. Helps to develop an inflated opinion of themselves. Tony/Ed, keep it real!
sp8s is the man,just not tonight.he has so much potential.i love this kid
This is crunch time of the season and traditionally not the time coaches tend to fool with rooks unless very necessary (Thad was by this time already playing extensive mins in his rook year). Evans, turnovers aside, had a pretty decent game.
Speights still scored five points and snatched 3 boards in his seven minutes so he was still very effective in his limited time on the floor but won't give rooks too much learn-on-the-job time at this point in the season. Speights in general seems to need a little time to acclimate and DiLeo's not affording it now. Player development is going to be shelved til the last couple weeks of the season when we can hope the playoff positioning is more clear.
I can live with that I guess. It'll be interesting to see how this develops.
I don't think Speights minutes will be cut regularly. If you look at last night's game, the Sixers weren't having a problem scoring in the second half, they were having a problem getting stops. Evans was effective on defense and especially on the glass, I think that's why we saw his minutes stretched in the second half.
On a night when it isn't quite so easy to put the ball in the hoop for the team, Speights will get more minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if tonight is that night.
That was some pretty impressive photoshopping in that picture :)
That was nice photoshopping.
Anyway, on to abusing this thread...
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As far as I can tell - you've never been wrong - ever and you'll look at a different set of stats then i will.
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I have been wrong many times. My biggest blunder ever was probably expecting Thad to eventually learn how to pass, rebound, and get to the line. Sure, he has time to learn, but he hasn't improved whatsoever on any of these things. In addition, he hasn't improved as a shooter much as you can see when you look at his FT% or FG%. Oh, and was I ever wrong about the Sixers. A lot of that is rooted in my mistake on Thad though and Brand all of a sudden being so much worse than before. And Lou... sweet Jesus Lou.
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You - you'll look at points per game and rebounds per game - the counting stats - you'll probably over value blocks as well
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Per game stats? Really? Come on? Don't you know me a little by now? And I wasn't even planning on mentioning blocks really. They are valuable and all, but securing possessions with rebounds is a "bigger deal" probably.
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You'll also notice on the link i provided you 'percentage of minutes' - do you think the 3rd best player on a team only plays 52% minutes of the time his team plays? Not usually.
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Correct, not usually.
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Various explanations exist for this - none of them good - being foul prone, being bad in important situations, not having the confidence of the coaching staff.
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Can you define "being bad in important situations"? Sammy's fouls don't help the team win obviously and he has, at times, fallen out of favor with the former coaching staff... yeah. Right now, he seems to be "in favor."
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If OKC wanted a big man and was willing to give up expiring contracts - why didn't they make the same deal for sam they made for chandler - contracts are pretty much the same.
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I don't know, but using a 20 win team's management decisions to justify your points doesn't make too much sense... to me at least.
I'm gonna go compare the 2 against their peers now.
I'm gonna go compare the 2 against their peers now.
So you just want to add noise to the discussion - what does that have to do with WHO IS BETTER ON THE SIXERS - other players - other rosters - are irrelevant to your original point. You've still presented no argument in all your words that Dalembert has been better than Young - more importantly - that Dalembert is more important to the future of the sixers
Who says anything about the future? I just said Dalembert is their 3rd best player.
You compare players obviously against their peers. I wouldn't say I am a better computer scientist than you are a biologist(I don't know what you do) and then start talking about how I am the best programmer ever and you aren't, so I am better. That doesn't make any sense.
I would compare myself vs. my peers and you would compare yourself vs. your peers. Somewhat poor example, but I think you get the idea.
You guys crack me up. Sam's implosion probably cost the Sixers the game tonight. Well, I guess you can't blame it on him entirely, but it had a ton to do with it.