 Sixers Must Overcome Ugly Play There is one coach in this league who I fear, now that Jeff Van Gundy is in the announcer's booth. That man is none other than Larry Brown (AKA, The Rat, frequently in our comments section.) I don't fear Phil Jackson, I don't fear Jerry Sloan, I fear their players maybe, but not the coaches themselves. Larry Brown, though, is a guy who I think could probably take a group of five stiffs and get them to put up a decent fight. If the Sixers are going to win tonight against the Bobcats, they're probably going to have to win ugly.
 We're all extremely familiar with Larry's brand of basketball. Tough defense, squeezing points out of teams with limited offensive ability. Slow the pace down. He isn't reinventing the wheel in Charlotte, in fact, if you ask him, they'd be in the playoffs if he'd had his current roster the entire season. Looking at how they've played recently, that's a tough point to argue against. From a pure statistical point of view, the Bobcats have a tremendous weakness the Sixers should really look to exploit. Charlotte averages 88.3 possessions per game, which is the fourth-slowest pace. They also average 15.6 turnovers per game. This equates to the second-worst turnover rate in the league. When you're slowing the game down like Brown loves to do, giving away possessions can be costly. Against the Sixers, turnovers equal easy points. Keep an eye on this tonight. This game will feature some very interesting matchups. Iguodala vs. Gerald Wallace is obviously foremost among them. Both players would do well to force the other to beat him with jumpers. I don't think either will be particularly successful. A matchup I'm really looking forward to is Thad vs. Diaw. This is the first smallish PF Thad has faced in some time, I'm wondering if he'll take Diaw down to the blocks. The Cats are bad on offense, very bad, but they do have three-point weapons in Vlad Radmanovic (37.9%), D.J. Augustin (43.3%) and Raja Bell (40%). If the Sixers over-help on Wallace drives, those guys could cause a ton of problems on the perimeter. Down low, Emeka Okafor isn't a huge factor in the post, but he's a monster on the offensive glass. Sammy, Theo and Speights need to keep a body on him at all times. Also beware dump offs to Okafor when Sammy comes to help out on the driver. Force turnovers, clean the glass. Those are my keys for the game. The tip is at 7pm. I'll be right here, so join me in the comments. Also, if you're interested in coming to the game with me and a couple of readers for free on Tuesday, drop me a line. * Extra credit reading from True Hoop. They have a list of player efficiency at the end of quarters, check it out. The big list is shots or actions in the final 4 seconds of a quarter. The small list at the end is the final 3 seconds of a quarter. A certain someone made both lists, but you already know who that is. Check out #6 on the big list though. The Sixers get a ton of points at the end of quarters, by the way. 
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Interesting article from Hollinger on the increasing importance of the three pointer in the NBA. Definitely worth a read, but he dismisses the Sixers and Pistons based on three-point percentage, when injuries and a trade were the real reason they haven't met preseason expectations (yet.)
3 point percentage wouldn't be better with Brand around - not sure if 3 point perimeter defense would be better
The 3 point line is too close - it shouldn't be that important I believe
Usual starting lineup, here we go.
this is gonna be a very tough game
Understatement of the night. Literally.
23-29 Charlotte after the first. Ugly game, as expected, but I think the pace favors the Sixers greatly. If someone scores 100 points, the Sixers will win this game. That's my prediction.
you're probably right, but charlotte plays tough D. i don't have a good feeling about this game.
What feed is on league pass tonight?
2 to 3 tornadoes are within earshot so they are flooding it with radar and updates, just curious if you had the Bobcats announcers. Good you have Zumoff.
THROW IT DOWN BIG FELLA!!
Philly. Thad just abused Vlad.
Reggie running the break. Lovely.
yea i don't even know what that was supposed to be
speights has been pissing me off lately
His J is off, and it's off by a lot. Try to get something at the rim.
that's the thing. if he's not hitting his jumper i'm not sure what else he brings to the table right now.
I'm glad that desperation has kicked in and Marshall has checked into the game.
Letting the other team make a 10-0 run is no way to end a half.
a low post game if the sixers ever realized how to run a low post play
ugh 5pt swing on that miller turnover
This is too many minutes for Reggie. I know it looks like he's making some plays out there, but the lead just keeps growing because he really isn't doing anything positive and he's hurting them on offense. Need to get him the hell out of there and put sammy back in.
But more often than not that's what it usually is - chicken with his head cut off running all over the place and he gets credit for 'energy' but does nothing helpful
And Syracuse is pissing me off
charlotte is kinda good. if they'd had this squad all season i think they'd be looking at the 6 or 7 seed right now.
how the hell did they lose to the wizards the other night?
Probably because the Wizards didn't play Reggie Evans for heavy minutes.
haha well played sir
I'm in danger of falling asleep here. Brown really knows how to make a beautiful game ugly, huh?
Sammy 0/2 from the line there. Lovely.
Notice how much easier it is for the sixers to drive w/out reggie in there. Stupid to have him on the floor for that 10-minute plus stretch.
From the few minutes shown, it seems the crowd is already there. You could hear a pin drop.
C'mon Donyell, you gotta shoot that!
Absolutely. That was that double-pick play I was talking about last week.
DiLeo should add to the repertoire the one where LB ran a few min. ago and the ball swung from one side to the other on the perimeter with 2 baseline screens, and freed up a shot attempt for the guy that had initially thrown the pass from the opposite side.
C'mon Donyell, you gotta shoot that!
My feed is crapping out on league pass. Pretty sure that's a good thing at this point.
This game is looking a whole lot like the OKC game.
Down 17 at the half, 12-0 run for CHA to close out the second, 10 points scored in the second quarter.
Not encouraging.
Forgot to mention the sixers were scoreless over the last 5 minutes of the quarter.
Which reminds me of the Nets game...
Ah, sweet memories, huh?
I'll give them this much--they're uniformly subpar tonight. No single player has looked consistently good...
The Bobcats defense looks familiar, doesn't it...Just sag into the lane and cut off penetration...except we don't have the shooters that normally annihilate us.
The good news is that I don't think there's any chance Charlotte will shoot 51.4% from the floor in the second half. The bad news is that this is a big hole to dig out of against a good defensive team.
They need to get back to forcing turnovers like they were early on if they're going to get back into it.
The gooder news is my dvr is full so i have something to do :)
27-12 they're losing on the boards. And that's w/ reggie in there for 10 minutes. Please keep his ass glued to the bench the rest of the way.
If it gets under 9 or 10 before the end of the quarter, they will come back and win.
Thad's doing his best. Nice three-play stretch there, dunk, alley-oop to sammy, three.
Can't you just see the teacher to pupil aspect with this game.
WTF IS WILLIE DOING???
He has his PG running the middle of the floor and he tries a cross court pass to Thad and turns it over. Turns into a five-point fucking swing.
That was the moment I declared the game over - that pass was so terrible (and to the wrong player even) i just gave up
Good look Willie.
If Sam isn't going to challenge these guys beating their man off the dribble, put Theo in. The 5 position has been sorely lacking tonight.
Agreed. Theo may actually box someone out too.
You see that Bell screen? Maybe it'll piss Miller off and he'll take over.
It's good that we're scoring, but can't exactly afford to trade baskets. Rattler please.
Come on guys, need a run here before the TV timeout.
Philly showing the zone. I like it. Watch Miller directing traffic out there on defense.
There we go. It starts with D baby.
Man Andre usually scoops that. Uh
Rough shooting night for the Andres. Combined: 6/19.
Wise from Iggy not to take that 3 there. Shot ain't there, go to the hole.
I think it's time to start looking for Thad. He's 6/10, only guy shooting well.
It's always time to do that...when Iguodala passed on two open looks at the 3 in a matter of 10 seconds i gave up again
Come onnnnnn. Got to get it under 10
3 possesions, no stops..darn.
Better quarter, but that isn't going to get it done. They need to make a stand quickly. Run it through Thad.
Getting destroyed on the boards (33-18) and letting your opponents shoot 53.7% is a recipe for disaster. Defense starts with Theo, but gotta go through Thad on offense.
Fuck me. Reggie back in.
Good work on the boards, Reggie. Isn't that supposed to be the one thing you're good at?
5 on Okafor, not that it matters.
Damn. This game is over. Reality check.
While convenient to bash Reg, neither of the other two at the 5 position has done any better.
Theo was fine in there. Dalembert got fouls and disappeared.
He just didn't play him long enough. I was being specific but I meant Sp8's and Sam, but said 5 position, even though they may not be position specific when on the floor.
outrebounded 36-18 says it all
speights & evans have played a combined 22 minutes and have 1 rebound between the 2 of them
DiLeo's showing his belief in Thad, by not having any Andre's out there, although Miller played a lot of 1st half min. due to Ivey fouling.
Yeah, but they aren't going to him. He's had 1 touch this quarter, I believe. A nice step-back jumper that he nailed. Ugh. These games just kill me. World-beaters against good teams, horrible against the lottery teams.
The league is like that every year.
11-point deficit, if we can get Theo and the two Andres in in time we may have a glimmer of hope.
Do the Bobcats have anyone who can guard Thad?
That's a rhetorical question, by the way. Every time he gets a touch he scores.
Nice walk, Reggie.
Just give Thad the damn ball each time.
Two chances to cut it under 10. Reggie walk, Miller missed layup. Foul on the other end, back up to 13. That's the story of the game.
Alright. Down to 8 with 5 minutes to play. Let's fucking go, huh?
Damn offensive rebounds. And time is not our friend.
Get Evans out of the damn game already! We need Theo out there.
Donyell time?
He'll ride Evans, I suppose. Lou's doing a good job getting to the line. That was a big three by Iggy. Need stops, that's the bottom line.
Daly, Evans and Speights have not been positives tonight, so yeah put Theo or Donyell in there.
Need stops and quick baskets. Forcing a turnover or two and scoring in transition would be the ideal scenario.
Man, Miller has made a couple of really stupid passes tonight. Need a hoop right here. Come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
Should've got Okafor fouled out a long time ago jeez.. big play.
Lou with the nice hesitation on Felton.
Lou with the one-1, now we really need to make a stop on this one. There's still a slim chance.
Run a play for Thad out of this timeout. Either Thad or Lou going to the hoop.
I can actually here the crowd now.
Watch for a lob when Charlotte gets the ball back. You know Brown is drawing something up.
THAD IS THE FUCKING MAN!!!!!!!1
1 stop!
Nope. Told you Brown had a play called. And then Miller with a stupid decision. He had Thad. Need to get Donyell in there now for threes.
2-11 andre? really?
Went to Thad (rightly so), but couldn't get a stop, as I had anticipated. Damn. Okafor is showing us exactly what we are missing.
Shit. Huge three from Iggy, can't get the defensive board after a stop.
I would've fouled there.
Good call. Extend it.
Gotta foul.
Exactly.
ouch :(
My comments get stuck in the Internet and always appear a minute too late.
Son of a bitch.
Miller really made some questionable decisions tonight, you almost never see that.
Very, very rare game from him tonight as far as possessions given up.
And just to irritate the crap out of us, DiLeo had to put Marshall in for the last 7 seconds.
!!!!!!
With them penetrating at will all night, he subs Sp8's for Reg......What I'm saying is, with them holding for one shot, you know they are going spread-isolation and to go offense/defense there, you have to put a paint protector in.
He fell in love w/ that lineup w/ reggie at the 5. Honestly, if Miller makes better decisions, it probably works. The one time they had a timeout to set something up, DiLeo called the right number and Thad converted.
Good to see Iggy can those two huge threes, at least.
Agree. Cause he was hesitant early and actually was on one that he ending up making late.
Referring to Iggy, above.
5 turnovers & 3 assists for miller
Okafor made two important blocks in crunch time. Whereas the Sixers didn't even have an average shot blocker on the court. Do you honestly expect Evans to intimidate/concern Raymond Felton or Boris Diaw in the paint?
Reminded me of Dalembert in Portland, actually.
Precisely. We have those players. Daly and Ratliff (even at this age) are two of the top shot blockers in the league. If Daly was off colour or was feeling pain in the wrist, we still had Ratliff to put on the floor. It is frustrating when you don't have the personnel (like a shooter) but when you have the personnel and don't use them, it brings me to the verge of insanity.
Why did we sign Ratliff in the first place, if not for situations like this?
I think they signed him for that sick mustache he has going on.
Either Dalembert or Theo should've been in an offense/defense switch at the end. And it should've been Donyell, not Speights on the offense end of the subs.