If the Sixers win either of their next two games, this season's Ice Capades trip can be classified as nothing short of a rousing success. Tonight, the calendar will flip some time in the third quarter (on the East coast), and if the Sixers can pull off a minor miracle in Los Angeles, they'll have every right to celebrate.
Check out the
game capsule from the first Sixers/Lakers game of the season.
Since that first game against the Lakers, they've shuffled their starting lineup. Lamar Odom has gone back to his sixth-man role and Andrew Bynum is starting in the middle. This was the lineup they used pretty much all of last season (when Bynum wasn't injured), and I'm not sure the change means a whole lot. Odom still played 42 minutes in their last game. The added size will probably cause some problems for the Sixers, but Odom's size and versatility was what really killed them in Philly a couple weeks ago. He's too strong for Thad and too quick for Brand.
I haven't heard anything about Andre Iguodala's status, but I do think it's crucial that he's back at somewhere near full strength if the team is going to have any chance in this game. Iguodala held Kobe to 9 points in their first meeting, and you'd have to go back three years to find a good Kobe performance against the Sixers. If Iguodala is in the lineup, he'll be able to minimize the damage Kobe does, which only leaves three defensive matchup problems on the floor.
A big reason the Sixers were able to hang with the Lakers in their first meeting was Spencer Hawes. Hawes has had some of the best games of his career against LA and he's going to have to come up big again this time. He's coming off a quietly solid game against Phoenix, so cross your fingers on that one.
On offense, there's no reason Jrue shouldn't extend his scoring streak to four games. Derek Fisher can't stick with him. My big hope is that Jrue won't fall in love with the long two. He was unbelievably hot from 16-23 feet in their last game, but I don't like the team's odds if he's taking 10 shots from that range.
And Evan Turner. If he can be the scorer we saw against Phoenix, he's going to cause some matchup problems for the Lakers' second unit. If he crawls back inside his shell, he's not going to be of much use.
Prediction: PHI 93, LAL 89. A New Year's Miracle!
The tip is at 10:30pm. Game thread will be up at 9pm and I'll be here throughout.
which only leaves three defensive matchup problems on the floor
This made me laugh; was it meant to be funny or sad?
Per Kate Fagan (@deepsixer3) Iguodala will miss the next five games... Turner has to step up
Ugh. I guess this probably means Nocioni in the starting lineup, and Jrue guarding Kobe. It would be great if Turner got the start, but I'll be surprised if it happens.
Next five games:
@ LAL
@ NOH
vs. WAS
vs. CHI
@ DET
if he's only out for five, he'll return against Indy, at home.
Hope for 2-3 over those five games. 3-2 would be excellent.
Let the trade AI9 fodder begin. To steal Derek's line I will grap my popcorn and chips and be watching. I do hope Evan steps up. It will give this team more versatility in terms of matchups and I particularly liked when they have the bigger guard lineup on the floor for defensive purposes.
The "trade Iguodala" crowd should be pretty happy. If the team does well, they don't need him and he should be traded. If the team doesn't do well, they aren't going anywhere and he should be traded. However, I do think Coach Collins has a higher opinion of him than most of Sixer fandom ...
I think this logic should be the exact opposite imo. I think Iguodala should be gone if this team is unable to win without him. Iguodala is not talented enough to carry a team that is lacking in talent so there is no reason to keep him on a team where he is going to be asked to do more than he's able to do. Since there really is no way to bring in additional talent to let Iguodala play the role he's meant for i think he should be traded as he isn't going to help this team win a championship, ever. There won't be any talent that comes out of nowhere that takes this team to contender status.
I think people should want Iguodala to stay more if this team is capable of winning, or at least holding its own vs contenders without him as this is a team that Iguodala belongs on. The only way that Iguodala will ever be wearing a Sixers uniform at the same time as this team being a contender is if Jrue or Turner turn into something great in a short matter of time as that is what Iguodala really needs the most.
The notion that if this team is bad it should keep Iguodala or if this team is good without Iguodala and they don't "need" Iguodala is ridiculous. That's the situation that Iguodala is the most unnecessary in as he has been proven time and time again not to be a player that can elevate a team lacking in talent. Likewise I don't understand why anyone would trade Iguodala because we don't need him to play competetive basketball, that's the situation that you want to have Iguodala in. There is no reason to think that if the sixers have a good 5 games that Iguodala should be traded, that's a reason to keep Iguodala.
sigh, the first half of your post got me so fired up, that I just assumed the 2nd half of your post would play out that we need iguodala if we have a bad 5 games.
ESPN Los Angeles Game Preview
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/preview?gameId=301231013
With Iggy out for 5 games, Jrue will flourish having the ball all the time. I am all for the accelerated development of Jrue at the sake of Iggy.
Lets hope Turner can break out of his bust shell. Oh man, that is a play better cliche sandwich.
Yup, Dei is saying nocioni will start.
Who wins the Nucioni/Artest fistfight at the 3 tonight? Odom killed us lasttime,with Iggy out does Brackins get some time on him?
If Jrue is on Kobe, I hope he can stay out of foul trouble. We have no chance with Lou running the point.