 The Haitian Sensation! The Sixers do not win this game without Samuel Dalembert. They don't even come close. Big Sam turned in his best game of the season, and possibly the best game of his career tonight and powered the Sixers to their fourth straight win, 98-94 over the T-Wolves. Dalembert's line, amazing. 5/8 from the floor, 8/8 from the line, 11 rebounds (3 offensive), and 9 BLOCKS! Sammy intimidated Minnesota in every way possible and changed this game with his defense.The trend continued tonight, with Mo Cheeks calling on Jason Smith, Kyle Korver, Calvin Booth, Lou Williams and Thad Young in the first quarter. The bench accounted for 67 minutes and chipped in with 21 points, 10 boards and 6 assists. Mo went with Thad for important minutes in the fourth quarter, and Young didn't disappoint. He made several plays on the defensive side of the ball, and crashed the offensive glass (3 o-boards in 12 minutes). I have to give some ink to my new hero, Willie "Quality Minutes" Green. Willie played 35 minutes tonight, more than I'd usually like to see out of him, but he shot the ball well (7/13) and contributed all across the stat line with 5 boards, 4 assists and a block, all while only turning the ball over once. It's amazing that Andre Iguodala dropped 25 on 8/17 from the floor and I don't get to him until the fourth graph, but there you have it. He's becoming the constant on this team, rather than a streaky shooter who goes for 30 one night, and 5 the next. Of the four wins, this was the least convincing. The T-Wolves are a bad team, they were playing the ass-end of a back-to-back at Philly. This should've been a blowout, but the Minnesota bench, led by Antoine Walker, was on fire from three. Defending the three is probably the area this team needs to work on the most. Enough negativity though, the Sixers won and apparently beating a bad team on your home court is no sure thing. Player of The Game: Sammy Team Record: 9-14 Next Up: The Sactown Kings on Friday - Check out Sactown Royalty for Kings coverage.
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Wittman took Walker out when he got hot and that is why Phily won. That guy sucks as a coach. Who takes out the teams hottest player when the game is on the line? Walker was playing well and out he went? sigh
By the way the Sixers are not that much better then the Wolves for you to act like this should have been a blow out.
I miss having an NBA team to root for:( oh and the Yankees suck:)
If you're pinning your hopes on Employee #8, you've got problems. I hate that guy.
Under the circumstances, the Sixers should've won by more. The Wolves were playing the second night of a back-to-back, on the road. They let the Wolves back in the game after getting a double-digit lead early on.
What happened to Gerald Green? Wasn't he one of the main pieces of the KG rapefest, err, trade?
I was thinking the same thing. People were comparing him to T-Mac coming out of high school and now he gets DNP's on a bad rebuilding team?
Nice to see Lou back after David's assault. It wasn't as bad as T'J Ford's spill though. First he had neck injuries and now this. The man can't catch a break.
**If we keep winning, Sam has to be a consideration for defensive player.**
I know Sam and Lou have improved but WG has been the most impressive this year. To change(or toned down) your whole mentality during the summer is amazing and is paying dividends for him and the team. Maybe it's the trust in his knee but I like his aggressiveness to the hoop.
I expect us to beat up on John "summer league" Salmons and the Kings Friday for 5 straight.
Aarick,
It's still early, but if Willie keeps this up, I think we're witnessing one of the biggest turnarounds I've ever seen. Willie doesn't look selfish at all out there, he's playing within the rotation, within the offense, and he's making his opportunities count. He's also playing decent defense.
I think some credit has to go to Mo for that. Someone had to talk to him about his role, and he took that talk to heart.
Hey Brian,
Good stuff tonight. I like the new Willie Green, reminds me of the old Willie. By old Willie, I mean the rookie Willie Green that played well during that Ayers/Ford year when AI got hurt. He's come full circle, so to speak.
Big Sam, what can I say. Blame Canada! :-) He took steps forward last year, but he's really progressed. I think one thing we've missed is that when he played big during the stretch of that JOB season and in the playoffs, he spent a lot of time on the floor with Marc Jackson, who is a physical and vocal player. Now, he's playing with Reggie Evans, another physical and vocal player. What do you think?
Is Sam going to turn out to be more or less like Theo Ratliff?
Sam has a much more developed offensive game than Rafliff ever did. He's actually got a nice touch on jumpers out to a little past the foul line. His low post moves need serious work, but he can be counted on for double figures every night, you could never really say that about Ratliff.
Theo was probably a better shot blocker in his prime.