Jackassery aside, the Sixers positively gave their
first game against the Wizards away. Actually, to be fair, even though they played horrible defense and sent Washington to the line 43 times, they still should've won. A Cartier Martin prayer three at the buzzer sent it into overtime, after all. Will the Sixers be able to exact some revenge tonight, back in Washington?
Coverage of their first meeting.
Keep an eye on the injury situation throughout the day. Yesterday, I heard a report that John Wall might return for this one, and all signs are also pointing to Andre Iguodala being back in the lineup. It'll be a refreshing change to see the Sixers fully healed and well rested. I hope they took full advantage of their three off days, because tonight's game is the beginning of another grueling stretch. Four games in five nights, two back-to-backs, and in the back end of both, the opposing team has at least one day of rest. The schedulemakers really stuck it to the Sixers this year.
Anyway, more pressing matters are at hand. The Sixers have ridden a couple of solid defensive efforts against offensively-challenged teams right back into the top ten of defensive efficiency rating, and they should improve upon that mark tonight. Despite scoring 116 points the first time these teams met, Washington has the 28th-ranked offense and really very little skill on that side of the ball. Wall is explosive, but he's their only legit weapon at this point. Gilbert Arenas is a shell of the washed up guy he was prior to the gun suspension and after the myriad leg problems. Andray Blatche is like Charlie Villaneuva, only lazier. Arenas and Blatche combine for 8.7 long twos per game. Just let them keep chucking from out there.
The Wizards as a team can't shoot the three, they don't rebound particularly well, they turn the ball over too much. If you're gameplanning for them, you basically just need to stay out of their way and let them do exactly what they want to do on the offensive end. Cut down on the fouls and let them shoot jumpers all night long.
On the offensive end, just take care of the ball. JaVale McGee is a legit interior defender, but Flip Saunders is reluctant to play him more than 25 minutes/game. When he's not in there, the lane is wide open. Arenas is about three steps slower than he was back when he was merely a disinterested defender, so you can imagine what he's like at this point. At any given time, two of Turner, Jrue and Iguodala will probably have a mismatch. As long as McGee isn't on him, Brand has a mismatch. Thad can do work against whoever's guarding him if they keep getting him the ball facing the hoop from 15-18 feet away (which they should), and Lou feasts on undisciplined perimeter defenders. Scoring should not be an issue.
This is the only game of the next four in which the Sixers aren't facing a significant disadvantage either in raw talent or horrible scheduling. They need to take advantage in a big way.
Prediction: Sixers 110, Wizards 98
Matchup I'm Looking Forward To: Jrue vs. Wall, part 2. (did you realize Jrue is less than three months older than John Wall?)
Tip is at 7pm, game thread will be up at 5:30.
Doug Collins said that when his team is fully healthy, his starting lineup would be Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner at guard, Andre Iguodala at small forward, Elton Brand at power forward and Spencer Hawes at center.
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I guess I'd go with Speights/Brand/Iguodala/Turner/Jrue... but it is less ball friendly.
Actually, I think Lou should start with Jrue and Iguodala, if he's hot you can get off to a quick start, if not, bench him, he should be handled like Hawes
lou is better with the second unit though because he's assertive. bringing turner on as our backup point guard would really leave us without go-to scoring unless we count thad as our go-to guy.
lou would also dominate the ball and keep holliday and iggy from creating and getting brand or others going. while the talk of lou as a mini-iverson has gotten people hyped up about his positives, his tendency to kill ball movement and be a liability on defense would do more harm then good on a starting unit looking to establish a rhythm in the game. we'd be looking at a lot more big deficits than early leads if we started lou.
I wouldn't bring turner in as the back up point guard - and Lou williams isn't a point guard either.
The enigma that is Louis Williams requires Iguodala or Holiday in the back court with him at all times
in an ideal world we would treat him like the microwave. "just add water" and he comes in and gives us a spark while iggy or jrue gets a breather along with brand. he gets to the line, extends the game and lets us tread water. if he's cold, he gets yanked before he can do any real damage.
unfortunately with our lack of shot-creators, his particular brand of offense becomes our best shot at scoring consistent buckets, which turns into hoping he can get to the line without chucking too many ill-advised jumpers. when his shot isn't falling he needs to get pulled immediately because things quickly go south when he tries (and fails) to score. too many times when he's put in its either "here we go again..." or "alright, maybe he can pull us through this quarter". he shouldn't have this much control over the game.
I think the NBA should start handing out technicals for asinine pre game rituals - be it covering people with chalk or doing the dumbest trendy dance move since the Macarena.
Yes! Like Colin Cowherd wisely said, Wall's doing the Dougie proves that he will never be a winner.
I think once Wolf Blitzer does something (at the BET awards no less) then it's officially run its course.
I've never heard Colin Cowherd say anything wisely :)
Yeah, I was being sarcastic. Anyway, I will defend any hip-hop trend; it's not the dance's fault that Wolf Blitzer did it.
I tried purchasing an online sarcasm detector off of ebay- but it did not work.
Mine works but it takes into account many variables including the source of said sarcasm
Maybe I should just buy a BS detector?
Or maybe one of these? http://www.swankola.com/thrift/thrift030.html
I want me smell-o-vision damn it
God the sixers really suck don't they?:)
The sixers should win one for the spectrum tonight, they finally blew it up
Wrecking ball, not an implosion, and it was barely touched today.
Lots of news coverage today i figured today was the big implosion day - ah well - now i'll just have to move the flyers to jersey
Pregame video: Lou Williams on making shots, owing the Wizards one
http://ow.ly/3eAiH