 Time To Put A Hurtin' On the Heats When the Sixers visited Miami back in early November, they got their doors blown off. Andre Iguodala had maybe the worst game of his career and the team as a whole had nearly as many turnovers (25) as made field goals (27). It was a night to forget and a win tonight will go a long way toward erasing the memory of the early season struggles.
 My mantra for the rest of the season is going to be "Forget about Elton Brand." We're going to have more than enough time to talk about EB over the summer. It sucks that he got hurt. It remains to be seen if he was a good signing or a bad signing. It's time to move on, for us and for the Sixers. That process begins tonight. The focus of this season right now is threefold.
There's one key to this game for the Sixers, take care of the basketball. Wade, Marion and Chalmers are all excellent at jumping the passing lanes. Crisp passes on the exterior and liberal use of backdoor cuts should minimize their steals. I'm really looking forward to seeing who guards Iguodala. My best guess is Shawn Marion, I think he's their best defender, but if Iguodala finds Beasley on him, he should have a field day. Ditto Wade. Beasley doesn't have the quickness, Wade doesn't have the size or strength. On the other side of the ball, don't be surprised to see Andre Miller spending a decent amount of time checking Wade. Nothing about this team is going to be calm or settled over the next two weeks. There will be hundreds of stories written about Elton Brand. Andre Miller's name will be involved in every trade rumor. The Sixers players need to realize they can't control, or even influence any of that noise. The only thing under their control is the play on the court. Tonight's game is extremely important in the playoff race for both teams. I'd like to see a 48-minute effort. Tip is at 7pm. I'll be here, join me for the in-game discussion if you're watching as well. 
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brian is there an email address at which i can contact you? i have a quick question. mine is mpadover@gmail.com
brian at blogsbyfans dot com
thanks. sending an email now.
Tip is in a couple of minutes. I'm really interested in seeing the match-ups to start the game. I think Miller's going to have an advantage down low. Still wondering who will guard Iguodala.
Marion?
I'd go with Marion. I don't think height really bothers Iggy, though. It's not like he shoots over defenders. You're better off with a quick guy on him, usually. Neither Marion nor Beasley fit that bill, though.
I hate the heat announcers
Jason Jackson used to have a radio show on espn radio that was good. They'd keep running the show on the web during the commercials and he'd talk trash about espn.
Tony Kornheiser used to do that too - bunch of shows did it - but they got in trouble for a variety of reasons (not just language) and had to shut it down...it was a shame...on kornheiser it was the best part of his show
NICE! Haslem on Thad 18 feet from the hoop. That's how that situation should end. Nice to see Thad finish with authority.
Good start. Still too many open looks at three, but they're getting out and running. Wade looks lost on defense against Miller too.
Things I noticed up to the first timeout
Early observations
Thad has some moves – but he’s still gotta work on his awareness – he should have caught that pass
Iguodala again demonstrates BEAUTIFUL court vision.
Sam Dalembert can get rebounds when no one is around – but he’s not strong – magloire pushing him around like a rag doll – and he is either moving from his man too much on defense or is too slow to recover – he needs to be better defensively.
Miller is smooth – it’s amazing – i watch him – i think he’s slow and then he just goes by guys – like he did to wade.
Willie is Willie – he’s on a hot streak – he likes to shoot
Sammy worked hard for a couple of defensive boards after you wrote this.
When he has to box someone out - he's more likely to lose than win - watching magloire push him around is kind of sad - how can you be 6'11 250 and have no strength?
And that's where sam isn't a good defensive big man - chalmers scored EASILY guarded by Sam - gotta play better than that
He already has 1 foul, not going to be as aggressive going after blocks for the rest of the first quarter.
You're attributing smart basketball to sam when history indicates that's unlikely...
I must admit though - i'm trying to watch this gamme more 'unbiasedly' - and I am starting to marvel at Miller - he just SEEMS slow but really isn't
He's much quicker and a much better athlete than anyone gives him credit for.
When he took wade off the dribble like that i was truly astonished...my big concern with him is his age though - guys slow down :)
Reggie is the first big off the bench. Not sure I like that move. I definitely don't like Thad passing on a wide-open jumper to bounce a pass off Reggie's hands.
I don't think ANYONE did - followed by the out of control drive AND then missing the two FT's - not a good last few moments for Thad :)
Alright, Ivey, Lou and Reggie are in. Can they hold this lead?
26-23 after one. Need a strong start to the second, I don't want to see this bench just give it up again.
BTW - did you know it was proncounce - s-pole-stra? I didn't - i thought it was like olestra
By the way, if Tony DiLeo does become the full time head coach for the sixers that's a huge hit to the great scouting that this team has done in the past I would think since he can't scout during the season
Shoot Free throws better please.
Yep. I read a story that Stefanski was doing a great deal of scouting this season.
That concerns me greatly - the sixers have been great in the past at the draft - and most stories indicated that it was because of DiLeo that they were great
Ugh. Free throw problems. Not a good sign.
Asking Speights to extend out to the three-point line on Beasley may be asking too much.
I was looking at the floor and thinking that speights and evans shouldn't even be in right now - but maybe that's just me
plus speights didn't really get 'off the floor' going for that rebound
The one James Jones got standing right behind him? Noticed that.
Ivey at SF again.
Yeah - the one James Jones got
And Ivey - another 1 for 2 FT trip - WTF
Louis Williams is a very good 6' shooting guard (if he's 6' tall - i don't believe he is)
It looks to me like he's playing the point and Miller is playing the two. The bench gave up 1 point off the lead so far. Sammy back in now.
Like I said - he's a good 6' shooting guard - i specifically said shooting guard for a reason :)
Ugly, ugly offense. Get Thad and/or Iggy back in there please.
Good D by Speights on that drive by Beasley.
Why didn't they get a timeout when Willie was on the floor? B.S.
Did you know Vlad Rad was available for a song?
No idea. Vlad must've really been in the doghouse.
Or the Lakers want some cap room - morrison is on one of those new rookie deals right - can be waived after this season?
Nope. He's a restricted FA after next season, but his contract is guaranteed next year because he was such a high pick.
L.A. is so far over the cap anyway, even if Morrison was expiring it wouldn't have made a dent. They'd still be over the luxury tax.
Then what kind of sense how can that make? I'm confused - there's got to be more to it right?
From a cap perspective, the Lakers save about 1.5M next season. Morrison is a restricted free agent after next season, Vlad has a player option after next season.
It's really a zero sum game between the two contracts. He had to be in the doghouse, or Phil Jackson has had a secret boner over Morrison or something.
Or Shannon Brown :)
44-44 at the half. Poor second, the bench didn't give ground, but the starters seemed out of sync when they came back in against the zone.
Only 4 shots for Iguodala in the half, and one of them was a heave at the buzzer.
Nothing but jumpers here to start the second. quick 6-0 run for miami. need a timeout dileo.
Down 7 with 5:30 to go in the third. Theo seeing some minutes, like that sub.
Think speights got in trouble because of his poor effor on that rebound?
The heat back court is out playing the sixers back court - and that shouldn't be happening
Willie and Andre should be out-playing Wade and Chalmers?
Nice horrible 3rd quarter
Yup. They look dead out there.
It seems to me that no matter how many times the sixers drive to the basket - the heat haven't committed a foul?
Alright, give the ball to iggy for the last shot of the q.
For some reason that's Louis Williams time - though speights/ratliff got in each others way to miss that tip in
In an encouraging development that has gone virtually unnoticed all season, NBA players are shooting free throws as well as they ever have, contradicting our reflex rant about how the game's basic fundamentals are in constant decline. The league's collective free throw percentage, led by Calderon's 84-for-85 start through Thursday's games, was up to 77.1 percent. The raw breakdown: 28,150 free throws made in 36,514 attempts. ESPN.com
What was the league-wide percentage last year?
No idea - just pulled that from the hoopshype summary - i thought it was interesting since i thought it should be higher - but i guess big men get fouled a lot and suck at the line
Um - Hey Reggie - how did joel anthony get that rebound?
How does evans allow that o-reb? He was right there? Damnit.
It was kind of bad - but it was kind of helpful in my arguments against reggie evans - almost perfectly presented to me
Well, counter to your argument, he's going to be personally responsible for Miami being in the penalty with about 10 minutes to go in the quarter :)
Never understood why people foul him
They think "He's a terrible free throw shooter." What they don't realize is that he's an even worse finisher :)
There's that flash to the middle by Speights. That's there all night long against the zone.
Sick dish by Sp8s. Poor attempt to draw a charge, though.
There we go. 7:31 to go in the fourth, the Heat are in the penalty.
Unbelievable, they give Chalmers the timeout there when he doesn't even have possession, but they didn't give it to Green in the last quarter.
19-5 run to start the fourth, punctuated by threes from Ivey and Thad.
Speights has had a ton to do with this run. Blocking shots, hustling for rebounds, a sick assist, a nice jumper. The kid is making a difference out there.
They'd be up by 20 if not for Beasley.
That was an impressive fourth quarter for the win.
Hi brian. You look lonely. Only caught the end of the game, I'm glad speights played, plus ivey was huge
Hey,
Yeah, the whole bench really bounced back tonight and DiLeo left them out there to continue the run in the fourth. Great team effort for an important win.
Brian, good point on DiLeo allowing the second unit to stay in the game. Too many coaches get caught up in predetermined substitution patterns and will abandon a unit too soon. DiLeo found a group that was clicking and stuck with them--a decision that helped lead to victory. In addition, Ivey's defense tonight on Wade was phenomenal. He was able to harras him just enough to force him into some tough shots. Some nights Wade makes them anyway, but Ivey did his part on the defensive (and offensive for that matter) end of the floor.
Ivey out-scored Wade 10-1 in the fourth quarter. That's huge.
The Clippers putting the spank on tonight too. Here we come. 2-0 in that batch of next ten games. This may be a W that they look back on. Big victory.
The Bucks are giving the Pistons a run for their money too.
just got back from the game. the crowd was really into it the entire 4th quarter. if ivey can continue playing the raja bell/bruce bowen role, that is a huge lift to us as we make a playoff run. glad to see speights look so energized on the defensive end. lou also did a nice job running the offense in the 4th even though his shot wasn't falling. just a terrific team victory.
nailing 30 of 36 FTs didn't hurt
considering the way they started it's a miracle
I mean 4 of this misses came in the 4th quarter didn't they?
Thad had an 0 for 2 trip to the line and Andre and Royal each had a 1 for trip I believe.
yea speights missed 1 in the 4th too i think
Shit. Detroit just squeaked out an overtime win in Milwaukee. Possibly the worst defensive game I've ever seen.
Ramon Sessions finished with 44 points, 12 assists and 5 boards.
Yea, I was watching that game with a close eye too. Kind of gut wrenching to watch AI do damage to us indirectly twice at the end of that overtime. Vintage-esque.
He really had a garbage game, though. That Pistons team is a shell of its former self. You think Sessions would've scored 44 with Chauncey on him?