by Brian on April 12, 2008 at 12:37AM
I have three things to say about what happened on the court tonight, then I'm going to completely erase the memory from my mind and not think about the Sixers again until the tip off tomorrow night at 7pm.
  1. Rodney Carney (1/11), Lou Williams (2/12) and Willie Green (2/14) should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for their performance tonight.
  2. Please, please, please let Andre Iguodala's leg not be an issue from here on out.
  3. Thad Young was the number one option on offense for most of his 34 minutes tonight. He finished 10/19 from the floor for 21 points. He needs to be a big part of the game plan when the playoffs start and the Sixers are forced into the half court.
Player of The Game: Thad
Team Record: 40-39
Playoff Race: 7th place. Toronto won, they hold the tiebreaker over the Sixers. Washington lost. A win tomorrow night will put the Sixers in a tie for fifth, holding the tiebreaker over Washington, but they'd still have to finish one game better than Toronto. If there is a three-way tie, which is completely possible, the Sixers will finish with the #7 seed. This was an extremely costly loss.



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[April 12, 2008 3:42 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Tray said

Great case of how unadjusted plus-minus in a single game tells you nothing. Thad scores 21 on 10-19 shooting and went -11; Willie went 2-14 (and 2-6 from the line!), scores 6 points, and somehow he was +6. Also, Willie shouldn't be shooting threes. He took five today, yet he's 2 for his last 24, 3 for his last 33, 4 for his last 39, etc. Green's not a totally talentless player or anything, but there have to be at least 40 guards in Europe and the NBDL who are as good or better than him.

[April 12, 2008 12:10 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Brian replied to Tray

I can't believe Mo left Willie in there and let him keep shooting. I have to say that was the most disgraceful game I've ever seen him play, and he's played more disgraceful games than most.

I think 40 might be too low of a number, though.

[April 12, 2008 4:23 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Mary said

Mary said

Hey Brian, first time poster here, really love Depressed Fan, I'm a Sixer fan and your analysis of the games is so spot on, really enjoy reading what you have to say.
Just wanted to give some props to Sam tonight for working his butt off on the boards and his really good defensive job on JO. He gets overshadowed by the Andre's all the time, but I think without Sam, this team is not in the post season. The Sixers couldn't throw anything in the hoop tonight, not even foul shots. Make your foul shots win the game! One more observation from me, Sam wide open under the basket 3 times, I counted, hand up. I know it's not wise to give him the ball in the post, but under the basket? couldn't be any worse than Willie Green or Lou Williams tonight.
In closing I have a question for you, I'm new here so forgive me if this has been explained by you often, but how did you become a Yankee's fan, but you love the Sixers and Eagles and not the Philles, just curious. Thanks for your great commentary, look forward to more!

[April 12, 2008 12:19 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Brian replied to Mary

Thanks for the kind words Mary.

Sammy is the reason the Pacers didn't run away with this thing. His work on the boards and JO was very good. Like you said, he didn't really get enough touches to influence things on the offensive side. I can't tell you how disappointing it is that the Pacers were able to keep the Sixers out of the lane with their inferior defenders, but there you have it.

The short version of the story is that my father was from Philly (I grew up in North Jersey). I grew up watching the Sixers, Eagles and Phillies, then when I was 7 Don Mattingly came up with the Yanks and for some reason I was drawn to him. I started watching the Yanks on a black and white TV in the kitchen when my dad was watching the Phillies in the other room. Eventually Mattingly even turned my dad into a Yankees fan. I still root for the Phils, but the Yanks have been my team since Mattingly came up.

[April 12, 2008 2:03 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Max said

I can't believe Indiana swept them this season. I don't think I've ever been more ashamed of Willie. He is a veteran, who should be showing the young guys how to play. Instead, he doesn't exert himself on D and he chucks up everything without running the offense. And it looks like Carney, and Lou are starting to pick up his bad habits. I am absolutely convinced the sixers need to jettison Willie.

[April 12, 2008 2:20 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Brian replied to Max

I think it's time to go with the big starting lineup. Put Evans in there at PF, Thad at SF and Iguodala at SG. That's the best option on both sides of the ball and I'm really sick of crossing my fingers hoping that Green won't bury this team before Mo can get him out of there.

Lou and Carney were bad last night, but I didn't think they took a ton of bad shots. Almost every one of Willie's 14 shots was a bad shot, too early in the shot clock.

I blame Mo for that loss. He has to recognize what Willie's doing to the team and either tell him to stop shooting or get him the hell out of there. I'd bet money that when Willie is out there tonight if he misses a couple shots early Miller will take care of this himself and freeze him out.

[April 12, 2008 2:08 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Joe said

16 ORebs vs. 6 ORebs
11 TOs vs. 20 TOs
21 FTs vs. 7 FTs
95 shots vs. 86 shots

9 point loss? Unacceptable.

[April 12, 2008 3:34 PM]  |  link  |  reply
The GM said

Granger took over in the second half. That was the only reason the Pacers won. Flip Murray trying to dunk in traffic? What was he thinking?!