The Sixers let the Pistons hang with them through three quarters in their home opener last before taking off the kid gloves and blowing Detroit out of the water with a 32-point fourth quarter, en route to a 96-73 win. (game capsule)
Here's your rotation chart. The worst of the night was a -2, pretty amazing considering how they let Detroit hang in there for so long:
I'm going to keep this very brief because it's late, we have another game tomorrow night, and I'm working on another post that will land between now and then.
Jodie Meeks finally woke up from his terrible shooting slump in a huge way in the fourth quarter. Meeks hit four three-pointers and used the traditional 2+1=3 and added another jumper to score his 17 points in the fourth quarter. Let's hope he's back to what he was last season, because the Sixers certainly need him to be a viable member of their 8-man rotation going forward, or at least a serviceable member. Collins really stuck with Meeks tonight. He was terrible in the early going, but Doug put him out there to start the fourth when Detroit was still within striking distance. Once Meeks hit one three, the entire team starting looking for him, here's a look at the assists on his fourth-quarter field goals: Jrue, Jrue, Brand, Lou, Iguodala, Hawes.
Jrue had a terrible shooting night (2/10), but handed out 9 dimes while only turning the ball over twice. 17 assists, 2 turnovers in his last two games.
Iguodala had a bad shooting night (and got booed for missing a free throw). He also had two of the worst turnovers you'll ever see, and four turnovers total. If you're looking for a positive from Iguodala's game, look at the defense and look at the fact that he only took 4 shots.
EB was terrible, Lou had a solid first half, Turner was pretty good, especially on the glass (8 defensive rebounds) though he didn't shoot particularly well. Thad played a great game. I don't think he attempted 1 jumper, he was Mr. Energy the whole night, and finished 7/11 for 15 points with 7 boards (5 offensive). This was one of the best defensive games of his career. He was all over the floor tipped passes, doubling Bynum to get the ball out of his hands (not Andrew Bynum, Will Bynum. And yes, with the team Detroit had on the floor, doubling Bynum was the right move).
Collins even got a chance to clear the bench, calling on Vucevic, Brackins, and Nocioni finished out the game
Make no mistake, the Pistons are a terrible team, and they were even worse tonight without Stuckey and Gordon, but you have to beat the bad teams - as we've said over and over - and the good teams beat them badly. That's what the Sixers did tonight. It wasn't pretty wire-to-wire, but they just kept the energy up all game until the Pistons caved late. That's a solid formula for success in this shortened season.
That's all I've got for now. Great job getting the win in the home opener, now do it again tomorrow night.
Player of The Game: This was Jodie's coming out party, but Spence gets the nod. He was the only starter to make solid contributions in the first three quarters, and he continued his great play in the early season with 16 points on 8/14 from the floor with 14 boards (10 defensive), 4 assists and 2 blocks. Team Record: 4-2 (FIRST PLACE!) Up Next: vs. TOR, tonight at 8pm. Comment of The Game Thread: "Come on, still pour it on em, win by 20. calling it." - by Eddies' Heady's (winner for calling the 20-point win when the game was still somewhat in question.
Also, if you missed the home opener episode of SixersBeat, listen to the replay right here:
I really hate how the casual fans boo Igoudala, and let everyone in ear shot of me, who was doing so, know it last night. Almost every time he touched the ball, he was heckled by a bunch of losers. Embarrasses me as a fan of this team.
All the hype from new ownership about the new show, was just that. The experience was hardly different, other than them actually beating a team they were supposed to when I was at the game. Really didn't notice any significant changes to the presentation or the experience, other than the bunny being mia. Fairly disappointed. Not sure what I actually expected, but whatever it was, it wasn't.
Nothing noticeable, aside from the new announcer, the video of the PHO during the NA, and the new video montage. Same songs, same gimmicks. Tshirts in the crowd, kiss cam, the hare raisers doing back flips. Same stuff.
There was a different feeling amongst the crowd, but it wasn't influenced by the arena. Normally I go to 5-10 home games a year, and for the better part of the last decade there had been an almost apathetic feeling in the stadium. Like 7k zombies who lost a bet or were dragged to the game, last night felt different. People seemed exited to be there. The least amount of old Iverson
jerseys I've seen since he left. It was refreshing.
Sorry, it was an assumption. I would assume that anyone who knew anything about the game wouldn't chastise a player who has contributed so greatly to this team, almost purely just for the sake of doing so. He was getting boo'd from the moment he touched the ball.
They're idiots, but they paid their money. Keep going to the games and boo whoever you want, imo you buy the right to be a moron in public when you purchase the ticket.
The fans treatment of Iguodala, rather they be casual or knowledged fans, is something I will never understand. Even if the guy isn't the player you expected him to be he has never done anything to hurt the team on or off the court.
You can't tell me you wouldn't boo Iguodala in that game. He made maddeningly frustrating decisions on offense. It's very annoying to watch as a fan. When you have players like Meeks, Turner, and Thad who are diving at loose balls and making sound decisions on offense, then you have Iggy who turns the ball over and doesn't hustle back on defense, then he stands out. He continues to do things like this, which is why he is clearly not a fan favorite.
So you don't enjoy his great defense or that alley oop dunk in the hornets game - i mean if we're picking and choosing the moments that define who and what a player is huh?
A player is defined by the entirety of their game - intelligent people get that
Thing is the casual fan will look at Iguodala's stats during the season and think that he isn't a good/effective player. That will watch a game and only notice when Iguodala misses a three pointer. Thing is Iguodala is best at doing the small things that don't show up in the boxscore.
I definetly think booing Iguodala is the wrong reaction but I think it's totally fair for fans to expect him to start making more big plays than he has.
Brand + Iggy = 3/13 for 9 points, 8 boards and 5 assists.
Good news: Other than M33ks, none of the young guys are playing over their head (maybe Hawes). If Iggy and Brand can merely return to their career averages, we'll see a lot more production.
Pistons were 0/10 from downtown (normally shoot a terrible 31%, not sure why the Sixers were making an effort to chase them off the arc)
1) 1st home game after the Hip Hop era...
2) I watched the game on Int'l LP and I wasn't sure those were actual boos until I read Brian's post. As far as I remember it's the first time that Igoudala gets booed, am I missing something?
3) nice W and it's good to have Meex back, coz I agree that he deserves the right spot in the rotation but I'd still make LW or ET start
4) looks like Brand's legs are really an issue, I'm afraid with this packed schedule it can get worse... too pessimistic?
- I felt like it was a dumb decision on Collin's part to have Meeks start the 4th. He was shooting well, while ET was having a good game on the other end.
- "Even Stevie Wonder saw that" or "Negrodomus" I don't know which one was Malik's finest talking points.
- Vucevic had 6 points and 2 rebounds in 2.78 minutes. That's 103 points and 35 rebounds if he had played the whole game. I think your preconceived notions of Vuce were wrong, Brian.
- Jump shooting is going to be a very important part of Turner's game. I can see him being a Paul Peirce type player.
- Brand has been awful. He's been OK defensively. Part of me thinks that EB is going to get much better as the season progresses.
Is there some type of failure to come to an agreement between Comcast Philly and DirecTV? Being the reason they have only shown away teams' coverage so far? They show other Comcast coverage from other regions of the country on league pass and have other Comcast stations available on just the regular sports pass but not CSN Philly. Just wondering if this could be season long because of some corporate wrangling.
Not sure. In years prior to last year, Time Warner almost never showed the Sixers broadcast, but something definitely changed last season, because I get the Sixers' guys more often than not now.
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I really hate how the casual fans boo Igoudala, and let everyone in ear shot of me, who was doing so, know it last night. Almost every time he touched the ball, he was heckled by a bunch of losers. Embarrasses me as a fan of this team.
All the hype from new ownership about the new show, was just that. The experience was hardly different, other than them actually beating a team they were supposed to when I was at the game. Really didn't notice any significant changes to the presentation or the experience, other than the bunny being mia. Fairly disappointed. Not sure what I actually expected, but whatever it was, it wasn't.
did they do anything different during timeouts and breaks? what was the halftime show?
Nothing noticeable, aside from the new announcer, the video of the PHO during the NA, and the new video montage. Same songs, same gimmicks. Tshirts in the crowd, kiss cam, the hare raisers doing back flips. Same stuff.
There was a different feeling amongst the crowd, but it wasn't influenced by the arena. Normally I go to 5-10 home games a year, and for the better part of the last decade there had been an almost apathetic feeling in the stadium. Like 7k zombies who lost a bet or were dragged to the game, last night felt different. People seemed exited to be there. The least amount of old Iverson
jerseys I've seen since he left. It was refreshing.
ha zombies who lost a bet is a good way to describe it
Im sure there are some people who know basketball that boo Iguodala too.
Sorry, it was an assumption. I would assume that anyone who knew anything about the game wouldn't chastise a player who has contributed so greatly to this team, almost purely just for the sake of doing so. He was getting boo'd from the moment he touched the ball.
They're idiots, but they paid their money. Keep going to the games and boo whoever you want, imo you buy the right to be a moron in public when you purchase the ticket.
The fans treatment of Iguodala, rather they be casual or knowledged fans, is something I will never understand. Even if the guy isn't the player you expected him to be he has never done anything to hurt the team on or off the court.
You can't tell me you wouldn't boo Iguodala in that game. He made maddeningly frustrating decisions on offense. It's very annoying to watch as a fan. When you have players like Meeks, Turner, and Thad who are diving at loose balls and making sound decisions on offense, then you have Iggy who turns the ball over and doesn't hustle back on defense, then he stands out. He continues to do things like this, which is why he is clearly not a fan favorite.
Yeah, he's a real dog out there. No hustle whatsoever.
You can't tell me that you enjoy watching Iggy not get back on defense because he's busy arguing a call.
So you don't enjoy his great defense or that alley oop dunk in the hornets game - i mean if we're picking and choosing the moments that define who and what a player is huh?
A player is defined by the entirety of their game - intelligent people get that
Hmm...so we only evaluate players one game at a time? Thaddeus Young has made numerous 'not smart' decisions this year (every jumper he takes)
Thing is the casual fan will look at Iguodala's stats during the season and think that he isn't a good/effective player. That will watch a game and only notice when Iguodala misses a three pointer. Thing is Iguodala is best at doing the small things that don't show up in the boxscore.
I definetly think booing Iguodala is the wrong reaction but I think it's totally fair for fans to expect him to start making more big plays than he has.
This is true if the only column in the box scores people can comprehend is points scored.
anyone know why tonight's game is at 8pm instead of the usual 7? just curious.
Think there is an early Flyers game.
Think there is an early Flyers game.
Brand + Iggy = 3/13 for 9 points, 8 boards and 5 assists.
Good news: Other than M33ks, none of the young guys are playing over their head (maybe Hawes). If Iggy and Brand can merely return to their career averages, we'll see a lot more production.
Pistons were 0/10 from downtown (normally shoot a terrible 31%, not sure why the Sixers were making an effort to chase them off the arc)
Pierce with an uncharacteristic 3-17 in home loss to Pacers; 5 TOs too. Celts 25 pts H1. Some "Gahdin poddy."
1) 1st home game after the Hip Hop era...
2) I watched the game on Int'l LP and I wasn't sure those were actual boos until I read Brian's post. As far as I remember it's the first time that Igoudala gets booed, am I missing something?
3) nice W and it's good to have Meex back, coz I agree that he deserves the right spot in the rotation but I'd still make LW or ET start
4) looks like Brand's legs are really an issue, I'm afraid with this packed schedule it can get worse... too pessimistic?
- I felt like it was a dumb decision on Collin's part to have Meeks start the 4th. He was shooting well, while ET was having a good game on the other end.
- "Even Stevie Wonder saw that" or "Negrodomus" I don't know which one was Malik's finest talking points.
- Vucevic had 6 points and 2 rebounds in 2.78 minutes. That's 103 points and 35 rebounds if he had played the whole game. I think your preconceived notions of Vuce were wrong, Brian.
- Jump shooting is going to be a very important part of Turner's game. I can see him being a Paul Peirce type player.
- Brand has been awful. He's been OK defensively. Part of me thinks that EB is going to get much better as the season progresses.
Is there some type of failure to come to an agreement between Comcast Philly and DirecTV? Being the reason they have only shown away teams' coverage so far? They show other Comcast coverage from other regions of the country on league pass and have other Comcast stations available on just the regular sports pass but not CSN Philly. Just wondering if this could be season long because of some corporate wrangling.
Not sure. In years prior to last year, Time Warner almost never showed the Sixers broadcast, but something definitely changed last season, because I get the Sixers' guys more often than not now.