Let's see what we can glean from the first three games against the Bobcats and focus on a couple of things that need to change tonight.
Here's a look at the
Bobcats archive, I'd suggest you stop reading before you get to the final game of the 2007-2008 season, that was depressing. Let's take a look at all three matchups from this season, what worked and what didn't:
November 24th - Philadelphia 84, Charlotte 93Larry Brown started two point guards, Felton and Augustin. They torched the Sixers to the tune of 16/22 from the field and 4/5 from three. This was a Mo Cheeks game with the original starting lineup of Miller, Iguodala, Thad, Brand and Sammy. The Sixers owned the defensive glass, they forced 20 turnovers, they just couldn't shoot to save their lives. 39% from the floor and 18% from three. Thad and Lou combined to shoot 7/25 from the floor and 1/11 from three. That pretty much sunk the Sixers.
January 9th - Charlotte 87, Philadelphia 93The Sixers were in the midst of a nice run when the Bobcats came to town, and Brown's ugly style of play couldn't derail the momentum. The Sixers were super aggressive, scoring most of their points in the paint and never settling for jumpers. They only attempted 8 threes the entire game and made three of them. Miller and Thad led the way offensively and Iguodala locked down Gerald Wallace. The interesting thing to note is that Okafor had a good game, and the majority of the Bobcats attempts came from the frontcourt, which was a complete departure from the first time they met.
March 27th - Charlotte 100, Philadelphia 95I'm starting to notice a trend here. Bell, Felton and Augustin combined for 46 points. Okafor wasn't a factor at all. This game was marred by an uncharacteristicly poor game from Andre Miller. Thad was a beast, this was his 6th consecutive game of 20 points or more. Thad, Lou and Iguodala led a furious comeback in the fourth, but it fell short.
If I'm going to glean anything from these three games, it's that the Sixers need to defend from the outside in. Don't double down on anyone, dare Charlotte to run offense through Okafor in the post. Iguodala needs to stick to Wallace, and tempt him to take jumpers. The guards need to stick with Felton, Bell and Augustin on the perimeter. On offense, they should attack, attack and attack some more. Don't let Brown's defense dictate your shot selection, force the issue.
I'll have a full preview before the tip, in the mean time, check out the archives and see if you can notice a trend I overlooked. This is an important game for the Sixers and I hope they're doing a better job adjusting than they did against the Nets.
Spotting a trend is one thing, Brian. Actually making adjustments is another. The Sixers probably know what they need to do (at least I hope they do). HOWEVER, after reading a quote like this (about the Nets) from Iguodala, “They just played the same they did all year. We never really adjusted from game to game. They just beat us pretty much the same way.”, I'm not at all confident that they will do it.
Yeah, I had that comment in mind when I wrote this. You'd hope they'll do a better job tonight of adjusting. At least they beat Charlotte once, so they have a history w/ what works.
How do you adjust to the fact that Miller cannot guard a quick PG. If Augustine and Felton are on the floor who does he cover?
felton and you make him shoot jumpers, or you play a zone.
Felton heard you :)
LB is going to have them sagging and clogging the paint like he did in Philly last week. He has his guys cut off all penetration lanes and tries to force us to shoot jumpers.