| 10 November 2009
Thanks for the entertainment guys.
The 115-119 home loss vs the Suns was a really fun game to watch. Yes, it left me a bitter taste in the mouth because we didn't win it, but it also gave all Sixers fans some very encouraging indications for the mid term future.
I think this is much needed in a year that won't see Sixers contending for... anything, I'm afraid. It's only seven games into the season and fans already don't care: I think there weren't more than 8.000 souls inside the arena last night, to watch our team facing the NBA leading, 6-1 Suns, coming off a 3-1 eastern trip. Imagine when it will be Charlotte (uh, pretty soon, btw, next week...).
Sixers stand at 3-4 (.429) but could (should?) have learned a thing or two after losing a game that saw them up for nearly 40 minutes.
First, good teams and good players make clutch plays, while bad teams usually miss them. Rodney Carney - superb athlete, mediocre player - missed an easy layup that could have given the Sixers a two point lead with 2.20 left: Suns got the rebound and with his 19th assist Nash fed Jason Richardson, that dunked while being fouled, 108-111. It was the turning point, as Sixers never recovered. After that, Carney also went 1/2 from the line, failing to make it a one possession game (109-113, 50 seconds). That didn't help either.
So I am blaming Carney for the loss? No, of course. It was a team loss. Especially when you allow your opponent, #1 in NBA in 3 point percentage with 47%, to shoot wide open threes, one after the other. "Defending" the three is becoming ridiculous. Suns were 15/27 from behind the arc in the fourth, missing their last three.
Jason Richardson (37% for the career) knocked down his first SIX threes and missed his first one with 4.25 left in the 3rd. Jared Dudley finished with 4/5, but was 7/24 before meeting the Sixers, 29%. Talking about providing a healing effect for slumping shooters...
Did we contest those 27 treys? No. I think more than 20 were taken with the closest Sixer ten feet from the shooter. We played some defense on the last three and, guess what, Suns didn't hit them.
I know Nash is fabulous at finding the open man, I know he is an artist in beating his man off the dribble, draw the double team and kick it out to someone on the perimeter, I know you still have to make the shots, so hitting 6/6 from long range would be remarkable even in a shooting contest with no defense.. my question is DID WE HAVE A DEFENSIVE GAME PLAN ??? Because Suns have been doing the same, identical things for the last 145 years, maybe more, and Nash is 35 y/o, and was guarded by a 23 y/o, extremely athletic opponent.
We (uhm, everybody) knew how Phoenix would have played, and they beat us doing exactly that. Drive-kick out-outside shot. Bum. Or inbound the ball (off a Sixers' field goal), dribble, pass, shoot. Bum. And still Sixers played bad man-on-man defense, left the shooters open, didn't get back on defense quickly after they had scored.
Let's move to the good notes (after the jump).Jrue Holiday is a fantastic talent and was my MVP last night. Really a stunning surprise as he played with a veteran attitude, committing only one rookie mistake (an offensive foul, in the pic) in a very solid 15 minutes. He did everything, scored twice from behind the arc (3/4 for the season...) and once on a sweet baseline jumper, dove on the floor for a steal + assist (that deserved my standing ovation, the kind of hustle play that Sixers fans love), rebounded the ball, played good defense.
I know many Sixers fans question(ed) the Holiday pick and would have taken Lawson, who is playing well for Denver. But hey, if this is the dawn, the sun will shine bright soon in Sixerland. I am really impressed by our rookie. And Lou Williams better watch out soon. Actually it was interesting how Jordan played some minutes with Lou and Jrue together in the back court, a solution I think we will see often in the future.
Speights was excellent again. Great for my fantasy team, also. His range is impressive, he can knock down 18-20 footers pretty easily. He's not afraid to take big shots in he decisive moments. Not a coincidence he plays in fourth quarters, while Brand usually sits. Really a big spark, and active defensively.
THREE ANSWERS
1) yes, Jrue Holiday can play. And will play. If I was Ivey, I would be worried. Good for Royal his contract is guaranteed for the year.
2) yes, Brand and Sam are alive. Far from impressive, but they contributed and didn't committ many mistakes, even in limited minutes. An improvement over the last game(s).
3) no, Thaddeus Young is not a willing defender, but at least he did well in the other half court. Again, it was the Suns... let's wait for a tougher test.
THREE QUESTIONS
1) why did Kapono get only six minutes when Suns played a lot of 2-3 zone? I have no clue. Yes he would have burned defensively, but it's not like we were shutting Suns down...
2) will Iguodala go on with these nice streak of games at the two? He didn't get to the line last night but his outside shot is falling, another good sign. He's averaging 20-6-5 with 51% so far.... how about that? And check this article by Thoughts from the jockstrap, a fellow Bloguin blog.
3) why we always finish games allowing runs? It happened in Detroit, it happened again vs Phoenix. We can't hold leads.
REASONS
Why we lost the game
Because we didn't defend on the perimeter and didn't do the right things well down the stretch.
To be optimistic
We lost to a good team that completed a 4-1 trip. We saw our rookie can be a stud, while our second year back up (?) PF/C already is.
To be worried
We lost another winnable game, like at Detroit. We saw a 16 point lead wasted. We committ the same mistakes over and over. In the three losses vs Orlando, Boston and Phoenix we allowed a combined 45/79 from three point range, 57%.
Here come the 0-7 Nets again, on Wednesday.
I know what you are thinking, and it's exactly what I am also thinking... please, no.
