| 06 January 2010
It's pretty "interesting" to see that three of the eleven wins of Eddie Jordan's former team came against Eddie Jordan's current team: yes, Sixers account for 27% of Washington's total of victories of the year.
And Sixers' 97-104 loss of last night (10-24, .294) caps a season sweep for the lousy Wizards (11-21, .344): how sad is that?
I'd say just as sad as blowing a third quarter eighteen point lead. Sixers were up 66-48 with 9.11 to play and were totally dominating their opponent: crashing the boards (28-14), hitting around 60% of their shots, sharing the ball nicely.
Talking about a blowout win. Too bad it turned into a shameful loss. Many will take the chance to blame the coach for the 34th time this year, showing his nonsense rotations, the questionable lineups etc etc. Ok, fine, all true, no question.
But since it would be a total waste of typing to repeat how much Jordan sucks, I want to point the fingers to the p-l-a-y-e-r-s.I did this already in the past, because again, I don't want that players get undeserved free passes "only" because they are coached awfully. They should be accountable for all those unbelievable losses, take their part of blame, that to me is probably bigger than most of people think.
Let's take a quick look at some numbers, that tell the story of two halves: First half closed at 58-44: Sixers shot 24/39 (61%), 5/9 from three, had 17 assists (good for a season high) and a stunning 24-11 rebounding edge, with Dalembert taking full advantage of Brandan Haywood's absence (12 + 10 at the break !).
Wizards shot 16/38 (42%) with Nick Young being their best scorer with nine points but mostly looked completely lost on the floor, outplayed by our second unit, that did a great job once more.
It was a totally different story in the second half. Washington outscored us 60-39 (!), by shooting 25/41 (61%), and somehow managed to outrebound us 21-18 (!!!), that to me is the most shocking stat of the night. Sixers instead shot 14/39 (35%), 2/8 from three (one in garbage time) and had only seven assists.
Want more? Ok, "enjoy" these two gems from the fourth quarter, in which Wizards shot 12/19 from the field, while Sixers turned the ball over seven times. Seven giveaways in the final period !!
My point is simply this. As much as Jordan stinks, and he does stink, there is NO F'N WAY a team like these Sixers can squander a 18 point third quarter lead against a bad, bad team like Washington, REAGUARDLESS of who is put on the floor and when. You could have had Johnny Davis, John Lucas or Tim Floyd making the calls, and PLAYERS still should have won this game.
It's not like we had D-Leaguers substituting All stars, or that we were playing against the Lakers, or Orlando (you know, good teams, or teams with many shooters that can get quickly hot from downtown). It was a team with its full roster, plenty of young, athletic, talented players (and some 10+ year veterans) facing a hapless squad that was missing its starting center (more after the jump).THREE ANSWERS
1) No, I don't think it was Eddie Jordan bricking free throws (8/17 at a point), or trying unlikely alley oop passes on fastbreak in key possessions, or telling players to leave Jamison all alone in the corner for a big three when Wizards inbounded the ball under their glass after a steal + dunk by Iguodala with FOUR seconds to play in the third...
2) Yes, I blame Iverson for the seven turnovers and mainly for getting completely burned by Nick Young in the decisive moment of the game: Young scored eight straight points in the fourth to turn a 90-86 Sixers lead (5.52 to play) into a 90-94 deficit (4.12).
3) Yes, I blame Thaddeus Young for doing absolutely NOTHING in 25 minutes on the court. Jordan is dumb because he let him in so long? Fine. Still, if you are Thaddeus Young, you are supposed to do something while you are there, right? No way.
THREE QUESTIONS
1) Is it possible to score 19 points on 8/13 shooting and play a pitiful game? Yes. Ask Lou Williams, whose defense makes Kapono look like Dennis Rodman part Two (in the pic, ironically, his only nice defensive play of the year, perhaps: he drew a charge by Foye). I blame him for the loss as well: he was "leading" our horrible offense down the stretch, btw, piling up bad passes.
2) Is it possible for a 6'9 power forward to grab one rebound in nearly 23 minutes? Yes, ask Elton Brand. And the 3/8 on the line was the icing on the cake.
3) Why didn't Dalembert play even more than his 32 minutes, since he was doing his best Dwight Howard impesonation (20 + 20) and had no foul troubles, once in his life? Ask Eddie Jordan. Carney and Speights didn't get a minute in the second half either. Reason?
REASONS
Why we lost the game
Sixers consist of a bunch of sissy players, coached by a buffoon. How does the combination sound? Where can it lead?
To be optimistic
Wait, I have some !! After last night maybe someone will think Dalembert is a good center and trade for him. No more Wizards game left, also. And we limited Jamison to sixteen third quarter points.
(Speaking of Jamison, his 32 points tie a season high. Guess when he scored 32 earlier this season? Yesssssssss.... )
To be worried
Uh, I don't know where to start. Maybe Young averaging 7.2 points on 13/44 (29%) in the last five games (23.4 min) is one of the worst things I noticed.
Next are the Raptors, on Friday.
