| 26 January 2010
Lot of talking lately about Sixers in fight for a playoffs spot, still having time to fix the season etc etc... also, many tankers out there, and many are worried that we won't make the lottery and get a high pick this summer.
Well, in all honestly I think tankers should chill out, have some drinks, light a cigar, "enjoy" our games.
Just keep in mind these facts, coming to my head after the disheartening 98-109 home loss to the Pacers.
1) Fourty-four games into the season (15-29, .341) and we couldn't win more than two straight games yet.
2) Lost to a team whose go-to-guy down the stretch was Dahntay Jones (18 points...).
Interesting facts about Jones: he will turn 30 next December and averages under s-i-x points per game for the career, on 44%. Imagine dear old Greg Brickner, minus the six year-contract Billy King gave him. We got killed by this guy.
3) Held only a three point advantage in the first half despite shooting 61% (24/39).
4) Eddie Jordan is our coach.
I could add more, but I think everybody feels safer now.
After all, this is the same team that lost to Minnesota, playing without Kevin Love, after blowing a 20 point lead, and that struggled to beat the Nets, with a combined six point edge in two games.
Third worst in the East, "trailing" the second worst Wizards only by 1/2 of a game. Sixers "basketball" baby.
THREE ANSWERS
1) Yes, we got outrebounded by the Pacers (41-39). It wasn't easy, but we did it. Taking my hat off to the guys and the coach. Giving 21 minutes to Dalembert (13 rebounds) while getting abused in the paint and allowing up multiple layups and off rebounds was especially brilliant, I appreciated.
When asked if he thought of bringing Dalembert in to help limit the Pacers' inside game, Jordan flatly responded, "No."
You gotta love the semplicity here, the decision (*leaves his desk and ideally gives Jordan a standing ovation*). Next time it will be: "Do you want to win games?" And he will go: "Why?".
2) Yes, I am really proud of myself for not throwing up and/or throwing my computer out of the window during the game. Dahntay Jones with eleven fourth quarter points, and seven straight (97-102, 1.42 left), are you f'n kidding me?
3) No, no Speights either down the stretch, he sat out the whole fourth quarter, the same period in which he proved many times he can be our best player offensively. We went with 31 minutes of Thad Young (3/12), instead (more after the jump)THREE QUESTIONS
1) Will Lou Williams watch the tape of the game? I hope so. And I hope he does it again and again and again, until he gets embarassed for not even putting a fight with Jones there.
2) Who is to blame? Well you have a lot of choices there: Sixers shot 12/43 (27%) in the second half, in which Brand scored 3 points, all from the line, Iverson had zero assists (vs six in the first), Iguodala shot 4/13, Williams - very good in the other half court - got abused defensively, giving up all the decisive baskets (see the pic, just one example).
But by putting the blame on Jordan you usually can't go wrong as well, so it's a tough race here.
3) Why are Jordan's decisions always passive, reactive? How about doing the opposite? When O'Brien went small, he went small, when he put Hibbert in, he put another big back in.
Did you ever notice that Sixers never try to CREATE mismatches, they always try to limit mismatches that OTHERS create?
For instance, how about going BIG and POUNDING THE BALL INSIDE when opponents go SMALL ?????? Leave Sam AND Brand in to dominate the boards, put a shooter in to keep a defender busy outside the lane (even Kapono, or at least Carney) and fill the back court with Holiday (or Lou) and Iguodala, let's see what happens. It's not like we lack size, height or athleticism, AT EVERY POSITION. We have a lot of options, let's use them.
Of course, if you insist with Williams AND Iverson in, you will give up 1.5 point for every 1 point they will score. And they will score...
REASONS
Why we lost the game
Couldn't get any stop down the stretch. The Jones-Williams low post abuse reminded me of another similar mismatch, Tayshaun Prince vs Aaron Mc Kie in the 2003 playoffs. Right? We can't put together four straight good quarters (5/19 in the third, 0/7 to start ???), let alone three consecutive games.
To be optimistic
If you are a tanker, I already gave you enough reasons. If you are not a tanker, you should just enjoy some flashes of good basketball that this team can give you, those nice 10-0 runs that help to build those nice 10-11 point leads, that eventually get inevitably blown (LOL).
To be worried
You might perhaps get used to this crap and think it's normal, since it's delivered nearly on a daily basis. But make no mistake, it's not. It's a team with Brand, Iverson, Iguodala, Young etc etc being the third worst in one of the weakest conferences since Naismith.
Another powerhouse coming soon, the 18-24 Bucks on Wednesday, before "welcoming" the LA Kobes on Friday.
