| 30 January 2010
Low standards, again. You know, Sixers fans. They might be happy with losses.
The 91-99 to the LA Kobes was at least a good game, in which we gave a good effort and were beaten by a clearly superior team.
Sixers' record is 15-31 now (.326), good for the 14th position in the conference. Ouch.
Of course, I still wish Lakers all the worst in the season - from a bball standpoint, I mean - but I was pleased to see our guys playing their butts off for 48 minutes.
Recap will be quick.
THREE ANSWERS
1) Iverson effect + trade rumors starting to bother him. That's my answer to Iguodala's recent struggles. Andre reached double figure in only one of the last five games. He definitely gets less touches, can't run in fastbreaks much and plays a lot in the post, where he gets ALWAYS doubled and rarely can get a good shot off. And the jumper is not falling, which is not helping. Tough stretch definitely.
2) No, Lou Williams is not a happy camper either. Only eight minutes, by far a season low. The least he played before this game was 19. Which was two games ago, at Milwaukee. When he got pulled out and didn't join his team mates in the huddle during a timeout. Uhm. I see dark clouds coming.
3) Yes, it was nice to see Iverson explode for 15 points (6/7) in the third, when Sixers cut an early sixteen point deficit (42-58) to five (63-68). It was vintage AI: a couple of threes, a tough drive finished with a banked shot while getting fouled by Derek Fisher that brought the fans to their feet. Good times. We all knew it wouldn't have been enough to win the game though. Right? (more after the jump)THREE QUESTIONS
1) Are we going to see a seven man rotation now? Honestly I think it was ok to keep Sam AND Brand in for so long, they were doing an excellent job under the boards and Lakers are a tall, physical team. Still it's tough to detect any trend in Eddie Jordan's rollercoaster decision taking. Just for the record, and for the 46th time, I am for a wider rotation, with 8-9 men used.
2) Did the sell out crowd come to actually watch the Sixers? Watch Kobe? Boo him? Anyway it's sad to see this was only the second time the Wach was fully packed this year. The first stime was for Iverson's (2nd) debut.
3) How did we keep Bryant to two points on 1/7 in the first half? He had early foul troubles and Iguodala (and Thad, for some minutes) played some nice defense on him. Too bad Lakers were up nine at the break anyway (42-51).
Kobe was simply being Kobe in the third, scoring fourteen on 5/7, many on fallaway, tough jumpers, including one on the baseline basically behind the backboard.
REASONS
Why we lost the game
Lakers have just too many weapons to beat you and play excellent defense when they need it. Oh, and you can't turn the ball over eighteen times against them like we did.
To be worried
Sixteen games under .500 is a season low. After Washington's win of last night, Sixers are all alone at the second last position in the East.
I see big troubles coming in the locker room, given the situation of Iguodala, Williams and other guys that surely aren't satisfied with playing time (not to mention with the record, lol) such as Carney and Speights.
How is that Iverson's signing looking now? Not blaming Allen, just to be clear.
To be optimistic
We outrebounded the Lakers 44-36, that is huge. If we lose to the 4-41 Nets on Sunday Jordan will be fired.
