SB Nation - Louis Williams

NBA Eastern Conference: Taking Stock

tenaciousT — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:04:32 -0000

NBA –arama

After making my preseason predictions, I said I'd check how things were going from time to time. It's time. Let's take a look around the east, see what’s going on, and fess up to a few big misses. A number of predictions are on target...so far. Preseason predictions are in parentheses followed by current record

Atlantic Division

Boston Celtics (63-19) - 20-4
Thought they were going gently into their assisted living facilities, eh? Tut tut, my skeptical friends. The ‘assisted living’ comes courtesy of one Rajon Rondo, point guard extraordinaire. Rondo plays one gear higher than the rest of his starting unit.

11 game win streak says they are rounding into shape after starting strong, stumbling, then slowly righting the ship. The only major surprise was/is the lack of 48 minute intensity, and rebounding woes. They still look like one of the best teams in the NBA to challenge the Lakers. Back with a vengeance? They are back. Vengeance comes later.

Toronto (35-47) - 11-17
International crisis or communication breakdown?
Some expected more, but they are about where I expected and for the same reason – defense. Bargnani is part of the dilemma. He is a skilled big, but not an interior presence. With a domestic vs. international player rift surfacing recently, the Raps played their best defensive game of the season afterwards. Hedo’s not fitting in like they hoped…yet.

Jose Calderon has disappointed so far in what was supposed to be his big year. The rebuilt roster should be better later in the season, but aren’t built for prolonged defense. They are giving up 103.5 over their last 5 games, which 5 points better than before.

New York (31-51) - 8-16
After a 3-14 start, the ‘D’Antonies’ are 5-2 in their last 7 games. Another team without interior defense. They looked under every rock for a bona fide PG but the right one – the draft. Biggest current embarrassment is choosing Jordan Hill over Brandon Jennings in the draft. This was going to be a learning year anyway, right? Ty Lawson, Darren Collison, Eric Maynor, Jeff Teague were also still out there. Any of those better than Chris Duhon? Maybe some are already.

D’Antoni, frankly, has disappointed as well. I’ll confess, I thought Darko Milicic was a good risk for a team starved for bigs that block shots and play defense. Go figure. Jordan Hill may end up being a good player some day, too. Winning started by benching Nate Robinson. Coincidence? Sharp shooter Gallinari continues to impress, adds some board work.

76ers (41-41) – 6-19
Okay, this is one that’s not going as I thought it would. Oye.
Injuries are only part of the problem. Is Brand a lesser player now? Or is he just on the wrong team? Maybe it’s all bad karma for Elton leaving a good situation in Clipperland. (Yes, I did just say that.) Louis Williams (injured), Marreese Speights, and Thaddeus Young give hope for the future. It’s so bad that Iverson is back. Yeah, I know.

New Jersey (26-56) – 2-24
Say no more. Accident on the Jersey Turnpike. Tie up for miles, but not for years. No, they are not this bad. Bad luck continues with Yi Jianlian getting 50 stitches (yes 50) in his mouth courtesy of a Sean Williams elbow in a recent practice. The sooner this team can exit the swamp the better. Still, Brook Lopez will become an even better player if this season doesn’t kill him first. Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts are all good young talent.

Central Division

Cleveland (58-24) – 19-7
They are much better after starting 0-2 and 3-3. Not dominating like last season, but still a force. Shaq shooting a career low 49%, though they are now winning with him. Most lopsided team scoring distribution I have ever seen for a top team. Only three players in double digits and one of them is Shaq at 10.8 per.

Second best FG% defense and 4th best points allowed means they are still dangerous and in the hunt. Though Shaq is mostly a sideways or backwards move, if they get to the finals he helps against Lakers’ frontline. Shaq can’t slow down an already very slow team…can he? I feared this team more last year. Stop LeBron and you stop the Cavs. Am I wrong?

Stat of note: Cavs lead league in points in paint defense (34.1)

Milwaukee (35-47) – 11-12
Early season surprise coming back to earth lately. Many thought I had them too high. But Skiles always seems to get players to overachieve for a few years, until his tough guy ways get tired. Brandon Jennings makes a big splash with 55 point game but is tailing off since then. Still, he is the real deal and will figure things out.

Bucks are first in shot attempts and dead last in free throw attempts, which pretty much goes hand in hand. No one on this team gets to the line, except Jennings and Hakim Warrick.

Side Note: Toronto is known as the international team. But even they can’t compete with Milwaukee. Current starters are from 5 different countries: Turkey, Argentina, Australia, Cameroon, and U.S. Positively cosmopolitan for a city Shlitz beer made famous.

Detroit (36-46) - 11-14
I guess they are a bit better than I thought. Will this last? Even with key players injured, they put together a recent 5 game winning streak. They are still working a new system with a new coach. Loss of Tayshaun Prince hurts, Gordon is playing hurt, and Rip Hamilton is still in and out.

Still, the biggest surprise is the renaissance of "I’m retiring" Ben Wallace. Back up to 30 minutes and 10 rebounds a game, he can still defend, too. Detroit is 2nd best in points in paint defense. Can he do it all year and where is his help?

Pistons have the 3rd best total rebounding and 3rd best offensive rebounding differential in the league. Rodney Stuckey’s career year (19.3 pts) is offset by lower shooting %. He should stop taking three pointers altogether (21.4%)

Indiana (30-52) – 9-14
Danny Granger’s team is without Danny Granger for a while. With mediocre stats everywhere, just what do they do better than most NBA teams? Foul. They are 3rd in league with 2.2 foul differential.

Mike Dunleavy returns to a system that uses him to his best advantage and not a minute too soon. If the Pacers win 36 games, and that’s possible, that means O’Brien would have coached three straight 36-46 records here. Hey I have to find something interesting, don’t I? T.J. Ford is underwhelming again.

How are they doing attracting more fans? The past three years they went from 30th to 28th to 27th this season in attendance. They are a team with more integrity, but a few more wins wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Chicago (41-41) - 8-15 No one expected this meltdown. The loss of Ben Gordon’s 4th quarter points, Tyrus Thomas’ injury, Kirk Hinrich playing hurt, John Salmons’ underachieving season are all contributors, but all are secondary to Derrick Rose’s lack of noticeable improvement.

The chant for Vinny Del Negro’s head grows louder and I’m not against it. But I’d ask…who hired a rookie head coach for this team in the first place? That is where the blame should lie. Del Negro did reasonably well last season, but the wheels are falling off the wagon now.

Deng is playing well and Joakim Noah is continuing his rise up the food chain, but it’s nowhere near enough. I am fast becoming a Joakim Noah fan. Plays with passion, toughness, and heart.

Southeast Division

Orlando (60-22) -19-6
Fools go where wise men fear to tread – the paint against the Magic. They are crazy deep and probably Boston’s biggest problem in the East. Jameer Nelson returns soon and that’s not good news for opponents. Right now they are better offensively (5th rated) but worse defensively (9th rated) than last season, while giving up 2.2 more points.

This is a great situation for Vince Carter, who is playing 5 minutes less, but leads the team in scoring (19), while still hoisting up 17 shots per and will be a solid 4th quarter option for the Magic.

D. Howard is getting one less block a game, but shooting a career high in FG% (63.4%) While they probably over paid a bit for Mickael Pietrus ($5.3 mil), he continues to be a valuable piece to this team. Ryan Andersen has quietly been a nice addition. Marcin Gortat – the unhappy multi-millionaire.

Atlanta (48-34) - 18-6
This team is playing even better than I thought….and I thought this would be a good team. Woodson said the next thing is to learn how to win on the road. The Hawks are 7-4 so far this season and that is a huge step forward. Three of those road wins were against very tough home teams - Dallas, Boston and Portland.

For a team that could lose their leader (Joe Johnson) and their coach next season, they are moving from pretender to contender. Their youthful exuberance could make up for whatever they are missing. Al Horford and Josh Smith are unique young players and Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson provide the veteran leadership. They are pasting the lesser teams and are 3rd in the league in average winning margin at +8.4 points. Just behind the Celtics and Lakers. Hmm…

Miami (38-44) – 12-11
Dwayne Wade is to this team what LeBron is to the Cavs. Probably more so. Jermaine O’Neal is actually playing pretty well, but is a shell of his earlier self. We knew going in that the Heat go as Wade goes. Michael Beasley is improving and Haslem is solid.

They stretched the Lakers to a (lucky) Kobe Bryant banked buzzer beating 3 pointer over Wade’s outstretched hand. That probably defines their season as well as anything. With $50 million coming off the books in 2010, this team (hopefully) gets a complete rebuild. With a player option for $17 million, whether Wade stays or not remains to be seen.

Charlotte (33-49) - 10-14
Solid defensive team (2nd in points allowed) that has trouble scoring (27th). Deliberate offense (pace: 28th in NBA) helps keep opponents’ numbers down. 5-5 over the last ten, they added controversial, but multi-talented Stephen Jackson. It gives the team a focal point (and… gulp…leader) Larry Brown has great experience handling prima donna players and Raymond Felton is playing better since Jackson’s arrival.

Gerald Wallace, the last original Bobcat, was plucked from deep on Sacramento’s bench. Time to test him for HRH (Human Rebound Hormone). He has gone crazy boarding, up from 7.8 last season to 12.2 this year. I’d like to know the last time an established player made that kind of jump. He continues to ply his game for a team going nowhere.

Talented DJ Augustine has perplexingly gone backwards this season. Tyson Chandler, who could have been an earlier version of Joakim Noah, is showing how much Chris Paul helped his game.

But we forget just how bad this team was before Larry Brown arrived.

Washington (41-41) - 7-16
In preseason I wrote…. "everyone’s favorite ‘move up’ team." What I didn’t write was that it would take some doing to keep all these scorers happy with shots and minutes. Unfortunately, that appears to be the case. And things aren’t getting better. They are on a 6 game losing streak as I write this.

I never saw a happier, more hopeful team in the losers’ locker room than the one that ended its season against the Celtics last year. They all knew a much better year was coming. They had their version of a big three returning. But ubuntu doesn’t live here. Tragic because there is a lot of talent here. Flip Saunders has to sort this out, but I’m not sure where he starts.

I’ll end by (again) making my pitch for an unsung role player buried on the Wizards bench. Dominic McGuire would make a great (and cheap) Celtic.

There you have it. I apparently thought way too much of the Sixers. Comments welcome on all teams.

Gameday Preview Charlotte Bobcats vs Philadelphia 76ers

David Arnott — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:50:55 -0000

Pump Up Music: Wilson Phillips -- "Hold On"

(Via my friend Anya)

The Big Picture: At least the Bobcats aren't the 76ers right now. They've lost eight in a row and are so desperate for guard help they've brought back the corpse of Allen Iverson. What's worse, they have two legitimate All Stars on the roster, but one, Elton Brand, has lost all semblance of that All Star-dom and is coming off the bench now. They're trying to trade him, but he's got so many years left, I'm not sure there are going to be any takers unless the Sixers get back totally useless players.

The good news for Philly fans, though, is that they do have Andre Iguodala, and when Louis Williams gets back, they'll have their pilot for a group of young run 'n gunners. Right now, though, they're casting around for something that works.

Key to Victory: The last time they played, Iguodala got his, and Brand stepped up to bully around the smaller Boris Diaw. This time around, without Williams running the point for the Sixers, the Cats can try to short circuit the Sixers' offense at the source. Iverson won't play tonight, and even if he did he's not a real point guard. Willie Green and Royal Ivey aren't exactly floor captains. They would like to use rookie Jrue Holiday in that role, but he's still learning the position, since he didn't carry much point guard duty at UCLA.

I like when the Bobcats pick spots to apply full court pressure, and they should kick it up a notch tonight. Maybe that plays into the Sixers' hands and allows them a more open floor, but if it does, that's what in-game adjustments are for. I'd like to see our guys take a chance early and make Philly prove they have the ballhandlers to bring the ball up the floor against some pressure and then run the offense in a compressed time frame.

Detail That May Interest .08% of You: Sixers coach Eddie Jordan led the NBA in steals while playing for the New Jersey Nets in the 1978-79 season.

Game 18 Preview: Oklahoma City vs. Philadelphia

Zorgon — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:32:54 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

Back in action? Nope, not yet!

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This also counts as an open thread, so feel free to post your thoughts during the game here.

Time: 7:00 PM Central Standard Time

Place: The Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma, Comcast Sports Philadelphia, NBATV

Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1)

Enemy Blog(s): Liberty Ballers, Sixers4guidos, DepressedFan

Backstory: The 76ers are a surprise dissapointment among all of the good surprises that have happened this year. Someone has to fall, right? Granted, Elton Brand and Louis Williams have been injured....but that's only been recently. The bottom line is that they lost Andre Miller. And with him, they lost the glue that held the team together. Even in the latest 2 point loss to the Mavericks, the team had 4 more turnovers than assists. That isn't a recipe for winning, and it's bad news for a team that thought they could make the playoffs. Indeed, in the last two years they have made the playoffs, but it looks like they'll have to do even more post-Allen Iverson rebuilding. And no, getting Allen Iverson back doesn't count!

Meanwhile, the Thunder are a shade over .500, and they're looking to keep it that way. They've taken care of business against teams like the 76ers in the past, and the game is at home, so things are looking up. Still, injuries to Nick Collison (possibly out tonight), Kyle Weaver, Kevin Ollie, and Shaun Livingston haven't helped matters, so it remains to be seen whether they have the depth of talent to win this game.

Below: Matchups, Prediction

Matchups:

Center: Nenad Krstic vs. Samuel Dalembert

Luckily, Nenad Krstic will be back tonight, along with a possible chance of Nick Collison. The thunder will need all of the help they can get, because Samuel Dalembert is a mean machine in the post, along with being the 2nd greatest basketball player ever to come out of Canada. I'd expect Krstic to be able to score, since both Dalembert and Brand are immobile centers, but I'd also expect Dalembert lay the smack down in the post.

Power Forward: Jeff Green vs. Elton Brand

Yet another mismatch. Jeff Green will have to make sure to stay out of foul trouble, and Elton Brand will have to make sure to guard Green on the perimeter. Expect Green to have the upper hand if he can stay out of foul trouble.

Small Forward: Kevin Durant vs. Thaddeus Young

Heh, good luck Thaddeus. He'll have a better 3 Point percentage than Durant, but not much else.

Shooting Guard: Thabo Sefolosha vs. Andre Igoudala

This is yet another tough matchup for Sefolosha, as Igoudala is the primary scorer of the 76ers. Still, he won't walk all over Sefolosha, like Ariza did. Rather, I think Sefolosha will be able to shut him down in some cases and force turnovers.

Point Guard: Russell Westbrook vs. Jrue Holiday (Possibly Willie Green)

I don't think either one of these guys is any better than Westbrook. Willie Green is a scoring-type bigger guard, and Jrue Holiday is still a Rookie, with not many stats to his name. This is a real opportunity for Russell Westbrook to shine, get those assists, and score well.

Battle of the Benches

I'll breathe a huge sigh of relief if Nick Collison gets to play tonight, as he'll help out a lot down low. Still, despite all of their badness, the 76ers have a solid bench, with young life-long backup Center Jason Smith, 3 Point Sharpshooter Kapono, and solid scoring guard Willie Green. But Royal Ivey sucks. It's not a bench that blows you away with depth, but they don't really take a huge hit in talent when their backups are on the floor, and they all have clearly defined roles. Their bench gets the win over ours, because I'd say Kapono and Green pretty much own their equivalents on our team.

Coaching and Intangibles

The 76ers have just signed Allen Iverson, so the team might go into "cruise control", as they have some sort of savior coming to the team on Monday. On the other hand, they might be motivated to perform well before he gets there, but that's something I'm doubting. On top of that, they've lost 7 straight, and are away from home. The intangibles are definitely on the side of the Thunder.

Bottom Line

The real danger of the 76ers is their big post guys. If they can dominate inside, and out-rebound us, then we might have a game on our hands. Yet, if they just let Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic nail mid-range jumpers all day, then this could very easily turn into a blowout.

Prediction: Oklahoma City 100, Philadelphia 86

I haven't predicted an over 10 point victory since the Kings game....let's hope I haven't jinxed anything.

How do you think the game will go? Vote in the Poll!

And, again, feel free to drop any comments you might have during, before, or after the game below. I'll be in the Ford Center cheering the team on, but I'll be back to write a recap later tonight. Go Thunder!

Poll

Who's going to win tonight?

The Oklahoma City Thunder

24 votes

The Philadelphia 76ers

2 votes

26 votes | Poll has closed

No More Answers

aramnath — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:26:29 -0000

More photos » by Jesse D. Garrabrant - NBAE/Getty Images

Allen Iverson rarely wanted to listen to anyone and was satisfied playing his way. (Photo by: Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images)

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The Philadelphia 76ers and Allen Iverson are close to agreeing on a one-year deal. If I were Louis Williams, Jrue Holiday, Marreese Speights and Thaddeus Young I would be very pissed. The odds of Iverson passing the ball their way at any point this season seems remote.

The 76ers motivation in making this move cannot be motivated by anything else but putting butts in the stands, because in terms of basketball it makes no sense. This is a guy that refuses to come off the bench even though his skills are clearly in decline.

His teammates in Memphis don't seem to be missing him much, playing surprisingly well out in the West so far this year and the Nuggets flourished when they swapped him for Chauncey Billups last year.

When A.I. was in his prime he was simply a great scorer that on any given night could win you a game and on the nights he was off was a disaster. The Sixers tried to put him next to Jerry Stackhouse, Larry Hugher and Andre Iguodala, who all certainly had their limitations, but found it impossible to co-exist next to a player like Iverson who needed the ball at all times to be effective. It's no surprise all three played better without A.I.

Iverson always lacked the ability that Jordan, Bird, Magic, Kobe, Lebron, Duncan etc. have in elevating the level of play of his supporting cast. Iverson maximized his abilities in becoming a great scorer, but creating for others always seemed distasteful to him and frankly may always have been beyond his capabilities.

Now with Iverson dominating the ball, Philadelphia's promising youth will be the ones to suffer. Players like Speights and Young will see less touches in the post and will be resigned to setting picks and rolling to the hoop for passes that will rarely come their way. Williams will struggle playing alongside Iverson and Holiday will see reduced minutes stunting his development as a rookie.

Defensively, Iverson has become non-existant. Before he used to play the passing lanes extremely well and was among the league leaders in steals every year. Now his loss in speed and explosion have taken that away from him too.

There certainly is some kind of justice in A.I. coming back to the team where he made his name and which led to an NBA Finals berth, but at what cost? Bringing back Iverson is simply a desperate gambit to make this team competitive now. I'm not sure if he's even capable of that anymore. I know that I wouldn't take a guy past his prime and incapable of playing any way but his own on my team.

Poll

Would you want your favorite team to sign Iverson?

Yes, he's still got something left in the tank

18 votes

If he agreed to come off the bench and come to practice

9 votes

No, he's finished

7 votes

34 votes | Poll has closed

Sixers lose to Wizards, but Jrue is free!

jsams — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:33:10 -0000

More photos » by Matt Rourke - AP

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Box Score

The Sixers did not play a particularly well tonight, and lost to the Wizards. Poor defense, worse rebounding, Antawn Jamison -- the list goes on -- but that's not what's important. What's important is what transpired during the final 10 minutes of the game.

Sixers fans have been screaming "FREE JRUE" since training camp, to no avail. Tonight, down 11 with 10 minutes to go, Eddie Jordan finally played rookie instead of making his usual Royal Ivey substitution. (The equivalent of the white flag.) Much like the last game Jrue played, he came in with a quick trigger finger, doing everything in his power to prove that he deserves more minutes. However; unlike the Memphis game, Jrue's shots were falling, which led to good defense, which led to good rebounding, which forced Jordan to leave him in for more than 4 minutes. The result? A ferocious comeback fueled by the rookie. The comeback feel just short when Lou Williams' potential buzzer-beater rimmed out, but that doesn't take anything away from the "Holiday goodness" we saw during the final 10 minutes.

From this day forward, the 19-year-old Holiday should be freed for good, with an emphasis on should since we have no evidence of Eddie Jordan doing what should be done, yet.

Now, for all the people out there saying, "10 minutes dude? Even Eddy Curry had a great 10-minute stretch once," this is a completely different situation. I am not claiming that Jrue is going to be an All-Star, a good player, or even an NBA starter. I'm just saying that he deserves 10-15 minutes a night and should play more than Royal Ivey and Willie Green. There is no logical explanation why he shouldn't. None!

If I were a betting man (which I am), I'd bet that Jrue Holiday earned himself at least a time share with Bill Green as the backup point guard. If not, than Sixers fans really have a right to be outraged. What Jrue did tonight was better than what Green and Ivey have done all year -- combined!

Five paragraphs later, here are Jrue's final numbers: 10 minutes, 11 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block, 0 turnovers on 4-6 shooting. Even those absurd numbers don't justify what Holiday meant to the Sixers tonight. He was all over the place. And if you think I'm excited, you should've heard Marc Zumoff pop a blood vessel screaming like a 12-year old girl after Jrue made his third three.

I have two more things to say about Jrue "I turn grown men into teenage girls" Holiday -- some good news and some bad news. Which one do you want first? The bad news? Okay. We cannot expect this kind of game from Jrue every night. Duh! The good news is, Jrue is only 19 years old and loves to play defense -- something we can expect to continue every night.

Rest of the game after the jump.

It's a shame that it's taken this long to mention Lou Williams, because he was brilliant tonight. I've been saying that the Sixers need a go-to scorer in order for them to be a legitimate contender, and Lou might be turning into that guy. Don't take this as me bashing Andre Iguodala, because he is still the Sixers best player, but he is not -- and never will be -- a number one scorer. Just like Allen Iverson needed to be surrounded by defensive studs to reach his full potential, Iguodala needs to be surrounded by at least one superior scorer to reach his full potential.

Speaking of Allen Iverson, he is exactly who Lou Williams reminds me of. For better of worse, it looks like Lou Williams is Allen Iverson 2.0 -- a gambler on defense, the ability to make the good pass, but not a true point guard, and the ability to score at will. No, Lou isn't as good as the original and never will be, but keep in mind he is only 23 and has only started 13 games in the NBA.

(The game-winning attempt upset some people. Lou dribbled 11 seconds off the clock and pulled up for a jumper instead of driving to the basket. I completely understand why fans are mad that he didn't go to the basket, but I'm okay with the shot myself. What I'm not okay with is the 11 seconds he dribbled off the clock. I would've much rather seen him take a quicker shot, so the Sixers could foul and get the ball back should he miss. My counter to the people saying he should've taken it to the hoop is: how many NBA players settle for a game-winning jump shot instead of taking it to the hole? 99%. That doesn't make it right, but that's the NBA folks. Everyone wants to be a hero and hold the pose.)

Another developing story is the improvement of our bench players, slowly but surely. Rodney Carney has emerged as a legitimate sixth man. He was no match for Antawn Jamison tonight, but in fairness, neither was anyone else. Most nights Carney will provide good defense, good rebounding, athleticism and the occasional three, but you guys already knew this. Jason Smith is also starting to establish himself as a pretty good 8th man. Add these two to Jrue and a healthy Speights and the Sixers roll pretty deep.

Everyone else was pretty played pretty normal tonight. Etlon looked nothing like he looked he had in the past three games, but left with a sore hamstring, so maybe that had something to do with it. Thad was pretty good, not great. Sam was decent, but still did "Sam-like" things. Bill was Bill. Andre Iguodala was the only real disappointment.

I don't want to spend too much time on Iguodala. He was bad tonight. He's been bad. He takes way too many jumpers and needs to stop. That's all there is to it. On the bright side, he was 8-8 from the free throw line, swishing every one.

But wait, there's an elephant in the room. "The Sixers lost the game. The defense and rebounding were bad once again. They can't win like this."

All valid points, but a wise man once said: "Watch the individual players and hope they develop. Try and ignore the whole team/coach thing if you want to remain a fan and keep your sanity." I saw enough development from two individuals (Lou and Jrue) tonight to get me excited, and I still believe that this team can put it all together and go on a nice run before it's all said and done. If Sam, Elton, Thaddeus, Andre, Lou and the bench all play like their capable of, this team can do some special things. First things first, everyone needs to accept their role, but that's a whole 'nother post.

Bottom line, this is the most excited I've been about a Sixers game since game 3 of the Magic series. For the first 12 games of the season, I barely moved during the games. Tonight I was jumping around, screaming and fist-pumping. If nothing else, it's something to build on.

Player of the game: Lou Williams

*Update* Kate Fagan tweet: Brands saw doc. Has right hamstring soreness and tightness and is officially listed as day-to-day.

You Got a Friend: Grizzlies beat 76ers 102-97

djturtleface — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:45:22 -0000

by Matt Slocum - AP

27 days ago: Memphis Grizzlies' Rudy Gay, right, dunks the ball as Philadelphia 76ers' Samuel Dalembert defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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Keeping the ball rolling, the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Philadelphia 76ers 102 to 97 tonight in Philly. The Grizzlies took the lead in the 3rd quarter and never looked back. Rudy Gay dropped 33 points and double-doubled it by adding 10 boards. Zach Randolph also doubled-down with 21 points and 11 boards, albeit off a somewhat ugly and inefficient 19 shots.

Marc Gasol dominated early, pressuring the 76ers bigs by getting to the line for 10 free throws. He looked like Dwight Howard at times, being wrapped up as soon as the ball entered the low post. In the second half Rudy took over while Iguodala covered O.J. Mayo, who has a down night scoring, as Gay flashed all his mid-range moves.

On defense Andre Iguodala shut down whoever he covered, besides on one late-game dagger by Rudy, but he struggled to find his own shot on offense tonight. Louis Williams carried the 76ers by shooting 12-16 from the field for 31 points. Neither Marcus Williams nor Mike Conley could check him at all.

Speaking on the point guard controversy, both guards did some things well. Conley's probing drew out the 76ers bigs, which allowed the Grizzlies to get all over the offensive boards, but Marcus Williams ran the team a little better in the traditional sense. New veteran Jamaal Tinsley seemed to still be getting his legs under him.

Even Hasheem Thabeet put in some good minutes, making a nice impact to get Gasol some rest, and both DeMarre Carroll and Sam Young filled in well also. Carroll finished out the game at power forward, and he grabbed two offensive boards that prolonged a couple bad Grizzlies possessions to seal the game despite a push by Philly at the end.

More coverage coming in time, again check Liberty Ballers out, and be sure to drop your thoughts on the nice win.

Grizzles beat Sixers

jsams — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:38:05 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

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Box Score

Lou Williams was great on offense tonight. There's no denying his skillz. However; he made a few costly mistakes down the stretch. One was a terrible pass on a 3-on-1 fast break and the other was allowing Mike Conely to blow right by him, killing the Sixers momentum in the process. I don't expect anyone to play perfect, and I'm not going to kill Lou for his two mistakes; I just wanted to point them out. Overall, he was a beast.
Andre Iguodala's jump shot has definitely improved over the summer, but I felt like he was taking too many this season. I looked at the numbers and 68% of his shots are jumpers as opposed to 64% last year. That surprised me. I expected a much larger discrepancy. That said, his jumpshot was not falling tonight, and his shot selection was very poor down the stretch. Elton Brand was doing his thing. Lou Williams was having the game of his life. Yet Andre took it upon himself to take contested jumpers. Just because he thinks he's the best player on the team -- and he is -- he doesn't need to summon his inner-Kobe every time his team needs a bucket. He's not, and never will be, a go-to offensive player.
Elton Brand followed up his best game of the season with another good one. I'm still not ready to acknowledge him as the Elton of old, but he's getting close. The biggest difference I've seen in these past two games is his confidence -- in him body and in his game. The numbers speak for themselves: 22 points, 6 boards, 4 steals and 4 blocks.
Rodney Carney is developing into a solid role payer. He's learning to play within himself, and his defense was outstanding tonight until... he failed to rotate defensively at the end, allowing Rudy Gay to hit the dagger.
Thaddeus Young is back in his slump. Is he: A) Simply in an extended slump? B) Too young? C) Being used incorrectly? D) Highly overrated?
Now to everyone's favorite topic, Jrue Holiday's pyche. Eddie Jordan finally played Jrue. Good for him. But he's still completely botching the whole situation. Here's why: Jrue played 4 minutes tonight, and during those 4 minutes he managed to do his best Bill Green impression by taking 5 terrible shots. What I saw from Jrue tonight was a kid trying to do as much as he possibly could in 4 minutes knowing, after he makes one mistake or 5 minutes have gone by -- whichever comes first -- he's done for the night. This is a horrible mindset to have and completely affected the way he played. If Eddie is going to play him 4 minutes every other night, he might as well just leave him on the bench. How can any development happen in 4 minutes? Especially if it's a "one mistake and you're gone" type deal?
Overall, it's hard to get too upset over tonight's loss. As Sixers fans, we should do ourselves a favor and lower expectations tremendously -- at least for the time being. Until the Sixers show any signs of life, I expect games and losses like tonight. Remember, we were just as bad last year and it took until January to officially turn the corner. This was the turning point, and until this season's turning point comes, just enjoy the games as much as you can.

Player of the game: Lou Williams & Elton Brand

Pissed off Elton Brand leads Sixers to 86-84 win

jsams — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:47:29 -0000

Box Score

After one good game, I'm not ready to remove the "Reggie Evans 2.0" tag from Elton Brand, but tonight was a step in the right direction. He played inspired basketball from the get-go, showed off his three-inch vertical, positioned himself for offensive rebounds, and used his long arms to disrupt the awful Bobcats offense. In other words, he did everything an 80-million dollar man should do, including getting the game-winning deflection. I never watched Elton in Los Angeles, but I'm starting to think that he was never the "explosive" athlete we thought he was, and his 20-10 numbers were product of him playing on a bad team (except for one year), and having the offense run exclusively through him. Not to sound like Jon Gruden or anything, but that "explosion" we're looking for from Elton in terms of athleticism might never happen. That said, he might not need explosive athleticism to be a good player, which was evident tonight. Elton turned in his best game of the season, and the rumors of him being benched clearly lit a fire.
When the Sixers struggled defensively -- mainly in the first quarter -- Lou Williams was the main culprit. Lou cannot stop penetration or rotate correctly. (Thaddeus has trouble rotating as well.) The most frustrating thing about Lou is that he has all the tools to be a good defensive player, but things like stopping penetration and rotating correctly don't show up in the stat sheet, nor do they reflect directly on him. Point being, Lou is either lazy, not a team player, or both. On offense, Lou played pretty well, but not well enough to make up for his bad defense, in my opinion.
The Sixers biggest offensive problem is settling for too many jumpshots. You can see why this would be an issue, considering the team's biggest weakness is... shooting! Last year the Sixers were 6th in the NBA in free throws attempted and free throws made; this year they're 18th and 15th respectively.
Rodney Carney is the Sixers best backup (now that M16 is hurt) and he showed why tonight. He should be the first guard off the bench every game. I'd even go as far as saying that he should replace Sam Dalembert in the starting lineup, moving Thad to the four and Brand to the five. Eddie had the right idea with benching one of his starters, but wanted to bench the wrong guy. Carney rebounds well, his defense is very, very good, he can make threes, and his athleticism is beastly. *Nickname Alert* RC Cola *Nickname Alert*
FREE JRUE!!! FREE JRUE!!! FREE JRUE!!! NO MORE ROYAL IV!!! NO MORE ROYAL IV!!! NO MORE ROYAL IV!!! FREE JRUE!!! FREE JRUE!!! FREE JRUE!!! NO MORE ROYAL IV!!! NO MORE ROYAL IV!!! NO MORE ROYAL IV!!! FREE JRUE!!! FREE JRUE!!! FREE JRUE!!! NO MORE ROYAL IV!!! NO MORE ROYAL IV!!! NO MORE ROYAL IV!!!
Overall, the Sixers are still a very mediocre/bad basketball team and did nothing to disprove that tonight. How many times are we going to say, "A win's a win" this year? The best part about tonight was we hardly mentioned Eddie Jordan's name.

Player of the game: Elton Brand with 19 points, 11 boards, 6 blocks and 3 steals.

Sixers beat Nets, barely.

jsams — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:04:00 -0000

by Bill Kostroun - AP

View full size photo »

Until further notice, the Sixers are a below average basketball team and there are very few games they "should" win, but this was one of them. For a team with as many talented players as the Sixers, it shouldn't take 48 minutes to eek out a win against a depleted Nets team, who came into tonight's game with an 0-7 record and only 8 players on their active roster. I'm not taking anything away from the Nets because they are an NBA team and what they lacked in health and talent, they made up with effort and team ball. I guess that's what it comes down to; the Sixers have some good players, but they aren't a good team -- yet.

That said, they still won the game and evened their record at 4-4. But after eight games, their record isn't what concerns me; it's how they've gotten there.

Here are a few things we can agree on after eight games.

According to rumors -- mostly from disgruntled Wizards fans -- Eddie Jordan was tough on rookies. Well, they're no longer rumors. From not playing Jrue during a freakin' pre-season game because he was afraid Nate Robinson would damage his psyche to pulling Jrue after one rookie mistake, and sitting him for the remainder of the game, Eddie has done nothing to disprove the rumors. It'd be one thing if he was sitting Jrue in favor of a legit backup point guard, but he's playing Royal Ivey instead. Come on now. Rookies make mistakes, and Jrue shouldn't be expected to play perfect in order to stay on the court.
Elton Brand is done. I'm tired of waiting. We've made enough excuses for him. It's time to accept the fact that he's a rich man's Reggie Evans, with a higher basketball IQ and less hustle. He can't finish around the rim, and I cringe every time he takes a jump shot.
Marreese Speights needs to replace Sam in the starting lineup. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: M16 is the Sixers most talented offensive player. He's not the best defender -- so what. What he brings to the table on the offensive end heavily out-weighs what he doesn't bring on the defensive end.

The one positive we can take out of tonight was the play of Thaddeus Young. To this point in the season, Thad has been nothing short of awful, but it was only a matter of time before he turned it around. I'm not ready to say he's officially turned it around after one good game against the Nets, but his jumper looked 10 times better than it had at any point during the season. If he can regain his late-season form of last year, paired with the improved play of Lou, Andre and Marreese, the Sixers should start to see improvement.

I'm still holding out hope that Eddie Jordan's abysmal rotations will improve, the defense will improve, and the Princeton Offense will show up sometime within the next 12 games. It's still way too early to make any snap judgements, but if there's no improvement after 20 games, the Sixers are in deep, deep trouble, as is my 47-win prediction.

Player of the game: Marreese Speights

Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young and Attendance

jsams — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:08:20 -0000

Back to the Future for Thad

I don't know what Thad's deal is, but there isn't a single thing he's doing well right now. He's shooting 41% from the floor and 9% from three. He's not getting to the foul line. He's playing (or not playing) any sort of defense. He can't dribble. He can't pass. Whether we've grossly overrated him, he's off to a slow start, or he doesn't fit EJ's system remains to be seen, but something has to be done if the Sixers are going to be competitive against teams not named the Nets and Knicks.

My suggestion is, he reverts to the role he played his rookie season. Remember how many times we heard "This rookie is unbelievable! He's contributing, yet there hasn't been a single play run for him!" Bingo. EJ should play Thad 20-25 minutes a game, give Jason Kapono and Rodney Carney a couple extra minutes, and not run a single play for Thad until further notice. Let him run the floor, crash the boards and concentrate on playing defense. Seriously, one defensive stand per game from Thad would be a major improvement.

Andre Miller who?

How good has Lou Williams been? He's been awesome. I've been thoroughly impressed with him in every game I've watched, including pre-season. Even though he gets my seal of approval, I know he still has haters. So, since my opinion only goes so far, here are a bunch of numbers to back up my claim:

Percentages

53% from the field

33% from three

84% from the line

Counting stats

17 points

5 assists

6 rebounds

1.6 steals

6.5:1 Assist/Turnover ratio

Hollinger Stats

.632 TS% (3 out of 9)

Assist ratio: 26.5 (5 out of 9)

Turnover ratio: 4.1 (1 out of 9)

PER: 24.19 (2 out of 9)

* The number in parenthesis represents his rank in these categories in comparison to 8 of the best PGs in the NBA. (Paul, Nash, Rondo, Parker, Westbrook, D. Williams, Arenas, Billups)

I know I'm going to get the "small sample size" lecture, but this is all I have to work with right now, and I just wanted to show how awesome Lou has been through the first 5 games. Do I think he's going to maintain this pace? Probably not, but I still believe he'll be a top 10 PG at the end of the year.

Are you kidding me?

The Sixers have averaged 11 thousand fans in their three home games this season. That's good for dead last in the NBA. Dead last. The next lowest is Memphis with nearly 14 thousand per game.