SB Nation - Willie Green

Thoughts on Rockets 96 - 76ers 91 (Aka Game Recap)

Xiane — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:02:07 -0000

Houston Rockets' Tracy McGrady is proud to represent the nation of China in the 2009-2010 NBA All-Star Game. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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This game was viewed through the prism of an ill child (nothing serious), so my thoughts are more fragmented that usual. I'll rely more on that last resort of scoundrels, statistics.

When one looks at the 76er starting lineup, it is pretty impressive:

Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala, Allen Iverson, Samuel Dalembert, Thaddeus Young.

That's a lot of talent, a ton of athletic ability. Elton Brand has in the past, been one of the finest players in the NBA at his position. Iguodala has one of the more well-rounded, athletic and interesting games in the NBA. Iverson, well, he's raging at the dying of the light, at any rate, and he looks to have something left. Yet the Sixers have now lost 12 straight games. Why? I (imagine I) hear you asking. Two words: The Bench.

Players seeing minutes from the Philly bench tonight include: Willie Green (25), Jason Kapono (17), Jrue Holliday (8), Jason Smith (3), Primoz Breszec (5).

Total points in 58 out of 240 possible player minutes? Six. I repeat. S-I-X.

Let's compare that to the Rocket's bench, total points: 46 in 84 player minutes. So Philly's bench scored roughly one point every 9.40 minutes. The Rockets bench scored a point every 1.5 minutes.

This is an object lesson in bench construction (and another reason why "WE © or Ω or √ MOREY" Guess what? No little "heart" thingy.). Houston, with 40% of an NBA payroll, has a bench that, frankly, buried Philly's in this contest.

That is not how the game started. Phily jumped on Houston early, prompting fears of the 76ers once again being a team that's pure poison for the Rockets, no matter how bad they look against the rest of the league. Then the benches matched up, and the Rockets closed a Philly lead that stood at 10 after the first quarter to 3 points at the half.

When outside observers look at the Rockets, I think they often make the mistake of looking at the starting lineup and saying "That's not a high caliber NBA lineup." Well, maybe not (though I disagree). But to understand the Rockets, you have to go 9-10 deep. You could start the Rocket's second unit and give up very little, overall.

The players aren't exactly comparable, with some offering more offense, some defense, so let's look at Win Shares so far in 2009-2010. The typical Rocket starting lineup boasts a 7WS total at this point. The second unit (of 4 players) is contributing 5WS - add an average rating of one starter from the first team and you get a total of 6.4WS for the second unit (as we've yet to see much of Taylor thus far). Point being, the Rockets give up little, or nothing, switching out almost their entire lineup. This, I submit, is a powerful, and under-appreciated, advantage.

Every Philly starter played 34 minutes or more, with the exception of Dalembert, who played 29. Brand logged 43, sitting down 5 minutes of the contest, and Iguodala saw 40. Only Ariza came close to that, going 42.

Notes:

I'm very happy we didn't once again drop a game to the 76ers as we have done so frequently in the past. We need to win every single game against floundering opponents. We're going to struggle to hit .500 against the top teams, so we need to clean up on games against below .500 teams.

Iverson gave young Kyle Lowry and Aaron Brooks a lesson in drawing fouls and shooting FTs. Lowry is good at it, but AI is the past master, and he put on a "weak contact FT shooting" clinic in the 4th.

Carl Landry is one of the most valuable players in the NBA on a salary/production basis. I'm now surprised when a Landry shot doesn't go in, and the reasons why not usually break down to: uncalled foul on Carl, the shot was a bit out of his range. That's it.

Commenting on the Tracy McGrady All-Star Game "controversy": what would happen if TMac's first 2009-2010 game appearance was in the NBA ASG? Could the Rocket's keep him out of it, if he hadn't played for them to that point, but wanted to play in the ASG?

The Lakers are going for their 11^th straight win tonight. Some Laker apologists have made an interesting argument that LA having 17 of 21 appearances at home to start the year isn't much of an advantage. After their recent run, can this assertion be supported? We'll have to see the record they compile when they actually do leave LA for more than 48 hours at a time to know more.

You know, every time I see those weird Charlie Sheen/Michael Jordan "Haynes Undergarments" ads I think a couple of things:

1. These are terrible ads. Are there two more unlikable pitch men than Pathetic Sheen, and Arrogant Michael Jordan, blowing him off? Who would those pitchmen be?

2. I always imagine Charlie Sheen is the head scout, or cap guru, for the Bobcats. He's trying to get Jordan to pay attention to some mundane franchise detail, like player signings, or budget, and MJ just drives away, late to a tee time.

Surprisingly, the Rockets are not playing a back-to-back on the road Saturday night. Next game vs Toronto in that mysterious and far-away land known as Canada.

Game 18 Preview: Oklahoma City vs. Philadelphia

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

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

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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

Brand out? Who's in?

jsams — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:26:35 -0000

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Earlier today Kate Fagan speculated that there might be a change in the Sixers lineup on Wednesday night. What change? No one is quite sure, especially head coach Eddie Jordan.

Then we asked if that might mean a change to the starting lineup. Here's where it gets interesting. Jordan said, "Ummm," then there was a long pause and he smiled and said, "Who knows? Nothing is going to change until Wednesday, if there is a change."

No surprise there. All we know is, if there is a change, it will most likely involve Elton Brand moving to the bench. This comes after super-sophomore Marreese Speights went down with a partially torn MCL, who some fans wanted to see take Brand's spot anyway. Now that he's hurt, EJ is left with Jason Smith, Bill Green or Rodney Carney as potential replacements.

In the meantime, there are some differing opinions on how much Elton can contribute.

Brand, for what it's worth, said he still thought he was a 40 minute a night player.

Yeah, if he were playing for the LA Sparks.

[Eddie Jordan] was asked if he felt Brand was a 40-minute a night player. His response, without hesitation, was "No."

For what it's worth, I don't Elton thinks you're a 40-minute a night coach, so there.

Here's what I would do:

Bench Elton, start Carney and Iguodala at the two and the three (order doesn't matter), slide Thad to the four and start Jason Smith at center. It sounds crazy, but hear me out.

Carney and Iguodala give the starting lineup two solid wing defenders and insane athleticism to do the whole run and gun thing that has worked for them in year's past (F the Princeton Offense). Jason Smith is an okay defender, and unlike Sam won't commit stupid fouls, turn the ball over on outlet passes, or play outside of his comfort level. In other words, we won't see him attempting to cross-over his man, fight through a double team and throw up a left-handed hook shot while doing a complete 360 in mid-air. (I may have exaggerated a little, but that's exactly how Sam imagines it when he catches the pass.) Smith also stretches the floor with his three-point range. Throw in Lou and Thad (who defends fours better than threes, <--- numbers tell me I'm wrong, my mind tells me I'm right), and the starting lineup is full of:

Athleticism - Fast breaks galore.
3-point range - Everyone on the floor is capable of hitting a three.
No defense - Eddie Jordan will have his opponents right where he wants 'em.

Then, the ever-problematic bench can slow the pace down, rebound well, play solid defense and keep games close. Here's the first five off the bench in my scenario:

PG - Jrue Holiday

SG - Bill Green

SF - Jason Kapono

PF - Elton Brand

C - Samuel Dalembert

Four out of those five guys are average/above average defenders. In theory, Elton and Sam would provide solid rebounding and interior defense, Jrue and Green would stop penetration, and Kapono would stand around like the skinny white guy at the park, wearing matching warm-ups and a head band, hoping the ball doesn't get passed to his man. (Yes, I just described myself.) That's on defense.

On offense, they could rotate between Brand and Green as the focal points and hope Jason Kapono gets open for a couple of threes.

If you have a problem with my suggestion and your argument include the words "de" or "fense", save it, because you know better than that.

That's what I would do, but here's what Eddie Jordan will do: Bench Brand, start Carney at the two, slide Iguodala to the three and Thaddeus to the four. And don't worry, he'll convince Stefanski he's making the right move by conducting a 9-hour "chalk session" before the game.

Orlando Magic 120, Philadelphia 76ers 106

erivera7 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:44:36 -0000

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In front of a sell-out crowd at the Amway Arena, the defending Eastern Conference Champions faced off against a playoff foe from the 2009 NBA Playoffs and dominated the action for three quarters. Unfortunately for the Orlando Magic, there was still a quarter to play and the Philadelphia 76ers made the final score look respectable, by the count of 120-106, after trailing by as many as 31 points. Balance was the name of the game for the Magic, as six players scored in double-figures. Dwight Howard led the way for Orlando, notching a double-double with 21 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Marreese Speights played outstanding for Philadelphia, scoring a game-high 26 points (10-11 FG) in the loss.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
76ers	94	112.8	54.5%	26.9	21.6	13.8
Magic	94	128.2	65.4%	17.3	23.5	18.2

Before tipoff, Orlando's pre-game festivities included a riveting performance of the national anthem by Gina Marie Incandela and a new opening night intro of the team - including a look back at last year's run to the Finals - that featured an introduction sequence projected onto the court. It was a moment that all Magic fans thoroughly enjoyed in the building.

Once that was over, a game was played.

In that game, Orlando showed that its pre-season dominance carried over to the start of the regular season.

Jameer Nelson got things started offensively in the first quarter, doing a great job of attacking and distributing at the right times - nailing a three off a pass from Dwight Howard in the post, scoring a layup off the dribble, etc. Mickael Pietrus also got off to a quick start, getting some easy buckets in transition, and hitting his patented corner three for good measure. As head coach Stan Van Gundy stated to me in the media presser after the game, Pietrus did an excellent job of focusing on both ends of the floor. Especially on defense, where Mickael effectively shut down Andre Iguodala from doing much of anything by using his athleticism and speed to aid him when necessary.

Early on, the Magic got into trouble not taking care of the ball and the Sixers capitalized on the opportunities.

However, things began to change once Jason Williams checked into the game late in the quarter. Right away, Williams made his presence felt - making a three off an offensive rebound from Howard, penetrating into the lane for a layup off a nice Brandon Bass screen, and setting up Vince Carter for a three. Jason wouldn't stop there, as the momentum carried over into the second quarter. Early in the frame, Marcin Gortat threw down a ferocious dunk off a 1/5 pick & roll after being a recipient of a nice pass from Williams. After that, Jason nailed two consecutive threes and forced Eddie Jordan to call a timeout for Philadelphia. What was once a 24-19 deficit for Orlando turned into a 41-32 lead (with Williams being responsible for 18 of the 22 points in that span) and the team didn't look back. In the second quarter, the Magic blitzed the Sixers for 41 points.

It started with the entire second unit for Orlando, which helped to expand a lead from two to 11 before Dwight checked back into the game at the 7:43 mark. Once Howard was in the game, he abused Marreese Speights down low on one possession in particular (forcing Spieghts to flop in hopes of drawing a foul, but to no avail, before getting dunked on) and the two got into a verbal spat after Marreese didn't take too kind to one of Dwight's elbows. Howard got hit with a technical foul, of course, for mouthing off. But that minor "inconvenience" didn't deter the Magic from putting on an offensive display that left many people, including myself, in awe. Some of the plays that stood out: Nelson crossing over Willie Green and finding Ryan Anderson for an open three, Matt Barnes with a nifty alley-oop pass to Carter where the latter made the layup from the tip of his fingers, and more.

The ball movement was superb and the execution was crisp.

In the third quarter, it was more of the same as Orlando continued to pile it on Philadelphia. In this particular instance, it was the Howard and Anderson show. Dwight, with his array of easy buckets in the lane, offensive rebounds, blocks, dunks, and tip-ins. Ryan, with his plethora of threes (more often than not, with no defender around).

By the time the fourth quarter came, it became evident that the Magic took the foot off the gas pedal. The entire second unit was back in the game for Orlando against a few of the Philadelphia starters but couldn't sustain the lead, forcing Van Gundy to bring back Nelson and Pietrus in the middle of the quarter - momentarily - before taking them out of the game and letting "nature ride its course", so to speak. In this case, seeing a 31 point lead evaporate to a 14 point lead by the end of the night.

Although the final score wasn't as lopsided as it probably should have been, there's no denying Orlando's dominance against Philadelphia when focused at the task at hand. After three quarters, the score was 100-69. The Magic shot 58.7% from the field and 60.9% (14-23) beyond the arc. The Sixers? 44.1% and 25.0% (3-12), respectively. And it wasn't as if Orlando's superb percentages were the case of lucky shots going in, the team was getting its points within the flow of the offense and via open looks. Simple as that. When opponents allow Magic players to get into a rhythm, as efficient as they are, watch out. This isn't the first time one has seen Orlando go nova, offensively.

And it won't be the last.

Defensively, there was a lot to like. As was mentioned before, Pietrus did an excellent job of neutralizing Iguodala and sticking on him. Elton Brand was completely ineffective for the entire contest. Thaddeus Young didn't do much. Philadelphia saw most of its offensive production from Lou Williams, the aforementioned Speights, and the bench. That was it. Credit the good team defense from the Magic for making life difficult on the Sixers. Many times Philadelphia players were deterred from attacking the basket in half-court sets because of Dwight's presence in the lane; similar to last year in the postseason for Orlando. That's why taking care of the ball was something Stan stressed for the Magic because the Sixers are difficult to guard in transition. Limit the turnovers, as Orlando did for a majority of the game, and a weapon for Philadelphia is neutralized (fast break offense).

Overall, it was a good performance for the Magic. Could have been a more complete effort but a win is a win. Next, Orlando will be embarking on a mini- reunion road trip, as the team will face off against the New Jersey Nets and the Toronto Raptors during the weekend. For the Magic players, it'll be a chance to re-unite with the likes of Courtney Lee, Hedo Turkoglu, and others.

Should be fun.

Practice Report: Stan Van Gundy Decides on a Starting Lineup but Won't Say; Marcin Gortat Shares His Insight on the New Players

erivera7 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:25:58 -0000

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Well, Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy has come to a decision with his starting lineup but he wouldn't disclose who the starters will be against the Philadelphia 76ers to the assembled media after practice was over this afternoon. It appears everyone will wait and see on opening night at the Amway Arena, which is only two days away.

I was able to speak with Stan amongst the media and Marcin Gortat one-on-one.

Here's what they had to say:

Stan Van Gundy:

How much film have you watched in preparation for the Philadelphia game?

Just normal, nothing ... same as you do for of the other 82 games.

In terms of offenses, is there a trend in the NBA that's taking over in terms of offensive styles?

There's actually pretty good variety now, I think. I think that there's variety in styles of play and offense, I still think there's some teams who primarily want to play half-court, sort of grind the game out. There's fewer and fewer of those but there are some and I think there's the teams in the other extreme, Phoenix and New York, that just want to fly up and down and score as many points as possible. There's a lot of people in between and then within the half-court offense, I think there's basically everything. Every night there's something a little bit different. You know that you're always going to have to defend pick & rolls, post-ups, and guys coming off screens, it's just everybody does it a little different.

For the Sixers, how important is it to contain Andre Iguodala and some of the other guys?

Well, I mean, I think they have a lot of people that can hurt you. I mean, obviously, Iguodala and Brand are the best-known but certainly Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young, [Jason] Kapono, Willie Green, all of those guys are very, very capable. [Marreese] Speights has been tremendous, he had over 30 [points] in one of the pre-season games. They have a lot of guys who can hurt you and they have a lot of guys with a real scoring mentality. Lou Williams is a guy who scored 3,300 points in high school. I mean, every guy for them when they get the ball is looking to score and they have a lot of athletic ability, lot of quickness. I mean, Iguodala and Brand have the best reputations but I think they have a lot of ways to hurt you.

Defensively, do you expect Philadelphia to single Dwight and stay home on the shooters?

I don't know what Eddie [Jordan] will do. He's done a little bit of both in the past. Again, what he's going to do is mix it up all the time. I mean, we're very different in our approaches to defense. With us, you pretty much know exactly what we're going to do every night defensively, we're going to come out and stay in our defense and try to play it well. We're not trying to confuse anybody or anything else but with Eddie, they're trying to change up a lot and confuse you and everything else so I don't know exactly what we'll see but we'll see a lot of different things.

More after the jump.

Marcin Gortat:

What's the focus in practice been with what you guys are trying to do against the 76ers?

We got to get ready for the press attack. That's a team that plays different than a lot of teams in the league. It's hard matchups, those guys I will say are pretty mobile, pretty athletic team, they penetrate very well, and just getting ready. Basically, we got to play our defense, make sure we got out rotations, our coverages good, and just do our thing on offense.

I know that they gave you guys a little bit of trouble in the playoffs with their athleticism. Do you expect the same thing from them this year even though they've brought back Elton Brand and some other people?

Yeah, they're going to have Elton Brand back so they'll definitely be stronger under the basket and it's obviously going to be harder. I think they are a better team, they have a better team this year, and obviously some of those guys are better too so it's going to be hard but I still believe we're the better team. We have potential on the team, so many guys on the team, such a deep bench that the second unit has to go out and do everything that's possible to get stops and just play offense.

I know that you've talked about the second unit, that there's a lot of talent in that group, how important is it for guys when you come into the game, to outmatch some of the other benches in the league?

Well, that's how you win a championship, actually. The starting lineup might be good, might be great. Last year, we could have a bad starting lineup against L.A. but the bench was the main thing that was actually killing us in the Finals so I would say that we have to step up, everybody. Me and everybody else got to step up and we just got to play harder.

How big of a difference-maker can the bench be for games when sometimes the starters aren't playing well?

Well, every night somebody is going to be out of his game and we're not going to have every night like the last game [against the Atlanta Hawks], where every short [went in] and we're scoring 130 points. Some guys will play well, some guys will not, but those guys who are not playing well, who are not hitting shots, they got to focus on doing different things. Those little things, details - setting screens, play defense, try to get a rebound, hustle plays, and just try to do everything that's possible to help the team.

For the new guys, how have their personalities been able to mesh with the current players?

They're great. To be honest, I've never met an NBA player who was an (expletive) or who was stupid. NBA players are selected very carefully so I don't think this team ... I think this team was selected perfectly. There's a bunch of guys over there in the office who are controlling everything and I don't think they would bring a guy who's a guy that's not going to connect with us. Second thing, having Dwight [Howard] and Jameer [Nelson] on the team makes it impossible, it's impossible, to not have a good atmosphere on the team. It's impossible.

I know that Ryan Anderson talked about enjoy hanging out with each other.

Oh yeah, most of this stuff starts on the away trips because when we're at home, everybody got their own family, everybody got girlfriends, wives, so I think everything starts on an away trip. I'm doing most of these things on away trips, getting together with J.J. [Redick], Adonal Foyle, and Dwight sometimes. Busting Dwight in a Playstation game or an XBOX game so on the away trips most of the time.

I heard you're good at Call of Duty, is that true?

Yeah.

I heard you weren't good at first but now you can't lose.

I had to get used to it, to the controller, because the Playstation and XBOX was different so I had to get used to it, to the controller, but I said give me 24 hours, I'm going to get used to it, and we'll see. That's how it was later, I was beating Dwight and Rashard [Lewis] together against me, and I was winning everything.

Do you guys still play, or try to?

We got a different plane right now and sometimes when there's a chance, we can meet in a room somewhere and just play but not really often anymore.

I know that you guys were an excellent road team last year. You talk about being close to the team and hanging out, is that a little part of it?

In my opinion, I think we're just becoming more focused at the game on away trips. When we're here at home, we kind of rely on ... okay, we're at home, we got our fans here, our people, and it's always going to be like, okay, we're going to win. We're just going to win and I just believe on away trips, we got stuff out of our heads, that's all we got, is our team and we got to do what we got to do. Most of the teams may underestimate us a little bit and that's how we started winning.

Washington Wizards "beat" Philadelphia 76ers in preseason: Final wrap

Mike Prada — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:47:44 -0000

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Also see: Quick game recap | Morning Briefing

Highest plus/minus: Fabricio Oberto (+7)
Lowest plus/minus: Andray Blatche (-6)

Four Factors (bold is very good, italics is very bad)

Team	Pace	Off Eff	eFG%	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Washington	92	97.8	48.2%	12	31.8	19.6
Philadelphia		96.7	45.6%	20	16.3	13

Before we fret about the ending, let's keep a few things in mind:

We were missing our best player, our third-best player and our marquee offseason acquisition. Philadelphia was missing nobody.
We were on the road
We were in the second game of a back-to-back
The unit that closed the game (Mike James, Nick Young, Dominic McGuire, Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee) is never going to close games in the regular season. In fact, it's quite possible none of those guys will be in our closing lineup if everyone is healthy. To be fair, 76ers fans will probably respond correctly that they aren't going to close any games with the lineup of Louis Williams, Willie Greene, Jason Kapono, Jason Smith and Marreese Speights, but that's a hell of a lot closer to their closing lineup that ours was.
When it was our "starters" vs. their starters, we outperformed the 76ers.

Now, the ending was really bad, no question. JaVale McGee made a boneheaded play to go for the spectacular finger roll (he wasn't fouled either), and Nick Young made a dumb defensive play on Willie Green. The unit also made several mental mistakes down the stretch that aided Philly's comeback.

But there was a lot more good than bad to come out of this game. In particular, the following stuff was good:

Rebounding: The 76ers were the second-best offensive rebounding team in the league last year, but they had just seven offensive rebounds last night, and three of those came in the fourth quarter. This is significant for two reasons. One, Philly was bricking a lot of shots, so there were a ton of offensive rebounding opportunities to be had. Two, the Wizards have been awful on the defensive glass this preseason, so this was a huge step in the right direction. What was the cause? I thought Fabricio Oberto was a huge presence here -- he did a great job of sealing off his man and being in position to grab the rebound. Seven defensive rebounds in just 25 minutes is excellent, and more importantly, he helped prevent the 76ers from grabbing offensive rebounds even if he himself couldn't get the defensive board.
Shot defense: Granted, the 76ers are a pretty pitiful perimeter shooting team (which will kill them this year if they stick with their starting lineup), but the Wizards did a great job of packing the lane and contesting outside shots. An eFG% allowed of 45.6% (Philly's mark) is very, very good for any defense.
Transition defense, combined with good offensive rebounding: Not sure how many fast-break points the 76ers had, but anecdotally, it appeared the Wizards did a great job with their floor balance tonight, which is key because the 76ers kill so many teams in transition. What makes this more impressive is that the Wizards actually did a great job on the offensive glass at the same time, mostly because of Brendan Haywood's work inside. Often times, you have to surrender offensive rebounding opportunities in order to get back, especially against a team as athletic as Philadelphia, but the Wizards were able to do both.
JaVale McGee: Yes, he went back to pogo-stick McGee in the last couple minutes, but by and large, McGee played extremely under control in his 15-minute stint. Unlike the Atlanta game, where he had seven offensive rebounds and zero defensive boards, McGee contributed on the defensive glass (5 defensive boards in 15 minutes). He also was in position most of the time on defense, save for a couple late breakdowns where he allowed Marreese Speights to get inside too easily.
Andray Blatche's jumper: I know what you're thinking. Get inside, Andray, and play like a big man! But as much as this makes sense, it's also worth noting that the lane gets very clogged when Blatche is in there with another big like Haywood, Oberto or McGee, all of whom either like to play inside or should like to play inside. If Blatche can hit jumpers as proficiently as he did last night while still grabbing six boards in 22 minutes, he will be a helpful player.
Brendan Haywood: He just obliterated Samuel Dalembert in the paint. Destroyed him. Dalembert hit a couple tough shots, but Haywood didn't allow him to sniff the glass and was able to get some offensive rebounding opportunities himself. He looks like he's back to form. Alas, I wish he got more post-up opportunities than he did. Too many mid-range contested jumpers from Randy Foye and Caron Butler

Some negatives? Foye continues to struggle running the offense. He had a stretch in the third quarter where he got hot and started to play well, but the end line (17 points on 14 shots) is less efficient that you'd like. I still think he's best suited to play off the ball running off screens, because he has great form on his jumper and just doesn't seem like he knows what to do once he gets inside. I know he missed a lot of Js tonight, but that's because he was taking difficult shots.

He also just doesn't have great PG instincts right now. There was one play where the Wizards would have had a fast break off a long rebound, but Foye just kept running upcourt with everyone instead of getting the ball from the big guy. It's little stuff like this that hurts the team and makes it feel like Foye's a misfit as a point guard. I still contend that he's best suited to play a lot with Mike Miller, with Miller running the point in the halfcourt and Foye coming off screens ready to shoot without dribbling.

I also thought Nick Young's defense on Andre Iguodala was pretty poor. Yes, you want Iguodala shooting jumpers, but he was wide open coming off screens several times in the third quarter. I wonder what's really hurting Young on off-ball screens so much. He clearly is working hard, but his technique just seems poor. It seems like it's really easy for an offensive player to run him into those screens because Young isn't doing enough to force the offensive players' action. Hopefully someone can help him with this, because I don't think his defensive struggles are from a lack of effort. They're from a lack of fundamentals.

All in all, good performance from the troops, win or lose. If that phantom foul at the end doesn't happen and we lose 89-88, I'm still happy. The bottom line in preseason isn't wins or losses, it's how you look, and I thought we looked very good tonight.

Fagan: Holiday's DNP and the Princeton Offense

jsams — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:05:33 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

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In Kate Fagan's latest blog post she answers the question everyone was asking after last night's game: why didn't Jrue Holiday play?

After today's practice, Sixers coach Eddie Jordan talked about not playing Holiday. He said he felt bad he didn't get him in the game. His reasoning was that New York's guards -- Chris Duhon, Nate Robinson, etc. -- were playing at a high, intense level. Higher than is usual for a pre-season game. Jordan said he didn't feel comfortable tossing Holiday into that situation. It sounded like he was uncomfortable with it not because of potential mistakes/turnovers, but moreso to preserve Holiday's psyche.

Good try. If Eddie is worried about Jrue's psyche in a pre-season game against Chris Duhon and Nate Robinson, then how is he going to feel when the regular season starts? I think this is either a lame excuse to cover up his old school approach to rookies, or there is something seriously wrong with Jrue Holiday. If his psyche is fragile enough to be damaged in a pre-season game the he should find a new career.

On one play, I believe it was the second quarter, Willie Green and Andre Iguodala went up for the same rebound. Iguodala snatched it from Green -- barely -- but when he came down, he glared at Green then stole a look to the Sixers bench as if to say, "what's he doing trying to take that rebound from me?" (That's how the interaction looked from press row, about 10 yards away.) I'm assuming these are the types of interactions that Jordan would want to eliminate. Awesome that he's addressing them so early.

As much as I disagree with Eddie not playing Jrue, I agree with his stance here. Most of us despise Bill Green, so I can imagine how some of his teammates feel, but that doesn't mean you glare at him for trying to take your rebound in a pre-season game. Andre is supposed to be the leader of this team, and giving Bill the "Kobe stare" isn't exactly great leadership in my opinion -- even if it is Bill Green.

Jordan took the team out of the PO after the first quarter. Jordan said he is still learning how to coach this team and that the move was an "in-game feel," based on some of the Knicks knowing the Princeton. He explained that because he hasn't installed all of the options, his guys were out there without the proper counters. He also said that some of those Knicks would still know the calls for plays and because his guys weren't at the point where they could run the offense without calls (based on reads), he felt like continuing to run it would put them at a disadvantage. That all makes sense.

Ehhh, I still would have rather seen them learn on the fly. This is after all, the pre-season!

High/Low Expectations: Rodney Carney

jsams — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:00:28 -0000

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Rodney Carney #25 SG/SF

Best case: Rodney's athleticism and hustle win over the coaching staff, leading to a decrease in minutes for Bill Green. Along with being a defensive force off the bench, Rodney was a sneaky good shooter in his last 30 games with the Sixers. He shot 38 percent from beyond the arch, which would've ranked him just behind Donny-Ice as the Sixers best three-point shooter one year ago. He continued his success with the Wolves by shooting 35 percent from beyond the arch, which again, would've ranked him second on the 08-09 Sixers team.

Best case stats: 20 minutes, 38% from beyond the arch, tenacious defense and hustle.

Worst case: Rodney reverts back to looking completely lost on the offensive end, shoots poorly and leaves Eddie Jordan with no other choice but to split his minutes with Bill Green. Or his recent hamstring injury nags him all season (which hamstrings have been known to do).

Worst case stats: 10 minutes, 31% from beyond the arch

Poll

Which is more realistic?

Best case.

82 votes

Worst case.

41 votes

123 votes | Poll has closed

High/Low Expectations: Bill Green

jsams — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:30:51 -0000

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Bill Green #33 SG

Best case: If you asked 10 Sixers fans what the best case scenario for Bill Green would be, half of them would tell you 82 DNP-CD's, and the other half would tell you a couple hot shooting streaks off the bench. I think the best case scenario for Bill would be for him to play about 8 minutes of backup point guard until Jrue gets comfortable and go from there. Green is not a terrible of a defender, he can get on hot streaks, and carry the offense for a couple minutes. Was he the worst starter in the NBA last season? Probably, but that doesn't mean he can't still contribute.

Best case stats: 8 minutes or less, 43% shooting.

Worst case: Bill Green puts his magical spell on Eddie Jordan -- the same spell which forced Mo Cheeks and Tony DiLeo to play him an unacceptable amount of minutes. Green has something about him where coaches sacrifice their jobs just to make sure he's happy. Here's to hoping Jordan isn't effected.

Worst case stats: More than 15 minutes, and/ or less than 40% shooting.

P.S. To show how important Bill is to the team, I think he's the only Sixer who doesn't have a picture of him in the new uniforms up on the internet. Even Primoz Brezec has one.

Poll

Which is more realistic?

Best case.

26 votes

Worst case.

43 votes

69 votes | Poll has closed

Sixers Media Day

jsams — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:11:49 -0000

More photos » by Matt Rourke - AP

Are Thad, Elton and Andre all the same height?

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Earlier today Tanner watched the streaming video of Sixers media day at CSNPhilly.com, and jotted down summaries of all the interviews. Here are his notes:

Jason Kapono
- Thinks will get plenty of threes in transition and new system should open up chances
- Doesn't go into game just focusing on shooting threes - needs to be a threat on the floor to spark the team and open up the middle for the big men
- Worked out very hard this summer
- Most important thing to do in 3 point contest is to show up and not trip or airball anything

Jason Smith
- Excited to be healthy
- Trying to play without fear or hestiance
- Most serious injury evr before that was an ankle sprain in high school - has never had to overcome anything like this
- Really had to keep convincing himself that he will overcome it - rehab was very challening
- Working on three point shooting and hoping to excel with mid range game in new system

Primoz Brezec - first thing noticed is he has miller's number (7)
- Very excited to be back in nba after a year in europe
- Strength he will bring - offense, rebounding, being a team player - feels that's the only way to be a successful player in the league along with defense - hated playing against eddie jordan's team and is thankful to be part of it instead of against it
- Despite being 7'1 he never played center before coming to nba - always worked on outside shooting

Rodney Carney
- Different to be back
- Feels game improved immensley - 3 point shooting is the most improved part of his game he feels - confidence is the most important thing to his improvment
- Expects to be give energy, threes, and most importantly defense off the bench - feels he can be a nuisance on the floor
- Feels lou has a better opportunity to show what he's learned in his first few years now that andre miller is gone

Sam Dalembert is holding a gift box filled with stuffed animals.

Royal Ivey
- Felt philly was the right situation and wanted to re-sign since the end of the season
- Role players really need to step up during preseason to earn minutes on the floor with the new coach
- Defense intensity is what he brings to the team - knows that what allows him to play
- Trained with staff at university of texas (rick barnes) - lost 15 pounds
- Dropped third person "i wanted what was best for royal"
- Was a modern, tap, jazz, and ballet dancer as a kid

Brandon Bowman
- Found out 2 wks ago that he was added to training camp roster
- Invited because of elton brand - played pick up with him and liked what he saw

Sean Singletary
- Very excited to be invited to his hometown team
- Played in a half time game when a kid
- Feels he can change pace of the game and straight up play which is why he feels he will make the team
- Already been a part of 4 teams (now five) despite only being in the league for one year

Samuel Dalembert
- Fresh new cut
- Learned to swim to work out this summer - took yoga classes - scuba diving
- Asked him to rebound, block shots, and defend to be successful
- Feels he's prepared to be successful in the new offensive scheme
- Says he always accepts his role (as i roll my eyes as that comment)
- Has been working on ball handling and jumper

Marreese Speights
- Had to delay interview cuz he was eating candy
- Keep energy up and get crowd into the game
- Working on post game
- No mention of DEFENSE!!!!
- Says he comes from florida and all they do is win so he expects to win
- No matter where he is on the court he feels he can make a positive impact
- Best thing about new season is not having to get doughnuts for ppl or taking bags off the plane for the veterans

Bill Green
- Says he plans on shooting three more cuz of new scheme
- Likes princeton o because it's based on fundamentals and is based on movement

Stromile Swift
- Found out this weekend he was invited
- Says if don't work hard it's tough to stick around in the league (from his tone it sounds like he's speaking from experience)

Dionte Christmas
- No more than 5 minutes after draft he got a call from stefanski to come to summer league
- Went to vegas with clippers
- Got an invite from t'wolves and thunder but chose sixers because he says it's "his city" - really looking forward to competing and signing a contract to officially become a 76er
- Show the front office that he can defend will get him a spot on the team
- Feels he can guard pg, sg, or sf very well

Ed Pinkney
- Likes Carney's athletisicm to help out an already athletic sixers roster
- Thinks lou is the most important factor to becomming a successful team

Thaddeus Young
- Young smoove (hence twitter name) is his nickname apparently
- Working with mark price has been huge for him
- Gets down to basics when teaching - talks about angles ball has to been on to make threes
- Shot preparation is something that has really improved over the summer
- Zero problems with the ankle over the summer - did strengthening exercises every day