41-23. That’s the stat that tells you all you need to know about last night’s Sixers versus Bobcats game. 41-23. That is the startling rebound edge held by the Charlotte Bobcats over the Philadelphia 76ers last night at the Wachovia Center in a 100-95 victory over the Sixers.
As a team, there will always be nights when your shot is not falling but there should never be nights when you stop working. The Sixers stopped working last night. In most circumstances, rebounding gives you a pretty clear indication of effort. The 18-rebound margin held by the Bobcats tells you that they were simply playing with a greater sense of desperation than the Sixers.
I said before the game I felt this was a dangerous matchup. Now you can see why. Larry Brown surely had his team focused on sneaking into the final playoff spot and coming off of two tough losses, they possessed an extra source of motivation. But it’s not like the Sixers should have had to search for their motivation. They are locked in a dogfight with the Miami Heat for the fifth spot in the Eastern conference and the right to avoid a first round mathcup with the Celtics, Cavs or Magic. Last night, they couldn’t seem to muster the desire to bury the Bobcats. And once they did find it, it was too little, too late.
As in many nights prior to this one, the team lost its ability to knock down shots in the first half. But that is no excuse for the stinker they continued to put out on the floor. They did not defend, they did not rebound—they simply did not hustle. It’s a shame too, because lost in all of this is Thaddeus Young’s continued solid play. Young was again quietly efficient going 10/14 from the floor for 21 points and filling up the rest of the stat sheet. It seemed like Young was the only player on the floor most of the time that realized what was at stake.
It’s a sad commentary on your basketball team when a second-year player that is 20-years old seems to be the only one not dogging it.
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I was not happy with the game and I have been very hard on them, but I wouldn”t go as far as saying they are dogging it. I agree that rebounding has a lot to do with desire. But, in reality, without Elton Brand, the Sixers are a very average rebounding team. Thaddeus Young is not a good rebounder, especially for a starter at PF. Last night, Dalembert obly played 23 minutes, and he is the Sixers best rebounder. I think there are times when the Sixers have a bad matchup physically and will get crushed on the boards and it can”t solely be blamed on effort.
I hear you. But there is no excuse for the defense they played in the first half and the rebounding margin was atrocious. They weren”t outmatched against the Bobcats, they just got outworked. I agree; if Brand were in that game, they do not have the same deficit on the boards. Young is not a good rebounder, but last night, he was the team’’s leading rebounder and that is precisely the problem.