Heard in the Cheap Seats

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For the sake of full disclosure, I must admit that I am a very emotional person.  For better or worse, that emotion always transfers into my love for sports.  Well, I am going to try and stay level headed and let things play out for once instead of making an emotional declaration.  What I am referring to is, the other day after Thaddeus Young went down with an injury, I proclaimed that the Sixers would have no shot at earning the 5^th seed or of winning a first round playoff series against the Hawks.  Now, I consider myself very knowledgeable when it comes to sports, and I will say that the statement wasn’t made based on just pure emotion, but it was definitely fueled by it.  From a purely basketball standpoint, losing Thaddeus Young hurts the Sixers in a big way.  Young had become the Sixers most reliable scorer, even more so than Andre Iguodala.  His ability to run the floor is unparalleled at his position.  If Young was out for the entire year, the Sixers would be in big trouble, but the hope is that he can return for the playoffs.  So, what I failed to take into account, is that other Sixers now have a chance to step up.  In a short term situation it is actually possible to have a little success.  I guess what I am saying is that I am retracted my statement that the Sixers have no shot at the 5^th seed.  I’m doing it, because I can.

We had our first chance to see the Sixers in action without Thaddeus Young last night against the Milwaukee Bucks.  The Sixers trailed by 13 in the first half, and 8 at halftime, but outscored the Bucks 55-36 in the second half to win 105-95.  While one game, especially against a crappy and depleted Bucks team, certainly isn’t anything to hang your hat on, there were some positive developments. 

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING MAY CONTAIN POSITIVE COMMENTS ON REGGIE EVANS, WHICH MAY LEAD TO YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN EXPLODING.

I was hoping that Tony DiLeo would start Speights at power forward in place of Young, but just as I was expecting, he went with Reggie Evans.  My guess is there were a lot of reasons for this move.  He probably preferred having Evans’ defense to start the game as well as not putting too much pressure on Speights.  I will agree that having Speights come off the bench and provide scoring is a definite boost.  DiLeo’s decision didn’t look bad at all as Reggie Evans was on fire in the first quarter, including two 3 point plays.  He ended the night with 13 points and 7 boards, with 4 of those coming off the offensive glass.  Yes, my friends, I am giving kudos to Evans.  I thought DiLeo did a nice job of splitting the minutes up in the frontcourt between Dalembert (19), Evans (26), Speights (27), Ratliff (8), and Marshall (16).  Speights contributed nicely with 14 points and 6 boards, now if he can just figure out a way to stop getting dumb fouls.  Speights and Lou Williams were my two favorite developments of last night.  Speights had been in a bit of a funk and his minutes had been cut, but he seems to be rejuvenated, and Williams played great last night.  DiLeo gave Williams 31 minutes and he responded with 21 points on 7 for 10 from the field, went to the line 8 times, and chipped in 4 assists.  These are the two guys that can soften the blow of losing Young.  Lou Williams is capable of getting his own shot, and if he takes it upon himself to shoulder more of the load, we may see him grow right before our eyes.  The key will be for Williams to continue being aggressive and taking the ball to the basket rather than settling for the jumper.  Last night was a good start.  Sometimes when a teammate goes down, it motivates others to step up in his absence.  That is why I jumped the gun a bit.  In the short term, the Sixers may be able to succeed.  To do it, they will need contributions from everyone, but to me, it is Speights and Williams that hold the keys.  We already know what we are going to get from Miller and Iguodala.  I hope DiLeo is able to find 30 minutes a night for Williams, because I think if he does, we may be seeing a lot more 20 point nights.  No matter what, there is an opportunity for the Sixers to do some growing here.  Will they step up or will they falter?  The last 8 games will answer that question.