Heard in the Cheap Seats

Some people who read this blog may already know this, and some may not.  But, this is a site run by 2 brothers, one being myself (Anthony) and the other being my younger brother (Chris).  Well, we have been very slow in our contributions to this site of late, but I assure everyone it is for a good reason.  Our family has been prepping for and celebrating the wedding of my brother, who is now on his honeymoon with his beautiful wife.  It has been a long, fun, and exciting two weeks, and we hope to get back to writing as much as we previously were.  Of course, I am not sure that anyone actually cares about any of this, but now you know, so there’s no turning back! 

It is time for my breakdowns on the NBA Conference Finals.  I have been accurate on all but one of my series predictions so far.  I felt the Celtics had enough in the tank to pull out another 7 game series win, but it turns out they didn’t.  It’s funny because so many fans, including myself, were looking forward to a possible Celtics/Cavs series, but would the tired and short handed Celtics been able to give the Cavs even a little resistance?  I doubt it.  So, maybe the two Conference Finals series that we are left with are the best possible match ups we could have asked for.  So, on to my picks…

Orlando vs. Cleveland

I have been hearing a lot of talk about the Magic being confident after their Game 7 win on Boston’s home floor.  I don’t want to take anything away from Orlando, but…Well, maybe I do want to take something away.  The Celtics had nothing in the tank after Game 5!  Nothing!  Brian Scalabrine was getting tons of minutes.  Seriously, people, winning that game was nice for the psyche of the Magic, but once they hit the floor against Cleveland they are facing a whole different animal.  Cleveland didn’t need some bogus win against a dead legged team to validate themselves, they already know they are good.  Very good.  Like, haven’t even come close to losing a playoff game good.  Don’t get me wrong, the Magic will pose some problems for the vaunted Cleveland defense to solve.  They run a unique offense that surrounds Dwight Howard with 4 shooters.  The Cavaliers must decide how they are going to defend Howard, but my guess is they will mix it up with a variety of defenders and defensive looks.  They will certainly double team, especially given the fact that their rotations and close outs are a staple of their defense.  When the Cavs, double, they may decide that the double team will come from whoever is guarding Rafer Alston.  If Alston is draining jumpers, so be it.  I know that the Magic had quite a bit of offensive success in their two home victories over Cleveland during the regular season, but I think the playoff version of the Cavs is too focused to allow the Magic to score at will.  LeBron James has the ability and energy to play shut down defense on either Rashard Lewis or Hedo Turkoglu.  The interesting thing will be how Orlando guards the combo of and Ilgauskas.  No matter which one Howard guards, the Cavs will use screen and rolls to get him away from the basket, and both big men for the Cavs can hit the outside shot, particularly Ilgauskas.  For the Cavs, defensively Ilgauskas may be a bit of a liability because he does not have the athleticism to guard any of the Magic big men.  It will be a battle of strategy, as usual to create as many mismatches and uncomfortable defensive situations as possible.  The Magic will likely look to push the tempo whenever possible so that Cleveland does not have a chance to set their defense.  Both teams have solid benches that can contribute on a nightly basis.  I think the Magic will make this series competitive, but there are 2 words that will likely be the difference: LeBron James.  There is no one on Orlando’s roster that has a prayer of stopping James.  They will have to do their best to make James pass out of traps and double teams and keep him out of the lane as much as they can.  I just don’t think that will be enough.  He may average a triple double in this series.  CAVS IN 5

Denver vs. Los Angeles

At the beginning of the playoffs, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Lakers would be back in the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year.  Then we all watched the Lakers Jekyll and Hyde act throughout the playoffs.  Add to that the fact that Denver has been almost as dominating as Cleveland in the postseason, and we may have a helluva series on our hands.  The Nuggets are a much improved defensive teams, but they are still vulnerable, especially against a team like the Lakers.  If the combination of Gasol, Bynum, and Odom are clicking and playing well, they can create issues for Denver.  Kenyon Martin is an athletic and aggressive defender, but he does not have the size to defend Gasol or Bynum, nor does Nene.  Dahntay Jones will go toe to toe with Kobe Bryant, and Bryant will need to be extremely aggressive in this series, especially with Derek Fisher struggling.  Jones cannot stop Kobe Bryant.  On the other end, the Lakers will likely use Ariza to guard Carmelo Anthony and use Bryant on Billups to try and neutralize Billups a little bit.  Billups is very good and getting buckets in transition, so the Lakers will need to find him immediately.  I have never been impressed with the Lakers defense.  There are games where it looks pretty good and games where it is horrible, and to me that is the sign of a team who doesn’t have the right kind of attitude to maintain consistent defensive effort. A team like Denver should be able to rack up the points on Los Angeles, in my opinion. This has a chance to be a high scoring series, but I feel like the Nuggets have more consistent offensive weapons.  Gasol and Bryant are the only two Lakers playing with any consistency right now.  The Lakers have the home court advantage and they have Kobe Bryant, so my pick scares me.  I keep bouncing back and forth on this one.  I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Lakers win in it seven games, but I going the other way.  NUGGETS IN 6

With 12 games to play in the regular season the Philadelphia 76ers dropped two winnable games against the Detroit Pistons and the Charlotte Bobcats.  At the time, the losses were detrimental because they dropped the Sixers out of the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. 

But after those two setbacks, Philadelphia rattled off three consecutive victories and appeared destined to fight its way back into the fifth spot.  The two poor losses were a distant memory—nothing more than a small misstep on the path to the playoffs.  As it turns out, those three wins were the aberration and not the two losses.  The Sixers were on the verge of a free fall that very few people saw coming (well except for me). 

It would be easy to point to the injury of Thaddeus Young as the catalyst for this free fall.  His injury did coincide with the sudden slide to playoff doom.  But the injury to Young is more of a convenient scapegoat for Philadelphia fans than a viable explanation.

The lack of effort on the defensive end cannot be explained by Young’s injury.  The complete and utter lack of rhythm on offense surely cannot be pinned all on the absence of Young.  The spike in dumb turnovers would not suddenly vanish had Young been in the lineup. 

The Sixers were playing bad basketball before Young was injured and his departure made it worse. 

But should we really be surprised by this rapid descent?  Why is it that a team can look so good against the Lakers and so bad against the Nets?  There are two reasons: the first has to do with effort and the second with the personnel of this team. 

Because this is a young team, they have peaks and valleys in their effort level.  This is not to say they are mailing it in when they lose—but like all young players, have difficulty sustaining max effort for an entire season.  The best teams are able to maintain an energy level throughout the grueling NBA season.  The Sixers found that energy level against the Lakers but left in the locker room against the Nets.

Consistent effort is paramount in the NBA, but it is not the biggest problem plaguing the Sixers right now.  Want to know what is?  They simply are not that good.  The reason this team is so streaky is because its best players are not consistently good at the fundamentals of basketball.  On any given night, Andre Iguodala can put up 35 points, 10 boards, and 6 assists.  But he can also easily throw in an 8 point effort that is highlighted by 10 turnovers.  When athletic ability is your only gift—you will hit cold streaks.  And therein lays the problem. 

The Philadelphia Sixers are comprised of a bunch of players that are excellent athletes and only average basketball players.  On some nights, their athletic ability allows them to masquerade as great basketball players.  But in a long NBA season, the truth almost always reveals itself and it has been rearing its ugly head as the Sixers stumble into the playoffs.

The Philadelphia 76ers continue their stretch run into the Eastern Conference playoffs tonight with a game against the Milwaukee Bucks.  More importantly, tonight marks the first game the Sixers will play without the services of Thaddeus Young.  

The loss of Young could not have come at a worse point in the season.  The Sixers are currently locked in a dogfight with the Miami Heat for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference and every game is crucial.  Making matters worse is the fact that Young seemed to be just finding his grove on the offensive end of the floor—having scored at least 20 points in 6 straight games.  He was rounding into form as a second reliable offensive threat for the Sixers and possibly the most consistent offensive force.  Young’s services will be sorely missed.  Thad created matchup problems for opposing teams with his ability to run the floor, operate in space and knock down the open look from outside.  From an offensive standpoint, the Sixers will be hard pressed to replace his production.

But at this juncture of the season, there is no sympathy for depleted teams.  Every team has dealt with their fair share of bumps and bruises.  The Sixers need to move past their fallen teammate and ensure that winnable games like tonight’s contest are not squandered.  For this to happen, someone is going to have to step up and replace Young’s production.  Who will it be?

Of course, no one player is going to fully replace Thad on the offensive end of the floor.  Rather, the production will have to be spread amongst the entire team.  However, it will be interesting to see what starting lineup DiLeo puts on the floor.  If the second half of the Hawks games is any indication, we may see Reggie Evans start out the game at the power forward spot.  I think that is a mistake.  As has been written on this blog many times before, Evans brings a spastic level of energy to the game.  He commits poor fouls, is often out of position on the glass and is basically a waste of a player on the offensive end.  He is a player that needs to be used based on the situation—not as a starter.

The obvious answer here is Maresse Speights.  Speights is able to provide some semblance of consistency on the offensive end of the floor and has the ability to alter shots when he is in the right spot.  Granted, he has his deficiencies on the defensive end of the floor and as a rebounder.  But remember, Young was not exactly a lock down low post defender and he too was suspect on the glass.  In short: the offensive production of Young needs to be replicated more than what he brings on defense.  Speights is the only viable option in that regard.  Any other option makes the Sixers too vulnerable and one-dimensional on offense.  

The problem with this scenario is it eliminates one of the Sixers offensive sparkplugs off the bench and diminishes their defensive prowess.  To combat this, we will see a healthy dose of Donyell Marshall and Theo Ratliff respectively.  Marshall can provide the needed spark offensively off the bench and Ratliff brings a measure of defensive stability. 

The loss of Young at an integral point in the season was devastating to the Sixers’ playoff positioning and chances of advancing past the first round.  That is the level-headed, pragmatic view.  But they still have to show up and compete.  We need to continue to gauge the mental makeup of this team and this test will be a solid way to judge them in that capacity.  Will they all step up on the defensive end of the floor and hold each other accountable?  Will the make solid decisions with the ball and not settle for jumpers?  Will they refuse to be outrebounded and outhustled? 

The answers to these questions will tell us a lot about this team.  Those answers will begin to be formulated tonight against the Bucks.    

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. 

If the Eastern Conference playoffs started today, the Sixers would be sitting pretty in the fifth spot.  But the team is locked in a battle with the Miami Heat and has to continue winning games against teams it should beat.  That means there is no time for a letdown tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats.  With the Pistons on a sharp slide and the Bobcats remarkably only 3 games out of a playoff spot, you can bet that Larry Brown will have his team ready to go tonight.

This is a dangerous game for the Sixers and one that will provide an indication of where this team’s maturity level stands.  They showed their evolution by shaking off the rust and jet lag of a five game road trip by beating the Timberwolves.  Tonight they will need to continue that evolution by dispatching of the Bobcats.  The Sixers and Bobcats have been going in opposite directions.  The Sixers come into tonight’s game winners of 7 of their last 9 while the Bobcats are coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Wizards and a drubbing at the hands of the Pacers.

These Bobcats are not as bad as their record indicates.  They have a lot of high-energy players in the likes of Gerald Wallace, Emeka Okafor and Raymond Felton that give them the ability to get out and run with the Sixers.  However, the Bobcats are prone to prolonged shooting droughts and turning the ball over—providing the Sixers with ample opportunity to get out in run.  In addition, the Bobcats are a terrible free throw shooting team so the Sixers should not allow any easy buckets around the hoop and make them earn those points at the line.

The best indication of how this game will play out will be the defensive intensity of the Sixers from the opening tap.  As we have chronicled before, this team has a nasty habit of letting defense fall by the wayside against teams that do not slow the game down.  We saw it against the Suns and we saw it against the Warriors.  The Bobcats will look to get out on the break and the Sixers need to ensure they don’t have any lapses in defensive intensity and commitment.

The last few games have showed us that the Sixers are on the verge of turning the corner from a young, immature team, to one that understands what it takes to win in this league on a nightly basis.  If the Sixers continue to play the brand of basketball that has propelled them to this string of success, that transformation will continue.

The Sixers capped off what turned out to be a successful road trip with a 114-108 overtime victory over the Portland Trailblazers.  As I am a bit late to the game here, I won”t rehash the details of the game.  For a breakdown of how and why the Sixers won, head on over to Depressed Fan where Brian does a good job with the analysis.

Suffice it to say you should not underestimate the magnitude of this win.  The Trailblazers have been nearly unbeatable at home and had the Sixers on the ropes in the waning minutes of the game.  But this Sixers team fought back and was able to secure a much-needed victory to keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

When this five-game West Cost road swing began, it was widely believed that a 3-2 road trip would be considered a huge success.  It wasn”t supposed to happen this way though.  If anyone tells you they believed two of those three wins would come against the Lakers and Blazers don”t be surprised if their nose begins to grow because they are almost certainly lying. 

In order to get to three wins, the general school of thought was the Sixers needed victories over the Warriors and Kings with the third win coming against either the Suns or Blazers.  Instead, the Sixers went the unconventional route and beat the two best teams it played in the Lakers and Blazers.  Whatever the path it took, it is tough to argue with the results.

So what do you make of this successful road swing?  Is it a harbinger of things to come?  This team walked into the buildings of two teams that rarely lose on their home floor and pulled out very hard-fought wins.  That is not an accomplishment that should be taken lightly.  Surely that says something about the mettle of this team. 

On the same token, the Sixers turned in two clunkers against the Suns and Warriors.  In each of those games, the team failed to play any semblance of defense and lacked the effort needed to win any NBA game—let alone a game on the road.

If the Sixers have shown us anything this season, it is that they are a classic case of Jekyll and Hyde.  On any given night, they can turn in a performance like last night where they play solid team defense, are clicking offensively and limit their mental mistakes.  When they do all of that, they are a tough team to beat.  On other nights, they play like the young but gifted team that they are.  I”m not ready to get too high on this team just yet despite the two big wins and successful road trip.  Good teams are not prone to spells where lack of effort costs them victories.  The Sixers have not shown me consistently enough that they can turn in the same energy level night in and night out.

That being said, this West Coast swing was a sign of progress.  Early in the season, the Sixers were routinely losing games that came down to the wire on buzzer beaters and poor defense down the stretch.  On this trip, the exact opposite was true against the Blazers and Lakers.  In order to cement their place as the #5 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Sixers need use this road trip as the catalyst for a solid stretch run. 

What do you think?  Will this West Coast trip propel the Sixers to a strong finish?

By all accounts, this is a game the Sixers should win.  The Sacramento Kings have been awful all season long—amassing only 15 wins to go along with 54 losses.  As bad as that stat sounds, the Kings have managed to win only one contest against the Eastern Conference all season long, finally getting off the snide on Friday night against the Knicks.

By any statistical measure, the Sixers have a decided advantage against the Kings.  Sacramento allows opponents to pour in 108 points per game, is routinely out rebounded and gives teams an abundance of extra possesions by turning the ball over 16 times per game.

But if history has taught us anything this year, it’’s that the Sixers rarely capitalize on games where they have a huge edge.  This is a team that has lost to the Timberwolves, Bobcats, Nets (x2), Thunder and Warriors.  It is also a team that has beat the Lakers, Spurs, Rockets and Trailblazers. 

So which team will show up tonight?  The one that scratched and clawed their way to victory against the Lakers or the one that let the Warriors walk all over them? 

Their Sixers are a young team and clearly are prone to periods of poor play followed by spurts of solid play.  Part of this is the nature of their greatest offensive deficiency—a lack of outside shooting.  A team like the Sixers that is full of streaky shooters is naturally going to see its offensive production follow suit.  Some nights they will knock down open looks from outside, some nights they won”t.  I can live with that.  What I can”t live with is their lack of commitment on the defensive end of the floor.  Regardless of whether or not your shot is falling, you can always commit to playing solid defense.  This team refuses to do that on a regular basis. 

What makes it even more puzzling and frustrating is they absolutely have the personnel to be a solid defensive team.  In Samuel Dalembert, the Sixers have an elite shot blocker and above average rebounder.  With Iguodala and Young, they have two young, athletic players that should be able to play consistently tough on-the-ball defense.  Across the board, the Sixers are an athletic team that should be able to commit to solid team defense.  Yet they continue to make mental mistakes that cost their team points.  Instead of playing disciplined defense, they gamble for steals and abandon the perimeter in favor of clogging the lane.  And while help defense is important, the Sixers sometimes over commit with a complete and utter lack of awareness for who they abandoned.  When you are guarding Ray Allen, you don”t leave him to help out on Rajon Rondo—especially when you have a guy like Dalembert to defend the rim.  The Sixers to a man fail to grasp that concept.

And on that note, the keys to the game:

# 1: Defend the Perimeter: While the Kings are not an elite team when it comes to shooting the three, they do have a few players that can knock it down from outside in Kevin Martin, John Salmons and Andres Nocioni.  The Sixers need to force the Kings into difficult shots from the perimeter. 

#2: Own the Glass: It is no secret that the Sixers struggle when it comes to shooting the ball.  As such, there is sure to be ample opportunity for them to hit the offensive glass.  Fortunately, the Kinds are a terrible rebounding team.  The Sixers must crash the offensive glass and capitalize on the additional possessions.

# 3: Iggy Need to Snap Out of It: Despite the game-winning shot against the Lakers, Andre Iguodala has been struggling mightily from the field in the last three games.  When Iggy gets a few easy buckets in transition early in the game his jump shot seems to follow.  It will be important for the Sixers to get out and run early and get the ball to Iggy in spots where he can score.  This should be an opportunity for him to have a big game.

Despite the fact Kings are an awful team and the Sixers have an edge in nearly every statistical category, I don”t think this game will be a cakewalk.  Because the Sixers come into this game losers of two straight, one would hope they don”t take this team for granted.  With every game critical in the race for the 5^th spot in the Eastern Conference, this is one the Sixers must win.

Sixers fans, this is your destiny.  You are relegated to a life of mediocrity and maddening inconsistency with the Philadelphia 76ers.  After beginning this West-coast road swing with a huge win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Sixers quickly snapped back to reality by losing back-to-back games to the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors.  In the process, the team managed to make a mockery of the concept of defense—allowing 126 and 119 points respectively.

Last night against the Warriors, the Sixers shot a ghastly 38% from the floor while managing to hoist up 100 shots.  To put up 100 shots in an NBA contest is no small feat.  But it illustrates just how inefficient this offense can be when it is not knocking down open looks.  The Sixers put up 15 more shots than the Warriors yet were outscored by 8 points.  This is what happens when you allow a team to shoot 56% from the field and 47% from three-point range and you counter punch with 38% from the field and 25% from downtown.  That is not a formula to win games.

Midway through the third quarter, the lights at Oracle arena went dim (literally) and seemingly took the Sixers shooting abilities dark at the same time.  Three minutes later when the lights came back on, the Sixers never were able to find their rhythm.  The team made a late run that gave the illusion that this game was closer than it really was.  But don”t be fooled, the Sixers were dominated last night.  Sure, they hit the glass all night long and were able to snag 25 offensive rebounds.  But the stat is misleading.  First of all, when you are missing nearly every shot you put up you are bound to come away with a few offensive boards.  Secondly, offensive rebounds don”t amount to much if you can”t convert on the additional opportunities.  So when you look at the box score you may be impressed with Samuel Dalembert’’s 23 rebounds.  And while it is an impressive number, it did not help the team win in the end.

Teams like the Warriors and Suns are dangerous for the Sixers because they play a similar style.  When the Sixers come up against a foe that is not slowing the tempo down, they seem content to try and go bucket for bucket.  They essentially throw defense to the wind and attempt to outshoot the opponent.  Unfortunately, the Sixers do not have the personnel to outshoot many teams as was painfully illustrated last night. 

It’’s a wonder that we allow ourselves to be continually fooled by this Sixers team.  They have proven time and again that they are nothing more than a mediocre team that will hover around .500 for the remainder of the season.  Just like the lights at Oracle Arena last night, the hopes of getting the coveted 5^th seed in the Eastern Conference seem increasingly dim.

via Depressed fan

This was the one game on the West Coast road swing that the Sixers stood no chance of winning.  The Lakers are arguably the best team in the NBA right now and were playing at the Staples Center where only a handful of teams have walked away victorious.  Everything in the book and pre-game analysis said that Philly should lose this game.  Well throw out the book, because the Sixers had different ideas. 

Prior to the game I outlined five keys to walking away victorious.  Let”’’s take a look back at the game and see how the Sixers fared last night.  

#1 Don””t Allow Kobe to Beat You 

This was the key factor in the game.  Any time you limit Kobe Bryant to 11 points on 5-15 shooting you will put yourself in position to win the basketball game.  Andre Iguodala was blanketing Kobe Bryant for the entire fourth quarter and made him work hard on every offensive position.

#2 Keep The Lakers Off the Offensive Glass

The Sixers did a solid job of keeping the Lakers off the offensive glass last night—holding the Lakers to 10 offensive rebounds, which is 2.5 below their average.  Sure, they struggled down the stretch at grabbing defensive rebounds and it almost cost them in the end.  But overall, they held their own.  Perhaps more importantly, the Sixers were all over the offensive glass, particularly Samuel Dalembert who pulled in 8 on his own. 

#3 Limit Turnovers

The Sixers took care of the ball all night—refusing to give the Lakers extra possessions.  In the first half, Lou Williams practically carried the team and made solid decisions on where to go with the basketball.  For the game, Lou Will finished with  18 points, 6 assists and only 1 turnover.  As a team, the Sixers only coughed up the ball 10 times resulting in 13 points for the Lakers. 

#4 Shoot the Ball Well 

The Sixers did not shoot the ball particularly well in any facet of the game last night.  They struggled from beyond the arc and fell victim to the same woes that have plagued them all year long at the free throw line.  But there is a silver lining to this story.  In crunch time, when it mattered, the Sixers turned it all around.  Iguodala started knocking down shots, including the decisive three pointer at the buzzer and Donyell Marshall came off the bench to knock down 3 from three-point land.  It appears that Marhsall is playing his way into some crunch time minutes. 

#5 Start Quick

At halftime, the game was all knotted up, so the Sixers did a great job of hanging around.  They had an awful third quarter but clearly put that out of their minds with a torrid fourth quarter. 

Bar none, this was the biggest win so far this season.  In looking at the five-game road trip, few people expected the Sixers to walk away from this game with a win.  But the team kept fighting and was able to pull off the upset.

But there is no time to soak in the victory, it”’’s time to continue the ascent up the Eastern Conference standings with a win over the Suns tonight.

The following 3 definitions are taken from The Free Dictionary by Farlex:

trash (tr sh)

n.

1.

a. Worthless or discarded material or objects; refuse or rubbish.

b. Something broken off or removed to be discarded, especially plant trimmings.

c. The refuse of sugar cane after extraction of the juice.

2. A place or receptacle where rubbish is discarded: threw the wrapper in the trash.

3.

a. Empty words or ideas.

b. Worthless or offensive literary or artistic material.

c. Disparaging, often abusive speech about a person or group.

4. A person or group of people regarded as worthless or contemptible.

la·zy (l z )

adj. la·zi·er, la·zi·est

1. Resistant to work or exertion; disposed to idleness.

2. Slow-moving; sluggish: a lazy river.

3. Conducive to idleness or indolence: a lazy summer day.

4. Depicted as reclining or lying on its side. Used of a brand on livestock.

appalling

Adjective

1. causing dismay, horror, or revulsion

2. very bad

Those three words describe last night’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.  I am not going to waste my time breaking down this game.  The Sixers were simply crushed by and inferior opponent.  I have so much time defending this team and saying that they are a group that plays hard and need time to grow.  I may have been wrong.  All the deficiencies on this team can be directly traced back to a lack of effort.  I am not even sure that the Sixers bothered to board the plane to Oklahoma City.  Plain and simple: that was an inexcusable performance by the Sixers.  It is one thing to go down fighting, and an entirely different thing to not even show up for the fight.  Andre Miller seems to be the only Sixer who brings effort on a nightly basis.  The Sixers do not have an attitude or personality.  They don’t have anyone who refuses to let nights like last night take place.  It really should be Andre Iguodala, but he has not shown that kind of tenacity and I am not sure he ever will.   I know that last night was just one game, but as I sat and thought more about it, I began to think that maybe it was much more than that.  I started thinking that maybe it was much more of a representation of the true makeup of this team than anyone wants to believe, and that is what worries me.