Heard in the Cheap Seats

I am not going to go jumping up and down and chest bumping everyone I see because the Sixers did exactly what they should have last night. They beat a bad team in the Toronto Raptors, 115-106. It is exactly what they should have done the other night against the Thunder. Still, it was good for the Sixers to get a win and get back to .500. They will be in a dogfight the rest of the way just to make the playoffs. Depending on how things shake out, I could see the Sixers finishing anywhere from out of the playoffs to the number 5 seed.

The Sixers were led by Thaddeus Young’s career high 29 points on 13 of 20 shooting from the field. Maybe the work he put in with a shooting coach last week is starting to pay dividends. What was good to see was that Young was very confident in his shot all night. He was catching and shooting when he had open looks. I would like to see that confidence from Young consistently. With his ability to score around the rim, if he can develop a consistent outside shot he will be a nightmare to defend. Another positive that I saw last night was the play of Lou Williams. Now, I will say that I am a fan of Lou Williams. But, at the same time, I understand his critics, especially because of his recent play. I juts think the kid is 22 years old, and needs some more time to figure out the type of game he can be successful playing. The skill is there. I loved the way Williams played last night. In 25 minutes off the bench, Williams had 13 points, 5 assists, and only one turnover. He was constantly looking to get into the lane by beating his man off the dribble. Williams is a good finisher and has the ability to drive and dish if he is committed to doing it. I constantly watch games where he relies on the jump shot way to much. With his quickness, he can get by almost anybody. If he can continue to make it a point to be aggressive and not settle for jumpers, he can change the opinion of many of his critics.

I also want to give a little credit to two guys that you’ll rarely see me praise: Samuel Damembert and Reggie Evans. Yes, I am actually admitting it out loud! Evans had his once every two week game, where his spastic energy contributes positively, and Samuel Dalembert may have had his best game of the season. I have had enough of Sammy’s bitching in every interview and sounding like a little brat kid. But, since Sammy wants playing time I will give him a hint: Play like you did last night and DiLeo won’t be forced to remove you from the game!!!! It really is that simple. Sammy played 33 minutes, had 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Even better than his numbers? He actually seemed like he was interested in what was happening on the court!!

It was a much needed win, but let’s be real here and admit that Toronto didn’t seem to care one bit about the result of the game. The one part I didn’t like about last night’s game is the Sixers continued to struggle on defense. You can argue that they had a comfortable lead so they relaxed, but I would counter by saying that good teams would have blown Toronto out of the building by continuing to defend. That falls in line with that killer instinct that I haven’t seen from this Sixers team. The Sixers really need to ramp it up and start playing good basketball. They have a home game at the Spectrum against the Bulls up next, followed by a tough game against the red hot Dwayne Wade and the Heat. After that, the Sixers go on a tough 5 game west coast road trip. It’s now or never time for this team.

from espn.com

Going into last night’s game against the Phoenix Suns, I felt pretty damn good that the Sixers would come away with a victory.  The Suns are an older team that typically struggles in the second game of a back to back.  More than that, I loved the match up.  The Suns don’t play a lick of defense, and basically just hope to push it up the floor every chance they get.  Teams like that play right into the Sixers hands, in my opinion.  You may beat the Sixers, but it certainly won’t be at their own game.  Not to mention, the Suns tend to turn the ball over a lot, and when teams do that against the Sixers, they are just asking for trouble.

Well, last night’s game ended up playing out exactly how I thought and hoped it would.  The Sixers led the entire game and crushed the Suns 108-91, leaving Stoudemire, Shaq, and Nash sitting on the bench for the 4^th quarter.  This was the third win in a row for the Sixers, and brought their record to 17-10 under Tony DiLeo.  That’s a far cry from the team’s 9-14 start.  Last night, the Sixers were led by Thaddeus Young and Marreese Speights.  The two young guys put on a show that was fun to watch.  It is hard for most teams in the NBA to compete with the athleticism of the entire Sixers team, and specifically their frontcourt.  The Sixers took care of the ball with only 10 turnovers, and conversely forced 18 turnovers by the Suns.  Steve Nash and Shaq were nothing more than also-rans in this game.  Three Sixers ended up with more than 20 points: Young with 25, Speights with 24, and Iguodala with 22.  Honestly, I could rattle off a bunch of stats, but the bottom line is, the Sixers dominated the game from start to finish, and seem to be continuing to improve as a team.  Because of that, I just wanted to quickly touch on a few positive developments that I have seen in this team.

1)       The continued development of Speights- I like the fact that Speights seems to be getting more and more minutes, especially late in games.  He is gaining confidence each game, and is showing the ability to score in a variety of ways.  Also, I think he brings some swagger and attitude to the team when he is on the floor, and they need that.

2)       Defense- While the numbers may not show it, I would argue that the Sixers defense has significantly improved under Tony DiLeo.  The rotations are much better, and Dalembert is doing a nice job challenging shots in the lane.  The Sixers definitely need to defend the 3 much better, but if they continue to improve on their team defense, those numbers should improve as well.  We all know that when the Sixers can get stops and turnovers, it allows them to play up tempo much more.

3)       Lou Williams- Even though Williams has struggled of late with his outside shot, he has continued to help the team and contribute off the bench.  To me, it is a great sign that he is taking the ball into the lane and either finishing or getting to the line, as well as developing into the leader of the second unit.

4)       Elton Brand’s Injury- I have said many times that I thought eventually the Sixers would be better with Brand.  Still, with the team knowing he will not be back this year, it allows them to establish their identity.  They understand what their roles are, and exactly the type of basketball they have the most success with.  There will be no worrying about trying to gel with Brand.

5)       Offensive Efficiency- It is obvious to me that the Sixers are much better under DiLeo in their half court sets.  They seem to have a clear idea of where to be and what they are running.  We have seen a lot of back doors, alley oops, and even a few jumpers coming off screens.  They look to be taking advantage of mismatches on that end of the floor more than they used to.  Now, I realize they still don’t have consistent shooters, but even given that I feel much more comfortable with the team when they have to slow the game down.

6)       Attitude/Energy- I am going to shock some and say that Evans helps in this category from time to time!  But, overall I think the Sixers are developing a little bit of a swagger.  They play aggressively, and I like seeing guys like Dalembert give hard fouls near the basket.  I think Speights and Ivey, along with Evans have given the Sixers a little more “in your face” nasty side.

The team is playing well and I think can continue to improve.  I have felt all along that a minimum of a 5-2 home stand was necessary heading into the break.  Well, they have that opportunity if they defeat the Grizzlies tomorrow night.  I am hoping that all the points are touched on are areas that continue to improve as the season winds down, and then we will see where that puts the Sixers at the end of the year.

Get used to this phrase: there are no moral victories in the NBA.  Of course, the last time I uttered that phrase it catapulted the Sixers to its best stretch of basketball this season.  Here’s hoping it will do the same this time around.

Photo courtesy of Philly.com

As my brother wrote here, last night’s game was a chance to erase any lingering memories from the performance against the New Jersey Nets.  While seemingly unlikely, the stars appeared to be aligning for a Sixers victory.  With Kevin Garnett on the bench with the flu, last night was as good an opportunity as any to knock off the defending champs.   And with 2:40 remaining in the fourth quarter and a five-point lead it appeared that the Sixers might do just that.  But they were unable to put the proverbial nail in the coffin.

With six seconds left in the game, Andre Iguodala appeared to deliver the dagger with a fadeaway jumper from the top of the key despite Paul Pierce being draped all over him.  Maybe it was the Philadelphia in me, but at that moment I turned to my fiancé and said: “The Sixers are going to lose this game.”  Of course, my prediction turned out to be true.  On a beautifully designed play (to go along with some terrible defensive communication), Paul Pierce lured the defense into the paint with dribble penetration.  Meanwhile, Ray Allen slipped off a solid screen from Glen Davis to find his spot in the corner and calmly deliver the game-winner.  Game. Set. Match.

A lot of Sixers’ fans will talk about the ability of the team to hang with the defending champs.  I’m not buying it.  This was a Celtics team missing its catalyst.  It was a team that did not play its best game and was on the ropes for much of the contest.  But the difference between the Celtics and Sixers was clear last night-a good team never lets its opponent off the ropes.

Sure, the Sixers did some things well last night, namely, made free throws and protected the basketball.  But their shooting ills plagued them once again as evidenced by the 1-8 performance from beyond the arc.  The team also failed to play consistently good defense.  It is tough to beat an average team when they shoot 54% from the field—let alone an exceptional one like the Celtics.  That defensive deficiency reared its ugly head on the final play when Ray Allen was inexplicably left alone in the corner.  Analyze that play all you want, but the bottom line is it was a systemic breakdown in team defense.  Thad overcommitted on the help of Paul Pierce and Sammy Dalembert was woefully slow on his rotation.  Couple that with the fact that the team chose to ignore the instruction of Coach Tony DiLeo to switch on every screen and you can understand why Ray Allen was all by his lonesome.

The Sixers hung with the defending champs last night for the entire game.  Two weeks ago they hung with arguably the best team of this decade in the San Antonio Spurs.  In each case they came up empty and are now staring at a sub-.500 record.  So if it helps you sleep at night, take solace in the fact that the Sixers are good enough to compete—I’ll wallow in the fact that good enough ain’t good enough.

The 76ers extended their win streak to 6 games by dominating the San Antonio Spurs 109-87 tonight.  I had said that their previous victory over the Blazers was the best win of the season, but this win was even more impressive.  The Spurs are a perennial contender, and are currently the #2 team in the Western Conference.  The Sixers continued their trend of playing efficient offensive basketball leading to great outside shooting, as well as aggressive defense leading to fast breaks.  Thaddeus Young continues to play well, leading the team with a career high 27 points, and Andre Iguodala is playing amazing ball right now, chipping in 21 points, 8 assists, and 5 boards.  The Sixers deserve a lot of credit for this streak, and I am putting the call out to the fans.  This team should be playing in front of a packed house.  They are young and play an exciting brand of basketball.  Yes, they got off to a slow start, but it was just that…a slow start. The Sixers have always thrived in front of the home crowd when the building is full.  Remember the 2001 run?  I understand that times are tough these days, and if that’s your reason for not going to the games, that’s fine.  But, I am talking to the people who aren’t going because they don’t think this team is worth supporting.  You’re wrong.  That’s all I’ll say.  I put together some notes and thoughts during tonight’s game.  Some of them are regarding the game, and some are just regarding the team.  It was the best I could do because I am tired and my mind keeps wandering to that other game this weekend.  So, here’s what I observed…

~ Overall, the defense is improving, especially the help defense, but the 3 point defense still needs to be better.  Teams are getting way too many wide open looks from beyond.

~ Andre Miller is playing ridiculously efficient basketball.  He is running this team and making great decisions.

~ This team is amazing on the break.  They had 30 freaking fastbreak points against the Spurs, and are the best in the league in that category.  But, just watch them.  They are so damn fast, it’s close to unstoppable when they are running.

~ I love that Speights is getting consistent minutes.  He has a great touch and I love his activity on the offensive glass.  When Brand returns, they need to make sure Speights continues to see minutes.

~Speaking of Speights, he was the first draft pick of Stefanski and a good one, but as much as Billy King screwed up, let’s look at some of the young guys on this team.  You have Speights, Iguodala, Lou Will, Young, Green, and Sammy.  All draft picks.  Not bad.

~ Has anyone noticed how many times Miller has hit Willie Green backdoor for a lay up recently?  Had another tonight against the Spurs.

~ Another great contribution from Royal Ivey.  He came in tonight, hit two threes, and his steal followed by a dive on the floor for the loose ball really energized the team and the crowd.  The guy just brings energy every game.

~ It seems like most of the threes the Sixers are hitting are wide open looks.  They are getting good ball movement, and a lot of drive and kicks.  A little bit easier to hit an open jumper than it is with a hand in your face.  Big shocker!

~ I have been very critical of Dalembert ever since they drafted him.  But, if he can keep giving them 20 minutes a game and rebound, block and contest shots, and occasionally get a dunk or put back, he can really help this team.  He had a nice game against Duncan tonight.

~ I am really liking the substitution patterns of DiLeo.  He rewards guys that are playing well, and he seems to have clearly defined roles for each player, as well as a good feel for the game.  A great example is how he uses Reggie Evans.  Evans stinks, but every once in awhile he comes in the game and affects it with his rebounding and hustle.  When he does DiLeo gives him a few more minutes, but when Evans comes in and turns it over and doesn’t do much else like tonight, DiLeo subs him out.

~ Iguodala is playing as well as I have ever seen him.  He is aggressively driving to the basket, and playing under control. 

~ I don’t think I have ever seen a game where one team has a buzzer beating three at the end of the first 3 quarters.  That’s exactly what the Sixers did tonight.  Good stuff.

~ One last thing…There were three BS charge calls on the Sixers tonight.  I hate the way that call is officiated in the NBA.  It is almost always called a charge versus a block, and in most cases it is a flop or the defender slid underneath the offensive player as he is leaving the ground.  They need to change the rule.  It’s a joke!

Well, it was a great game tonight, now let’s see if the Sixers can smoke another New York team tomorrow when they face the Knicks.