Deep Sixer

The new address for our blog is
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/deep-sixer/.

We're sorry for any inconvenience, especially doing this in the beginning of the postseason, but hope you will find you way there.
Those who want to post on wil have to re-register. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail: mnarducci@phillynews.com.
The passion of the fans on the blog has been one of the most pleasant developments of covering the team and I look forward to hearing from the fans.

Thanks,
Marc Narducci

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The 76ers were once again aided by a mentality that never allows them to die. At least not for too long.
Raise your hand if you truly felt that down by 15 midway through the third quarter that the Sixers had a puncher’s chance at beating the Detroit Pistons.
Sunday’s 90-86 win in Game 1 over the Detroit Pistons would have been a surprise anyway it happened.
The fact that the game appeared out of reach against one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, made it more impressive.
What one has to admire is the team-oriented attitude of the players.
Nobody was probably more disappointed than Reggie Evans for not getting the start against the Pistons.
He’s a veteran who had the most playoff experience of the starters – 16 games entering last night.
Evans had to give way to rookie Thaddeus Young. And isn’t it fitting that Young gave the Sixers a serious spark in the first quarter and Evans took charge in the fourth period.
This might have been Evans’ best all-around game, especially considering the stakes and the opponent. He had 11 points, 14 rebounds and made scored six of the biggest points of the season in the fourth quarter.
The fact that the Sixers never quit, is what has made them so appealing to the fans.
We’re sure there will be a few fans out there who no doubt think the Sixers can win the series.
What matters is that the Sixers probably think they can win it, even though there are many of us out there who remain skeptical.
Even the biggest skeptic had to be impressed by the Sixers’ grit. The Sixers also went against conventional wisdom by attempting to run in the playoffs against the Pistons.
The Sixers had 16 fast break points (compared to 12 for Detroit). Considering that the Sixers only had 26 fast break points in their first three games against Detroit, that’s impressive (The fourth game with Detroit, the Pistons played many subs).
So the Sixers ran and clawed and fought and to the surprise of man, they won.
And now what appeared to be just a formality of a series, could turn into a dogfight.
The Sixers all of a sudden can be loose for Game 2 on Wednesday, while the stakes have dramatically increased for the Pistons.
“It’s a must win game Wednesday for us,” Detroit coach Flip Saunders said.
And who would have thought that Detroit would be saying that after just one game?

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- In a move that wasn’t surprising, 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks said at this morning’s shootaround that Thaddeus Young would start at power forward in tonight’s opening playoff game with the Detroit Pistons.
Reggie Evans, who started all four regular season games against the Pistons, will come off the bench.
After Friday’s practice Cheeks said that he was looking for more scoring from the power forward position, hinting that Young would be in the starting lineup.. The Sixers averaged just 85 points per game in their four regular season meetings with Detroit.
“Thaddeus, when we have him inside we score more,” Cheeks said after this morning’s shootaround at the Palace of Auburn Hills. “We get more opportunities to run up and down the floor and he runs extremely well.
Cheeks also mentioned that he likes the energy that Evans brings off the bench. Young started once this season against the Pistons, but that was at small forward when Willie Green missed a game with a back injury. The Sixers won that game, 83-82 on March 12 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

CHICAGO – While waiting for connecting flights, it’s as good a time as any to comment on some of the interesting posts about the Sixers first round playoff series with the Detroit Pistons.
First of all, people like Ray and Zeru, who predict the Sixers will win the series, my hat goes off to you for going against the norm. We’ll see how it goes.
By the way, Ray asks if he is crazy for picking Denver over the Lakers.
The word may not be crazy, but let’s just say you’re wrong.
To the Greek – two words on your comment on Willie Green and I being bowling buddies – cheap shot.
My response on Green has been consistent. Sure they need to do better at two guard and he has been inconsistent, but Green has also had his moments.
Changing the lineup at this point to put Thaddeus Young at the three, isn’t something we would advocate. Doing it next season when the team has training camp to work things out, would be better.
Plus, I like Thaddeus at the four because he is more athletic than just about any power forward he goes against.
The fans seem to get hung up on who starts. The key is who finishes, and as Mo Cheeks said again today after practice, Willie Green usually doesn’t finish games unless he is playing exceptionally well.
And if Green isn’t playing well early, Cheeks won’t have him out there as long against the Pistons.
It’s as simple as that.
The best finishing lineup is Miller and Lou Williams in the backcourt with Iguodala and Thad at forward and Dalembert at center.
As for some of the other comments, Jason from Los Angeles was disappointed that I’m picking Detroit in five games and wondering why somebody who has followed the team all year wasn’t showing more faith.
The reason I’m not picking the Sixers is that I have followed them all year and have seen an inconsistent group, which is why they are 40-42.
Nothing would be more pleasing than to see the Sixers win this series, but you have to go with what you’ve seen, and they don’t match up well with the veteran Pistons.
The only chance is for the Sixers to get out in transition, but Detroit is one of the toughest teams to run against.
Either way, it’s good to hear the different views on this series, even if I have to duck from some of the shots being taken in blogsville.

Despite proving just about ever prognosticator wrong, the 76ers are generating very little support to upset the Detroit Pistons.
In fact most skeptics (including this reporter) don’t think the Sixers can win more than one game.
However, there are many who have written in and feel that the aging Pistons are a good matchup.
One key is that Flip Saunders did a good job of not burning out the Pistons this season and this veteran team shouldn’t be as tired entering the postseason.
That said, the Sixers should still try to run Detroit into the ground, although this season Saunders has gone to his bench much more.
Whether that happens in the postseason remains to be seen.
If one looked position by position, the Pistons come out stronger, at least as far as the starters go.
As well as Andre Miller has played, would you rather have him or Chauncey Billups, a noted Sixers killer?
There is no question that Detroit has a major advantage at shooting guard with Rip Hamilton over Willie Green.
While we feel Andre Iguodala is a better all-around player than Tayshaun Prince, is the difference that big? (In fact one NBA scout who was asked this question, thought I was crazy and that Prince was the better player).
As for the power forward spot, Antonio McDyess has to get the edge over Reggie Evans, although Thaddeus Young gives the Sixers a major plus if he comes off the bench.
And at center, Rasheed Wallace would be the choice here over Samuel Dalembert, despite the improvement this season by the Sixers veteran.
The one x-factor is Lou Williams. He has a chance to give the Sixers bench a true spark, but Detroit has a much deeper bench. And Rodney Stuckey looks like he is developing at a fast pace. It will be interesting how much rest the Pistons give Billups in place of Stuckey.
Either way, it would be a surprise here if the Sixers win more than one game. (Then again, this is the same person who predicted the team would win 32 games this season).
So the question is simple. Does anybody predict that the Sixers will win the series, or win more than one game?
The worst thing is after the fact, seeing people who said they felt the Sixers would be better than predicted.
Come clean and make the prediction now. Does anybody out there give the Sixers more than a passing chance against the heavily favored Pistons?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Maurice Cheeks got everything he wanted except the win. He wanted to see his core of Andre Iguodala, Samuel Dalembert and Andre Miller play much fewer minutes (Two out of three isn’t bad on that front).
Cheeks also wanted to see the reserves receive extended minutes. And of course Cheeks would have liked to enter the postseason on a winning streak instead of a four-game skid.
Say what you want about the Sixers, but their games rarely lack drama. And coming back from 23 points down in the third quarter to take a one point lead three different times in the final three minutes, showed again the fight the Sixers have in them.
Of course the Sixers will have to hang their collective hats on the fact that they never give up, because they enter their playoff series against the Detroit Pistons having lost five of their last six after Wednesday's 115-109 defeat to the Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena.
The Sixers fought hard in the last two games and showed true signs of life. They overcame a 12-point fourth quarter deficit before losing Monday’s controversial 91-90 decision to Cleveland.
Most of all, the Sixers didn’t let the disappointment from the Cleveland game to linger.
Cheeks’ game plan for fewer minutes worked with Miler and Dalembert, who combined to play about 39 minutes and 30 seconds.
Iguodala was a different story. He played the entire second half and logged 36 minutes for the game. That doesn’t seem like much of a vacation, even for somebody who ended the season averaging 39 minutes and 32 seconds a game.
And it wasn’t a coincidence that the Sixers were outscored 40-26 in the second quarter when Iguodala, Miller and Dalembert didn’t play at all
There are two ways to look at the way the Sixers never quit no matter how big the deficit is.
The positive side is that it shows a lot of heart. The negative side is that getting down by more than 20 points in a game or double-digits in the fourth quarter is not a good recipe to success.
Especially against a team like Detroit.
The players and Cheeks insist that the end of the season skid won’t affect them in the playoffs.
One feels there has to be some bit of doubt in the back of their minds, until the Sixers win their next game.
Here is the schedule for the Sixers-Pistons series

Detroit vs. Philadelphia

Game 1 - Sun April 20 Philadelphia at Detroit 6:00PM TNT
Game 2 - Wed April 23 Philadelphia at Detroit 7:30PM NBATV
Game 3 - Fri April 25 Detroit at Philadelphia 7:00PM ESPN2
Game 4 - Sun April 27 Detroit at Philadelphia 7:00PM TNT
Game 5 * Tue April 29 Philadelphia at Detroit TBD TBD
Game 6 * Thu May 1 Detroit at Philadelphia TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 3 Philadelphia at Detroit TBD TNT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – One person who definitely disagrees with this reporter’s opinion that the Sixers should pull out all stops tonight against Charlotte is coach Maurice Cheeks.
Speaking after today’s shootaround, Cheeks said he wants to get some rest for Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert, who have started every game this season.
Cheeks said the three will start, but he doesn’t expect that they will play major minutes.
“I am going to give Andre and Andre and Sam some rest and I don’t want anything to happen to them,” Cheeks said. “And I want to get other guys on the floor.”
Cheeks admitted that he could see understand this line of thinking and that it’s important for the Sixers to snap their three-game losing streak heading into the playoffs and win the game to finish off 41-41. It’s just that he won’t sacrifice the health of his team to win tonight.
“I understand where you are coming from,” Cheeks said. “We all like to be .500 and not have a losing streak. I told guys we playedwell enough to be .500 or better and it’s unfortunate we lost four of our last five games.”
So Cheeks won’t let this final game define the season.
“We are a better team than we have shown the last few games and we would like to win the game,” he said. “But if we don’t win the game it won’t shoot down the type of season we have.”

There has been quite an outcry by both the players and the fans over the Sixers 91-90 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The biggest complaints by the fans (and Samuel Dalembert himself) was that the Sixers center was fouled by Zydrunas Ilgauskas before Dalembert was called for the final foul on Devin Brown.
Many fans complained that LeBron James traveled on the play before his shot was blocked by Dalembert.
All are valid claims.
Yet none of them will change the outcome of the game.
And to answer a question, the officials couldn’t change the call after looking at the replay. The only thing the replay was there for was to determine if the foul that official Greg Willard called on Dalembert occurred before time expired.
No doubt it was a bitter way to lose, but how the Sixers react to the loss will determine how competitive they will be against the Detroit Pistons in the postseason.
After the game we suggested that the loss could bond the team.
The only way anything good comes out of the loss is if the Sixers go into Charlotte and win Wednesday’s regular season finale against the Bobcats.
First of all, the Sixers don’t want to enter the postseason with a losing record. A win over Charlotte would give the Sixers a 41-41 mark.
More importantly, the Sixers want to show that they are mentally tough enough to come back from such a devastating loss.
And that is why, the Sixers should pull out all the stops to win on Wednesday.
If it means playing Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller 45 minutes, so be it. We know that many fans want the Sixers to rest their starters for this final game.
Detroit has been resting its starters for the last few weeks.
The Sixers don’t want to enter the postseason on a four-game losing streak.
A win on the road, even though it would be against the Bobcats, would give the Sixers something to build on.
Plus the Sixers will have a few days off before the playoffs begin and with such a young team, fatigue shouldn’t be a factor. (Late Tuesday night the NBA sent out a release that the Sixers would open Sunday in Detroit although no time had been given).
Detroit is a much older team, and a deeper one, and the Pistons can still beat many teams while resting their starters.
The Sixers can’t do that. They should come out flying against the Bobcats.
Coach Maurice Cheeks gave the Sixers off from practice on Tuesday, so they should have plenty of energy. And they should treat the Bobcats game like it’s a pre-playoff matchup.
The standings suggest it is a meaningless regular season finale. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Sixers should treat this game with the utmost urgency, the best type of dress rehearsal before the postseason actually begins.

No loss is a good one, especially one that locks a team into a position where they have to play the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the playoff.
If anything good can come out of the Sixers’ 91-90 loss on Monday to the Cleveland Cavaliers, it could be a game that bonds the team together.
That’s because the Sixers were not hiding their anger about the end of the game. The players couldn’t believe that a foul was called on Samuel Dalembert and that 0.2 seconds was put back on the clock.
A game the Sixers thought they won after LeBron James’ shot was blocked by Dalembert and Devin Brown missed the follow, turned into a disheartening defeat.
After the officials looked at the replay and ruled that Brown was fouled by Dalembert with time on the clock, the Sixers returned to the court in disbelief. And 0.2 seconds returned to the clock.
Whether it was the right call or not, the Sixers feel it wasn’t. And this was the first time that the team showed so much collective anger about a defeat in quite some time.
Maybe this can bring the team together. If the anger is directed in the right way, the Sixers can benefit from this.
The last few games, the Sixers haven’t been showing their usual fight, especially in the fourth quarter.
That changed against the Cavs. Down by 12 points with under 10 minutes left, the Sixers showed heart and roared back.
Now that they have apparently gained their fighting spirit back, the Sixers have to do the next thing – snap their three-game losing streak. That’s why Wednesday’s season finale in Charlotte is important. The Sixers must show that they can direct their anger in a positive way and take it out on the Bobcats.

Reggie Evans has seen his playing time dwindling lately and a number of fans have noticed.
Evans has not played more than 20 minutes in any of the past six games. In Friday’s loss to Indiana, he played just 52 seconds.
During Saturday’s defeat at Washington, he played just under 11 minutes, and was in for 1 minute and 21 seconds of the fourth quarter.
After his brief appearance against Indiana, this reporter asked Maurice Cheeks if he felt he had to sit down and talk to Reggie and explain why he played less than a minute.
Cheeks felt no reason to talk to Evans and said the veteran forward understood that it had to do with matchups. A three-point shooting team like Indiana, which spreads the floor, isn’t a good matchup for Evans, according to Cheeks.
Evans for his part says he has no injury problems and he has not complained publicly about the decreased playing time.
Another reason his minutes have been down, especially the last two games is that Thaddeus Young has been playing well. And had Young not picked up his fourth foul with under five minutes left in the third quarter against Washington, Evans may have received even less time.
As mentioned in a post to the blog by Dean, Evans does bring energy and intangibles to the team.
And while it’s agreed that he is a 20-24 minute a game player, it’s tough to take Young out when he is also being so productive.
Even if people wanted to put Young at small forward when Andre Iguodala rests, there still wouldn’t be many minutes there. Iguodala has played 42 or more minutes in six of the last seven games. And Iguodala would have played more minutes against Indiana had he not been hurt.
Evans has also played center when the Sixers go to a small lineup, but again, Samuel Dalembert has been logging major minutes, so there aren’t as many opportunities.
If the Sixers end up playing Detroit in the playoffs, one would expect Evans to play more minutes because of the physical nature of the Pistons.
Nobody can argue that Evans, despite his troubles on offense, has been a major upgrade over Steven Hunter.
Evans has brought toughness and leadership to the team, but it is harder to lead when you’re not playing as much.
It’s easy to say he should get more minutes, but the game has to dictate that. If the Sixers are behind in the fourth quarter, it’s hard to have Evans out there if they need offense.
Still, Evans has the ability to give the team a spark either as a starter or reserve. With his playoff experience, it would make sense that he will see a few extra minutes in the postseason.