Deep Sixer

Thanks for this post. This has been the most frustrating part of watching them this year for me. I can handle watching them loose if its becuase young guys are making mistakes and learning from them, but it just defies logic that our first picks from the last two years cant even get a minute between them. And i dont think it would kill them to play ollie every now and again either...

I've been telling myself they need to showcase guys for trade, but that doesnt explain why untradables such as green and dalembert eat up so much time... nor does it explain why so many people just flat out dont get any minutes at all..

Amundsen looked like a high energy guy with some raw, improvable talent. I have to base that on memory because I haven't seen the man get in the game this year.

What about Shav? If he's injured and not up to speed - that's fine. He was a very nice piece with some back to the basket ability before he got hurt early last year.

Young needs to play for all the reasons nicely specified by our favorite reporter. But I think more minutes for Carney will tell us what we already know. He's an incomplete player who, while great in transition, can't even be counted on to hit the open jumper. He needs plays or isolations especially for him to score off the drive and that deadens the offense the second he can't beat his man. I'd love to be wrong about him, but someone like John Salmons was less suspect his second year.

Marc - You're right on with this post. While at the game last night, I said to my wife, "They're getting killed in the 4th quarter because we have 4 DNPs tonight - these guys are gassed."

It's my opinion that Thad Young should definitely get 15 minutes a night to get experience and also to spell other hard working guys, specifically Iguodala. Also, the Sixers shouldn't shy away from using a guy like Louis Amundson. He plays with no fear and brings much needed energy to the floor (even if he picks up 4 or 5 fouls in 12 minutes). Jason Smith could take a lesson from that. Finally, I'll bang the drum again that Lou Williams should be on the court for a minimum of 30 minutes a game, which would let Willie Green spell Andre Miller for 5-10 minutes more a game at the PG position.

There's your solution.

Oh, and I agree with wholeheartedly with Jamesmoref...Rodney Carney has a bleak future in the NBA. He's an inconsistent shooter and is a black hole when he gets the ball. His defense is suspect, and he has no handle. Let a team like Memphis or Phoenix give you something for him since they like the athletic types. Otherwise, don't waste any minutes on him.

It's time to give the rookie Young some minutes. We are not going to thje playoffs this year and now is the perfect time to see what skills he have or if he could help us down the road. Rodney Carey is pretty much the next John Salmons its time to cut our ties with him now while his contract is cheap and won't hurt the salary cap. I would for the sixers new GM to trade Andre Miller for some young up and coming players who could help us next year and further years to come. Also this would give Miller a chance to end his career with a winning team

Marc you are 100% correct. You laid it all out perfectly. It's clear to me that Mo Cheeks is really stunting the growth of this franchise. There is no good excuse for our last two 1st round draft picks to not get one single minute on a rebuilding squad. And Lou Williams has to play more. Or why did we draft Lou, Rod, and Thad???

Marc, your late man! don't you even read what the rest of us are saying down here? I said that like two weeks ago in detail. Show us some love in the comment section.

Thank Yu!

I guess the reason Coach Cheeks is'nt playing Carney and Young is because he thinks he has a chance at making the playoffs(laughing).I want that new GM to demand that he play the young guys because they can't do any worse than Willie Green and Kyle Korver.

One of the problems here is we have about 8 small forwards, so it's hard to get reasonable playing time without sitting Iguodala. Carney, Young, Korver, Iggy et. al. are logjammed. Time to clean a little house, if you ask me.

I hope Mo Cheeks is fired before the start of the next season.

Players get hurt when they average more than 40 minutes per game. AI is still getting the job done, but his career would have an extra year or two to it if he played 36 minutes a game here instead of 44.

And when it comes to Thad, Lou and Carney (and Herb Hill when he's healthy):
LET THEM PLAY!!!
LET THEM PLAY!!!
LET THEM PLAY!!!

I agree completely, in fact I wrote about the losses to both NJ and Atlanta being a direct result of a missed used bench.

http://mvn.com/nba-76ers/2007/12/04/gamethink-fatigue-makes-cowards-of-us-all/

It's absolutely ridiculous that the season is nearly 25% over and we've learned NOTHING about our young players and whether they can play at this level...!!! Why Mo? Why? Please let them play, or get outta the way! I'll bet Lynam would be playing the kids...hint, hint...

Great points Marc. I feel their biggest issue is that Andre Miller is playing too many minutes. I like the guy as a player. I liked him even more last year, but when he's the highest scoring player on the team, something's not right. I especially don't agree with the number of attempts that he takes, plus he can't hit the 3 ball. Bring in Lou for the offense and Ollie for the defense and ship out one of our 6 forwards on the team and get us an expiring contract.

Couldn't agree more. Let him play, give him experience. I would rather see a rookie make some mistakes out on the court than see a tired underachieving group on the court the whole game.

I wonder what would happen if Larry Brown was back on the bench with such a young team? I agree, give everyone minutes and start developing the new players.

IF this is suppose to be a rebuilding year - which it obviously is - then why not let the kids play? Lets see what they can do so we know what we have going forward.
Trade Miller & let Lou play more, Lou is probably the best scorer on the team anyway.
I also read somewhere on the net, I think DA mentioned it, the possiblity of making a move for Josh Smith of Atlanta that would be a great move a young athletic PF that can score.
I'm a die hard Sixer fan & I'm glad they made the move from Iverson I just think the young draft picks have to play - what is there to wait for?

I completely agree. Why not give Young 12 - 15 minutes a night at several positions to see where he can contribute. The same with Carney, who isn't the right guy, ( Ronnie Brewer or Sefolosha are both further along )

From the immortal words of Denny Green ...
"They are who we thought they are"
A bad team ...

It sounds as though with all the changes that you have now put yourself above the existing coach.

Be a little respectful.

Phil Jasner is speculating that the reason Shav hasn't played yet this season is that his injury is still a problem. What other reason could there be? Frankly, I'd love to read an actual story about Shavlik from one of Philly's many sportswriters. A lot of fans are wondering what's up with the guy and why we aren't seeing him getting any court time.

Also, I'm in complete agreement with most of the posters here that Carney is our next John Salmons, if that. As much as I hated Salmons, he actually hit an open jump shot now and then.

And, yes... there's no reason why Green and Dalembert should be playing so many minutes when we all know EXACTLY what they're capable of contributing night in and night out. Heck, Green's probably on the trading block anyway. So, we have to showcase him, but does he have to steal playing time from the guys we're trying to develop??? Let Thad play meaningful minutes for crying out loud! And, of course, I'm all for Lou's recent increased minutes as well. He's part of our future.

How come that EVERYONE here has the same thoughts (that Sixers should use their bench more, that makes no sense to let your rookie sit on his arse when u aren't playing for the Finals or a playoff spot, that if your best player stays on the court 46 minutes and has to score, rebound, assist and guard a man called Paul Pierce (...), at the end of the game he MIGHT be a lil' bit tired.. etc etc) but the only man that does this as a job can't see it ?????????????

I mean, when I read a statement like “I am thinking about it, putting a few more guys in there, giving them opportunities. We may get tired and when we get stagnant (having more people) it will give us a little more ball movement and energy” I ask myself if he's kidding all of us or what....

HELLO ????????? "MAY" get tired ?????? With your 8th man playing only 11 minutes? And with a 19 y/o rookie and a 23 y/o ATHLETIC player getting multiple DNP-CDs? And at a 5-12 record ?????????

What's next, Mo? "I think it would be better to put the ball in the hole instead of throwing bricks"? "MAYBE it would help having Garnett at PF and not Reggie Evans "????

I am shocked, really. These are the kind of staments that make me re-think the theory "There must be a reason if they are professionals and I am just a fan"

"MAY get tired", LOL...

but hey, he's "thinking about" giving them opportunities... now that our hopes of a ring are a little bit trimmered, LMAO

I'm on board with expanding the rotation. We've already lost the GM 16 games in. The coach is a lame duck, and it might be best to put him out of his misery soon as well.

The present is bleak, but this team does have a future.

If Mo is the coach going forward then extend him with the mandate of developing the kids. If not then cut him lose and go with an interim coach with that role.

The Smiths, Williams and Youngs all had a spot in the future, but we need to find out about Carney now.

Coach Mo should start Carney and Smith. We know what Green and Evans can do, we need to find out what the kids can do. Same thing with Young for Korver, find out what Young can do with some of Korver's minutes. Ollie should be getting some minutes since he is the only guard who can defend. Finally, whats with all the Salmon bashing? He's no All-star but he's having a decent year on an average team (15 ppg, some rebounds, steals, assists). He just never found his niche with AI and then lost his confidence here. I hope Carney is as productive if he gets him minutes. Really, what does Mo have to lose? Is 5-13 that much better than 1-17 (the blowout win against Bobcats) or 3-15?

I now believe the Miller and Carney for Jason Williams and Dequan Cook was just a rumor.Cook already has a better offensive game than Carney will ever have.And why is our golden boy,Kyle Korver not taking any heat for his up and down play.When he goes against rugged small forward like Andres Nocioni,James Posey,and Tayshaun Prince,he gets killed.

Despite being skeptical of Rodney Carney because he couldn't beat out Willie Green for the starting 2 guard spot, he should get more time as well as Thaddeus Young. Cheeks could split Korver's minutes because he is giving nothing and his minutes have not changed at all. Mo, your shooter is out there 25-30 minutes a game for 15 games and not making shots. Give the young guys a freaking chance, they can't do worse than nothing. And soon as Willie misses 2-3 shots in a row, take him out too.

That is why BKs comments of how he would do things different make no sense! He shorted the fans of Philadlephia! He is suggested a rebuilding...well if that is the case why was Lou Will not playing minutes last year? WHy is A. MIller still here? Why does T. Young not play? R. Carney? He was not rebuilding-he was trying to rebuild AND have the fans support by not be terrible...jsut competitive enough so people could say see almost there...Let the young guys play and COMMITT to rebuilding!

It is interesting the range of opinions about Sixer players but we can't know who is right or wrong unless Cheeks plays these guys.

I might as well add my two cents. I do not like Carney at all and it is clear Cheeks has his doubts as well. Playing him might show everyone else he can't play. Not good if you want to include him in a possible Miller or other trade.

On the other hand Stefanski can point to the Sixer's poor team play as reasons for why Carney, Miller or whoever aren't playing well.

In any case, putting more players on the floor is aboutthe only thing that makes sense now. While I'm sure no one cares, I have been suggesting this for a while now. Its pretty clear the Sixers are not a playoff team and playing more players accomplishes two things.

It gives valuable learning minutes to the kids and maybe it just might uncover player comhinations that work the best.

Can someone please explain to me why coach cheeks actually SHORTENED the bench over the last few games???

I thought we were going through a rebuilding process!!! Did Mo miss that meeting? Did the memo get stuck in his email spam filter? I mean come on, how can you rebuild while sitting all your young players. There is absolutely no reason that I can think of why Thad Young AND Rod Carney got zero minutes. None!

Please Ed, convince your coach to let the team grow. We all love our 76ers and are anxious to see what we have. Please!

REBUILDING IN THE HEARTH OF SIXERS FANS.