Deep Sixer

Terrible, terrible loss for all of the philly fans who want to believe that this team can be competitive.

Mo coached this game like he wants to be fired -- playing Korver the whole second half and matching him up against Miki Moore on the defensive end, having Sam guard the jump-shooting Brad Miller, and keeping Reggie Evans in the game when Theus had told his players to foul Evans everytime he had the ball near the paint.

Evans going to the line to shoot free throws is just like committing a turnover for this team.

This team let Miki Moore tie his career high in points on nothing but dunks. Miki Freaking Moore! Hey Mo, how about playing Jason Smith and Sam together and leting Smith guard Brad Miller out on the perimeter where Smith is most comfortable and let Sam play down low against Moore, where Sam is the most comfortable.

It is too much to ask the 76ers to give us one player who can score down low? Was it too much to ask King to do that during the many years he had with this franchise?

With 13 of the next 17 on the road, hopefully Mo will get canned during this stretch and maybe Henry Bibby or Jim Lynam will take over and develop the youngsters and give us NBA-quality coaching.

Embarrasing loss for this coach, team, franchise and fans.

I am so sick and tired of Sam being blamed when our defense is terrible. You have no clue if you so want to point out Sam's stats tonight compared to the other night. I lost track a long time ago of the number of times our guards got beat off the dribble, Sam was there to defend, only to have the player pass the ball to someone wide open in the post because, oh, excuse me no one there to help Sam! He is expected to clean up way too many mistakes and that is not fair. He cannot guard Brad Miller outside and than be expected to come inside and guard Mickey Moore, he was all over the place tonight because defense was horrible. It is hard to decide do I help or do I go back and defend the post. This team needs a really good PF in the worst way. Mo Cheeks did not help at all with his game plan. He got totally outcoached, unbeleivable, I could have adjusted beter at haftime than he did.

Couldn't agree more with what's been said so far, except for one thing:

Unlike the Kings, the Cavs don't match up as well with the Sixers, and I don't think LeBron is gonna destroy them, as implied. Iggy is a great defender, and I'm sure he's hyped up for this game, looking to try to be a LeBron stopper. This'll be fun to watch. Sammy/Jason Smith vs. Varejao/Z, Boobie vs. Lou, Larry Huges vs. the DL...

But the good news is, people are ONLY complaining about the lack of low-post play and the coaching. Where are the Willie Green haters? The "overpaid Sammy" people? These area all good signs, this means the Sixers are more competitive than we thought. But I will continue to bang this drum: we can do a lot better than Korver at the SF. And I'm contemplating buying another drum for this one: Thaddeus Young is a bust.

Right after they drafted him last July, a scout must've come running down the hall, barged into that room where draft night room where everyone was gathered, threw some folding chairs and shouted, "NO!NO!NO! I said NICK Young!!!", startling Billy King, who had been daydreaming about his 3-year plan...

No perimeter defense from any guard on this team, includinng Iggy.

Miller/Moore- 49 pts.
Sammy/Evans - 8 pts.

'Nuff said.

SixerzGuy, r u crazy?

Thad is 19 yrs old. He's been in the league less than 2 months. He has the physical skills, now let's see if this coaching satff can develop him. Might not be a bad idea to let him get a month or two in at the NDBL.

Give the young guy a chance. Takes three years to know for sure if a guy is a bust.

We're getting close to Christmas so I thought I give all something to look forward to in the off season, though it's many months away after last night loss I thought I should stay positive and this is the way I did it.

College

Michael Beasley 6-9 PF Kansas State
Best outside-inside talent in the upcoming draft.

Derrick Rose 6-4 PG Memphis
The best pure point guard in the draft.

Eric Gordon 6-5 SG Indiana
Do-it-all combo guard is already lighting up the box scores as a freshman.

O.J. Mayo 6-4 SG USC
It's clear Mayo's going to be a great NBA scorer ... but will he give the Sixers anything else?

NBA

GUARDS
Gilbert Arenas (Wizards)
Baron Davis (Warriors)
Allen Iverson (Nuggets)

FORWARDS
Shawn Marion (Suns)
Elton Brand (Clippers)
Corey Maggette (Clippers)
Ron Artest (Kings)

CENTERS
Jermaine O'Neal (Pacers)

Restricted Free Agents
These are players who will be free agents, but their present team can match any offer, if they wish. Most are players who have not signed extensions yet, primarily because they feel they are worth more than their team management does at this point.

GUARDS
Monta Ellis (Warriors)
Daniel Gibson (Cavs)
Jose Calderon (Raptors)
Ben Gordon (Bulls)
Louis Williams (76ers)
Kelenna Azubuike (Warriors)

FORWARDS
Josh Smith (Hawks)
Luol Deng (Bulls)
Andre Iguodala (76ers)
Dorell Wright (HEAT)
Craig Smith (T-Wolves)
Ronny Turiaf (Lakers)
Walter Herrmann (Bobcats)

CENTERS
Emeka Okafor (Bobcats)
Andris Biedrins (Warriors)

Unrestricted Free Agents
These are players whose contracts expire at the end of 2007-08. They will be able to sign with any team during the summer. Their present teams can offer the maximum term contract.

GUARDS
Beno Udrih (G, Kings)
Ricky Davis (T-Wolves)

FORWARDS
Antawn Jamison (Wizards)

CENTERS
Kwame Brown (Lakers)

Good information in the last post. However there's not one player in the above list that I think is worth pursuing realistically except maybe Beno Udrih and Kelenna Azubuike as complimentary pieces.

I'm so glad King is gone because I'm sure he would have gone hard after Brand or Maggette and neither is the "answer".

Hopefully Stefanski can orchestrate a Celtics type move here. Let's get Kidd and Kobe here and get some enthusiasm back into this franchise. I'm not going down there until they do. The place is D-E-A-D.

The NBA is awful now. The salary cap is a terrible burden for any GM to bear. I think back to the glory years and wonder if the salary cap restrictions were in place back in the 70's, where would the Sixers be after that infamous 9-73 season? There's no way they go to the finals fours years later! No Dr. J acquisition; no Moses, maybe the McGinnis for Bobby Jones trade would have worked cap wise; and trading a player to the Clippers for a 5th round future draft pick that turned out to be Barkley. Would any of that work today? I don't think so.

Side note: Why isn't Willie Green playing down the stretch. Lou can score at will, but he gives you NO defense in crunch time! What's going on here?

Joe, since when has Willie played "defense in crunch time"?? He last played defense his rookie year.

I have to agree with Datruth 4 life. Cheeks has to go!

You do not try to play small ball when your team is being pounded on the boards. If you put a 6'6" player on a 7 -footer he's not going to do a good job. This is something even a high school coach can understand!

Why wasn't Calvin Booth in the game or even Shavlik Randolph? A big body that could at least block out Moore?

I can't blame Cheeks for not having Steven Hunter on the bench, but I can complain about the Sixers comming into the season without a backup Center. If Calvin Booth can't play, why did we trade for him, and what was the rush to get rid of Hunter- yet another reason why I was glad to see Billy King go.

Looks like Cheeks has to go too!

Mo likes Korver, but matching him up with Moore made no sense. Kyle is hurting the team with his poor shooting and defense. Team was outcoached and out-hustled last night. Iggy did not rise to the challenge from Artest. Dalambert and Smith did not fight for rebound position. It was a terrible game to watch.

John Salmons, putting up Ioudala like numbers. What's that tell you ?

I knew Sacramento,with their size,would give the Sixers trouble,but that's still no excuse to make Mikki Moore look like Amare Stoudamire.I swear Mikki Moore has Dalembert's number because everytime thay against each other,he smokes him.If Jason Smith can be half as good as Brad Miller,then he'll be okay.

I can't, for the life of me, figure out why Kyle Korver gets so many minutes. On top of that he has to play his horrible defense on a guy 4-5" taller than him. Why not use Thad Young in that situation? We needed stops last night and Korver was not going to give that to you. And unless he was wide open, he couldn't score either.

Cheeks had a big hand in this loss. I'm not ready to get rid of him because I'm not sure if another coach could get this talent-poor team through all of this losing.

Is it me or does Jason Smith seem to have hit that rookie wall already? He's been dragging the last few games. Picking up silly fouls and not threatening on offense.

There are a few names on the FA lists, but most of those teams can get their players back. I doubt we would outbid anyone for their own free agents. I really like Okafor (imagine him and Sammy on the front line...last night would have never happened), plus he gives you more offense than Reggie. But I don't see us giving him the $11m+ he wants in addition to signing Iguodala. Charlotte can match anything a team puts out there for him.

Hey Marc,

Have to say I disagree with you today. Tonight was not Sam's fault. Mo made a number of bad decisions and Theus just killed him after halftime. Why, if you are getting killed by a High-Low offense and screen/rolls to take your primary shotblocker out of the lane, would you decide to go small? That was a bad move. The better move would've been to switch Evans for Smith, then possibly go to a 3-2 or 1-2-2 zone with DreDala at the top, that denies Miller his passing angles and forces them to beat you over the top.

Also, Mo needs to design some better plays and get Iguodala some easier shots. Stop having him run side screen/rolls with Evans because you just invite a double-team and force him to beat two people just to get into the paint and meet another guy every possession or take a jumper. Get him in space and in motion, maybe off curls or screens, he will be more effective. Do your best player a favor