Deep Sixer

Thad did play his worst game I've seen him play. He missed a bunch of putbacks in a row and the one time he faked his man out he lost his handle on the ball and turned it over. He's just going to have to work through this.

Any idea when Herbert Hill would be available? I do not expect he is going to be a panacea but in his senior season at Providence he did have a classic low post game and was a good shot blocker. At this point it'd not hurt to try.

I'd like to see Green's minutes reduced and Carney get some more consistent minutes. Cheeks varies his minutes more than anyone else on the team.

No surprise we didn't score in the final 5 minutes- because Mo made the rare move of putting our starting five back out on the floor to close the games.

Our worst offensive funks are at the beginning of games and the the beginning of the second half. Aside from maybe Lou, our reserves aren't good offensive players either, but they usually make up for it by picking up the pace and creating running opportunities with their frenetic play.

Some teams might call it tanking when a team plays its inexperienced young players for long stretches of the fourth quarter. But in our case, going back to the starters- with Evans inability to score and Willie's propensity to make mistakes in key possessions- is really our way of generating more lottery balls.

Okay, so the sixers lose (again) and the starters don't hardly score (again.) Since New Years we've won 2 out of... what... 15 games? What more does Coach Cheeks need to endure before (gasp) removing Green and Evans from the starting lineup??? He appears a bit OBSTINATE to me on this issue. They could be useful as reserves perhaps.

Give me Thad and Rod as the starters and let's see what happens. One of the only perks of being a poor team (besides higher picks) is the ability to test youngsters without playoff ramifications!!!

Coach Cheeks, if you are reading this: Please rememeber that back in the eighties someone had to give YOU a chance to 'run the team' as a young PG. You've done a good job of not rushing, overwhelming or ruining our 'kids' in any way. But it's time.....It's just time...

......OR Thad and Jason Smith. Or Thad and Lou Williams. Or Thad and Her Hill (when he heals up.) Take your pick Mo. Any way you want to try it is cool with me!

Marc, there are two players currently in the league that I think would put the Sixers in the next bracket. One is a good leader and is a inside, outside threat, his name is Mike Bibby. The other has a great upside he is still under 30 and I believe can be a dominating force with Sam, he can play with his back towards the basket and he can also shoot the post up jumper, he's from the University of Maryland one of my faorite players Chris Wilcox's. Are any of these guy's available?
PEACE

It is actually PAINFUL to watch Reggie Evans at the offensive end of the floor. Reggie has great heart and great motor, but he is not more than a 10 minute a game energy guy...just as he has been his whole career.

Sam has an inconsistent handle, you can't have them both on the floor at the same time when you need offense!

Watching Reggie does give one an appreciation for Jason Smith's hands...he could become a real player as his body strenthens and grows.

Mo, I love you, but you have to shakeup the rotation!

Let's face it. This team is pretty pathetic. Hate to see Cheeks go, but is there any other fate. Not only isn't the talent there, but neither is the coaching. Can't a coach tell Iggie NOT to go behind his back TWICE in a half-court set within minutes. Two turnovers right there. Then, on a break, he's on one side and throws it to the center where Dalemebert is. Any idea what happened next? Is Iggie dumb or just a fundamentally flawed player? And can't a coach sit someone like that until they learn NEVER, EVER to do that?

Let's face it. This team is pretty pathetic. Hate to see Cheeks go, but is there any other fate. Not only isn't the talent there, but neither is the coaching. Can't a coach tell Iggie NOT to go behind his back TWICE in a half-court set within minutes. Two turnovers right there. Then, on a break, he's on one side and throws it to the center where Dalemebert is. Any idea what happened next? Is Iggie dumb or just a fundamentally flawed player? And can't a coach sit someone like that until they learn NEVER, EVER to do that?

I never thought I would say it but I!m looking forward to Shav and Herb coming off the bench.I think E.S. has a plan and for the teams sake I hope he sticks with it. It is hard to watch right now.But we don!t need a quick fix that improves us slightly.We are #7 going on #6 in the lottery.Think back to last year.Did the feel good wins[and they did feel good] accomplish anything other than move us back to #12.I watch every game rooting for our team, but after its over I try to look at the big picture.Lets see,Oden, Durant, Noah or Young.

I read Marc's excellent blog and many of the posts almost very day. However, being that I live in Monmouth County, NJ., I rarely get to see the 76ers on TV. So, last night I watched them for the first time this year; somehow I managed to struggle through watching the entire game! I knew it was going to be a long night when the very first Knicks' offensive play was a bullet pass to an unguarded Eddy Curry for a dunk.

Overall, I was very disappointed in the Sixer's play. Other than a brief run in the 3rd quarter, I saw little of the enthusiastic effort that everyone has raved about. Guys looked absolutely inept when they had the ball inside. In particular, while Reggie Evans certainly plays hard, they lose many offensive rebound put-backs because he won't go back up when he grabs an offensive rebound! (Maybe because he knows he'll get fouled and he can't make foul shots.) And why is Dalembert taking 18-foot shots from anywhere, much less from the corner? And even Andre Iguodala seems different: while he had a nice first half, it was all with outside jumpers - didn't he also use to drive to the basket?

My feeling has been that when Korver was traded, it signaled to the team that winning was not a priority. In addition to losing a valuable offensive weapon, the team fell a notch on its level of energy and drive. The results since the trade show that. Not that the trade wasn't a bad idea for the long-term, but it helps explain the current malaise.

I'll certainly continue to follow the Sixer's travails daily, but I wouldn't want to watch them again unless they make changes to their rotation that Marc suggests.

The comment was made by Marc or another a week or so ago that lineup changes probably won't happen until after the trade deadline. I agree with that. We have to keep the value of our starters as high as possible until then(Green & Evans). Also, the young players do have to earn their minutes somewhat. Just can't leave them out there with no accountability. That leads to your Zach Randolph's and Stephon Marbury's of the league. Let's wait until after the trade deadline to change this lineup.

Seeing how the performance of the team has fallen off since the Korver trade, its clear that he provided more to the team than just 10 ppg. He was part of a fragile foundation that now appears to be on the verge of collapse. I don't have a sense for the leadership in the locker room but I know I never read a negative word from KK's mouth. Is the damage to the Sixers psyche worth two, three or four spots lower in the draft. Maybe a guy like that really is worth $5mil / yr, which I remind you is still only avg in this league.

I still believe Ed will lead us out of this mess because he is a local guy and feels the same pain with every poor performance, but it is more evidence of how intangibles come into play when making a trade, not just salary cap room.

You know, maybe they should just go back to the Allen Iverson offense with LouWill in the AI role. Or trade Miller for a shoot-first point guard. Think about this team and the 2001 Finals squad:

Dikembe Mutombo - Sammy D (upgrade)
Tyrone Hill - Reggie Evans (even)
George Lynch - Thaddeus Young (even)
E. Snow/A. McKie - Andre Iguodala (upgrade)
Allen Iverson - LouWill (downgrade)

And then the bench:

Matt Geiger - Jason Smith (upgrade)
Raja Bell - Willie Green (downgrade)
Kevin Ollie - himself (even?)

Any key contributors I'm missing here? Anyway, that team got us to the Finals against some pretty strong teams in Toronto and Milwaukee. Excluding Andre Miller, LouWill and Iverson, aren't the personnel similar, and better in some cases? Put Larry in charge of this group, have them learn his defensive principles, and then let LouWill loose. Larry asking Iggy to lead this group at the point, with Iggy's basketball smarts? That'd be a perfect match.

You aren't missing anyone, but your analysis is a bit off. Saying Dalembert at this point in his career is an upgrade from one of the best defensive centers of all time is a real reach.

And Reggie Evans wishes he had Ty Hill's offensive package. Like he dreams about a, catching the ball in the paint and b, finishing a lay-up. And I think we all do.

Raja Bell was the second guard off the bench on that team. And still better than Willie Green. Why'd we let him go again?

Actually you are missing someone

Jumaine Jones - Herb Hill...even, cause neither one will be an NBA player.

Desperate times seems to be engendering the most inspired group critique. I have to agree with:

1. Play the vets until the trading deadline. Make a deal if talent is available. Otherwise, hold tight until draft day.

2. Then start to max out the minutes on the young players, depending on how hard they work for them.

3. Experiment with Iggy and Lou/Will around ball distribution. (ie. try building the system around your talent rather than the other way around. That's what Larry was able to do.)

It goes without saying but the Korver trade is killing the Sixers. His loss might mean better things for the team in the long run, but there was a guy whose potential for 15-20 points could help the team's offensive deficiencies.

It surprises me that Giricek gets no burn. Maybe he's done or has told the team he's headed back to Europe. Ultimately I've been surprised to see how much worse the Sixers are without Korver. If that nets a quality top 4 pick, I guess it'll be worth it. It looks like the Sixers are about to swap places with ...gasp!... the Knicks.

Marc, you're opening statement says it all. Think it's gonna take awhile to populate roster with enough effective 2-way players to contend. Ed's gotta re-tool. As a fan, I've lowered my expectations and watch roster for keepers.

I can't believe people are still talking about how bad the Korver trade was. Were the Sixers making the playoffs with Korver? Maybe! Were they going to win it all? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Were they going to beat Boston or Detroit? NO! So keeping Korver would have meant MAYBE making the playoffs but not even making the Eastern Conf. finals. I don't know about you guys, but I WANT A CHAMPIONSHIP! I didn't play sports to be average. I played to win! And I expect a pro franchise to play to win! Why keep a team together that has no chance of being anything more than average. I liked Korver but the trade was necessary. I think they should Trade Miller, Dalembert, Evans, and Green too. (as I wrote in the previous post) By getting rid of those players, nobody on the team would be signed past next year. Ed could flip every spot on the roster and start over, building a CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER!

I love the Sixers, pure and simple. Whether they win or lose, i'm still and will always be a fan. This team is difficult to watch, there are a few plesant pieces that are worth keeping but overall they need to re-build/re-tool this team. Look at the sixers of the past 6 years, we gave up some pretty good defensive players, Mckie, Snow, Mark Jackson, Raja Bell, Greg Buckner and not to mention Bruce Bowen (97 season). Offensively, this team struggles, but defensively they are even worse. Some nights your shot will be off, but defense is suppose to be a constant, the Spurs win with defense, team defense, they have a stopper in Bowen, but they play great team defense. What i remember best from that 2001 season was how we played defense, AI would get his 30, but defense is why we won 56 regular season games, and the eastern conference championship. Poor front office decisions, in 98 we drafted Larry Hughes over either Nowitski or Paul Pierce a move that still haunts me because all 3 of those players are still in the league and two of them are doing great.

sixerzguy, your comparison is not even close. Iverson could win games all by himself, nobody on this team can do that. McKie in his prime was just as good, if not better than Iggy. And Sammy D over 2001 Mutombo, come on.

i like the bibby idea that someone mentioned. that would be a good start to a new foundation. if you go with that along with signing a real power foward(e.brand) during the offseason while keeping sammy and some of those other guys they might have a chance to compete.

I don't like the Bibby idea. He makes something like $13 million a year. Thats $4 million more than Miller. I know Bibby is a little better but not $4 million better. Not when the team has so many other needs.