Deep Sixer

Amen! Young has more than earned his PT.

Do you think we could get Herbert Hill in the rotation too?

Yes, start Young instead of Evans. If they do want to play Hill, Shav, and Amundson then I and two more friends will take their place and sit on the bench all year for $100,000 each. Same results, saves on salary. Just an idea. Never understood why you pay someone and do not play them.

I meant to say, "do not want to play". Sorry!!

I agree, and I suggested as early as a month ago that the Sixers should try Young at PF. They would lose something in rebounding (Evans' strength) but would gain everywhere else. Young would certainly make mistakes defensively (he and Jason Smith both have a lot to learn), but it isn't as if the Sixers have been having any success stopping opposing power forwards as it is.

Some other thoughts ... Willie Green did some nice things during the game, but all came on penetration. He killed the Sixers (for the second straight game, along with Lou Williams) with his terrible jump shooting in the 4th quarter. I can see why Iguodala is frustrated. Why is it that the staff thinks Green is so good that Carney goes from starting to not playing at all? And why does Giricek get any playing time? His low-20's FG pct. makes Willie Green look like Steve Kerr! We don't know what will happen with the cap room, but the Korver trade looks as bad right now as Hornacek for Jeff Malone.

Back to Young ... at 7:05 of the 4th, Cheeks substituted Miller and Green for Young and Smith (moving Iguodala to PF). Iguodala got a dunk right after to cut it to 90-85, but then Toronto went on the deciding 10-2 run. I like Cheeks better than most on this blog, but that really was a poor substitution, given how well Young was playing (and Smith had one of his better games too).

Funny how all the things that posters on this blog have been calling out for so long is now becoming the conventional thinking.

FREE HERB HILL! Or at least D league him.

12 for 32 shooting tonight by Iggy and Green. Just can't win with those numbers by your starting shooting guard and small forward.

The Sixers were outscored by 17 pts. when Dre Miller was in the game. Miller's great defense let Calderone socre 17 pts with 9 assists. Would Kevin Ollie allowed that? And Calvin Booth getting minutes over Shav and Herb Hill??? Please Mo, explain why you can't give burn to the young guys instead of freaking Calvin Booth?

The only way I want Thaddeus Young in the starting lineup,is if he's starting for Willie Green,not Iggy.Like I said before,bring on the Flyers.

As long as this lineup keeps us in contention for the top pick,keep losing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heeeerrbbbeerrttt HHiiilll, Baby!!!!

That's who we need to turn this franchise around. In the meantime, throw Thaddeus and Smith in the starting lineup, and let's see what we got.

And as I said before, Heeeerrrbbbeerrt Hillllllll, Baby!

You guys should start the Herb Hill fan club.

"I'm not only a member...I'm also the president."

It's so obvious that Thad Young should be starting over Green. It has been obvious for a few weeks now. Is Coach Cheeks being stubborn? Pigheaded? Is it mis-placed loyalty to the vets? It's getting to be like Andy Reid and wideouts!

At least there are (some) legit excuses not to start Lou, but come on, anybody that can't see the benefit of starting Thad (our 1st round pick) now must be blind.

DEFINITELY START YOUNG & SMITH. We know what Willie Green & Reggie Evans can do. The goal should be developing our young players and evaluating the players who will remain.

Shake it up.

I like Herb Hill too. I expect he will soon start to see some PT. As for Shav....why? He is going to be a role player at best. Maybe an 8th man. We need to evaluate the players who have a chance to make an impact.

Lastly, the only logical reason Booth ever sees the floor has to be that we are shopping him to other teams.

After thought...

Wasn't Iguodala "getting by...on his talent" when Jim O'Brien threw him into the starting lineup as a rookie....

Without that, Iguodala might not be as developed as he is today.

Marc - I couldn't agree with you more. I'm sure Willie would be a great role player on a stocked team like the Mavs or Pistons, where his streakiness could be balanced out, but he is not an NBA starter, at least not for a team in need of a consistent, unselfish contributor like the Sixers.

And can someone please tell me what all the buzz is about Herbert Hill? Granted you have to be curious about a guy that averaged 18 and 9 with 3 blocks and shot 64% in the Big East but that was one good year. What has he done since Draft Day that has everyone so excited? Please, please help me understand....

Fletch - your comment about Iggy and his development through playing time is dead on

To Ed Stefanski:

1) Please put Mo Cheeks out of his misery. The whole idea of bringing him in as coach was my mistake.

2) Trade Andre Miller for draft picks.

3)Do not give a big contract to Andre Iguodala...he's not worth it!

-Billy King

The only reason I can think of why Cheeks is not playing the young guys more is because he's afraid of losing his job due to less wins. He won't be around to see Young and Smith develop, so what does he care? Unless he's playing Green and Evans to increase their trade value? That doesn't seem likely.

What Stefanski needs to do is fire Cheeks ASAP. Hire an interim coach and let it be known that his job security does not depend on wins and losses, but in how well the young core of the team gels.

I am so farking sick of seeing Willie Green mess things up out on the court. When he got put back in the game with 7 left to play, even though Thad was filling it up, I got really pissed.

Easy decision, start Thaddeus at SF, Iggy goes to SG. Why is there a belief that Iguodala has to be a forward? We don't have to play Green if we have Iguodala as the full time shooting guard (so what he can't shoot, can Willie?) and Young as the full time small forward. No one else has stepped up to earn minutes anyway. Lou Will backs up the Dre's and Smith backs up Sam and Reggie. Everyone else gets spot duty. (Green,Carney,Hill, etc.) Let's see how they do with a rotation of the 7-8 players that have shown something!!

getting frustrated with all the talk.something must be done now. nuff said

Since preseason, Mo's had it in his head that either Rodney Carney or Willie Green has to be a starter on this team. When in god's name is he going to figure out that NEITHER of those guys deserves to start. Iggy at SG and Thad at SF... it's time to make it happen, Mo.

Start Young (for Green) and Smith (for Evans); Smith can actually make a layup, which would be a nice change.

Five straight losses is what happens when you trade the only guy on the team that can actually shoot...for cap space.

And by all means, let's throw Kevin Ollie into the mix. I really can't wait to see Ollie, Booth, and Evans on the floor at the same time...a perfect storm of garbage.

Start Young (for Green) and Smith (for Evans); Smith can actually make a layup, which would be a nice change.

Five straight losses is what happens when you trade the only guy on the team that can actually shoot...for cap space.

And by all means, let's throw Kevin Ollie into the mix. I really can't wait to see Ollie, Booth, and Evans on the floor at the same time...a perfect storm of garbage.

Zack Randolph is on the trading block. I'm interested...are you?

I'm conflicted, though I'd like to see Thad at the 4, I'd also like to see Willie on the bench. Either way, Thad should be starting, he has earned it with his play.

Here's a little insight to the Cheeks situation. I went to the meet and greet with Ed S. for the premium season ticketholders the week after he was hired. There were probably 50 people in one of the big club level suites, so Stefanski made it a point to bs with a lot of people. At the end of my conversation with him, I asked him to give Mo Cheeks a fair chance to coach the team next year with a legit 2 guard and a low-post player that actually had a back-to-the-basket game. I'm a Cheeks fan, and I think he's done an admirable job in a horrendous situation for the past 3 years (first A.I / CWebb BS and now the total lack of talent).

Ed Stefanski looked at me as if I asked him to kill his mother.

The ONLY way Mo stays is if this team makes the playoffs, which is impossible since the Sixers traded its only outside threat in Korver. I'm OK with trading Korver, as long as you blow the whole thing up from a cap standpoint and move Miller. I'd also like to see them move Dalembert and a 2009 #1 for Pau Gasol. By doing this, you achieve (1) ridiculous cap space for Brand or Josh Smith, (2) a top 5 draft choice due to the horrendous record, and (3) a legit low-post player (Gasol), which we haven't seen since Mutombo.

Back to the Cheeks situation though...it usually comes with the territory in both professional and college athletics that when a new boss comes to town, he brings his own guy to run the show. Fine - that's the way it is, and I guess I'm OK with that. However, if Ed S. trades Korver, fires Cheeks, and then does not trade Andre Miller for the appropriate cap space needed to reign in a superstar FA like Brand or Josh Smith, he's done more harm to this organization than Billy King did combined in his 10 year stint.

Oh, and one more thing (I was reminded of this when I saw both Billy King and Randy Ayers at the Duke-Temple game last night)...I hope everyone realizes why Billy King was fired (to be clear, I'm not a King fan and thought he should have been let go years ago). It wasn't because of the record...Comcast is a bottom-line, content-driven business; when the seats were empty, interest was lacking, and ESPN wasn't showing as many Sixers highlights (which all ownership groups get paid for by the way), BK was dumped. It had nothing to do with basketball - if it did, then why was Billy King allowed to run one of the most important offseasons in Sixers history? What happened to that "3-year plan" that the Comcast Spectacor execs signed off on? Nope - Comcast just yearns for the glory years of when ESPN led off with AI highlights every night. As soon as the Sixers were just another non-important NBA franchise, Billy King was toast. Great leadership on the part of the execs down there only one year after you give the OK for King to trade AI and rebuild. Just some thoughts.

Dean, if you trade Dalembert and the pick for Gasol, how do you create cap space? Doesn't Gasol make more than Dalembert?

Benny Profane,

As much as I love Mo Cheeks, I agree with you that its probably his time to go. It's not like we'll be ruining the guy's life (he'll still get paid) and I think he's not playing the young guys because he doesn't expect to be back. He wants to win games so he has a chance of getting a job somewhere else.

Only thing is, playing the vets is actually losing him games but he's too mentally shaken right now to see it. I think we also need better asst. coaches. This season, we have the least amount of different starting line ups and were also the last team to change the line up (when Willie went down) in the ENTIRE NBA. That's absurd for a team with 14 wins. Somebody in the organization needs to strap on a set and shake things up.

This terrible team is not the players fault, they play to the best of their abilities. If someone gave you $3M and told you they wanted you to start for an NBA team would you turn it down? So why should Willie Green? The fact that he is playing so much while being so untalented is not his fault, It's Mo's and Ed's...

Why does Gordon Giricek even see the light of day? He can't play, never could, and never will. Carney should be playing those minutes so we can find out if he actually is worth anything.

Gasol makes $13.4 M per and Dalembert makes $10.5 with a #1. I'm sure that wouldn't be enough, which is why I've always been fine with throwing rookie Jason Smith into the mix (this is a package that the Griz cannot turn down - a great defensive C and a rookie PF that can run the floor. Both fit into Memphis's system way better than Gasol). Adding Smith's salary to Dalembert's, the Sixers are only picking up about $1.5M in add'l cap $$, which is nothing once you trade Miller and cut Ollie. You'd still be about $20M under the cap after re-signing Iggy and Lou. Brand nor Smith would cost that much.

WillyB76,

What is Carney going to show you that you have not already seen this year? He's not playing a lot of minutes because he has not performed. Cheeks has given him more that enough opportunity to show us something. He just doesn't have it right now. I won't say that he can't get back what he showed in summer league, but I'm not in favor of just giving him minutes.

We all know the Sixers aren't a great team. Cheeks is making due with more than a few players that don't deserve starters' minutes.

It could very well be that Ed Stefanski has already told Cheeks which players he's eyeing on keeping and those he plans to dump, and Cheeks are playing them for long stretches purely for evaluation purposes. It could be after the all star break that we see a completely different rotation and starting lineup of players. With Korver being traded, everyone knows their jobs are on the line. (just a conspiracy theory)

As for the comment Billy King left above, shouldn't we do the exact opposite of what he said?

It's obvious to me why Thaddeus Young was ranked just as high as Kevin Durant coming out of High School.To be only 19 and that talented means that in about 2 years,he'll playing through the roof.And keep in mind that at the age of 20,his dad had a growth spurt of 8 inches,which probably means that Thaddeus will have some type of growth spurt himself.

Herbert Hill?
As a 32 year old growm man I never thought I actually would call people this again.

LOOOOOOOSEEERRRs

A Few Random thoughts....

There are maybe 10 - 15 guys in the entire NBA I'd give $$16+ Mill per year to long term.
E-BRAND & Josh SMITH AIN'T ON THAT LIST!

Not doing it for an injured guy who may never be what he was,OR a Young Guy whose upside is so HIGH THAT HIS CURRENT WOULD BE WILLING TO WILL LET HIM GO - NO THANKS..at a smaller price tag I'll take a chance..either LESS DOLLARS or LESS YEARS.

I'd like to see the Home Team pursue Jose Calderon as the PG of the future I understand he will be a FA PLUS a 6:1 assit to TO ratio is just too good to not to look at..he is a shooter and really runs a team well.

I might be intrested in ZACK what's he make and how may years left on his current deal??

YES the bench for Wille and Reggie PLEASE
Both are better suited for coming off the pine Start the KIDS and let them LEARN it helped
IGGY progress.

WHY did IGGY only take like 13 or 14 Shots?
NO ONE ON THIS TEAM SHOULD EVER TAKE MORE SHOTS than IGGY SO WHY IGGY WHY? is trying to show his frustration by pouting and NOT TAKING SHOTS? Yeah that'll get you more $$$ when you next talk contract LOOK AT THE KIND OF LEADER I AM.

CARNEY put himself on the bench

Cheeks needs to shake-up the line-up. My proposed starting line-up:

PG Miller
SG Iguodala
PF Smith
SF Young
C Dalembert

Smith and Young are their two best young players. They may as well stick them in the starting line-up, and just let them play. Evans and Green are not starters. They'd be better coming off the bench. They also need to trade Carney. He's a 1st round pick with 4 years college experience, and he can't break into the line-up. What's the point in keeping him around?

Cheeks needs to shake-up the line-up. My proposed starting line-up:

PG Miller
SG Iguodala
PF Smith
SF Young
C Dalembert

Smith and Young are their two best young players. They may as well stick them in the starting line-up, and just let them play. Evans and Green are not starters. They'd be better coming off the bench. They also need to trade Carney. He's a 1st round pick with 4 years college experience, and he can't break into the line-up. What's the point in keeping him around?

Nexxis-
Points well taken however I would definitely pass on Randolph. Like Calderon at PG though.

Iguodala is an excellent COMPLEMENTARY player to an actual team leader/star (Pippin to Jordan analogy holds). He IS NOT a "go to" guy nor is his temperment that of a leader. Not his fault - it's just who he is ... or isn't.

The clamor for Hill continues to baffle me. Simply, based on what???

As for Gasol for Dalembert & Smith ... more nonsense from Dean. Enought already.

Nexxis-
Points well taken however I would definitely pass on Randolph. Like Calderon at PG though.

Iguodala is an excellent COMPLEMENTARY player to an actual team leader/star (Pippin to Jordan analogy holds). He IS NOT a "go to" guy nor is his temperment that of a leader. Not his fault - it's just who he is ... or isn't.

The clamor for Hill continues to baffle me. Simply, based on what???

Cheeks persistence to go with Green and Evans instead of playing the kids is baffling. Can't see it continuing.

As for Gasol for Dalembert & Smith ... more nonsense from Dean. Enough already.

Nexxis-
Points well taken however I would definitely pass on Randolph. Like Calderon at PG though.

Iguodala is an excellent COMPLEMENTARY player to an actual team leader/star (Pippin to Jordan analogy holds). He IS NOT a "go to" guy nor is his temperment that of a leader. Not his fault - it's just who he is ... or isn't.

The clamor for Hill continues to baffle me. Simply, based on what???

Cheeks persistence to go with Green and Evans instead of playing the kids is baffling. Can't see it continuing.

As for Gasol for Dalembert & Smith ... more nonsense from Dean. Enough already.

Nexxis-
Points well taken however I would definitely pass on Randolph. Like Calderon at PG though.

Iguodala is an excellent COMPLEMENTARY player to an actual team leader/star (Pippin to Jordan analogy holds). He IS NOT a "go to" guy nor is his temperment that of a leader. Not his fault - it's just who he is ... or isn't.

The clamor for Hill continues to baffle me. Simply, based on what???

Cheeks persistence to go with Green and Evans instead of playing the kids is baffling. Can't see it continuing.

As for Gasol for Dalembert & Smith ... more nonsense from Dean. Enough already.

Nexxis-
Points well taken however I would definitely pass on Randolph. Like Calderon at PG though.

Iguodala is an excellent COMPLEMENTARY player to an actual team leader/star (Pippin to Jordan analogy holds). He IS NOT a "go to" guy nor is his temperment that of a leader. Not his fault - it's just who he is ... or isn't.

The clamor for Hill continues to baffle me. Simply, based on what???

Cheeks persistence to go with Green and Evans instead of playing the kids is baffling. Can't see it continuing.

As for Gasol for Dalembert & Smith ... more nonsense from Dean. Enough already.

Nexxis-
Points well taken however I would definitely pass on Randolph. Like Calderon at PG though.

Iguodala is an excellent COMPLEMENTARY player to an actual team leader/star (Pippin to Jordan analogy holds). He IS NOT a "go to" guy nor is his temperment that of a leader. Not his fault - it's just who he is ... or isn't.

The clamor for Hill continues to baffle me. Simply, based on what???

Cheeks persistence to go with Green and Evans instead of playing the kids is baffling. Can't see it continuing.

As for Gasol for Dalembert & Smith ... more nonsense from Dean. Enough already.

You only need to press the Post button once, Carp.

Wouldn't it be amazing, though, if we could somehow obtain Gasol and dump Sammy in the same friggin' trade? Good lord, would that rock!

On Hoopshype.com,they're reporting that Toronto will bring in their PG they drafted from Croatia next year.He's a 23yr old,6'5" PG,and with that,does that mean that Jose Calderon could become available?I would love seeing Calderon on the Sixers with Iggy,Thaddeus Young,and Jason Smith.And after watching him last night,I'm even more impressed.

Wow you would think Iggy is a great player by reading this blog, and Young starting? Are you kidding me! First off he needs time to develop as a player before you can stick a player who wasn't even the best or 2nd player on his college team a chance to succeed or fail, rushing him into the starting line up may stunt his growth as a player AKA(Kwame Brown)his play is wild and he makes lay-ups that's not basketball that's being around the basket and getting loose balls. The answer at the two is starting Gordon Giricek (give him some time Cheeks)or tring to deal Willie Green & Rodney Carney for Sefolosha or Gerald Green and a pick.

Get Chris Wilcoxs!!!!!!

It is time for Young to start and get more minutes.

Why would you cut Kevin Ollie? His contract expires after this season.

I don't see any potential free agents worth a max contract. Would you give a max contract to Arenas or Brand if they opt out? What about if they don't play all season due to injury? Most likely neither of them will play this season and won't opt out any way.

I think any significant move will come via trade in the off season when the sixers have the cap space to absorb extra salary in a trade.

And why do we have to use the cap room this off season. You know there is a guy out in LA who can opt out of his contract after next season....

My favorite part of every Sixers game is something I call Willie-Time. It's that time when Willie Greens warmin up, maybe hit the last 2 shots in a row and now figures its his time to shine. He starts calling for the ball more shaking off defenders showing true aggresion... and misses the next 10 shots. Watching Willie Green try to make a shot is absolutely horrifying. I have always been completely in favor of starting Thaddeus Young and possibly Jason Smith, and I would probably prefer moving Iguodala to the 2 and taking out Green.

On another hand I will be very interested in what happens with Jose Calderon. Jose is a first class, pass first point guard and I think if the Sixers do the right thing and trade Miller, a Calderon/Lou Williams PG combo for next year would be pretty damn good. Lou gives you the spark and scoring off the bunch while Calderon gives you that prototypical Point Guard play.

But right now its good that everyone almost seems in agreement that Thaddeus needs to play because he's earned it and I love his potential.

Right on, lets get Thad in there starting ASAP. Im quickly becoming a fan. As far as J smith starting, im kind of divided - i think it could cut either way for him. Maybe it makes him better, maybe he struggles more...but at this point, what do we really have to loose. So screw it, throw him in too and see what happens.

Nexxis - good call on Calderon. That would be a great move. And i totally hear you about overspending on free agents - that was my main thinking in saying its not worth trading miller. But if we can bring in a guy like Calderon to replace him, then that makes a lot of sense.

Mo Cheeks has his team playing hard...give him a break...he doesn't have the ammo. Look at Doc Rivers...did he all of a sudden become a great coach this year?

Mo has been playing the young guys a lot...he deserves credit for that.

Ed does need to shake things up sooner than later though because he is losing Iguodala to frustration...Miller may be next although he has been a real pro in attitude.

11-31 from Lou and Willie...can you imagine how mnay assists Andre Miller would have if we had a SG that could shoot!

John -
I agree. No Mo Bashin!! He is a good coach. Did we forget his 50 win season in Portland in a very strong western conference? He had a few good players but not that many. Let's see what he can do in a watered down eastern conference with a few good men before we back him.

Ed needs to give him a 2year deal to give him a chance to "really" turn things around. One Philly guy to another, Ed needs to do this. If Mo falls on his face then so be it.

We have not post presence - who's fault? Not Mo's
We have no shooters - not Mo's fault
Not a whole lot of talent on offense - again, not Mo's fault.

King built this team which is why he is no longer here and why Mo still is. Ed know's Mo's hands have been tied for 3 years. I think he cuts the ropes and gives him a fighting chance!

Just interested in knowing from you all, did anyone hear about Ed trying to clear up cap space to aquire Kobe? I heard that going around. But I also hear that Hubert Hill is the next coming of Wilt, so I don't know...

Besides needing a big man,the Sixers need a legitimate SG,in the worst way.After watching in agony at the feeble attempts at making Willie Green,or Rodney Carney our 3,it's time to move.If they can land a legit big in a trade,then I'm all for them drafting Chase Budinger from Arizona.As of last night,the Sixers pick 8th in this years' draft.

I say open playing time for the young guys, draft bigs or a PG (unless you win the Rose/Gordon lottery), resign Igudola on their terms, and save the cap space for a rainy day (ie true star like Kobe, CP3, LeBron, etc if their teams are foolish and let them them get away).

I'm tired of the Willie Green show and was pissed when Mo took out Thaddeus Young with 7 minutes to go in the 4th to put in Green.

I know a lot of people aren't Carney fans but didn't he play solid when he started for those 5 games Green was out and wasn't our ball movement better?

Also I would like to note that Iguodala plays 110x better when Willie Green isn't on the floor with him or even playing at all. The whole teams ball movement was better when Willie was out hurt.

Look at Iggy's stats while Willie was hurt

30 vs Utah
25 vs Sea
24 vs Por
16 vs Sac
28 vs MIA
23 vs Mem
average of 24.3 pts/game

Willie Needs To Go ASAP!

Calderon is only making $$2.5 mill and is a TOTAL free agent after this season..I would PUSH HARD for him even if I had to pay him
$4-5 mill. Then trading Miller could REALLY HELP this team.

When was the last time the Home Team had a sweet jump shooting 2Guard??? Hersey Hawkins,ANDREW .... how PATHITIC is that?
I could live with IGGY at the 2...But MAN would a Rip Hamilton or Mike Redd type make my eyes light up...oh well nice to DREAM
Shooters would make living with Sammy D's offense (or lack of) a lot easier.

I like Jason Smith but he needs to take some EXTRA work before or after practice to get his jumper back...he would be "NICE" if he could find that jumper he seems to have misplaced

IF Eddie STEF is worth his salt and is half the scouting GURU he is said to be he must already know of some benchwarmers on other teams that he can bring in here (steal) to help next year..as for this year I'm with the PLAY THE KIDS mind set that seems to be the overall thinking of the Sixers Nation on the BLOG! SORRY this team just doesn't have the TALENT right now for anything else.

Willie Green is a third stringer on any real NBA team.

That is a fact.

He can't shoot from the outside. Let's face it that none of our supposed guards can.

Young was a good perimeter shooter in college so now that Korver is gone start the guy at SG and keep Andre at SF with Miller at PG.

Bring in Giricek off the bench before giving Lou williams or Green a sniff and unfortunately we have to start Evans right now as Jason Smith while a serviceable backup is not a starter.

The Sixers are filled right now with third string guards Carney, Ollie, Green and Williams and third string PFs Admuson, Hill, and Randolph and we can all blame genius Billy King for that.

Bring in Brand or Jamison at least via free agency to at least try to compete.

Did anyone see Jason Smith with his first post up move of the season in the fouth quarter last night. He spun baseline and layed it in. Need to see more of that. Maybe he has been reading the blog on the road trip and is getting tired of us saying he can't post up. He showed us!

No Jamison and No Brand. We need a young power forward who is about to hit his prime. I don't see a whole lot of them out there. Not a lot of good free agents. I expect Ed to do a lot of trades instead of signing free agents in the summer.

Willie Green was arrested for impersonating a SG early this morning after arriving back in Philly after another terrible performance.And they also said Iguodala is trying to pursue a restraining order againt Willie Green in an effort to bar him from all Sixers related activities,games,etc.When his lawyer was reached for comment he said"It was a good scam while it lasted".

Marc had an interesting paragraph in his game story today:

"Recently Iguodala has been seen sniping at teammates. He also is one of the more animated complainers when talking to officials."

Combine this with the collapse in Portland, Mo's recent technicals, the five straight losses ... we've seen this before, folks. Unfortunately, this team is frustrated, sees little hope for turning around the season and is on the verge of imploding. This is the kind of stretch that results in coaches getting fired. I like Mo, but if they drop a few more games here, Stefanski will have almost no choice.

Commit to Young and Smith in the starting frontcourt, put Iguodala at shooting guard, and trade Miller, Carney and Green. Try to win games, but if you end up 25-57, so what? Then draft wisely, think seriously about whether you even want to keep Iguodala, and use the cap space to do something more bold and creative than just trying to sign an injured Elton Brand or a not-yet-a-franchise guy like Josh Smith.

Call me crazy but the only reason I can see for Willie Green getting minutes right now is that the Sixers are showcasing him in an attempt to move him later. I can't see him having a future here other than as the 2nd guard off the bench. Short of Brewer in Utah he's the worst starting shooting guard in the league. And Brewer isn't expected to score. It seems at times that Cheeks runs the offense through Green. And it looks awful.

Iguodala's numbers aren't amazing and I think we can agree he's not a star player. But he is consistently seeing double teams for the first time in his career. He may adjust, he may not.

Personally I prefer the tall lineup of Dalembert, Evans/Smith, Young, Iguodala, Miller to start a game. Then why not go to a quicker lineup with Green at the 2 and Williams at the point?

It just makes zero sense all the way around. Let the kids cut their teeth. Baptize them in fire. And every other cliche you can think of.

A bit off topic, but a couple of you mentioned Lame Duck, I mean Mo Cheeks.

Anyone notice the job Dean Demopolous has done with Portland's D? If the Sixers' next head coach is not named Jay Wright, then let it be Dean.

For all you Kyle Korver fans out there, here's a fantastic piece on #26:

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_7930043

I looked up his brothers' stats - if we're gonna draft another Korver, it should be Kaleb, not Klayton, FYI.