Deep Sixer

On a rough night, Sixers fans, consider yourselves lucky. Think about it. I am a lifelong 76ers fan living in Boston. Those of you who live closer to where I grew up (Norristown) and get to see our team play every night have watched this talented young team mature by leaps and bounds in the last month or so. Me, I only get to watch them when they play Boston. Ouch.

But the truth is, the Sixers were strangely capable of winning this game tonight. I say strangely because they managed to stay in it most of the way despite shooting .316 on the night. .316? That’s even lower than Abraham Nunez’s 2007 on-base percentage. I can’t say I remember watching too many NBA games during which a team missed as many open shots and took as many bad shots as we took tonight. Granted, we had some bad luck in the second and third quarters. Lou Williams seemed to have a good stroke on some shots but everything was rattling in and out for him. But the whole team looked hesitant and out of kilter in the opening minutes when the Celtics went up 15-0. Tying the game was awesome. The energy and mistake-free run of 44-29 was damned impressive. It certainly seemed like the 76ers could have won the game at that point.

The Sixers never recovered from the same kind of start in the second half, but there were some positives in the game. Philly’s bench was much more potent than Boston’s—Jason Smith looked lost in Boston earlier in the season but was very high energy on defense and solid on offense. We beat Boston 24-13 on the offensive boards. And only seven turnovers?! That’s how you win games. But Philly also looked psyched out most of the time. Did they feel the pressure tonight? Maybe, but they played very well at times and Boston, though good, was not great tonight (except Garnett).

Since I never see these game, someone please tell me, do Dalembert and Smith always get in each other’s way as often as they did in the second half tonight?

I loved the physicality and energy to the way Iguadala and Evans were playing. I would have loved to see Evans get more minutes in the second half. I can’t help but wonder how things might have turned out if Mo shaved Sammy’s minutes and given Reggie more. Reggie was playing like a massive beast at times. I thought his vibe was exactly what was missing from Sammy and some other players tonight.

What happened to Willie Green? The Boston announcers did not say one stinkin’ word about him after he limped off. That was a key personnel loss. Maybe he could have hit a shot or two.

Would you all say that Jason Smith is returning to early-season form, or was his nice game an aberration?

It was great to see Shavlik get in there. I’d like to see him get at least 10-15 minutes one of these days and see what he’s got.

Anyway, though the Sixers are 0-3 against Boston, I still think this Philly team is capable of beating the Celtics on some nights. That was not an incredibly memorable night of pro hoops, but I think it will be fun to watch these two teams play in the next few years. Boston is likely to remain very good while Philly is likely to keep improving, especially if we get that PF. I want the rivalry back, people. Sorry for going on for so long. You probably won’t hear from me again until after the next Boston-Philly game.

Marc you’re on it. for the first time in a long while I felt the rivalry was back, Sixers vs. Celtics, Bird and McHale vs. Erving and Malone, but we played tentative and scared at times because we knew we were in unfamiliar territory. The place was buzzing tonight you could have cut the excitement in the air with a knife it was that thick. This team has got to make the playoffs they need that experience of having to bring your A game every single night. Boston was use to the pressure, teams had been coming at them all season and they have been rising to the challenge. There was one stretch of the game when you could see that this team can become something special, it was right after Boston had them on the ropes in the first quarter and appeared ready to make the final blow, then Reggie Evans snatched an offensive rebound and went up with a power move and scored, after scoring he shouted let's gooooo! And for the next 10 min the Sixers went on a 15-4 run.
They also must learn that they are entertainers and must learn how to feed off their home crowd. They finally got a large crowd to show up that was a time when you got to do something special.

Bobby I would like to see this team go after the Supersonics Chris Wilcox for that power forward and toronto has a good pure outside shooter that is availble.

I got to watch my 2nd sixers game of the season! too bad it was a terrible shooting night and they lost. While watching the game I realized that this is probably what the playoffs will look like. Unless they can manage to get the 6th seed it will be an ugly series but hey it will be an accomplishment to get there despite almost everyone doubting them. In the playoffs, especially against a good defensive team like Boston or Detroit the Sixers won't be able to run like tonight. They will have to really step up their half court offense to succeed in the playoffs.

There was an unfortunate circumstance leading into this game that contributed to the Sixers' demise tonight: they went from playing three of the worst defensive teams in the NBA to playing the very best, and they really weren't prepared for the defensive pressure that Boston brought. It would have been better had they faced, say, the Bulls before this game, to at least get used to defensive pressure. Later in the game, after being harassed and challenged on many shots, they became anxious on their open shots (of which there were many in the 2nd half) and couldn't hit any. On top of that, several Sixers took their worst bumps in recent memory and either got injured (Green) or nearly got injured (Iguodala, Miller, Dalembert/Smith).

Overall, it was a good lesson in playoff-style basketball, but hopefully the Sixers don't go into a funk after the disappointment of this game. Their worst stretch of the year -- losing 11 of 13 to start the new year -- included at least three losses to bad teams following 'measuring up' games against good teams. I think they'll give a great effort against the Pistons on Wednesday (and may or may not win), but they have to be sure to be on their game to beat the Bulls on Friday.

Only one comment about the strategy of the game: it's nice to try to get Dalembert going early, but do they have to go to him exclusively? It's got to be demoralizing to watch him try to go one-on-one (against good teams, you're probably spotting the other team 4-6 points, although tonight it was 15). What about putting the ball in Iguodala's hands to begin the game (like they used to do earlier in the year) and let him create a shot for Sam (or somebody else)?

Tonight's game should be taken in stride, as it was the 2nd of a back to back for the Sixers against the best and hottest team in the Eastern Conference. It was nice that the team showed some guts in coming back to tie the game after the dreadful start. That said though, there are obviously some major deficiencies on this team that have yet to be addressed by management. The lack of a low-post player, inconsistent (to be kind) outside shooting, and little semblence of a half-court offense will kill this team every time it goes up against an elite team like the Celtics. If you watched the game closely, Andre Iguodala's post-game comments were right on the $$. He stated that when he beat his man off the dribble, there was at least one, if not two, more defenders waiting for him. He made the right passes, etc., but the Sixers don't have the fire power on the offensive side of the ball to finish consistently in the halfcourt set. It's not a knock on any of the players; it's just a fact.

This is why I was so harsh on Ed Stefanski when he failed to make a deal at the trade deadline to address at least one of these deficiencies. There were options out there to be had, whether it was improving the outside shooting or improving the team from a low-post presence. The problem with doing nothing is what you saw tonight. Any good, defensively strong team is going to beat the Sixers on pretty much any given night. You can't win on a consistent basis in the NBA with a lack of shooting, lack of low-post presence, and overall lack of talent. It's impossible.

I root for this team, I really do because I'm a diehard Sixers fan. But it drives me nuts to know that we could have had guys like Mike Miller or Ron Artest (for a year) for pretty cheap and didn't act on it.

No reason to hang their heads tonight. The 76ers got beat by a better team. The Celtics played the same defense that they played against the 76ers when they had Iverson -- a matchup zone. Basically whoever has the ball and tries to penetrate, the defense rotates to that area and surrounds the ball.

Since the 76ers have no one that can hit an outside shot consistently, that will be their Kryptonite until they find a couple of players who can.

I like the way the rookies played tonight. Jason Smith had his best game as a pro. He was active defensively and didn't hesitate shooting the rock on offense. He desperately needs that big man coach to teach him how to play with his back to the basket.

Thaddeus didn't look like a rookie playing against 3 Hall of Famers. I also like the block attempt he had on Kevin Garnett when Sam was guarding KG. Thad was way above the rim, even though he didn't get the block. I think we have a rookie that doesn't have stage fright.

The Celtics just plain and simply have more talent than this team and can put 3 legit shooters -- 4 counting Garnett -- on the floor at anytime. These are also the type of games where Sam's inability to score around the basket really hurts this team. Evans seems to play his best in these type of games, probably because he's used to playing against All-Star big men from the West.

This closing stretch will be rough for the 76ers -- they have another game with Boston, 2 games each with the Cavs, Pistons and Spurs. On the bright side, it will be good for the young guys to get that experience.

Stefanski can close that gap with Boston by trading this year's no. 1 pick (currently 16th) to the Bucks for Charlie V. and then signing Ronny Turiaf in free agency. They can also pick up a shooter like Roger Mason or C.J. Miles for cheap.

Should be fun watching this team down the stretch. And yes, Andre Miller is a warrior. If he had a 3-point stroke, he'd be an All-Star.

Bobby, its nice to get an outside perspective, so to speak... I think you and Statman are dead on as far as our shooting woes. This is probably the first game all season these guys have had any real pressure to win a game, and it showed. Its a good learning experience. Glad you liked Reggie's performance, i forget who it was against, but that one pick he set was the definition of putting someone on their butt. Agree with you that JSmith is finding his jumper again too. He's hit a couple threes lately, which is encouraging.

Also have to agree with the comment that trying to purposely work in early shot for dalembert was a bad idea. I defended him, sort of, when he made some noise the other day, but if that noise results in actually planning for him to get the ball early in the game i take it all back. We had a good thing going with an unselfish and organic sort of offense, and we need to get back to that ASAP. As big a fan of young Mr. Young as I am, I did not agree that we need to get him shots on purpose for the same reason we should not get shots to dalembert on purpose - we were doing a good job of just finding the best shot on the court, so why try to force anyone? That said, Sammy had a couple nice matchups against KG...I'll stand up and say he did better than i thought he would.

Dean

Exactly!!! This is that Kyle Korver trade sucked so bad. And this is why I continue to say how DUMB it was to get rid of our only capable shooter. 2 3 4 ..3 pointers by Kyle and its a scraping game. Luxury? No everybody NEEDS a pure shooter. Dumb $%^ trade no matter what. We could have definately used him tonight. But we'll learn. Wasnt thrilled with Cheek's rotation either. Or lack of riding with the hot hand or momentum. I thought Thad should have started. We played our hearts out but Boston just dared us to shoot and they were right. That korver trade looks worst everyday. Missed out on Pau Gasol and Memphis wanted was salary cap space. I'm not a big Ed fan right now. I hope his draft prowess makes up for this percieved bunder because its most liking going to cost us on our first visit to the playoffs

--Totally agree w/some of the folks mentioning bringing Charlie Villanueva or Chris Wilcox on board. Shoot, why not both if possible huh?

--Loved seeing the old highlights of Charles holding down Bird so Doc could get a couple shots at him. Those were the days...

--Still waiting for Carney to be consistently aggressive.

--Korver would still be w/the team if he was more athletic.

--Lets see what kind of fire Sammy has on Wednesday in Detroit after his rough night.

The Korver deal was good... He's not athletic, bad D, doesn't fit our team. It also gave Carney and Thad playing time and that is paying off! We can try to pick up another good shooter later on after we get that big man piece that we need. And, we should go for a shooter that has more all-around game than Korver, so he can run and D it up with our boyz.

Marc's article was right on. We have no Plan B in our offense and are weak in half court sets. Villaneuva and Wilcox are not good enough for me. They are decent players on bad teams. Vill. doesn't defend, is inconsistent and Wilcox is a poor rebounder. They are nice complimentary pieces, but not the main big man we need. We have enough complimentary pieces. We need Brand, Okafor, or Smith... Jamison, Dung, Biedrins, Artest, Marion or O'neal would be back-up plans.. If we can get 1, we will be set. Trade if we gotta...

The other option would be that we decided Thad was the big man or we moved up in the draft this year or we waited 1 more year to get that big man and just added 1 more complimentary piece (or an upgrade for Willie Green) this off-season in the meantime like Pietrus, Maggette, Ariza, Childress, Gordon... But, I'd still keep Green as a Bench player, he's a good guy to have off the bench.

We need to set our sights higher then Vill. or Wilcox who are 1 dimensional and will not get us bye Detriot, Boston, Cleveland...

Sixers need to keep doing the best they can against these elite teams and fighting, and not worry about what they are missing because once they get that piece, they will be ready to take them. I'm enjoying the journey and I expect they will make strides against these elite teams. If we can win 2 or 3 playoff games this year, that will be wonderful going into next year!

I think this game showed exactly why we should be hoping the Sixers make the playoffs this year and not just hope for the draft again. The sooner we get experience in big games and big game atmospheres at home, the sooner we'll have a team that really can contend for something grander than a 6 seed.

Steve, agree regarding Vil & Will. Putting up numbers on losing teams. Dissapointed last night but not unexpected. No 1/2 court game. If they can't force transition then have no offence. Nothing new need stud on offence.

Excellent NBA post be the sports guy.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080310&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1

The Celts have 3 mature big time players. We have 1, our point guard.

I'm really sick and tired about hearing how Kyle Korver was stunting the growth of Thad Young and Rodney Carney. Rodney Carney?? He's been here for two years, cannot hit a jumpshot to save his life (which is supposed to be one of his strongsuits), has no handle, and can't pass. Why do we want to see more of him - because he is athletic and can play a little D? So can half the guys in the D-League! Why does he deserve 15 mpg instead of a proven NBA 3-pt shooter that was the 2nd best passer on this team?

Yes, I'm sure if Ed had rubbed his little bald head really hard, he could have figured out a way to find Korver 20-25 mpg without stunting Thad's growth. Here's a clue...don't play Rodney Carney. Then, take a grand total of 5-10 mpg combined from either Reggie, Willie, Booth, Ollie, or Smith and WOWWWWWWW...you have an extra 20-25 mpg to give a solid player like Korver. Amazing how that works.

Even if Stefanski wanted to see the young guys more (and I agree with the premise), he waited a whole ONE WEEK after he got here to put the Korver trade in motion. He talked about evaluating everything top to bottom before making any moves - that's a direct quote. One week?? And, if Ed S. had any foresight whatsoever and still felt the same way about Korver in February, he could have used Kyle in a package at the trade deadline to improve this team if he still was deadset on moving him. Instead, it appears as though we didn't have enough ammo to get a deal done at the deadline...great job moving our "most attractive tradeable asset" (his words not mine) for nothing 2 months before the deadline.

And...you see the results last night against a really good team when you don't have a weapon from the outside or a low-post threat in a half-court set. No chance...but we used to have one of the two and gave him away.

Reggie Evans is horrible. He should get 15-16 minutes MAX per game. Hey Reg, lay-up drills start in 20 minutes!

Was Sammy complaining after last night's game? Shut up and play, when Sam faces a legit Front Court, he disappears. My grandmom has more b-ball smarts than #1.

Sixers have to find a way to get to the #6 seed, can't play Boston or Detroit in the 1st round.

Case, don!t know what game you watched, if Reggie didn!t play last night we would have been down 30 to start!!!Good to see Thad and Jason play well in a big game at mosphere. Wish L.Will. and Willie, before the injury, could have hit some shots.K.M., hopefully, next year we are starting the game getting the ballto a real low post threat and working the offense inside out. E.S. will find 2 pieces over the summer, because of the cap flexibility created by the Korver trade, that will improve us in the 1/2 court game . One year solutions in the short term are not the answer, eastern finals by 2010 should be our goal. Sorry for mentioning Korver.

Listen-bottom line Boston is better!

The Sixers are not that good in an embarrassing Eastern Conference.

PERIOD

great posts (except for Dean's constant rants and disrespect).
Bobby, enjoyed your comments. I am also in Boston-area...you need direct TV!

Charlie V. not the answer please.

You are dead on Dean. Nothing disrespects people in denial like the truth. It was painfully obvious last night that we needed a pure shooter to get us back in the game. The value of having one can no longer be undermined or termed as a luxury. At every level of basketball high school to the pros you need someone who can shoot the rock to keep defenses honest. Or you will find teams camped in the paint like Boston did us last night. The positive I took from this game is even tho we lost we outworked them. If we had a little shooting we would be ok. But when the playoffs come the other teams will have yet another recipe for beating us. Ed's only job is to evaluate talent. Some want to give him credit for coaching...How about getting credit for doing your actual job. BUILDING A REBUILDING TEAM THAT IS OR WAS ALREADY 3 QUARTERS BUILT. Instead he subtracted from it, got basically nothing back but a late 1st rounder. Now instead of needing just a low post threat we ALSO NEED A SHOOTER.

Well, at least Jason Smith had his best game in a while - 12 points on 7 shots, and 3 blocks, very nice. He still needs to get stronger to be a better rebounder. I would also have liked to have seen a little more Thad (only 23 minutes), but the Sixers weren't winning that game no matter what. Not when our three best scoring options (Lou and the 2 Andre's) shoot a combined 15/49. Ouch.

We did win the battle against the Celtics' bench, but we had no answer for their big three.

Also, I was disappointed by Sammy's game. He could have been a real advantage for us, but he basically was evenly matched by Perkins. Not good.

Instead of Ed finding a way acquire Pau Gasol and give up absolutely nothing but cap space like the lakers did. He just gave away something we already needed for nothing promised in return. Imagine what the outcome would have been with Gasol against Garnett and a game Korver to answer Paul Pierce's 3's. We would be legit right now. Instead from his lack of action and illadvised rushed "i've got to do something so they know i'm here" trade...We are looking quite needy despite Moe's good job this season. I just hope this guy can draft. Right now I dont feel good about his ability to BUILD.

"Rodney Carney?? He's been here for two years, cannot hit a jumpshot to save his life (which is supposed to be one of his strongsuits), has no handle, and can't pass. Why do we want to see more of him - because he is athletic and can play a little D? So can half the guys in the D-League! Why does he deserve 15 mpg instead of a proven NBA 3-pt shooter [Korver] that was the 2nd best passer on this team?"

Well said, Dean. Dead on.

I was very impressed with Jason's fearlessness! I know some you dont seem to like him much but that guy is a beast. Crushing Leon Powe's shots and giving a real good effort against Garnett. Thought Sammy could dominate his matchup was disappointed with that...some of those post moves made me scratch my head like what the hell..But played a couple of good series against Garnett. Found myself questioning Moe regarding Reggie Evans playing time. Yeah I know Thad isnt that thick but he is strong and quicker. Rather have that then a guy who is going to shoot 4 5 shots at rim and then get fouled and cant hit free throws. Hope everybody learned something...

Great discusson of the game, by both here and DN/Inquirer.

Agree ES has to do something special with the cap room he got from the Korver trade.

Disagree with him not getting SOME credit for the transition game - he gets credit for the idea, Mo gets credit for developing it and implementing it perfectly.

Agree that ES loses points for not seeing how Korver could fit in transition game.

I'm a Jason Smith fan, but he gets limited minutes against Detroit, Detroit's too physical, he gets swallowed up whole. Joe Dumars is brilliant.

Carney is a big pussycat. The biggest game of the year, all he wants to do is shoot threes and is afraid to mix it up. I GOT IT! We need a toughness upgrade here, we trade him for whoever gets the first pick in the WNBA draft, get Candace Parker!

Where's the LouWill trashing? If that had been Willie clunking everything, everyone would be out with their pitchforks. Be fair.

Does anyone else think Iggy and Jason Smith don't get along? How about that one time when Smith was shooting FTs, after one free throw, no one went up to him to give him some skin. Jason's gone this summer? But Jason seems to be pretty cool with Sammy.

Zeru,

If Leon Powe and Kendrick Perkins are pit bulls, then Detroit's big guys are Cerberus, the guardian dogs of hell...

Screw it, let Jason Smith play against Detroit's big guys, baptism by fire, what the hell...

Zeru:

Stop being so negative about Mo!

Sixerzguy:

Smith reminded many, I hope, that he can play in the league. This will be a big off season for him to get stronger and work on his rebounding and back-to-the-basket moves. Often times he seems out of position for rebounds.

As for Lou, I already noted his awful game, but will note on the positive side that he did have 4 assists and only 1 turnover. Dre also had a very bad shooting night, but did have 7 assists and only 2 turnovers. If Green is not hitting his shots, you never see other contributions like those two.

I'm not upset about the game last night. They ran into a very good team. I only hope that come out better for it and don't let the loss linger. The have Detroit next, we'll see what they have learned or not learned real soon...

Here's a thought, if you mixed Korver's skills and Carney's skills together, you get an athletic forward who can knock down the three, give you a highlight reel dunk every now and again, and play decent defense on occasion. But that player would dissapear in any big game. Carney is ineffective against the better teams, he plays scared. Korver slow footed defense gets exposed easily when he plays a lot of minutes which is why he does so well in Utah getting 12 min but putting up 10 every night. But enough of the Korver talk. I liked him but he has too many flaws in his game. Carney will be out the door as well. Both players tend to look lost and afraid, at least in a Sixers uni when a good team comes to town. I always get a funny feeling in my gut when Carney steps foot on the floor, I think you guys know what that feeling is. He looks like a babe in the woods sometimes...

I'm so disgusted with Dalembert! Other than the playing time statement he made (which has no merrit), he also get's upset when he gets pulled for missing shots while others (who he did not mention but I assume are Willy and Iggy) are missing shots and stay in the game. He doesn't understand that it's the shots that he takes more than the shots he misses. He simply takes bad shots. He is not a post up player. He is limited to a two dribble, spin to the right, fade away jumper on the post (which got block 3 times last night). That's not going to get it done. He doesn't need a big man coach, you should be able to learn from anyone. You can't teach work ethic. You can't teach heart. And you sure can't teach hustle. Reggie Evans has all of these things without a "Big Man Coach". He seems to be the only one on the team who either does not know his role or does not accept his role. He needs to stop trying to show that he can be a scorer and concentrate more on hitting the boards and playing defense. Looking at his line last night it's clear where his focus was, 1-9? Wow! Imagine how he will feel when we get a PF who can score in post next year.! He'll have no choice but to focus on rebounds and blocks. If he doesn't want to do that, he will find himself on the trading block quick!!!

Dean:

I couldn't agree more about the Korver trade. There was no reason to do it. Korver is a role player. We know that and he knows that and we know he wasn't going to complain about playing fewer minutes. Most good teams in the NBA have 3 or 4 really good 3-point shooters and we got rid of the only one we had. I agree with most on this site and with Stefanski that we need a PF next season, but we also need to add at least 2 guys who can consistently hit the 3. To me that's just as important as adding the PF.

LOL@Candice Parker...Yeah i'm tired of defending Carney...He needs to work on other elements to his game besides shooting. I'm ready to see what Jason can do in the post. We already know he can shoot and kill your shot. I was lovin that. He just needs some time in the weight room and he is going to be special. I could tell Lou wanted to have a big game against the celtics. Just didnt fall for him.

I dont know about you yall but i'm tired of Iggy losing his aggressiveness once he gets to the rim. I want to see him try to dunk on somebody. Nix the scoop shot and floaters and fadeaways... I want to see some "ProActive" facials. Make the ref call a foul or just dunk on them. No more strolling down the lane. Just give it to them J Smith has the right idea. I'd like to see more shav and less reggie.

Morty,

i mean this wholeheartedly as constructive criticism, but you gotta watch more games - how the heck did u now know about garnett's jumpshot and his ability to make plays? he sure was passive away from the basket, huh? if that's passive, i wish everyone on the sixers were more passive, jeez...

and about willie - don't give that other contributions crap, people were blasting him because he wasn't giving us anything in terms of scoring, people don't wanna trade louwill because he's a better scorer than lowry, well how about when he doesn't score or defend? mission failed! mess up your role, you should get trashed - if you want assists and less turnovers, push for a real pg

that's it, can't post anymore today, feel guilty...

Morty

Lol Whatever man...the truth is the truth. Moe didnt coach a good game last night as far as his rotations in my opinion. The difference is i'm not going to go into a Moe sucks rant over a bad game and start talking about replacing him. He's learning on the job with limited options but I still think Thad or Shav could have cut more into Reggies minutes

Sixerfan

I agree Jason needs the same opportunity for growth as Thad and Lou. Let him bump and grind with detroits guys and he'll get that confidence he needs. If he can learn to rebound better there is no reason why he shouldnt be playing a solid 30 minutes

I can't believe that people are crying about Kyle Korver, as though he would have made a difference last night. Kyle can shoot, but he's not much of an athlete, and he can't run.

Adding him to last night's line-up wouldn't have made any difference. And if you think differently, you don't understand basketball.

What would make a difference is the Sixers being prepared, Andre beats his man, only to find two others in his way? That means there are three people that should be open for shots!

It is a matter of coaching to have your players in MOTION on offense so that they know where each other will be, but NOT the defensive team! This is a MO CHEEKS problem, that probably won't be solved until MO goes.

How is it that a team still doesn't have a half-court offense it can rely on, and simply goes one on one with Andre M. or I. trying to create their own shot.

Sure, they're fine in the open floor, but they have no offensive execution. With all the coaches they have on that bench, this is intolerable!

This is the key difference between the Sixers and the good teams. Detroit and Boston are better at executing in the half-court because they run plays and help each other to score.

When a team like Boston throws a zone at you, you have to attack it the right way. The Sixers could not attack it successfully, so Boston kept playing that way and prevented the Sixers from running.

Sixerzguy:

I know about Garnett. He is a superstar, you try and do the best you can with him. But he's a superstar because most of the time you can only do so much. Same with Allen and Pierce. So, the Sixers got burned by him, they didn't really have much they could turn to to defend Garnett. Neither do most teams. Basically they had to hope that he would have an off shooting night. Instead he had a hot shooting night. So be it.

I'm not defending Lou's play last night, 3/15 speaks for itself. He was playing SG, not PG. If Green is not hitting his shots, he doesn't contribute much else to the game. I merely pointed out that at least Lou set up some teammates. Same as Igoudala. We all watch the games and see that Green is a gunner. He has really improved his shot this year, and that has made him a better contributor, but he only brings that quality to the table, he doesn't set up his teammates.

Its great to see all the comments about this game. The poor shooting stands out as does the fact that when they lost Green the Sixers didn't have anyone other than Igoudala that could match up with Allen. Carney is not close to being ready and those who expect him to develop have a long wait.

I'm on the side that thinks Ed giving away Korver was a terrible move. Last night Korver could have helped by keeping the defense honest and providing points. He may have been the difference. Right now he is doing a terrific job for Utah.

Comments like those from Steve who suggest Korver can't play defense, isn't athletic and doesn't fit are completely off base. Carney is athletic and yet will never be the rebounder Korver is. He can't pass and his defense is worse than Korver's. Maybe if he ever learns to shoot he can help in games like last night's.

This game showed that the Sixers do need a viable power forward but Smith may be the man in a few years. Cheek's rotation always seems to be a question mark. In a game where he needed to be creative to have a chance, why not start Young and Smith and let Igoudala match up with Allen? Smith did OK but one commenter suggested he doesn't play well with Dalembert. In any case, while Evans brings energy, he is not the long term solution at power forward.

All in all last night demonstrated that the Sixers aren't quite there yet and I have serious doubts Ed can get them any closer.

I personally think the Korver trade has been a wash in terms of the Sixers' overall record this year. Had he stayed, he would have helped to win some games with his shooting, but he would also have caused some losses with his defense (which, while not as bad as people think, is still below-average) and poor rebounding, especially if used at power forward.

But I want to make a point about a theoretical Korver appearance in this game: the Korver that the Sixers had this year would likely not have helped in any way. He appeared in 25 games for the Sixers this year and went 38-108 on 3's. In just 3 of those games (a blowout against the Bucks and the back-to-back blowouts of the Knicks), he went 10-14. In the other 22 games, he shot a combined 29.8% from 3. Would he have performed better over the long run? Maybe, but this Sixers team as constructed (lack of post presence, lack of go-to scorer commanding double-teams, lack of emphasis on the pick-and-roll) cannot utilize a pure shooter like Korver to maximum advantage. Utah, on the other hand, can -- but keep in mind that the shots Korver gets with the Jazz were not the shots he was getting with the Sixers. Who can forget what happened in the 2005 playoff series when Prince stuck to him and held him to something like 25% shooting (and 5 ppg)?

This isn't to say that the Sixers don't need better shooters -- that much is painfully obvious. But they would have needed more than a spot-up shooter to make any difference last night.

Rick:

That why I think Thad should get some plays called for him in the half court, especially some post up opportunities.

Zeru- I thought Iguodala did take it strong to the hole. He was getting fouled by 3 and 4 guys and just tossing it up trying for the And 1. He was getting fouled hard in the time I saw. Granted I missed the 1st quarter and the beginning of the 2nd. But in the parts I saw I was very impressed.

I'm not critizing Iggy especially on yesterday's game Bball. I just havent him get nasty on somebody in a halfcourt situation. But he did attack the basket. Iggy is a big boy. straight muscle. I know he can dunk on somebody.

Rick,

Thats how we know you dont know what the hell you are talking about Rick. Did you even watch the game? How do you beat a zone Rick? What is a zone buster Rick? I shouldnt have even responded just ignore this lol you da man Rick lmao

After the 1st quarter I was ready to give Dre his big time payday, but then followed the inconsistency. If there ever was a game that cried out for a superstar to take control, last night was it. Dre did have the 7 assists, which is great, but the team also needed him to score.

Greetings from Miami Beach!

I just moved here on Sunday and managed to find a bar that doesn't have $9 miller lites and no sports. Thank god for The Quaterdeck because I had a chance to watch the sixers/celts last night.

I admire the teams fight last night coming back from 15-0, but once wee came back after the break, we went stone-cold. We could not shoot, and its a shame because had we hit 7-8 more jumpers, we would have won this game. Heck, if Carney had shot like he was advertised he could coming out of college we would have won! We have no back up, like Mark said. Unless we run teams out of the building, we lose.

Sammy just looks WEAK.

What was with Lou Williams not working the shot clock and hoisting jumpers with 15 seconds left on the clock? The kid needs to learn a little discipline and create better shots for himself.

Impressed with Thad Young. Man, this kid is going to be a stud. I would be running plays for Young and Iggy ALL GAME. Let Miller do his thing and just create shots for these guys.

And if we ever thought Philly was bad w/ sports, try living in MIAMI right now like I do! Granted, the Heat have 11 wins, but they didn't even have the game on at the bar I was at. Instead, they had two tv's with sixers/boston, the pussycat dolls reality show, george mason/william & mary, european soccer, and the roger fedderer/pete samprass legends game. It's just disheartening down here for sports. No one cares about the Panthers and Marlins, no one cares about the Heat unless they win, and the only team garnering any bit of interest are the Dolphins. Just sad.

Morty,

you're a much better armchair gm than armchair coach, your ideas about "superstars" and how to defend and attack teams are way off (to put it nicely), had to put this out there just in case someone thought you were making good points, you're making horrible points here

i'll get back to u on this with one of my long rants, promise, ain't running away from this one...

Sixerzguy:

OK, happy to have the discussion with you. Not claiming any expertise.

In my opinion, so much of the NBA, as opposed to college, is about one man beating another. Obviously Dre was confronted by 2 or 3 men in a zone last night because of the lack of respect for his teammates, but the superstars manage to get it done anyways. And his 7 assists and 8 FT attempts indicate that he was able to still help his team. I just want to see more from our "Number 1" guy.

Happy to have you change my mind though. Just please don't mention Korver, I'm doing my best to stay away from that one.

If you guys never fired me, Korver would still be here and would have hit some clutch shots last night. Instead, Boston had them on lockdown. Thanks Ed, for screwing up my team.

By the way I'm worse on TV as an NBA analyst then I was as a GM.

Statman, its good to see some clearheaded reasoning. Your points are absolutely valid.

Zeru, even though we disagree on basically everything, I've been saying the same things about JSmith all year. Like how he can block shots at, hit j's, and he's got a great quick step to the basket move. Im all for turning him loose as much as possible and letting him work through the rookie wall, and assigning him a strength coach in the offseason. And probably some Ballet or something as well...i don't know what, but he does need work on his feet. I wont even touch anything else you said...

Iggy again showed, he's a 2nd or 3rd option on a good team. Nothing wrong with that. Sammy is what he is. We've given Sam reponsibility and look what he's given us in return. Next year time to push him for minutes and see how he responds. He gets his 30+ minutes no matter how he performs.
Could use a Gordon from Indiana to provide us with a go to guy in the 1/2 court and a mid level offensive post player to add to our rotation for 20-28 minutes. Then we could play 1/2 offense and would be a playoff team.

Bit of a reality check for the sixers last night.
http://reclinergm.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/boston-celtics-provide-a-reality-check-for-the-76ers/

I was 3 rows behind the Celtic bench and it was painfully obvious the different class of team they were. The Sixers looked shook starting both halves. Like Andre Miller said it's only one game. See how they bounce back in Detroit.

Extra credit: A post about the Sixers on the Wages of Wins site.

LOL @ "Billy King"'s comments

Billy, is amazing how you can find the time to post here with all the work you have to do for the tv ;-)

we Sixers fans appreciate it a lot

Just go on commenting (here and on tv) and please NEVER come back as GM

Dean, I agree that Ed should have waited longer to move Kyle and probably could have gotten a bit more for him if he moved him closer to the deadline. Those are valid points. However, the fact remains that he cleared space for us and it was the best way to clear space. (And the draft pick)...

If the Sixers pick up a quality big man for 10 million this summer and half of that money came from the Korver trade, isn't it worth the deal?

Also, I think you are coming to a conclusion too soon on Carney. He's been here 1 1/2 years and was great against Detroit last night. Mo Cheeks yanks him in and out of games and screams at him when he shoots. This ruins his confidence, but he gives Lou Will a green light... Carney is 3 years younger than Korver. At 26, in 3 years, Carney will doing much more in all phases of the game then Korver is doing right now (he probably is anyway).

Also, we couldn't give Korver Ollie and Booth's minutes because they are specific situational players at the 1 and 5 positions... and we couldn't give him Jason's Smith's minutes either at the 4 or 5 spot... Thus, Korver would only take away minutes from Thad, Lou Will (when he's at the 2), Carney, Iggy, or Green.... Who (except for Green are the exact guys we want to play more). You were off base on those points, but acted like others were idiots for saying otherwise.