Deep Sixer

Classic 1st game, West Coast, 3 hours time change, malaise. Like a Midnite start for Sixers. Any traveler tru time zones knows its the second day that ya get whacked w the lag, or reverse. No big deal, this game.

No overreaction needed. But, even on back to back, would see Suns game as a dead toss-up, with Suns evident, odd malaise, w Shaq transition, that aint yet clicking, offering much better surprise opp.

Agree with Jose.

See the Sixers playing well thru the balance of season but falling short for playoffs simply due to the fact that Atlanta and NJ are better right now...both Bibby and Devin Harris have more talent surrounding them then does or Andre Miller.

It is with games like these that it becomes so obvious that the Sixers need a 4 who can score.

Carney made a statement that he needs a helter skelter pace to play his best. If he would work on his shot and defense as hard as Dala has done in the off season, he could be a player for us...it will take lots of patience though.

Finally, the Warriors have really drafted well...Beidrins, Ellis, Wright to name a few.

The Warriors have customly come out in the first Quarter very sluggish and slow but tonight they got out to a lead and never gave it up. As I said yesterday this would be a track meet and in order for the Sixers to win They would have to be able to defend the peremeter. A better first quarter start would have help a little but defense was there altimate breakdown. But it was fun to watch until it got out of hand. The two main prerequsites I see the Sixers missing is better outside shooting and a consistant inside threat. This teams not far away they can play. I don't know who those other pieces could be but those players need to be consitant impact players.

Tonight the Sixers face the Sun’s, I was initially looking forward to this one but I didn’t know that Phoenix wasn’t playing the night before. Now it looks as though we could get road whipped by a fresh legged team. One thing in our favor, Phoenix ranks 26th in the league with 104.6 points allowed per contest. When the Sixers score over one hundred they normally win. This will be tough we got all types of match-up problems with these guys.

Marc, you make a great point about the similarities and differences between the two teams last night. The difference (outside threat)was very pronounced.

Like a science experiment in a (Geoff) Petrie-dish, we saw what happens when we go against our mirror image...well almost. Add a shooter and we make the playoffs.

The Chris Webber quotes regarding Jim O'Brien in Phil Jazner's DN article are fascinating. That said, I still think Webber is a putz. It looks like they both are self-absorbed, arrogant, egomaniacs.

Last night was a reality check but let's see how they do against PHX.

Back to Back after running and gunning with Golden State may be tough but this year the Sixers have responded well to those challenges.

- T. Young still very much in the development stage. Kind of got exposed last night.

- Lou Will & Carney thrived.

Mismatches as pointed out by Salmi were very evident.

If that's the type of game the Sixers management are striving for it will be a lot of fun but we are a couple of players away from that.

Coach O'brien = Little Napolian

Chris Webber = Cancer disguised as puppy dog

Well. The players like O'brian because he let's them do whatever they want to do on offense, if they give effort on the defensive side of the ball.

I used to like Webber but when you research his history(back as far as high school) there always seemed a shadiness/shiftiness to his character. I think he has some Isaiah(2 faced) in him.

His generation of player started the problem with the NBA today. That seemed to be when the spoiled/selfishness came into the NBA.

We discussed yesterday that adding a couple players [Turiaf as an example] would put some of our young guys on the bench. But when you watch Gold.St. play, they use a 10 man rotation and come at you in waves. If this is how we are going to play add to what we have and and go at teams in waves.W onder if a proven star [Jamison,Brand,etc.] would come here knowing their minutes may go down because of this uptempo style. Theo, Beasley against Arthur tonight same time as Sixers, get the D.V.R. working!!!

To paraphrase Pacino, every time we are ready to get rid of Rodney he pulls us back in again. Notice the nice mix of shooters and guys that attack the basket that Gold.St. has. Ellis is one of the worst 3 pt. shooters in the league, but he thrives with the floor spread. We have to hope our young guys all become better from the perimeter and add at least one proven shooter.Fell asleep in 2nd half, noticed Shav got some minutes; when J.Smith gets back, hopefully we won!t see any more of Booth!!

After watching the Warriors, it's amazing that the Sixers don't have a single 3 point shooter on their roster. With all of the draft picks and trades of the past 5-7 years, not one bomber when other teams have 3 or 4. The Sixers expend a lot of energy for every 2 point basket while these other teams come down, spread the floor and fire. I hope Stefanski will include a shooter (at least the equal of Korver) when he goes shopping this summer.

No matter who it is, someone can always bring up good points about a game afterwards; lemme try to add stuff that hasn't been said.

Carney should only be in the game at small forward. He clearly can't play guard because he can't make that outside jumper. I can't believe that no one else here kills him for taking 3-pointers, I cringe every time he throws one up. He can play like he did last night every game, it's up to him, but he really needs some collar that gives him an electric shock everytime he tries to take a 3, or Mo needs to tell the guys to NEVER pass it out to Carney if he's waiting out beyond the arc for a kick-out.

Case for Iggy not deserving that max contract: I didn't get to see any January games, but it seems like every time we need something to happen against a good team, it's never him, it's either Miller or LouWill or someone else who makes those big plays for us. Iggy's great at killing the bad teams, but aren't a lot of non-max players? How often do you hear the announcers say, "Iggy needs to get going..."? I think, too much.

Case for Iggy deserving that max contract: Of all the people on this team who would benefit from a big man who isn't offensively challenged, or a multi-dimensional shooter, it's him. He's great at reacting to defenses with just the right pass, but he's got less than ideal receivers, like Sammy Disaster. Also, his teammates are nowhere near as good as him in reacting to defenses - he'd be fantastic playing alongside really smart veterans, and this is another reason why I prefer Elton Brand over Josh Smith. Iggy and Turiaf would also be a good combo.

Does Brandan Wright deserve $11M a year? He's another example that Sammy-type of players (high-jumping, lean shot blockers) are always available, there's no way we should've given him that $11M. If we traded him, he could be easily replaced and we could get better production per dollar out of that center spot. Also, he's a big reason why we lose so much against drive and kick teams, he just doesn't know where to be, both on offense and defense. He's only really valuable against good power forwards and centers, but hasn't Calvin Booth done a good job of that, too? If we traded Sammy, I think Booth could step right in and we wouldn't lose much and we could use that money somewhere else. BK should NOT be praised for drafting Sammy.

Normally, I would like what Mo did last night with his rotations in sticking with the horses that got him here, but Mo could've been more flexible and gave LouWill and Rodney more minutes last night because of GS's style of play. Also, the Sixers really could've used Jason Smith and his good team defense and outlet passing. But I bet if we played Golden State again tomorrow, Mo would make the right adjustments and we'd play them better, and I didn't think he was capable of that before.

Most of us want Iggy here, but what is he really worth. The following is a list of similar players along with their age and next year salary; M.Redd,29,15.5mill.; J.Johnson,27,14.2mill. ;R.Jefferson,28,13 mill.; J.Richardson,27, 12mill.; R.Hamilton,30, 10.5mill.; M.Ginobli,31, 9.9mill.;J.Howard,28, 9.9mill.; M.Miller,28,9mill.; R.Butler,28,9mill.; J.Crawford,28, 8.6mill.; G.Wallace,26, 8.2mill.; Iggy is 24 and I don!t know where on this list you think he belongs, but with a low post threat and another 2 years[ assuming 26 is when his game peaks] does he warrant more than 10 to 11 mill. per. And assuming Thad is our future 3, would one of these players look better as a replacement at the 2.

Fell asleep on the coach last night. Had this dream that Amundsen got some run. Woke up in a cold sweat.

Iggy should have signed the contract we offered last year. This year not many teams will have room under the cap to go after a player like Igoudala. Chances are we will be able to sign him for less.

The Warriors show why talk of the Sixer making the playoffs is absurd. They are not a good team, and probably won't make the playoffs in the West, yet beat the Sixers with no problem.

And the real problem was the Sixer's inability to control the game on offense or execute properly. They lack the discipline and patience to break down a defense, and last night, all GS did was try to keep a body in front of the driver and they forced turnover after turnover.

Dalembert was pathetic last night- he cost the team more points with his mistakes then he made up for with defense. Igoudala threw him a pass that bounced off his chest. Sam stepped on the side-line looking to put the ball back in play.

It was good to see Randolph and Amundsen finally get some minutes. Yo MO! How about playing these guys and see if they can actually catch an entry pass! Or maybe even control the boards well enough to control the game tempo.

E.S. talked up Sam when he first got the job. Haven!t heard him mention him lately, he!s seeing the same things we are.I!m disappointed that in the last month he seems to have gotten worse from the beginning of the year.If a team has interest over the summer [Charlotte,Memphis,NewYork] than E.S. may pull the trigger. I actually like how we play defensively with J.Smith at the 5.

By the way, I,like S.F.W., want K.Love here in the worst way. Between his low post game and outlet passing he is just what this team needs, but he is not the type of defensive player that can slide over and make up for an out of position centers deficiences by blocking a shot. A less athletic, smarter center [Milicic,Diop,Pachulia,Hibbard] combined with J.Smith may be the way to go.When the center position was dominant, Nelly used a 3 headed monster for a perennial playoff team and it worked, with the center position as bad as it is, it can!t help but work now!!!

My biggest complaint about Mo raised its head last night: inflexibility in his rotations. Willie Green gets 37 minutes while shooting 6/21? And Lou gets 26 minutes while shooting 8/12?

Furthermore, His team is down over 10 early, what is his first substitution? Lou in for Willie or Miller (who also played terrible)? Nope, its Evans for Thad. Putting in your worst offensive player? Smart.

About the only thing Mo did right was stick with Carney. Can we lock Carney in the gym all summer with a cot, and a mail slot to slide meals through?

I worry that Dalembert HAS plateaued and 'this is it.' I'd hoped over the last couple years that he would acquire a better b-ball iq simply by playing nba starters minutes. Maybe Olympics will further season him...?!?

I really wish we could strap the "TRUTH-O-METER" to Ed's forehead. His reputation is that he is a risk taker. He has to be itching to put his stamp on them after standing pat at the trade deadline. I can't help thinking Sam is going to be packaged.

Morty,

That was a great point about Mo's rotations. They are absolutely terrible from a matchup standpoint.

It's the same rotation regardless of what's actually happening on the floor! Stephen Jackson is creating matchup problems, so put someone his size on him, instead of letting him abuse smaller players!

Mo really doesn't deserve to be back. He has done some good things with teaching the players and developing them, but the team still doesn't execute in the half-court under pressure, in spite of their superior speed and athleticism.

And, while it's true he doesn't have a lot to work with, he could get a lot more out of his team by trying to use a little strategy.

This is not rocket science, but very basic stuff. Have 5-6 set plays, and keep trying them until you find one that works. Then, keep doing that until the other team adjusts.

On defense, if a player keeps bombing away from outside, put some other defender on them and tell them to stay with that player if they want to keep playing!

It doesn't matter who we have, if something isn't working, you try something else! I would rather see a rookie make mistakes and develop than see someone who is mistake prone, continuing to play and hurt the team.

Morty, And Nellie is just the opposite, changes lineups more than clothes. Wonder how he gets players to buy into that.Hershey, would like to be a fly on the wall when E.S. and staff discuss teams future options. Morty, did you watch Beasley, and if not he is on tonight against another possible future Sixer,Theo!s pick[ D.Arthur]

Rick, it seems to be a trend now that your head coach is a "players coach" with a vet. ass. [J.Lynam] doing more off the x!s and o!s. God forbid you yell at the players. But I wonder how much input J.L. has in the rotations.I used to hate when L.Brown would conform to what the other coach did rather than make the other coach change to match up with him.I guess its from his defensive philosophy?

Do any of you really think Ed is going to address our needs and add a starting PF and legit shooter via free agency and draft (not necessarily in that order) and head into next season having bolstered our growing core?

I think he makes one, maybe more blockbuster trades! This will be a totally different looking squad next year. Book it! Anyone disagree?

The game had similarites to the PORTwalloping that was also the first game of a West Coast trip, results wise, and efficienct wise.

The nexy nite the Sixers bounced back and won in SEA. I know, PHX isnt SEA.

But not long ago, the Heat came into PHX and beat the fresh legged Suns on a Heat back to back.

The Sixers rarely spread the floor as these West teams do, and its worse w Korver gone. They still, as I see it, play too much one on one, and dribble too much. Its so rare to see them whip the ball around WITHOUT dribbling.

At times it appears the Sixers have NO real PG on the floor: A Miller barely thru a pass in the 1st Half.

Well, the upside may be catching the Suns caught up in their own recent offensive inconsistencies,

Keys are to draw Amare into a charge or two early (Reggie) and stick like glue to the Blur (Bosa), Let Nash score, play ( and steal) as many kickouts as possible.

Seems prime for tons of mismatches both ways, but Sam MUST wake up for any chance. He has had an awful stretch.

But Suns are not the explosive team of the past, anything is possible. Sixers have a propensity to bounce back quick from bad losses.

Win or lose, I wanna just see em give the Suns a real battle.

Hershey, one of the best things to come out of the g.m. switch is he has NO ties to any of these players,although I get the feeling A.Miller isn!t going anywhere. I hope the empty seats don!t lead to a trade for a NAME[ V.Carter,Mcgrady,etc.] I!d rather fill the seats with our style of play and winning.It!s going to be tough to draft a high impact player at 12 to 16. Even Thad won!t do it for probably 3 years. Most of our role players are in place, except I think for a defensive backup point.If Sam gets us a young possible star [ M.Miller,Bargnani,JoshSmith,[Curry,Lee],Okafor,[Haslim,D.Cook],[Nucioni,Gray],[J.Foster,D.Granger],[Przbilla,Outlaw],Biedrens,or[Collison,Watson] or a couple of needs filled than that may be enough for this summer.

Kevin Love won't want no part of Philly. He's West Coast through and through. I know there's a pesky little thing called draft rights but powers talk, things pan out for marquee players.

It!s funny you say that. I nrver wanted a pac 10 p.f. because they tended to be soft.But K.Love is a West coast p.f. with an East coast game.

Yeah, ol' school fundamentals but he'll have fun fun fun in the Western Conference somewhere, my guess. It would be great though to have a sure-footed big guy wear a Sixers uniform.

Suede- I'd trade Dalembert for Bargnani so fast it'd be silly. I don't know what the particulars of that deal might be($,+/-value).

Would that be possible? Would you guys think about that deal?

If Toronto gets knocked out early and Bargnani doesn!t improve the rest of the year.He makes app. 5.5 mill., Sam 10 mill..You would probably have to take back Nesterovic if he reupps.

would you guys pursue Bargnani as a frontcourt solution given the limited pool of attainable plyers out there versus what we have?

It's all about the pieces. Let's say we draft Love and expect him to start; then Sammy may work. If we trade for Bargnani, then Love wouldn't work with him; Good Luck Ed S.

Hershey, S.F.W. is right, every thing depends on draft night. If Delembert is traded on draft night it would probably be to a team with a better pick. ex. memphis has the #4 pick; they draft Lopez and package Lopez and M.Miller for Sam and our pick,ex.[Arthur from Kansas] that kind of trade is a possibility. Bargnani doesn!t fit unless you have an athletic,defensive 4 to play with him.

I agree that this team has a good chance of being completely different to start next season. Like someone said, these guys aren't Ed's guys. And if Iggy can get more then $60 million some where else then let him go in a sign and trade. Maybe we could fill two holes with the players/picks we get.

Sammy would be gone in a heart beat, but I don't want Bargnani either. If Toronto wants Sammy it would cost them Calderon. Throw Lou Will or Carney in the deal and maybe take back Nesterovic. What ever it took to get the deal done. But the only player I would want from Toronto is Calderon. (well, and Bosh but thats really not realistic).

And yes it all depends what Ed can do at the draft. Hopefully the lottery gods are shining down (ON ME and I WIN the Powerball tonight!) on the Sixers and they win the lottery. That would make thing so much easier.

J.Doc, read recently that Colangelo would do whatever it takes to resign him, but his minutes have regressed since Ford has been back and he may tell his agent he wants out.I still think E.S. will resign Miller for less money, he seems to love his game.

watched Georgetown game today anyway we could do a package deal; draft Hibbard[ he was in position defensively and a force on the block] and bring in J.Thompson Jr. to run our 1/2 court offense.He could be an assistant and use it as a stepping stone to a head coaching job.

I'm sure glad alot of yall aren't running basketball teams...Some of these proposed trades look like something a soccer fan from Sudan would execute...Thank God this is just a blog! lol But yeah, man I think i'm a Willie Green fan now...I used look at him like this guy has no awareness whatsoever...but it seems as if steady minutes has grown him into a dependable scorer who has started to be moment aware...Gosh PLAYER DEVELOPMENT! If we make the playoffs Cheeks should be a serious canidad for COACH OF THE YEAR...We were supposed to be the worst team in the league just based on the talent level and we might make the playoffs...Cheeks has my vote

No big surprise tonite... as I have stated a few times.

Suede- I read some of those stories too. I'm hoping its just Colangelo talking up his player trying to get the best deal possible. I can't see them moving Ford(injuries) and do they really want to pay 2 PG's starter money. Plus I read they have a young PG in Europe that should be ready to come over. So hopefully he's just hyping Calderon up a bit. I doubt Colangelo would take Sammy though! LOL!

To qyestion whether you want Iguodala back is pure imsanity.

Forget his offense. Are you doubters aware how many Suns he had to switch off and defend when they hit two shots?

Idiots. And he and his Agent, and other GMs know it. But, go ahead diss him. As only an idiot-savant fan can. Philly appears, as others have observed, with an abundance of same, sadly, with a wacked out self-image as smart fans. Dunno bout that one bit. Nor does anyone else. lol

To qyestion whether you want Iguodala back is pure, and beyond, insanity.

Forget his offense. Are you doubters aware how many Suns he had to switch off and defend when they hit two shots?

Idiots. And he and his Agent, and other GMs know it. But, go ahead diss him. As only an idiot-savant fan can. Philly appears, as others have observed, with an abundance of same, sadly, with a wacked out self-image as smart fans. Dunno bout that one bit. Nor does anyone else. lol

Everyone STFU re what Iguodala "should" have done w contract issues.
If you cant understand that he and his Agent know MORE than u a-hole fans, info wise thruout the League, then please take a Logic class. You cannot be that dumb, Can you?

If its any consolation, its doubtful HE wants, or plans, to be back. Philly is not exactly, for years, any kind of PREFERRED DESTINATION in the NBA.

Unless a kid knows no better. Sad, but true. But you fans do suck royally. Players merely assess that as a $1mm per annum premium. Or 2, if they have lived out West during the Winter.

Can the idiot-savants get that? lol. Never.

Its fairly simple.

Smart fans project into the future.
Dumb fans dwell in the past.

Now, is it not clear which of the above that Phila. sportsfans, as a vast majority, have earned reputation wise, nationally?

Of course, those with any intelligence as a whole are aware that humility is always the smarter tact in any self-assessment; yet, is it not the Philly Fan always screamimng out as to how SMART he is as a sportsfan?

The minority, in Philly, will understand the above. The majority, as implicit, will not. Thats fine. Thats expected.