Deep Sixer

While I agree the team should treat the game with urgency to go into the playoffs on a winning note, I think players should rest if they are hurt. For example Andre Iguodala and his sore left leg. If he is hurt and not 100% there is no reason for him to play in this game. Last night they had something to play for literally, tonight they don't and a healthy and strong Iggy is optimal. Especially since there should be no excuse of being hurt once the post season begins.

Sixers got stabbed in the back last night:
http://www.reclinergm.com/referees-literally-stab-the-76ers-in-the-back-against-cleveland/

A minor point about last nights game. When we got the ball with .2 seconds at the end, Andre Miller inbounded the ball to Lou Williams who took a long jumper. Doesn't anybody on our coaching staff know that we needed a tip-in?

Marc, have to disagree on this one. Actually would like to get Iggy, A.Miller,Sam, and Reggie some rest. Play them 1/2 the game, tops.Would actually like Shav and K.Ollie to get a good run and Thad and Jason 25 min. minimum. This series could be a war, I wouldn!t be shocked to see it go 7. We will learn a lot that first game in Detroit, a deer in the headlights look or a warrior mentality.We may have to reach deep into our bench if Jason or Rodney, for example come out with"that" look in theirs eyes so I would try to get the fringe rotation guys some minutes and let the vets get some rest.

I wanna see the starters play hard get a big lead then they can rest and let the subs come in and hold it or increase it. go sixers

I would play Young and Lou and Jason a lot of minutes. Do what Detroit has been doing with their young guys.

Dedicated to Morty

Willie Green, the straw that stirs the Sixers' drink, should be given Wednesday night off for a well-deserved rest of his weary bones in preparation for his snuffing the spark from the Detroit Pistons guard tandem, Chauncey & Rip. During the granted respite, his only responsibility should be to morph, without notice, into David Wingate/Dennis Johnson/Jerry Sloan/Al Attles, while the shooting arm purrs quietly in the garage, dreamily awaiting the green light at The Palace at Auburn Hills, ever cognizant of home fans afraid of loving.

I agree with Suede the Sixers' identity as a tough team isnt predicated on whether or not they beat Charlotte. We have seen the Sixers getting blown out all year only to come back to win those same games. Dogging our players over a loss they had no control over doesnt justify their identity nor reenforce it. These guys are extremely mentally tough. You give this roster to anyone else and they might not be the same. I trust Cheeks will do the right thing..He hasnt done much wrong. This game is meaningless. I say they start Williams Carney Young Shav and Smith. If we get a fair shake with officiating we should beat Detroit 4-2. This should be an opportunity to rest. I think Cleveland gave the Sixers all the motivation it needed..

Another reason why I feel Stern is biased...When Miami went threw a simular situation this year where officials determined a game with a bad call ( NOT THAT IT MATTERED MIAMI SUCKED THIS YEAR BUT THEN AGAIN IT WAS MIAMI) he made them replay the last couple of seconds of that game. And the game was meaningless. But you know Stern isnt concerned about Philly. I cant stand David Stern and how partial he is.

I don't think it should be a meaningless game. One thing is that I think there's a symbolic difference between 40-42 and 41-41.

I'm just concerned that once again the Sixers will be outclassed by too many scoring options on the opposing team. I'm not confusing the Bobcats with the Celtics, but they have players who can score, and they'll probably have a Fan Appreciation Night of their own.

Honestly, it might be their best chance to win in the next 5 games, so give it a go, boys!

Zeru, I agree with you: Charlotte game is meaningless. Marc, utmost urgency? Why? Fate following blowout loss: Detroit Pistons, "on Broadway." Fate following dominating win: Detroit Pistons, "on Broadway." If bonding and confidence didn't arrive in 1st 81 (which I think it has), last 1 surely won't deliver it.

I'd feel much better with a .500 record. It would be symbolic of how far this team has come. I think this game is of great importance to the frame of mind of this team.

swf, A win over Matt Carroll and Charlotte. Now there's a feather in your cap. Please explain how it - win or loss - in any big way affects Sixers frame of mind.

Jumpin, At this point there's no moral victories. They've come a long way from the AI and post AI lead sixers. Let's reverse that. How is one game going to provide confidence in the backups? If they deserved to be in the rotation they would be in there. Why did the staff decrease time for Reggie, JasonS & C. Booth? Ok maybe not CBooth. If injury is an issue(Iggy), yes then sit him but rest shouldn't be an issue.
I'd go into this game intending to blow them out and get confidence going into the playoffs. We haven't exactly been on a hot streak lately. Let's start one.

sfw, I don't see developing confidence in backups as the goal. 'No injuries' is, just my opinion. One straggling game ain't worth a hill o' beans.

Get your point of starting streak, but playoffs will kick Sixers into a gear most haven't experienced much, if at all. Juice provided. It's somewhat akin to difference between Spring Training and regular season in MLB.

I want to see them win but give Sammy and Iggy a rest run the rest of the players normally, but Sammy has a nagging hand injury and Iggy hasn't been the same since he tweaked his leg. Iggy should get no more than 20 mins.

I think though it would be big for this team to end the year at 500 it just looks so much better.

It's a new season Baby!! I doubt that Bobcats will play their starter for 40min. This is a practice game. Practice, Practice, Practice, we are talking about practice, not a game but practice. Sixers should put their summer league team on the floor and some fun with this! Maybe play Willie green at the point guard, see if Smith can guard a small forward. Lets's have some fun with this game, these kids deserve it!

Who cares about the score and overall record this year. These kids exceeded are expectations in every way! GO SIXERS!

Sixers know they can play with Cleveland and this ending may have been a blessing for them.

LeBron is going to get favored treatment and
is a huge TV draw.

Personaly i believe Orlando would have eaten them up.Sixers dont defend the 3 very well plus
Superman just pushes Sam around.

The Sixers are going against the toughest
team and the playoffs this year is a bonus for them and the fans.

When this series is over they will know where they are in their development.My hope is that it goes 7 and who knows????

The only thing with the ref-and he got it correct- was that where he was positioned-facing
Sam and Z--he had to see the push.I actually
thought that was the call-against Z.

Either way its been fun to watch.

I personally would prefer to NOT end the season below .500. I DO think it makes a difference. It's a big step for this franchise (as is making the playoffs.)

I'd hate to see them lose the finale and then get blown out by detroit. Call me GREEDY but I don't want the fun to be over already. Even if we get swept by Detroit we could fall back on being a .500 team and walk with our heads held high!

Maybe, we for one game should fall back to the rotation used earlier in the season where max minutes were in the mid 30's. Seems like recently Iggy, AndreM & Sammy are playing around 40 min or more. Comments were made a couple weeks ago about the Sixers being healthy all year as having benefited them. Maybe it's not a coincidence that nagging injuries are occurring when minutes have been increased and the team is now struggling a bit.

S.F.W., your right, if it ain!t broke, don!t fix it!!!

I'm of the opinion that this game is pretty much meaningless. I think you want the players to focus on Detroit, not the Bobcats. If we win...great. If not, we're still 10 games over .500 in the last 34 games (22-12). I'd absolutely rest Iggy to make sure that his ankle is 100% for the Detroit series. I'd also give Sam about 10 minutes in this game and give the balance of the C minutes to Jason Smith and Calvin Booth. Andre Miller? 10-15 minutes and then let Kevin Ollie get some burn. You never know what may occur in the playoffs (injury, foul trouble, etc), so I think it's important to get some of these guys a few minutes before the series (Ollie specifically) in case you need to call on them. I'd also let Willie try to build on Monday's game and have some confidence going into the playoffs and get Carney out there for a good 30 minutes to see if he can get his confidence back.

this has been an exciting season and it's too bad that it ends tonight.

We are this year's Golden State!

Meaningless - play the young guys. We are the 7 seed - who cares if we are .500? It's not as if we are going for 50 or 60 wins.

Moral victories are nice, but so is player development.

The Friday before the NY Giants final regular season game, there was an ongoing, heated debate by all hosts and guests on the Mike & Mike radio show. The topic: Should Coughlin rest his players and essentially allow the Patriots to go undefeated. The majority of "experts" said Coughlin's primary responsibility was to prepare his team for it's playoff game with Tampa Bay which was already locked in, thereby resting all starters. As it turned out, the Giants did just the opposite, played their hearts out (which I hate to admit) and nearly ruined the perfect regular season for the Pats.
That decision by Coughlin to play for the win was undoubtedly the most important one he made all year. It gave them confidence going into the playoffs and proved to the team it could take down the Pats.

I'm not saying the Sixers are this year's Goliath, but sometimes the worse thing a coach can do it mail it in with hopes that there will be benefits down the road. The Sixers should play tonight's game like its their last. Who know's, they might just surprise a fat-and-happy Pistons team next week.

Jumpin':

Thanks for the dedication. Perhaps this will be Willie's "one shinning moment."

As for tonight's game, let the starters run the first half like normal, get out to a lead, and then sit 'em. No need for the 2 Andres' to play their typical 40 minutes. Especially with Dre's injury and Miller age. Igoudala in particular has earned a rest.

Great observation and point Tormented. I agree. Getting to .500 is an important milestone for this team, and being confident and ready for the Pistions is equally important. There's no doubt in my mind the Sixers eased up a bit once they clinched their playoff spot. Coming in off a win, pumped up and full of energy could help them steal game 1 vs. Detroit, which will be very rested and assuming that they can just turn it on whenever they want and cruise to a win. It could be a bit like Game 1 of the 2001 finals. The Lakers were fat, happy and rested. The Sixers were still running on the adrenaline of that game 7 win over the Bucks and they came in energized and punched the Lakers in the nose. Those of you who have NBA TV get to see the constant reminder of that game when they show AI draining that 3 and then defiantly stepping over Tyron Lue! Great moment!

Just a thought. Now might not be the right time. Might be better when our season is done, but I'd love to have a discussion about our favorite Sixers plays or moments. That AI 3 I mentioned above, Mo's dunk to the clinch the '83 championship, etc.

Well, i dont like to call any games meaningless, but i do think its important that we go into battle with detroit as healthy as possible. Reggie, Willie, Dre, Sammy, are all a banged up to a greater or lesser extent, and i wouldn't mind seeing those guys get a breather. I tend to agree with the posters who say let the starters play the 1st half as normal, then turn it over to carney, ollie, smith, thad, lou, and crew. Dre especially worries me with the ankle contusion - as others observed yesterday his shot seems to be affected.

Honestly, i dont even really see this as throwing the game. I see now reason why the younger lineup doesn't have a reasonsable shot of taking a weakened bobcats team. But at any rate, priority one to me would be getting the key guys as close as possible to 100% before the we head out to detroit.

Also agree with others that just we've proved our toughness several times already this year, in fact just by getting to the playoffs against all odds i think we should be secure in that fact. I think there comes a point when proving toughness crosses the line into taking unnecessary risks.

Staring lineup for tonight:

Lou
Carney
Thad
Smith
Sam

Let Sam get 6-8 shots - see if he can get some offense going - sit him in the 2nd half.

Let Lou play the point - see what he can do.

Run some plays for Thad (isolations, post ups) and Jason Smith (Pick and rolls, post, etc.)

just heard earlier on 950AM. They had Carney on and he said Mo will let Sam and Andre squared rest. Whether that means they'll get 10-15 mpg like Detroit or just not play, I don't know. So expect a Shav sighting tonight.

It could be the Thaddeus Young show tonight.

I like it - a trailer for the future blockbuster - the thaddeus young show.

Marc,
The Sixers-Detroit series plays out like this:
A. The Sixers run- they win.
B. The Pistons walk the ball up the court- they win.
Jason-Los Angeles

Did any notice that Iggy's first instinct was to complain to the ref when Lou hit that shot with 5 seconds left. Iggy (who needs to learn how to dribble) simply loses the ball, and the ball rolls to Lou, Iggy already has his arms up in the air complaining before Lou shoots. Then Lou makes an awesome shot, Iggy RUNS over to teh ref complaining about NOTHING.
He is turning into a selfish PUNK that will desroy this team down the road when he won't be able to handel teh fact that both Lou and Thad will be better players then him by 2010.
get rid of HIM

The Pistons needs to move over. They've been going to the playoffs every season.

Sixers need to attack early, very very early. Slammin Sammy D will be vital.

btw..is Charlotte in line for another good lottery pick? actually who cares, with Jordan in charge he's just gonna keep screwing that team up. Just wait until Adam Morrison comes back next season, you'll see!

i think they should let the starters play for the first half, build a big lead and let the others finish the job...i guess it would give smith,carney,ollie and evans more confidence going into the playoffs...

recipe for winning the playoffs for sixers:
less turnovers esp for lou,evans and sammy
be aggressive on both ends
green should stop making "forced shots"
iggy should penetrate more and draw fouls
work on the foul line!!
make alley-hoop plays for sammy
carney should practice more beyond the arc
and last improve basketball IQ

I am thinking Sixers and Wizerd will face Eastern conference Final. Just wait and see.

Marc
You have gone crackers if you think the RESULT of this game means squat.