Messages

151

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Sixers vs. Heat

« on: March 17, 2009, 10:22:26 AM »

The problem with Donyell is that you can't regularly use him in a game where he will be matched up any kind of a decent scorer, he really can't move on defense at all, although his length pays some dividends in a zone.

152

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Sixers vs. Heat

« on: March 16, 2009, 12:47:46 PM »

I am now 4-0 in games I attended this year, whoo-hoo.  Thad was hitting the boards much harder than I have seen him do previously. he grabbed some, but was bxing out nicely on a lot of others.  his increasing confidence and comfort on the offensive end is also quite evident.

Watching this team is frustrating.  Their clear problems on offense are the lack of three point shooting (Go Donyell!!) combined with a lack of guys who can get their own shots.  In the half court this essentially neutrlizes them except when they run a play perfectly, and thankfully they have some excellent passers.  But the long time scoring droughts are no accident.  Sammy is an idiot, but he really does provide more of an inside defensive presence they any one else on this team can, except Theo in very limited minutes.  If only he would accept and embrace that role for a mere $10 million per year.

Wade looked tired, Beasley continues to look like the second coming of Glenn Robinson.  He might put up big numbers down the road, but Thad and Speights are both better players IMO.  The Bulls definitely made the right call going for Rose, and I was a guy who never thought they would pass Beasley up.

Nice crowd yesterday.  My last game this year is April 10 against Cleveland, I wonder if the Cavs will have anything to play for by then?

153

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Sixers at Thunder

« on: March 10, 2009, 10:17:14 AM »

'Reggie Evans' and 'offense'    Its like shooting fish in a barrel

Shooting fish in a barrel is supposed to be easy, like shooting free throws, hence I would not count on anyone on this team doing it consistently well.

154

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Sixers at Thunder

« on: March 10, 2009, 08:20:07 AM »

Oh, this can be endless, how about "Samuel Dalembert" and "smart fundamental basketball."

155

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Sixers at Thunder

« on: March 09, 2009, 04:19:01 PM »

"Willie Green" and "starter" are not terms that should be used in the same sentence ever again.

156

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Sixers at Thunder

« on: March 09, 2009, 11:56:57 AM »

Rapidly...losing...interest...in...season.

I am going to the game this Sunday, I am 3-0 so far, hopefully my streak stays intact.

157

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Sixers Shooting: Broken down

« on: March 04, 2009, 10:30:42 AM »

I think the thread title says it all.

158

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Philly vs. NO

« on: March 03, 2009, 01:17:02 PM »

They need to add at least two, maybe three dead-eye three point shooters.  Preferably one of them is also a PG (Can you say Stephen Curry?).  Give me a shooting PG, a sharpshooting swing man reserve at the 2 and 3, add back in the shooting of Jason Smith and Brand and improvement by Speights and Young (just needs to be consistent with his mechanics) and this team will be much better in the half court.  Brand, Speights and Young all have good or developing post games, but with the shooting the driving lanes opne up in the half court which is huge for this team.  Right now teams pack it in, dare them to shoot and they usually get good results.  We do well against less talented teams or teams that don't take care of the ball well, but when teams can play up tempo and aren't careless with the ball, our advantage is negated.  We can't sneak up on people like we did last year, they are ready for the athletic run and gun.  AB was correct, we need to diversify this offense, right now it is a one trick pony with a gimpy leg.

159

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Philly vs. NO

« on: March 03, 2009, 12:49:32 PM »

Trying to look on the positive side, David West is on my fantasy team.   

160

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Philly vs. Orlando 2/28/2009

« on: March 02, 2009, 10:19:23 AM »

I was much higher on this team last Spring.  Now its hard to fathom how they build this team into a contender in the next 3+ years.

Yet, look how well this team played in that 14-4 streak.  The big difference for this team, shooting, shooting, shooting.  When Ivey and the rest went on that binge of nailing three pointers the team was incredibly hard to beat.  I am still optimisitic for next year, although the PG situation scares me some.  We get two shooting big men back in Smith and Brand, with Brand being two years removed from the achilles, and I bet he slims down even more as well.  They absolutely know they have to add shooting and a young PG, plus sign a PG for the immediate future.  I use Lou Williams as trade bait.  Our drafts have been productive, so I see us getting a player there, probably a young PG unless we trade for one.  Everyone needs to work on shooting the three, don't be surprised if both Smith and Speights can hit it with regularity by next year, plus I expect Thad and Iggy to be more consistent. 

OK, that was my burst of optimism for the week, now back to reality.

161

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: If the Sixers win two games, and there's no GDTs...

« on: March 02, 2009, 10:13:43 AM »

I started at PhilaPhans and I thought it was "game day threads".  Apparently the lack of GDT's affected the universe strangely in some small way, no other explanation for Lou Amundson throwing down 20 points the other night.

162

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Dear Ed and Tony

« on: March 02, 2009, 10:11:48 AM »

I notice that the Philly press has been stoking the Speights stories all week.  It really is time to just throw him in there at starting PF and see what he does.  Sending WG to the bench is no big deal or great loss.  Throwing a rookie PF into the mix late last year as a starter worked pretty well, why not try it again.

163

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Good summary of Ed's meeting with season ticket holders

« on: February 27, 2009, 09:49:11 AM »

When you factor in their first round pick, resigning Miller to 8 mil if they have exactly 10 mil puts them pretty much at the luxtax.  They'll be down to 9 players under contract.  Assuming they resign Ivey, that brings them back up to 10.  Factor in a 1st and a 2nd is 12.  A full MLE is 13.  Another bargain bin player puts them 14 and right up against the luxtax.  There's no way they can afford to re-sign Miller unless he's willing to take a paycut.

Certain vet minimum contracts don't count against the tax I believe as far as filling out the team goes, but I might be confusing that with the cap and am too lazy to look it up.  There will probably be a lot of guys getting the vet minimum this summer given the financial situation teams claim they are in.

If there is interest in Lou I would be more than willing to move him for a decent shooter.  I like Lou and he has a decent contract, but he is replaceable.  If we get a pure shooter it will probably be a high minute, wing bench guy and our draft choice should be a PG to develop, hence less minutes for Lou anyway with those two additions.  If there was little interest in Miller at the deadline it it probably due to his defensive deficiencies, Miller is the kind of PG to make your team just better enough to get into the playoffs, but not to get you very far once you are there.

One idea, use Lou to trade up in the first round to get a better PG prospect from a team that can absorb Lou's salary, then use that cap space to sign a vet shooter.

164

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: Is this team cursed, and why?

« on: February 24, 2009, 01:57:12 PM »

I missed last night's game, some stuff to do mixed with a little Sixers fatigue after the uneventful trade deadline, but this looks like a team that will finish a few games above 0.500 for the year.  The bench is weak, our backcourt is weak defensively and our best players are mostly young and therefore inconsistent.  It is basically the same team we ended the year with last season with a little more experience and Speights as the biggest changes.  That should throw a few extra wins on the pile this year, but that is about it.  Last year we surprised and outhustled a lot of teams late in the season, this year the scouting report is better on us.  When this team shoots the three well they are tough, look at that 14-4 stretch, but otherwise most games will be hard fought and close.

All of these close losses remind me of an old baseball stat that used to be bandied about for hard-luck teams.  I believe it was the tendency of teams with a lot of one run wins one season to reverse course the next year and vice versa for teams with a lot of close losses.  I never put a whole lot of stock in such stats, although one can argue that consistently winning close games in any sport involves a bit of luck (and lots of skill), and hence things usually even out over time.  Maybe next year those game winning shots start falling for, instead of against, us, but I think it will take more than some luck to make this team a lot better next year.

165

Philadelphia 76ers / Re: The 2009 FA PG Thread

« on: February 19, 2009, 04:26:10 PM »

If this team is going to move up to contender status, they need improvement at the PG position.  Miller or Bibby would be fine for a couple of years, but any real upgrade will have to come via trade or the draft.