I still can't make up my mind about these guys. I like O'Brien as a coach, was impressed with him when he was in Boston.
I don't have a problem with him changing the lineup either. He's still trying to find out which combinations work best for him on a consistent basis.
But it's clear the team doesn't have the pieces that O'Brien wants. The Sixers are too short to dominate the glass, and they can't run without dominating the glass. The Sixers need to run to win. Marc Jackson is playing great, but he is a power forward, not a center. Dalmebert is a center, but still makes a lot of mistakes on the court. Skinner is basically forgotten on the bench.
O'Brien should try to play the height he has, and see what happens. I'd like to see him start Dalembert and Jackson at the 5 and 4 spots, keep Andre and Korver and Iverson in the lineup and see what they can do. When one of the bigs get into foul trouble or needs a break, put in Skinner. The point is to give the Sixers more inside strength.
In their half-court sets they often have trouble executing. The last time they played San Antonio, they managed to score only six points in a quarter! And Dalembert, when he finally got into the game botherd Duncan, since Timmy couldn't see over him.
The east is a weak conference, and the Pacers with the suspensions, are alot less of a threat. There's no-one in the east that is significantly better than the Sixers based on talent, so IMO the opportunity is there for them to have a good year.
But on offense and defence the Sixers have lapses which have contrbuted to their poor record. Other teams are able to score on them, and penetrate to the middle too easily. Marc Jackson isn't enough of a defensive presence. They have no inside scoring, except for Marc, and against the bigger centers he's not going to be effective.
They have enough outside shooting with Korver to enable them to spread the floor. If they can make the defenses pay attention to Korver, that should free Igoudala, Thomas, Green, and Salmons to drive the lane and get the oppossing team in foul trouble.
The biggest problem I see with the team is that they don't have a killer instinct and are not strong at closing games out. They lack confidence at the end, because they don't score or genrate enough stops. O'Brien needs to stop playing it so close to the vest, with his players. I'd rather see Dalembert foul out every game that to see him sit on the bench, and I'd like to see a power forward have to guard Jackson instead of a center.
The Sixer have enough depth to force an uptempo game on other teams and run them into the ground. But they won't be able to force an uptemo game until they can rebound better. They need a center, and they should play who they have since that's the only way they can get better.
