The team was closer to winning than it appeared. They had three players put up more than 20 points, and Iguodala had his best game of the season. Brand was injured and not able to put up his average points- if he had, the Sixers would have won. Thad Young also had a terrible game as did Willie Green.
We needed one more player to shoot well for the Sixers to be able to stay with the Cavs. This, in spite of Cheeks being a complete idiot and not giving Mareese Speights enough floor time to make a real difference. Mind you, this was a game where the Cavs outrebounded the Sixers because Cheeks did not match height, and allowed Cleveland to have a taller team, by keeping his bigs on the bench.
Basketball is not rocket science. It's a pretty simple game, and the teams that win do a better job of putting the ball in the basket and keeping it away from the other team. I don't think anyone would say the Sixers don't have enough talent to win, it's a matter of the way they're playing, which goes to the way their being coached.
Others say that Cheeks has played, everyone and they haven't come through. I would say he hasn't put the right combination of players out on the floor. You need someone to distribute the ball, three players to control the boards, one player who can post up inside, one who can shoot from midrange, one who can shoot from long range, and one to two players who can break down the defense creating their own shot. And their collective talent level has to be better than that of their opponents. Of course they also have to play defense, since it is hard to score, it is very beneficial to your team to stop the other team from scoring.
I think Phila. has enough players that if the right ones were put on the floor the team would be winning more, and be much further along in their development. Cheeks has to go.
