Seventy Sixers v Trailblazers

[tk76-]

Should be an interesting match-up.  No Roy, and the Sixers streaking so I give them an even shot at winning.

Who will get more fouls per minute, Speights or Oden?  One averages 5.6 fouls per 36 min, the other 6.0.  Also, Speights averages slightly more Blocks per 36 than Oden.  That doesn't sound right.  t sounds lke Oden is taking a while to get a feel for the NBA game.

Overall, these next few weeks should be interesting seeing if the team can stay hot and work Brand back in to the line-up.  Maybe the second time will be the charm?

[rickortreat]

This game should be a real test. The last 4 wins were all suspect, based on the competition, and in the case of Atlanta missing an inside player.  I don't know a lot about Portland, but their record and power rankings say they are a playoff team in the vaunted West.

A win against Portland would be significant since they are a legitimate team.  I'm anxious to see the Sixers be tested and this game, plus a revenge match against SA, will show just how far the team has come, and how far they have to go.

The team is so far ahead of where they were with Cheeks, it is amazing that people are unwilling to admit Mo was over his head. DiLeo has done everything I have written about, so I can't complain about anything, other than Speights not having more minutes.  Even there, DiLeo has him in during the 4th quarter, which is the most important part of the game.  Speights still needs to improve his interior defense and rebounding and it is reasonable for DiLeo to demand more of him before giving him more minutes.  (Even though I think his offensive abilities make up for his defensive deficiencies.)

[DuckyNinja]

Sixers came to play today it seems.  Playing great D and hitting from beyond, and getting out on the run.

[rickortreat]

Very impressed with the Sixers.  Outplaying Portland at both ends of the floor, and it's not even close.  At halftime, up by 22, even though they are shooting less than 50% from the floor. But then again, they are shooting at 47% from 3 point range, which is truly exceptional and beyond my expectations.

DiLeo gave Speights 1st half minutes, but in 7 min. he picked up 2 fouls.  Dalembert is really trying hard and doing a great job on the defensive end.

This team looks nothing like they did 3 weeks ago.  An amazing transformation, and Brand is still out. Whaddya Know!?!? It's good to be a sports fan in Philly!  We got a World Series win, a football team that looks like it's headed to the Super Bowl and a Sixer team that is working it's way into the playoffs and a better than .500 record.  Even the Flyers are competitive,  last time this happened was in the '80's.

[anklebreaker]

I'm out of town so I couldn't watch this one.  A few things that stand out from the box score:

11-23 from 3 point land.... pretty exceptional for the Sixers.

Oden appears to have been a non-factor, and Aldridge put up some pretty average numbers.  Who guarded who? 

Iguodala and Roy had very similar lines.  Glad to see dre step up and match Roy's efforts.  He's been balling in 09. 

Looks like Speights had a good game offensively.... 4 boards in 27 minutes isn't enough, but I'll take his production over that of Oden.  How did Speights get most of his buckets?  Post?  Dunks?  Jumpers?  On the break?

5 in a row... including W's over some solid teams in Houston, Atlanta, and Portland.  I'll take it. 

[DuckyNinja]

I'm out of town so I couldn't watch this one.  A few things that stand out from the box score:

11-23 from 3 point land.... pretty exceptional for the Sixers.

Oden appears to have been a non-factor, and Aldridge put up some pretty average numbers.  Who guarded who? 

Iguodala and Roy had very similar lines.  Glad to see dre step up and match Roy's efforts.  He's been balling in 09. 

Looks like Speights had a good game offensively.... 4 boards in 27 minutes isn't enough, but I'll take his production over that of Oden.  How did Speights get most of his buckets?  Post?  Dunks?  Jumpers?  On the break?

5 in a row... including W's over some solid teams in Houston, Atlanta, and Portland.  I'll take it. 

Responses in order:

It was actually really 11-22, the last one was really just a joke from Speights after the game was well in hand.  It really was a show from downtown though, the Blazers even went zone a few times.

In general, Dalembert and Evans handled Oden and Pryzbilla and Speights and Young handled Aldridge and Outlaw, although it was a pretty fluid situation.  But yeah, didn't really notice Oden at all.

Iggy was superb on both ends of the floor tonight.  Very impressive.

Speights tends not to get a whole lot of rebounds because he goes for lots of shot blocks and lets Dalembert and Evans handle a lot of the boardwork.  Still has to do better though, especially getting further from the basket on long shots.  He had a few go way over his head.  Most of his makes were rim-rattling dunks.  He's got great hands and instincts inside.

[rickortreat]

Great win by the Sixers.  Portland made a run at them in the 3rd against the starters and DiLeo responds by putting in Speights. A few possessions later, Speights makes the Sixers first field goal with a dunk, and the Sixers were back in the saddle.  They won going away, after 3 they were up by 10, and at the end the lead was back over 20.

A quality win against a good team.  Not impressed with Oden, a big physical player, but not much of a scorer. Speights was given the rock to shoot some outside shots, but missed most of them. 13 pts. 4 boards and 3 blocks in 26 min.  Not bad, but not his best game.

This win goes to the defense, which pressured the Blazers all night, that and the lights-out three point shooting.  Iguodala scored 29 pts. tonight, including 406 from three-point area.  Seriously, he is playing at an all-star level now, but his slow start will keep him out.  Andre Miller does deserve to go, if anyone does.

Can't wait for the revenge game with the Spurs.

[Skates]

Less impressive than Oden is Bayless.  No PG instincts, not a great shooter, too short for SG and Jason Smith-like short arms.  He looks like one of those college scorers who just don't translate into the NBA.  I understand completely why teams moved Augustin and Westbrook past him on their draftboards last year.

The Blazers looked a tad slow and out of sync, but the Sixers did what good teams do in that situation and took the game straight to them.  Ducky was correct, it was really an 11 for 22 shooting night on three pointers.  The lack of hesitation is helping the shooters gain confidence, but I am still most impressed that all but two of the three pointers I saw came on open shots in rhythm.  Speights had that one miss for fun and Thad buried a pretty well defended three with the shot clock running out.  The rest were primarily dribe and kick situations and/or good shots against the zone.  This team has adopted to DiLeo's three point shooting philosophy very nicely, shooting open shots in rhythm, but not abusing the green light they have been given.

Oden looks like he will eventually morph into a 16-17 ppg guy with 10-12 rebounds and a couple of blocks per game, nothing dominant offensively, but could be pretty good nonetheless.  It will take him time to bloom however.

Steve Blake's shoulder got destroyed just from running into Kimbo's, er, Reggie's screen.  That had to hurt. 

I like DiLeo's touch for substitutions and timeouts, he has a good feel for the game and has the team executing very nicely. 

[Skates]

BTW, did anybody notice how quickly Aldridge turned the ball over when he was double teamed down low by a combination of Evans and Ivey.  I could not tell from the camera angle, but I presume LaMarcus just dropped the ball as he tried to protect his nads from the infamous nutcracking duo.

[Derek Bodner]

I still hold out hope for Bayless.  Not as a PG, but in that system, playing next to Roy (who can masquerade as a PG), I think Bayless will be able to score in this league. 

[tk76-]

So if Blake is out for a while would that encourage Port to make a run at Miller? 

Never mind, its already been posted...

[Derek Bodner]

So if Blake is out for a while would that encourage Port to make a run at Miller? 

I think it takes two to tango.  Sadly, I don't think we're looking to move him right now.  I think winning five in a row probably gives some people false hope.

[rickortreat]

Seriously Dabods,

Would you want to loose/get rid of Miller?  He has been playing great during the win streak, and I would say integral to their success. I think the Sixers would be in big trouble without him.

And doesn't his expiring contract give us some cap room?

I'm not entirely sold after 5 wins, but a victory over San Antonio and a few other elite teams may very well. Who is a craftier PG than Miller, better at drawing fouls and making baskets when the rest of the team isn't? No doubt Tony Parker is a better player, but I don't think he could do more for the Sixers than Andre right now.

[Skates]

The problem with Miller is that he is playing well now, but if he leaves in the off-season we have no PG ready to step in.  The expiring contract won't give us any cap room next summer, we will still be over and able to use our MLE at best, plus we have to watch for the luxury tax too as tk's article pointed out.  I would love to extend Miller for two more years, even though he comes to camp woefully out of shape, and attempt to develop a PG out of this draft in that time, or move Sammy for some sort of semi-established or project type PG and some cap space.