Minutes when Brand gets back

[DuckyNinja]

I think the question isn't how Brand fits in with the style (he'll adapt, he's been watching the team) but how he fits in minutes-wise.  Ivey obviously loses his spot in the rotation (with Thaddeus sliding down to SF full time and Iguodala mainly playing SG), but that doesn't find Brand the 30-35 minutes.  I don't think DiLeo can really cut Speights' minutes with the way he's played.  He's just so explosive and adds a big scoring touch.  I guess Reggie loses a few minutes?  Let's see if I can figure this out roughly:

C: Dalembert - 30; Speights - 18
PF: Brand - 35; Evans - 10, Speights - 3
SF: Young - 30, Iguodala - 15, Green - 3
SG: Iguodala - 20, Green - 18, Williams - 10
PG: Miller - 33, Williams - 15

That look roughly right to everybody?

[Derek Bodner]

C: Dalembert - 30; Speights - 18
PF: Brand - 35; Evans - 10, Speights - 3

I would cut Reggie out completely.
C: Dalembert: 25, Speights: 15, Theo: 4
PF: Brand: 35, Speights: 8, Thad: 5

[rickortreat]

I think Dabods has it right. Reggie comes in for specific situations.  Also, Sam may loose more minutes to Speights eventually.  Willie never plays SF, shouldn't get more that 15 min. most nights. I'm starting to like Ivey more, now that I see he can shoot.

IMO, Brand comes off the bench to start and works his way back in.  DiLeo needs time to figure out which front-court lines work well together.  Not sure Speights is good enough in the middle that they can pair him with Brand up front, but that is what they should be working towards for closing out games.  That way they have a lot of offense up front, and everywhere else with Young, Iguodala and Williams/Miller.

[RickyPryor]

I'd like to see Speights at 22-23.  And Sam for as few as humanly possible.  For my money he should play fewer minutes than Theo.  But that will never happen...

[DuckyNinja]

I'd like to see Speights at 22-23.  And Sam for as few as humanly possible.  For my money he should play fewer minutes than Theo.  But that will never happen...

It always depends on which Dalembert shows up.  The Dalembert who showed up last night and took 1 shot, had 9 rebounds, and played great defense on the inside deserves to be a starter.  The Dalembert who jacks up 5 elbow jumpers and goaltends twice in a 20 minute run does not.  I think that's one of those things that DiLeo needs to monitor on a game-to-game basis.

[Skates]

Luckily the bad Dalembert usually also has foul trouble so his minutes often sort themselves out.

[rickortreat]

Luckily the bad Dalembert usually also has foul trouble so his minutes often sort themselves out.

That's really the key, isn't it?  As long as Sam is playing within himself, defending, rebounding, blocking shots and getting put-backs and open lay-ups, he's a valuable contributor. There's enough scoring around him that he doesn't hurt the offensive output. If he gets into foul trouble or simply gets tired, we have alternatives in Theo and Mareese.

I would say the more minutes he can play the better.  As much as I want Speghts to play, he can concentrate on doing all the things they hope he can.  Lou and Andre implied that he could be a great player, and I think he's one of the best big man prospects I have seen in quite some time.  I may be out of line with this, but I'd rather have him at this point than Oden.

The more Sam plays the better trade bait he becomes. And the longer he plays the more he can protect the others from foul trouble.  One thing about Mareese is that he does seem to pick up fouls and he needs to learn what he can get away with and what he can't.

I also think that ultimately, it depends on how well Sam plays with Elton.  It seems to be a good match, a defensive Center and a slightly undersized Power Forward.  If they can teach him to play a complimentary role to Brand, that would be ideal.  If not, we go to plan B.

[Skates]

The problem with Sam is that he has delusions of grandeur.  Every time he is interviewed it is like entering the twilight zone where Sammy believes that is he just got more touches and minutes he would be an all-star putting up 20 ppg.  If he acted like a Ben Wallace type and relished in his role, he could easily manage 10 ppg on alley-oops and put backs and give the team exactly what it needed on the boards and on D.  But he will never be satisfied with that, ever.  I am not sure what came first, the ego or the huge contract (with added bonus trade kicker).  I am sure that he will be long retired and will still never admit that he is or ever was a role player.

[carolina blue]

I'd use Brand some at C, only allocating 20 minutes a game for Dalembert - try to keep Young, Speights and Evans in the rotation.

Brand, Speights and Young should be kept as consistent as possible.  Let Dalembert and Evans be the variables - If Dalembert's playing well let him play, if not use Evans' hustle/energy instead.

[tk76-]

I read in this blog entry: http://www.depressedfan.com/basketball/sixers/my-integration-plan.php

Of note, it talked about trying to maximize Thad and Iguodala's minutes by having them each get about 1/2 of the SF minutes, while having each run 10 min a game at either PF(Young) or SG(Iguodala.)  This makes sense.  You need your best players on the floor, and this way they would only play a fraction of their minutes out of position.

The problem is that giving 10 min at PF to Thad makes a real minutes crunch.  The only way around this is to give Speights and Brand a lot of minutes at C. 

Against many teams, I'm not sure if you can run Thad at PF with Brand or Speights at C.  You just are giving up a lot of size in the frontcourt.

[carolina blue]

Half the time Dalembert plays like he's 5'9" so it shouldn't matter too much...

[Skates]

Let's see who they would have to defend regularly (starter-wise) at Center in the Eastern Conference:

Boston: Kendrick Perkins
New York: David Lee
New Jersey: Brook Lopez
Toronto: J. O'Neal

Cleveland: Ilguaskas
Detroit:  Wallace
Milwaukee:  Bogut
Chicago:  Noah/Gooden
Indiana: Nesterovich

Orlando:  Howard
Miami:  Haslem
Atlanta:  Horford
Charlotte:  Diaw/Okafor
Washington:  Blatche

A lot of those guys are either PF's playing center -  Haslem, Horford, Gooden, Lee - or not very good, but big.  Several of the "true" centers are injured half the time - Bogut, Ilgausakas, Perkins.  Sam can't handle Howard any way and Okafor burned him last week.  O'Neal is also hurt a lot.  With Sam and Ratliff on hand when needed I think you can get away with a bruiser who can block shots like Brand at C, particularly with Speights playing with him at PF.  Brand at C and Thad at PF is a truly small line-up, but you could pick your spots.  I would not play Speights alone at C without another big to help hiwever, his D is not good enough yet.

[tk76-]

Brand/Speights works well against almost anyone.  Its Speights/Thad that can be trouble.  But surprisingly, the Sixers have done pretty well with Speights/Evans.

[DuckyNinja]

Brand/Speights works well against almost anyone.  Its Speights/Thad that can be trouble.  But surprisingly, the Sixers have done pretty well with Speights/Evans.

Speights and Evans are both active guys who are extremely effective on the offensive boards.  The problem with Speights and Thad is that neither is strong enough yet to properly guard a good PF or C down low.  I really want to see Speights and Brand on the floor together, I think they can create all sorts of havoc with their range and ability to cut to the basket.

[tk76-]

I wish guys like Speights and Lou got more time practicing with Thad,  Brand and Iguodala.  Apparently the 1st and 2nd teamers are pretty fixed in practice (according to Tom Moore.)  Speights and Brand could really do damage if those two can get some chemistry.  If Brand gets a feel for Speight's cuts to the lane it would open things up for both players.

Same thing in terms of running the pick and roll/pop with Lou and Brand.  They need to practice together to develop the kind of feel that Lou and Speights have.  In fact, seeing Speights and Lou run the pick and roll lets us know that Lou has that in his game.  Now he just needs to get used to running it with both guys.