Is this team cursed, and why?

[tk76-]

Is it the curse of Andre Miller?  The Clipper curse?

Drawn to .500 and destined to find new and exciting ways to lose in the closing moments?

[anklebreaker]

Let's face it, it's been an up and down season....however, through all their peaks and valleys this team has shown that they can do two things consistently. Two things fans can almost depend on whether they like it or not.  Two things they display like no other NBA team can... 

1.  Run
2.  Lose games in the final seconds

Now, I'm a realist... I understand that tonight's final play took more than an answered prayer to defy the odds of the Nets ending their 5 game skid.  Whether or not the final result is unjust, it simply wouldn't be our style to win that game.

It was an incredible shot (whether he got it off in 1.8 seconds or not), and albeit painful, it happened.  For the most part, we're accountable for these excruciating losses due to our endless communication/defensive breakdowns, growing pains, or whatever you want to call it.  Tonight was a little different.  You'd think that we've paid our dues and served our time for the season.. enough to warrant some good final sequence karma.  94 feet, no time outs, 1.8 seconds, some good defense, and 3 points later I learned that I was wrong.  Having been a 76er fan for eons, I can't remember a season with such an abundance of knife twisting defeats.  I'm not talking about tough losses, I'm talking about the ones that plague us as die hard fans for days at a time.  The ones that make good wins feel great having so frequently been in the trenches of disappointment that haunts us in every close game we witness.  As die hard 76er fans, we can only hope to reflect on this 08/09 season as a dark one filled with adversity and misfortunes... one that 55 games in can outline 6 shots that shrink what could have been a 33-22 record down to 27-28.  Right now, it's too difficult to say which one will better resemble this team going forward, but we can only hope it's not the latter. 

[DuckyNinja]

What's the 6th? Hedo, Tony, Dirk, Ray, Devin.  which one am I missing?

[anklebreaker]

Your forgetting TJ Ford.  And it was Shard, not Hedo. 

[carolina blue]

Is part of the "curse of Andre Miller" him not playing a lick of defense?

[RickyPryor]

Is part of the "curse of Andre Miller" him not playing a lick of defense?

Welcome to the NBA.  Have you met its point guards?  Who of them IS playing defense?  Nash?  Sergio?

[rickortreat]

They deserved to lose that game, they didn't make their free throws and they let an inferior team stay close.  Good teams don't let a team like NJ hang around.  They make sure they have a big enough lead that 2 or three three-point shots at the end aren't going to make a difference.

It's not enough to stay close to a team like that, you have to pound them into the ground, not trade baskets.  Maybe Dileo is too much of a wuss for this team, outside of Reggie Evans, they're a soft, finess team.  They don't intimidate anyone or make them think they're overwhelmed.  They don't let anyone overwhelm them, but that's not enough.

The only thing that will break this curse is a desire to win.  Self respect.

[DuckyNinja]

A bench would help too.

[anklebreaker]

I didn't get to see most of the game.  I had impeccable timing and turned it on for the final minute.  Is there a reason why Speights only got 18 min.?  I know Reggie Evans is a hustler and provides toughness... all well and good, but he's clearly inferior to Speights and its not even close.  I'd prefer to limit Reggie to situational action and keep Speights hovering around a consistent 23 - 25mpg.  We haven't asserted his game nearly enough as of late. 

[RickyPryor]

I didn't get to see most of the game.  I had impeccable timing and turned it on for the final minute.  Is there a reason why Speights only got 18 min.?  I know Reggie Evans is a hustler and provides toughness... all well and good, but he's clearly inferior to Speights and its not even close.  I'd prefer to limit Reggie to situational action and keep Speights hovering around a consistent 23 - 25mpg.  We haven't asserted his game nearly enough as of late. 

I believe Reggie WAS limited to situational use last night.  He should be in when we have the lead...as we had.  With the lead you want the ball (ie. reb's), and good defense.  He provides both.

Though I believe Speights could have used a few more minutes.  I'm in the 21-22 MPG camp.

[DuckyNinja]

I didn't get to see most of the game.  I had impeccable timing and turned it on for the final minute.  Is there a reason why Speights only got 18 min.?  I know Reggie Evans is a hustler and provides toughness... all well and good, but he's clearly inferior to Speights and its not even close.  I'd prefer to limit Reggie to situational action and keep Speights hovering around a consistent 23 - 25mpg.  We haven't asserted his game nearly enough as of late. 

I believe Reggie WAS limited to situational use last night.  He should be in when we have the lead...as we had.  With the lead you want the ball (ie. reb's), and good defense.  He provides both.

Though I believe Speights could have used a few more minutes.  I'm in the 21-22 MPG camp.

Reggie Evans is awful defensively against all but the slowest big men (aka, not the people he was getting totally destroyed by last night) and is only good on the offensive glass.  It's well established that he's simply average on the D-glass.  Speights needs to be getting 25-30 mpg.  Evans needs to be relegated to the end of the bench.

[Skates]

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.

[tk76-]

Its unfortunate when you play above your head against a team like the Celtics, Spurs or Mavs and lose on last second shot.

Its a sign of mediocrity to lose close games 3X to the Nets, even if this last one was flukey.  The Nets did not play well, and Carter was completely disinterested.   Hit a few more FT's or play Evans less in favor of Speights or Theo and its an easy win.  The Nets were lucky to win, but the Sixers would have been lucky to win too given all of the missed FT's.

[RickyPryor]

Speights needs to be getting 25-30 mpg.  Evans needs to be relegated to the end of the bench.

That's too many for a rookie big; Reggie is great.

[DuckyNinja]

Speights needs to be getting 25-30 mpg.  Evans needs to be relegated to the end of the bench.

That's too many for a rookie big; Reggie is great.

I've never bought the argument that minutes should be based on how many years you've been in the league.  If you can play, and play at a high level, then you deserve to play.  Speights has earned the playing time, especially with Brand out.

And Reggie is a terrible basketball player.  He's only useful when either the Sixers or the other team is playing without energy.  In high intensity situations, he's just a bad basketball player with limited skills.