Sixers vs. Heat

[DuckyNinja]

Donyell Marshall FTW!

[anklebreaker]

MARSHALL'S LAW

[anklebreaker]

I can now say that today's win combined with going to the Spectrum game the other night has renewed my interest in the team.  Good win today.  One of our better defensive showings. 

[rickortreat]

The Heat were tired from their triple OT win the previous afternoon. I would have liked to have seen Miami at full strength, to get a real gauge of how the teams compare.  The Sixers looked like the better team this afternoon, but I was very unhappy with the offense at times, particularly when Lou was at the point.  Too many outside shots without even trying to get a play going inside.

Also, they seemed clueless against the zone until they put in Donyell. The way to bust a zone is to pass in between. Speights ran into the lane and didn't get one pass. Pathetic.

The Sixers will have to play a lot better to have a chance against the Lakers.  Dalembert did a fantastic job on O'Neil. Flash was just tired, I think.

The Sixers do have the potential to move up in the standings with a good road trip. With the emergence of Thad Young as a third scorer, and Speights showing the potential for 10 pts. the Sixers can generate a lot of points. I hope that the team uses Marshall more often, along with Ratliff. It's important to keep them involved for the spots when they'll really be needed.

[RickyPryor]

I missed the second half, but was glad to hear that Tony finally pulled his head from his buttocks and added our only legit outside threat, and one of our few veterans (which come in handy in crunch time).  I've been wondering why the hell Donyell attended most games dressed for a job interview, and not used 6 minutes per.

Anyway...while the best way to beat a zone is to pass (to open areas around and within that zone), in the case of a 2-3...going low doesn't usually offer the highest scoring opportunities.  You want 3 men out front in that case...and you need to then hit open shots.

Which is apparently what we did.

Great 'd' and ball protection.  Big win.  And just in time to get our hats handed to us in LA.

Winning two would be very nice...3 a miracle.

[Skates]

I am now 4-0 in games I attended this year, whoo-hoo.  Thad was hitting the boards much harder than I have seen him do previously. he grabbed some, but was bxing out nicely on a lot of others.  his increasing confidence and comfort on the offensive end is also quite evident.

Watching this team is frustrating.  Their clear problems on offense are the lack of three point shooting (Go Donyell!!) combined with a lack of guys who can get their own shots.  In the half court this essentially neutrlizes them except when they run a play perfectly, and thankfully they have some excellent passers.  But the long time scoring droughts are no accident.  Sammy is an idiot, but he really does provide more of an inside defensive presence they any one else on this team can, except Theo in very limited minutes.  If only he would accept and embrace that role for a mere $10 million per year.

Wade looked tired, Beasley continues to look like the second coming of Glenn Robinson.  He might put up big numbers down the road, but Thad and Speights are both better players IMO.  The Bulls definitely made the right call going for Rose, and I was a guy who never thought they would pass Beasley up.

Nice crowd yesterday.  My last game this year is April 10 against Cleveland, I wonder if the Cavs will have anything to play for by then?

[bebopdeluxe]

Skates:

I was there as well.  Wade looked disinterested.  Great call on Beasley as the "second coming of Glenn Robinson".  I don't know what I was more stunned by - that it took so long to put Marshall in or that they even did it.

My impression of DiLeo has fallen off pretty dramatically of late.

[tk76-]

My impression of DiLeo has fallen off pretty dramatically of late.

You and me both.  I don't dislike DiLeo or Ed, but also don't think they have this team headed in the right direction, even with all the young talent on the roster.

This is my take on the new and old Sixers management:
http://www.phillyarena.com/archives/2009-03-15/Name-that-man..-tk76#c1386

[Skates]

The problem with Donyell is that you can't regularly use him in a game where he will be matched up any kind of a decent scorer, he really can't move on defense at all, although his length pays some dividends in a zone.

[bebopdeluxe]

Skates:

Marshall's days of playing the 3 are long-gone...you would need to  - on defense - play him at the 4.

I would guess that there are times that he could easily play instead of Evans.  Didn't he get 5 rebounds on Sunday?

I would think that a lineup of Miller/Iggy/Thad/Donyell/Sammy could work...Donyell's outside shooting would make life a lot easire for the other guys, and you could flip-flop Thad - he would defend the 3 and play the 4 on offense.

[Skates]

The offense really bogs down when both Ivey and Reggie aree in the game at the same time, unless they can wreak havoc on defense and get easy points off of turnovers.  They are two energy guys, with no real offensive skills, it is easy to hide one on offense, not so easy when they play together. For a while Ivey was doing well with the set three pointers, but I have not seen him hit many lately.