Game 1: Sixers at Magic: Here we go!

[Derek Bodner]

Talk about overreaction.  One big shot by Iguodala doesn't prove he's a #1, just like one bad series against Detroit doesn't prove he can't be a top option.

Great game.  speechless.  Had to shut off my phone because I was watching it on dvr.  Thank god for NBA and their "2 games a week" first round schedule, I can go back and watch it 2-3 more times.

[DuckyNinja]

Talk about overreaction.  One big shot by Iguodala doesn't prove he's a #1, just like one bad series against Detroit doesn't prove he can't be a top option.

He's proven to have B.O.S on the last possession.  This certainly isn't the first time he's done it this year (Lakers anybody?).  He's really a 3rd option on offense, but on that last possession, he's a #1 IMO.

[Derek Bodner]

He's proven to have B.O.S on the last possession.

no he hasn't.  You've just remembered the successes more.  His % on isolation plays is very, very low, and his conversion at the end of the game is similarly low.  For every one he's made, there are 5 like last week in Boston.

[DuckyNinja]

He's proven to have B.O.S on the last possession.

no he hasn't.  You've just remembered the successes more.  His % on isolation plays is very, very low, and his conversion at the end of the game is similarly low.  For every one he's made, there are 5 like last week in Boston.

Wasn't the one in Boston a heave from 40 feet away on a bad inbounds play?  You have access to all sorts of crazy stats, do you happen to have access to all of his ISO plays in say, the last 10 seconds of a game?  I'm not talking about the ones in which he has to take the ball all the way up the court in 4 seconds or heave the ball on an inbounds from 40 feet.  I'm talking about legitimate get into the half court with time and run a true ISO play.  You might be completely right, I wouldn't be surprised.

On a related but different note, Iguodala actually is fairly clutch by 82games.com's stats, but that's in the last 5 minutes.

[rickortreat]

Yes, but that 82games stat suggests that Iguodala is exceptional in the clutch, one of the best in the league at the end of the game.

He was clearly the number one tonight, and was making shot after shot from the outside in the 4th, as well as driving.  20 pts. 8 rebounds and 8 assists is an exceptional game.  You could argue that he should score more if he's a primary scorer, but I thought he stayed very much within the flow until the end as opposed to forcing it or monopolizing the ball like LeBron or Kobe often do.

On a team like the Sixers with so many potential scorers, there's no need to have just one primary anyway. But the two most reliable Sixers are still the two Andres and they can be successful with them against an elite team.

[Derek Bodner]

Wasn't the one in Boston a heave from 40 feet away on a bad inbounds play?

No.  It was an ISO from the top of the key.  He shoots 32.4% on isolations, 30.6% from the top of the key.  They don't break it down by < X seconds left.  I could go back and watch all 222 field goal attempts isolations for the year, but I'm not going to do that for the sake of one argument.

You have access to all sorts of crazy stats, do you happen to have access to all of his ISO plays in say, the last 10 seconds of a game?

Not only in the last 10 seconds, but I do with isolations.

On a related but different note, Iguodala actually is fairly clutch by 82games.com's stats, but that's in the last 5 minutes.

Not talking about "clutch", talking about effectiveness on a last second shot isolation play.  Those stats are pretty irrelevant to the argument I'm making.

[DuckyNinja]

Fair enough.

[RickyPryor]

This certainly isn't the first time he's done it this year (Lakers anybody?). 

No, it was not the first time.  And you named the second.

Two times does not make a great last second player.  He'd have to do that 15 more time to negate all the incredibly shitty last-second shots he's taken.  Dozens of 'em.

Had he not made that shot he'd have been a villain.  FIVE turnovers?  Goose egg on the charity stripe, late?  Ugh.

He averages - AVERAGES - two and a half times as many TO's as any other Sixer.  Indeed, he averages HALF of the entire TEAM's TO's.

The more I think of it...the more I believe he's the opposite of clutch.

Yesterday's game belonged to Marshall, Ivey and Williams.  

And ya know what?  Tony DiLeo did a heck of a job.  There.  I said it.

[rickortreat]

According to statman (a poster at the Philly.com website.)  Iguodala is 8 of 11 for his last scoring points in game-ending situations (defined as down 1 or 2 or even, with 25 seconds left.

Those are pretty good odds, and it also butresses an article, I think from ESPN on the same subject, his ability to hit game-ending shots, along with a few other noteables like Brandon Roy.

Of course, we could go on about the two free-throws that he missed a little earlier in the game.  In fact, the Sixers were terrible from the line last night and it was fortunate that we won in spite of it.

Even with the win, most are still picking Orlando to win the series. The Sixers have some more convincing to do.

[anklebreaker]

You wouldn't have guessed before the game that Donyell Marshall would be launching a 3 from the top of the key with 32 seconds left in the 4th to tie the game, but he did, and that's why he's a pro.  

Damn, that was a good signing.  

[RickyPryor]

You wouldn't have guessed before the game that Donyell Marshall would be launching a 3 from the top of the key with 32 seconds left in the 4th to tie the game, but he did, and that's why he's a pro.  

Damn, that was a good signing.  

I've wondered all season why we signed the guy and then had him attend games in business attire.  Where was he at the end of the Boston game, for example?  Last shot chance and he's on the friggin bench?  (What happened in that game is a testament to there being no one to spread the floor for the Sixers).

Odd that we'd sit a legitimate 3-baller on a team that blows from 3-ball-land. 

Oh well.  He sure got in last night.

[Skates]

I also still don't see Iggy as a great last second shot player, but until we get or develop a better one, at least he has the cajones to take the shot.  What annoys me more is the way in such games the coaching staff forces the ball to him so badly in these situations, really why even guard the other players, you know Iggy is getting the ball.  Makes sense if you have a guy like Jordan, we don't.

[RickyPryor]

I also still don't see Iggy as a great last second shot player, but until we get or develop a better one, at least he has the cajones to take the shot.  What annoys me more is the way in such games the coaching staff forces the ball to him so badly in these situations, really why even guard the other players, you know Iggy is getting the ball.  Makes sense if you have a guy like Jordan, we don't.

Frankly, we have several players who have 'cajones' and would like nothing better than to be given that chance: Donyell for one.  Lou Will would be a threat in that situation.  Miller has come up huge at times when the pressure was on.  Heck, Green would take it.

But, for some reason, Iggy believes he's actually good at it.  Which, of course, he isn't.  But Tony keeps "drawing up plays" for him.  (Don't you love when he uses that terminology to describe what's actually "inbound to Iggy and move to a corner".)

[rickortreat]

The coaching staff apparently likes him taking that shot.  They must think Iguodala is good at it, or they wouldn't be putting the ball in his hands.

I think that he's a good choice, because he's a good passer as well.  No one doubles him in that situation, so the odds are good he'll get an open shot. If they dare to double him, you know he'd pass to an open man right away.

He's also hard to deny the ball to. He's a better athlete than most.

[Derek Bodner]

I've wondered all season why we signed the guy and then had him attend games in business attire.

Because his defense and rebounding are poo-poo.