Game 2: Sixers at Magic: Let's put the pressure on!

[DuckyNinja]

A few thoughts going into the game:

Fronting Howard with Speights may be a strategy worth considering.  Ratliff tried hard but got killed for the most part.  But we all know that Speights has no chance one on one with Howard.  Maybe Speights' athleticism can help.

The biggest difference between Andre Iguodala and other top-flight wing scorers (Lebron, Kobe, Pierce, etc.) is that Iguodala gets to the line less.  A lot less.  It's not that he can't, he just doesn't.  Iguodala needs to drive hard to the hoop and force Howard to either foul him or leave his man so Iguodala has an easy pass for a dunk down low.

We need to push the tempo even more.  The Magic were clearly not ready to play as fast as we were, especially when we went to the Williams/Miller/Iggy lineup that could push the ball up the floor rapidly.

I don't know if anybody's seen it, but there's a new Sixers blog that was made for the ESPN Truehoop Network, and it's definitely worth checking out:  http://philadunkia.com/ There's a lot of good stuff there, and it's updated way more often than I thought it would be.

[rickortreat]

My biggest concern from game 1 was that we lost the lead and fell behind in the 3rd quarter with our starters in the game.  Orlando just started shooting, Philadelphia stopped defending and and although the offense produced good shots, they couldn't make them.

I'm not so concerned about Speights on the defensive end. He isn't strong enough to deal with Howard, all he can do is try to deny position and foul.  I'm far more interested in using him as an offensive threat while Dalembert is in the game. Let Andre or Lou drive and force Howard to come out to defend the basket, then let them lob over (around) Howard to Marreese for a score over an out of position Turkogulu, or Lewis.  Getting someone Big scoring inside will really bother Orlando.

We should be able to get Dwight into foul trouble, but it will depend on how tightly the refs call the game.  They've been letting a lot of contact go, not just in this series but in the others.  There were a lot of plays where I saw defenders hacking and fouling, and the ball goes out of bounds, no call.  That is pretty bad, I understand they don't want the game to stop every 5 seconds, but if you don't call them you get an ugly nasty game very quickly.  If you don't want the players to fight, you better call the game so when someone does something untoward, he gets a foul called on him.

[anklebreaker]

It would really surprise me to see us win this game.  I'm always hopeful, but winning 2 straight in Orlando is a tall order.  Expect Thad and Miller to have big nights tonight.  None of Orlando's guards can stop Miller, and I have a feeling he shows up for us in a big way tonight.  Thad is capable of doing more than he did in game 1, and I'm sure Orlando will key in on Iguodala and Williams a little more tonight, so expect Thad and Miller to be the beneficiaries.  One thing I like about this match-up is Orlando's 2nd unit and its lack of firepower.  I don't expect our bench to drop 42 every night, but I think our bench is capable of producing more than theirs, and I expect them to hold it down again in game 2.  It's Shard and Hedo that have me worried.  I can't imagine them being contained like they were for a 2nd straight game, even with their injuries. 

[rickortreat]

Lewis and Hedo were completly outclassed by Iguodala and Young, and I expect that to continue.  All year long, the Sixers players have been a bit better in terms of PER and in terms of defense.  The strategy the Sixers have should be enough.  Make Howard beat you and choke the outside shooters- force them off the line.  What can Orlando do, they don't have great one on one players; all they know is to shoot the 3.

Hedo and Lewis and Lee want to drive the lane, but the Sixers are quick enough to contain them.  It will be interesting to see what changes if any Orlando makes.  I think they're stuck in terms of what they do.

Forget about regular season records.  Right now, the Sixers are every bit as good a team as Orlando.  The fact that they won when no one gave them a chance shows that no-one sees this team properly. With Young, Iguodala and Miller it's hard to stop them and hard to outscore them. You add in quality players like Williams and even Green, plus Marshall and Ratliff and Speights, this team is deeper with talent than Orlando.  They have one great player, but he's not enought to offset everything else.

[DuckyNinja]

These refs refuse to call anything on the Magic.  No traveling, no blocking fouls, no raping the guy driving down the lane, nothing.

[DuckyNinja]

First commercial of the second Q and the Sixers only have two people in the points column of the box score.  Marshall's missed a 3, Iggy's missed a J, and Ivey threw up an airball.  This is pretty funny.

[DuckyNinja]

Anybody know where Iggy is? Anybody?

Only down 7 after a half in which Iggy has 1 point and the team has 12 TOs really isn't bad.  They need to get Speights in there every time Howard is not.  Speights was good when he was in.

[rickortreat]

Speights scored over Howard!  Evans was terrible out there, just bench him and we'll be ok, if the refs stop killing us.  Jeeze, what terrible lop-sided officiating.

Offense is a little stuck, we need Thad to hit some outside shots to open things up.  Iguodala has to relax, they're worried about him, and he just needs someone else to pass to to break the game wide open.  Once he starts dealing out assists, they'll back off a little.  Howard's primary concern is to meet Iguodala in front of the rim.  We should also be able to get some 3-second calls on their defense, Dileo should run a play to expose it.

Officials are letting Orlando get away with a lot, and the Sixers aren't shooting from outside.  A little more Speights in there with Andre and Thad should get us going.

[rickortreat]

Why is Willie Green holding the ball and shooting so many shots (and missing) I want THAD with the ball, not Willie!

[DuckyNinja]

This reffing is absofuckinglutely brutal.  These refs should be sanctioned.

[DuckyNinja]

Did I say sanctioned? I meant fired and put on the Wall of Shame.

[anklebreaker]

Lou Williams was pathetic tonight.  He has the quickness to get by any one of Orlando's guards and he just played a shit game from beginning to end.  Had he shown up off the bench, that might have been the difference.  With the exception of Ratliff, our whole bench failed to show up once again, and there's really no excuse for that against a pretty horrible Orlando 2nd unit. 

[rickortreat]

Yes, the bench came up small tonight.  But it was the coach's fault for not playing Speights more.  Especially when Howard was out at the end.  Hindsight is 20-20, but I'll bet you DiLeo would go with Ratliff again in the same situation, which is why he's not a good enough coach.

He also could have gone back to Donyell in the 4th, there was no reason not to.

Coaching staff needs a good kick in the behind.  There were a lot of opportunities for the Sixers that they failed to exploit. The way Orlando was playing defense would have made some plays wide open.

Dissapointing, but the Sixers now have home-court advantage so this was a successful trip.  Obviously have to hold serve at home now. Nothing could be better than heading back to Orlando up 3-1.

[anklebreaker]

If I'm Miller, Iggy, or Thad I'm pissed at the bench for their efforts tonight. 

[sixersftw]

The reffing on this game was beyond disappointing.  WE really need to look for Thad more.  He seems to be able to get a good shot against anyone the magic put on him.  I feel pretty okay going into our home games all things considered.