What kind of defense calls for Sam to go running around the 3pt. line? Explain it to me. Is Sam doing this on his own, or has he been taught to do it by some moron like Lynam or something?
Maybe it's me, but you have a rebounder and a shot-blocker, you keep him near the hoop and near the All-Star Center he's guarding. Howard had a monster game last night, and neither Theo or Sam could do anything other than foul him. (Officials let him get away with murder, just like they used to with Shaq. If the guy move to the basket and dislodges you that's a foul. Especially when he pushes you inside that stupid semi-circle.)
But Sam has done a fairly good job when he's in there of protecting the basket. Considering the team's unwillingness to put a big line-up on the floor, they've been surprisingly competitive in rebounding.
To rick: The Magic are more talented than us. They've just happened to be fairly cold except for one small stretch in the 3rd quarter. At any point, they can re-find their 3 point stroke and we're cooked. And the reason Mo isn't playing is because he's proven he can't guard wing players on the perimeter and he's not nearly strong enough to deal with Superman. It's a terrible matchup for him. I pretty much totally agreed with the minutes tonight.
EDIT: I just looked at the boxscore, and noticed that Thad happened to lead the team in +/-. I wonder how much of that is coincidence and how much of that is he and Iggy being able to totally remove Hedo and Shard from the game while nobody else on the Sixers can guard either.
The Magic are not more talented. The Sixers are. Our Forwards are better- Thad only has recently surpassed Lewis but it's clear from this series that he is. Iguodala is dominating Hedo- who is probably more hurt than he admits. And Andre Miller is a much better player than Alston. Beyond Howard, who else do the Magic have that impresses you? Do they have anyone with the potential of Lou or Marreese? Do you really think Courtney Lee is in the same class as Lou Williams? The Magic were a better team during the regular season, when they had Jameer, we'd have been better if we had Elton, but we don't. With the current rosters the Sixers are slightly more talented.
Also with regard to Marreese, the Sixers shouldn't be as worried about defense as they are about scoring points. The team totally lost momentum towards the end of the 3rd because Dileo did no substituting and the players got tired and lost focus. No one was stopping the Magic from shooting those three's, but the Sixers could have put the game away right then when they had a 15 point lead. They needed new blood in there to keep the rally going and putting in Speights and Marshall would have killed them. Speights is the only player who can occupy Howard down low. With an inside presence to move Howard around, and an outside presence to spread the defense, the lanes would be wide open for our drivers.
You can outscore a team or stop them from scoring. But once you have a lead, you can keep it by trading baskets, the only way to ensure that is to keep scoring and when the opposing team stops what you were doing, you have to find something else. The Sixers got lucky, in both this game and the first one they won. The coaching staff is barely adequate which is why our winning margin is so small. If we had less talent we wouldn't be in this series. Our defensive quickness is killing their forwards on both ends.
This team still has no post game and it is amazing that they can continue to win with scoring from wing players and guards. If this team is going to have any real success this year, they are going to have to play Speights and trust that the additional offense will offset the defensive deficiencies. Both Andres are very good finishers, and so is Thad, but if that shot doesn't go in, the ref swallows his whistle and we lose the game. With another big to threaten to score, Howard's attention would be divided, he doesn't worry about leaving Dalembert, he knows he's not a threat! Speights can actually shoot. A good coach would be using that, or at least experimenting with it. Instead they're playing Reggie Evans. Admit it something is seriously wrong. It's not as though Reggie can guard wing players, and Marreese can foul as well as Willie Green. There is a serious disconnect here, and it is an error.
