Philly Fans: Is Elton Brand done?

[westkoast]

As someone who is a fan of Elton Brand I had to make this thread......

What is going on with ol boy?!  Brand was one of the players I was going to target in fantasy (and did get him).  I figured he would bounce back from being injured and add 17-9 to the box score on most nights...wrong.

Is this the Elton Brand we should expect to see post-injury?  Is he rusty? Philly fans can you provide some analysis?  I have not caught a Sixers game yet this year so I can only go off the box score at this point but it's been pretty sad to see.

[jemagee]

I still think he's playing his way back in to NBA game shape and adjusting to a new team that he barely had time to adjust to last year, I'm not worried, YET, I'm starting to get worried, but let's see how he progresses and see where he's at at the quarter pole.

A lot of people say he seems less explosive than they expected but others point out he didn't have that much vertical explosion in clipper land.  I didn't see him play that much in LA so I don't know for sure.  He's not my biggest concern right now since Thad stinks and the wrong guy is starting at center.

[westkoast]

I still think he's playing his way back in to NBA game shape and adjusting to a new team that he barely had time to adjust to last year, I'm not worried, YET, I'm starting to get worried, but let's see how he progresses and see where he's at at the quarter pole.

A lot of people say he seems less explosive than they expected but others point out he didn't have that much vertical explosion in clipper land.  I didn't see him play that much in LA so I don't know for sure.  He's not my biggest concern right now since Thad stinks and the wrong guy is starting at center.

Has he fallen off the radar that much to where you don't see his improvement being a driving force to this team getting better?

[jemagee]

Has he fallen off the radar that much to where you don't see his improvement being a driving force to this team getting better?

Not as much as I see the improvement of Speights and Young (and HOlliday hopefully sooner than later) as driving forces to this team getting better.

At 'peak' Brand level I don't think this team is better than 500 and a first round playoff loss, I'm not all that concerned about the W/L this year, I'm concerned about the development of the players...Brand is who he is, he'll play as best he can, the other guys still need to get to their levels

[westkoast]

Not as much as I see the improvement of Speights and Young (and HOlliday hopefully sooner than later) as driving forces to this team getting better.

I won't argue this as I am not a Sixers expert but he is a CAREER 20-10 player at the prime age of 30.

At 'peak' Brand level I don't think this team is better than 500 and a first round playoff loss, I'm not all that concerned about the W/L this year, I'm concerned about the development of the players...Brand is who he is, he'll play as best he can, the other guys still need to get to their levels

A first round playoff exit would happen regardless.  I understand the focus on development.  Wouldn't Brand, playing at a level you expect from him, help improve Igs outside game by giving him more space on the perimeter?  Who would you think could learn more?  The guys down low by Brand playing sub par or Igs if Brand plays well?

[jemagee]

I won't argue this as I am not a Sixers expert but he is a CAREER 20-10 player at the prime age of 30.

Coming off two season ending injuries playing on a roster where the key components are much younger and much farther from the prime of their careers...most likely aside from Iguodala - they all start peaking long after his slide has begun in my opinion.

I don't see a healthy brand improving iguodalas outside game much more than speights getting 30 minutes a game since he has a real low post game

[rickortreat]

Brand isn't always getting his minutes, even when he is producing. Eddie Jordan is still playing with the line-up figuring out who can play with who and so on.  So far, Brand and Young have been great disappointments, and it may be that the Princeton is requiring them to get different shots. It is a little early to tell, but it could be that the Sixers starting lineup isn't strong enough rebounding-wise.  Then again it could be that Eddie's starting line-up doesn't match up well with other teams.

Brand may not be done, but Jordon has to figure out who to pair him with, and who not to.

Williams is turning out to be an able point guard, Iguodala looks to be taking the next step up in his career. Speights is getting better every game and is rebounding along with scoring. If Brand and Young can start shooting more as they have in the past the Sixers should be fine.

At this point, I'm looking for Iguodala to step up and be more of a scorer, the type of player that becomes a distraction to the other team because they are worried about him scoring. He could and should be scoring in the upper 20's per game, especially if Brand and Young aren't producing.  Williams has been good even if he did get overmatched against Detroit's guards.  When he is scoring and rebounding the Sixers do pretty well.

[westkoast]

Brand isn't always getting his minutes, even when he is producing. Eddie Jordan is still playing with the line-up figuring out who can play with who and so on.  So far, Brand and Young have been great disappointments, and it may be that the Princeton is requiring them to get different shots. It is a little early to tell, but it could be that the Sixers starting lineup isn't strong enough rebounding-wise.  Then again it could be that Eddie's starting line-up doesn't match up well with other teams.

Brand may not be done, but Jordon has to figure out who to pair him with, and who not to.

Williams is turning out to be an able point guard, Iguodala looks to be taking the next step up in his career. Speights is getting better every game and is rebounding along with scoring. If Brand and Young can start shooting more as they have in the past the Sixers should be fine.

At this point, I'm looking for Iguodala to step up and be more of a scorer, the type of player that becomes a distraction to the other team because they are worried about him scoring. He could and should be scoring in the upper 20's per game, especially if Brand and Young aren't producing.  Williams has been good even if he did get overmatched against Detroit's guards.  When he is scoring and rebounding the Sixers do pretty well.

Thanks Rick/Jem, since we rarely get Sixers games outside of when they play one of the local teams I haven't had a chance to see them yet so I was curious if you could explain in more detail about what is going on.

Last night 10 points and TWO rebounds?!  Say it aint so!

[jemagee]

I wrote in a blog yesterday that maybe Speights should be starting over Dalembert for now and the future whereas some one on ESPN compared the seasons of Speights and Brand and wondered what was going on there as Speights 'raw' numbers are better than Brands in less minutes.

And maybe it's a fluke or maybe it's not but Brand currently has the best 'Roland Rating' on the sixers

http://www.82games.com/0910/0910PHI.HTM

What's interesting though is that Brand has played less than 60% of the team minutes.  In a 48 minute game that works out to under 30 MPG which is low for a guy of brands reputation.

However, it wouldn't surprise me if the sixers over paid a guy about to start the downside of his career.

[rickortreat]

Brand isn't so old that you should think he's done. He's putting up good numbers, but he isn't getting minutes. Last night he played 20 min. I would say the Sixers would have been better served if Elton Brand took the 5 shots that Lou Williams missed. The real question we should be asking is why is Eddie Jordan keeping Elton on the bench?

It could be that Elton still isn't in shape or that he wants to play Speights at the 4 spot? In any case neither Brand nor Dalembert saw any time in the 4th, and they were big contributors to the lead the Sixers had built in the third quarter. I'm beginning to think that Eddie Jordan is a dope when it comes to substitution, and creating matchup problems for the other team.  The Sixers had the game and simply needed to continue to execute on offense, but could not against one of the weakest defensive teams in the league. 

The Suns won that game by shooting 50% from beyond the arc. Sixers really need to do a better job of staying at home. They are playing way from their strength of being better athletes by helping too much.  In both instances coaching or lack thereof are the problem.  It will be hard for the team to learn how to win if Jordan keeps screwing around like this.

[Derek Bodner]

He really isn't putting up good numbers.  If you extrapolated his numbers out to 38 mpg (his career averages), he's putting up 14 pp g and 9.8 rpg.  the rebounds are nice, but Speights is putting up more ppg (14.4) in 23 mpg, 15 less.

[jemagee]

I think it's too early to jump to a conclusion about brand but not too early to play speights 35 MPG from the beginning

[westkoast]

So I saw this on ESPN earlier.....

"Rumors: Brand phased out of 76ers' plans"

It is for ESPN Insiders so I couldn't see the rest but......uhhh, dumb?  HES ONLY 30!!!!

[jemagee]

His down minutes probably lead to a reporter speculating that he's being phased out with out any reliable sources, ESPN tweaks headline to get clicks.

WElcome to 'modern' journalism

[rickortreat]

This is more about Eddie Jordan and less about Brand's abilities. I'm beginning to think Eddie Jordan isn't a good enough coach and his substitutions are nonsensical.

Brand was doing well in the Suns game, when he was in the Sixers were adding to their lead. The last thing he did was score inside on a dunk. The thing the Sixers needed most was inside scoring and no one on the floor was providing that or much interior defense. Brand should have been in the game, and if he had the Sixers would have had a better chance of winning since the Suns have no one to deal with Brand.

This isn't about Brand vs. Speights. It's about Speights vs. Dalembert. Depending on the team, Speights or Smith can serve as the Center.

To be honest I thought Brand was stepping up his game in the 3rd quarter, and I wanted to see more of him. A good coach would have put him back in under those circumstances.