Eddie Jordan Stinks.

[Derek Bodner]

And that translates into what exactly?

We were god awful on the defensive glass last year as well.

[jemagee]

We were god awful on the defensive glass last year as well.

And if you look closely at it, evans didn't help on the defensively glass much - though he was awesome on the offensive glass (which i still contend has a lot to do with him sucking even from 2 feet and rebounding his own misses over and over )

[jemagee]

And last nights game was one of those games where the defensive glass really wasn't that bad.

Poor offensive set up to break the knicks zone and some questionable (lack of) defensive substitutions at the end of the game are where I'd look...

[RickyPryor]

I think it more fair not to bring up Evans after every game, and say "see?  we rebounded!"

Overall, this year, I think we've suffered by a lack of physicality underneath.  Is that our ONLY problem...no, of course not.

Last year Evans was one of the best rebounders in the league.  To not replace him is a mistake.  Simple as that, really.

No one is punished when they enter the lane, our clearing out sucks, and when Sam isn't in there...we get out-rebounded.  (That last one is a guess...but I'm pretty confident that's the case.)

Our "bigs" just don't play physical.  Thad is soft under there, Speights is nonexistent under there, and Brand brings little nastiness.

Plus - remember, I said we didn't REPLACE Evans; you both act as if I am petitioning for him to return.  It's not a BAD thing to desire more boards.  Since, ya know, they lead to points...and ultimately wins.

Just sayin'.

[rickortreat]

Because our remaining big men aren't physical enough.

Elton Brand is a complete upgrade over Reggie Evans at the 4 spot. He is every bit as physical, a better rebounder and an infinitely better scorer.

Speights is a physical player as well, he can only help when he's on the floor.

Thad isn't physical enough, but that's not his fault.

We have the players. It's the damn coach!

[RickyPryor]

Elton Brand is a complete upgrade over Reggie Evans at the 4 spot. He is every bit as physical, a better rebounder and an infinitely better scorer.

Wrong.  On every count.

A "better rebounder"?  "More physical"?  1,000% wrong.

But here's the rub:  Brand didn't REPLACE Evans.  It's irrelevant, even if it were true.  Or did you forget that we had them BOTH.  The intention was to have BOTH on the roster.  One left...and was not replaced.

Simple dimple.

Speights is a physical player as well,

...who doesn't rebound and can't defend.  He's physical when looking for his own shot, which is constant.

Thad isn't physical enough, but that's not his fault.

What the f--?

How is that not his fault??

We have the players. It's the damn coach!

The coach sucks, yes.  (Who do you think started this thread.)  But you can never have enough players.  And this squad (who you seem to be satisfied with) is a .500 team at best.  It's been proven.  Twice.

[rickortreat]

Elton Brand is a complete upgrade over Reggie Evans at the 4 spot. He is every bit as physical, a better rebounder and an infinitely better scorer.

Wrong.  On every count.

A "better rebounder"?  "More physical"?  1,000% wrong.

But here's the rub:  Brand didn't REPLACE Evans.  It's irrelevant, even if it were true.  Or did you forget that we had them BOTH.  The intention was to have BOTH on the roster.  One left...and was not replaced.

Simple dimple.

Speights is a physical player as well,

...who doesn't rebound and can't defend.  He's physical when looking for his own shot, which is constant.

Thad isn't physical enough, but that's not his fault.

What the f--?

How is that not his fault??

We have the players. It's the damn coach!

The coach sucks, yes.  (Who do you think started this thread.)  But you can never have enough players.  And this squad (who you seem to be satisfied with) is a .500 team at best.  It's been proven.  Twice.

Show me one season where Reggie Evan's out-rebounded Elton Brand(where both were playing? YOU can have any opinion you want but if it's garbage, I'm not going to listen. Brand is much more intimidating and physical. Brand scares people when he drives the lane, they figure Reggie will lose the ball while he drives. In fact talking about Reggie as a reason for any Sixer problem this year is absurd!

As of Thad, he is a skinny, tall kid all of 21 yrs. It's totally unreasonable to expect him to back with Kevin Garnett or Anderson Varajo. That's why it isn't his fault. Put him at the three spot and he can be as physical as any of them. Thad vs. Paul Pierce instead of KG!

Jordan is a complete idiot who doesn't do anything right. He's taken a 50- game team and turned into a basket-case, playing his best post-up player off the bench, playing a swing man in a power spot.  Failing to develop his young bigs, even though one of them is a top 5 scoring big man on potential.  All this team needs is a decent coach.

[RickyPryor]

Show me one season where Reggie Evan's out-rebounded Elton Brand(where both were playing?

You mean per minute, right?

Brand scares people when he drives the lane, they figure Reggie will lose the ball while he drives. In fact talking about Reggie as a reason for any Sixer problem this year is absurd!

1.  Why the switcharoo to offense?  Was that the topic?
2.  Reggie as a reason?  Is that what I said?  Or did I say our refusal to REPLACE him?  Hmmm?

As of Thad, he is a skinny, tall kid all of 21 yrs. It's totally unreasonable to expect him to back with Kevin Garnett or Anderson Varajo. That's why it isn't his fault. Put him at the three spot and he can be as physical as any of them. Thad vs. Paul Pierce instead of KG!

Thad's skinny-ness is why he doesn't WIN battles.  It doesn't explain why he doesn't play physical.
Paul Pierce is huge, fyi.

Jordan is a complete idiot who doesn't do anything right. He's taken a 50- game team and turned into a basket-case, playing his best post-up player off the bench, playing a swing man in a power spot.  Failing to develop his young bigs, even though one of them is a top 5 scoring big man on potential.  All this team needs is a decent coach.

Right and wrong.

No one dislikes the job Eddie's done more than me.  BUT that's not "all we need".  Unless of course you WANT 41 wins.  'cause that's what you GOT with a different coach.

[rickortreat]

How many power forwards do you need? Evans was a bad fit because he like Dalembert is somewhat offensively challenged. With the drafting of Speights and the aquistition of Brand, there was no reason to keep Reggie.  Would you rather have him than Rodney Carney or Jason Smith or Primoz Bezec? And, would you be willing to not have Jason Kapono? Reggie was a nice energy player, but he's dumb as a box of rocks.

Thad is too thin to be a banger at this stage of his career, he uses his height and length well as a defender, but can't match up with 4's. That's not his fault, anymore than it's Iverson's fault that he can't guard Dwight Howard.  Trying to make it work with Thad as a 4 is a mistake, and is simply bad coaching and bad strategy.

We're soft inside because Eddie Jordan plays Thad as a 4. Get It?

Start Speights or Brand with Dalembert and keep 2 bigs in the game at all times and we'll win most rebounding battles, control the paint and have good interior defense. It makes no sense that this team can beat the Celtics in their place and then lose to the Knicks at home. The only explanation is the coach. Some nights he gets lucky with who he puts on the floor, but forgets what works the very next game. That's why the team never gets better. The coach is just a moron. A good team is like a sports-car it needs a good driver to get it to the finish line, making the right turns when the conditions call for it. Eddie is the driver that crashes his car into a wall.

[RickyPryor]

How many power forwards do you need?

How many rebounds are you willing to give away.

Would you rather have him than Primoz Bezec? And, would you be willing to not have Jason Kapono?

You're kidding, right?

Thad is too thin to be a banger at this stage of his career, he uses his height and length well as a defender, but can't match up with 4's. That's not his fault, anymore than it's Iverson's fault that he can't guard Dwight Howard. 

You're (still) not getting it.  There is a difference between being tough (Iverson) and being big (Howard for example).  Thad PLAYS SOFT.  Get it?  No matter what his goddamn size is.

Start Speights or Brand with Dalembert and keep 2 bigs in the game at all times and we'll win most rebounding battles,

Not if it's Speights we won't.  His rebounding is sucko.

[rickortreat]

Speights is a decent rebounder and is improving all the time. When he is on the floor with Dalembert or even Brand we usually win the rebounding battle.  In fact, with 2 big men on the floor the Sixers are a good team, good enough to make the playoffs and save Eddie Jordan his job. 

I still don't understand your problem with Thad.  He's tough enough to try to defend bigger players, he's quicker than most of them, and just as long. He is an effective scorer and gets a lot of easy baskets because he's the fastest player on the floor. Once he rediscovers his outside shot, he's an all star player.

The worst thing about Eddie is that he plays Thad as a 4. That's the only thing really wrong with the team.  He starts games this way, even against very big teams. The thing is, when it comes to rebounding having Thad in instead of Brand or Speights means that every 3rd time down the floor your giving up a rebound and or a score because Sam doesn't have help when he goes to block a shot. Thad can score enough to offset that, but there's no reason to concede those 2nd chance shots with this roster.

If you watched the game against Sacramento, you saw the Sixers play a good game and beat a good team soundly. They controlled the paint and shut them down, including Tyreke Evans and Kevin Martin. Thad had a great game.

[RickyPryor]

Speights is a decent rebounder and is improving all the time.

Agreed.  My argument concerned Evans' rebounding and toughness...and how we didn't replace it.  It's commentary on management, not our players.

When he is on the floor with Dalembert or even Brand we usually win the rebounding battle.  In fact, with 2 big men on the floor the Sixers are a good team, good enough to make the playoffs and save Eddie Jordan his job. 

Again - it's management.  I've been chirping all year about line-ups and how (mostly early in the season) Jordan would have as few as ONE rebounder on the floor at a time.  Mind boggling.

I still don't understand your problem with Thad.  He's tough enough to try to defend bigger players, he's quicker than most of them, and just as long. He is an effective scorer and gets a lot of easy baskets because he's the fastest player on the floor. Once he rediscovers his outside shot, he's an all star player.

Pardon me if I don't share your enthusiasm for certain players on this team.  Lately Thad has sucked at both ends.  Love the guy; but he's lately been the worst Sixer on the floor at times.  Some guys are pretty good...others decent...some (Kapono) suck the big one.  You throw around terms like "elite", "all star" and "playoffs"...while I continue to watch one of the worst teams in the league night in and night out.  For my money we're 6 years from 'elite', NOT a 'playoff team' and have no 'all stars'.  Tomato/tomahto I suppose.  We'll see how it all shakes out by season's end.

The worst thing about Eddie is that he plays Thad as a 4.

Well...the "worst" thing?  Not sure about that.  But it is ill-advised, for sure.  I think he's trying to put out there the guys he thinks give us the best chance to win, with no regard for match-ups.  Thad is a 3...yet so is our 'franchise player'.  We have no point guard.  No true back-up center.  No shooting (now people realize what I was incensed about when we dumped Korver).  If it were me I'd have Thad at the 3; Iggy at the 2; Lou at 1; Brand would start with Sam.  Then you got Speights in for Sam, AI for Lou, Holiday, Green, Smith and Carney round it out.  Kapono plays once every 2-3 games so he stays mentally sharp, and is reserved for extended minutes vs. a zone (ie. almost never).

But that's me.

If you watched the game against Sacramento, you saw the Sixers play a good game and beat a good team soundly.

The very definition of mediocrity.  For every "sound win" against a decent club (the Kings are not one of them by the way), we have a sh*tty game against a terrible team.  It will take ALOT more than that to get me as jazzed as you seem to be.

[rickortreat]

I really like your proposed line-up. Had the Sixers done that from the beginning, I believe we'd have a better than .500 record now.  As it is, we're actually 6-4 in our last 10 games, and while I think this is a product of the Sixers schedule, they've had some surprising successes as well as dismal failures. I have no confidence in Eddie whatsoever, and he may or may not have realized that he needs two big men in his line-up to win.

I think the key to the Sixers is having Andre at the 2 and Thad at the 3. That allows the Sixers to have them at the positions where they have a size advantage over their opponents, and more likely to outperform them. Thad is best when he can run the floor and Andre is at his best when he has team-mates to make plays with. Brand gives them that post-up player and Sam has been playing like a good center.

The problem is the Sixers don't play that line-up very often, and I'm not convinced that Eddie understands how important this is. As a result the team has only scratched the surface of it's true potential. So my optimism is guarded at best. Losing to the Knicks at home, is enough to dampen anyone's enthusiasm.

If we start playing Thad as a 3, we'll know that he's gotten it, but if he continues with the same starting line-up with Brand and Speights on the bench, it's time to fire Eddie. Simple as that.

[RickyPryor]

Another anti-Jordan article in the Inky today.  This one veiled...but insinuates that the Sixers now compete because a- Eddie isn't so goofy with his substitutions (ie. there's a little more stability) and; b- defense.

[RickyPryor]

....aaaaand overtime.

Maybe the worst game of the year - win or lose.  I can't say I care either way.

Where can I sign some sort of petition to get his ass outta here.  Terrible substitutions, inexcusable third quarter.  Time to fire the Ed's.