A lot of the players have struggled to start the season and they do need to shoulder their share of the blame (Thad, Brand, Dalembert to name a few). That said, Eddie Jordan has had me scratching my head all season and so far we look like we've taken a step back on offense and two steps back on defense since he took over the team.
13 games in... just off the top of my head:
- the most inconsistent rotations I've seen since watching the Sixers
- Watching elite teams (Boston, Orlando, Phoenix, etc.) absolutely destroy us from the 3 point line
- Jordan explains that all of the 3's were tightly contested or were taken from 3 feet behind the 3 point line, which is some of the most artificial bs I've ever heard spewed by a coach in Philly
- Royal Ivey gets more playing time than Jrue Holiday
- Elton Brand gets benched for multiple 4th quarters
- Jordan claims that Brand is not capable of playing effective for 40 minutes, before actually playing him for 40 minutes. Brand averages 38 mpg over the next 3 games (mainly due to Speights injury), and goes for 19.3 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 3.6 bpg, 2.6 spg, while shooting 53%.
- We relinquish a 20 point 4th quarter lead to the Knicks with EJ's decision to play small ball. Lets just say we were fortunate to see Al Harrington foul out....
- 2 of our 5 wins came against the most injury depleted NJ Nets team, and both could have gone either way.
- Jordan refuses to acknowledge the gaping holes in our perimeter defense, and never accepts a spec of responsibility for the teams struggles as the losses continue to pile on.
- 3 of our 5 wins came from the aforementioned Knicks game and two Nets games. You can make the argument that our play has been more indicative of a 2-11 team than a 5-8 team.
- Jason Kapono over the last 3 games is the newest member of EJ's dog house. Our only 3 point threat no longer plays.
- Jrue Holiday sits on the bench in a blowout loss during garbage time in the 4th quarter (down by 20) in favor of two veteran players in Willie Green and Royal Ivey.
- Elton Brand would have been benched by Jordan in favor of Rodney Carney if not for Stefanski stepping in.
- After just 12 games, we appear to be back to running Thad Young at the 4. Proving that we've learned nothing over the last couple years... also forcing Iguodala to move away from the 2.
- Says that the Princeton offense should be in place by Thanksgiving. Lets hope for a miracle in tomorrow's game vs. Washington. Something tells me Gilbert, Haywood, Butler, Jamison, Young, etc. get up for this one. Many of them have provided personal testimonials about EJ since he's departed..... they weren't positive.
Suffice it to say, I'm not too thrilled with Eddie Jordan's decisions thus far. I certainly don't think he's maximizing our ability defend... in fact, I honestly don't think he gives a damn about that side of the ball. We weren't a great defensive team before he got here, but we did have some cohesion and we knew how to get stops. We've regressed tremendously on defense, usually allowing the opposing team to capitalize on the most high percentage look they can find. We have the personnel to be better on this end... as shown over the last 2 years.
Offensively, we haven't shown a hint of this read and react motion offense yet. Someone made a good point on realgm the other day.... the last backdoor cut we saw this team execute was finished by Andre Miller. I'm not sure how Jordan can say that we should see the Princeton offense being executed by Thanksgiving when he's still yet to even figure out a rotation. I know we've had one of the most embarrassing coaching carousels over recent years, but Eddie Jordan appears to be in a class all by himself. My confidence level is really reaching an all time low with him at the helm. I said after the blowout loss to Utah that I didn't think this team would see .500 again this season... looking at where we are 13 games in and factoring in our upcoming schedule, its looking more and more like that's going to be the case.
