What A Game!

What a great game last night. More people should have been there to witness it but for those of us who were, it was great. The announced attendance was 11,483 which means that there were about 9,000 more fans that could have witnessed something fun and special. It did not, however, start out all that special . The Sixers were losing by 18 at half and were only shooting 30%. Apparently a rousing halftime speech (i.e. tirade) by Cheeks got through to the team. They did go down at one point by 25 in the 3rd but then Lou Williams entered the game....

I know many people saw what Lou did in the summer leagues and had some seriously guarded optimism. Could he maintain that level of play? Many early season indications are that he can indeed play at a high level in the NBA and it's exciting to see the pick start to pan out. He has come into some games already this year and given a great boost to the team when they've needed it. He came in and was hitting shots, getting steals, dishing assists, and just being a playmaker in general. The crowd was really responding well to his play too. He finished the game at +15 (gotta love the new +/- stats!).

It was a strange night in general because Dalembert got in early foul trouble and couldn't stay on the floor and the Sixers were already without Korver. Miller was replaced by Williams and it was interesting to see the lineup of Williams, Ollie, Young, Smith, and Iguodala making it happen. Check out that average age when you take away Ollie. At one point in the 4th I got a text from my buddy stating, "Win or lose, gotta love the heart of the young guys". He was right, it was great to see them step up and give the effort and play as a team and get rewarded for it. You cannot get down on this team and demand to much from them, nor can you wish them to tank for picks. You want them to progress and develop and last night was a great step for a lot of guys and the team psyche as a whole. I especially loved the defense they started playing and the discipline they exhibited to shift with the passing and not take stupid fouls. After LaMarcus Aldridge posted up a few times on Smith, Cheeks reinserted Dalembert who did a wonderful job of denying Aldridge on the next possession. Kudos to Iguodala for stepping up and hitting not only the go ahead free throws but also the jumper with about 30 seconds to go that put them up 3. Great postgame vibe and it was neat to see Iguodala giving the fans who were there some love by heading into the stands. Definitely will be one of the more memorable games this season.