Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

Under normal circumstances, you would have expected the Sixers to travel to New Orleans and face difficult odds in winning against the Hornets. However, since the Hornets were without their frontcourt line of Tyson Chandler and David West, one reasonably could have expected the Sixers' odds of winning to increase drastically if they could outrebound (doable), outrun (easy), out-defend (hard) the Hornets. As the game started, the Sixers were indeed controlling the glass and getting into their fastbreak offense. This gave them an early edge due to New Orleans having a poor transition defense. The problem in the beginning was controlling Chris Paul. He was getting past Miller and finding open teammates with ease. On top of that, he was stealing almost every other pass from the Sixers. The first half ended with the Sixers indeed succeeding at two of the three aforementioned keys and the notion turned toward that the Sixers should win the game. Not so fast...

The Sixers must have forgotten what helped them succeed in the first half because they quickly lost it in the second. They still managed to shoot the ball better overall than the Hornets as well as pull down more rebounds. The rebounds and the high amount of points in the paint was directly attributable to the Hornets missing frontline. Chris Paul still was a menace and continued to pick off passes left and right. Not only that but Peja Stojakovic decided to drain an insane amount of 3-pointers over the span of 5 minutes that provided the knockout punch. The Sixers still got on the fastbreak but only came in around their average against a team susceptible to that attack. As for the out-defending key? The Sixers finished with 21 turnovers (many were steals) and failed to guard the 3-point line. All that equated to what appeared in the box score as a lopsided loss.

Why I Love New York...

Caught your attention with that one didn't I? The one reason I will admit to liking New York is simple: the Knicks are so good at giving the Sixers victories I just have to be thankful. Last night the Sixers knocked them off for the third time this season and for the 12th time in the last 14 matchups. That's called domination in most circles. Before I get too cocky about a team that is indeed .500, I will stop there. But overall, last night at the game was a great atmosphere. It was Phillies night and many people probably showed up to also see the World Series trophy but wound up seeing a great time between rivals. Hopefully that will spur more people into coming out to games the rest of the season. It definitely makes it all the more enjoyable. McNabb was in attendance as well and got a nice ovation (I credit the small amount of boos to the New Yorkers in attendance since the home crowd outlasted them). Another note was that it was disappointing to not see Cole Hamels there since he was expected to be but still cool to see Brad Lidge, Shane Victorino, and Ryan Madson compete in a 3-point shootout (took a while for Lidge to hit the rim, maybe he should stick to closing ha).

Overall, it was a nice finish and the defense was there when needed. Great steal and alley-oop to Dalembert, who played a very nice game, to basically clinch it. Elton Brand looked good in his return and it will be great to get him more and more minutes in this lineup. Tough to say if he'll start Monday in New Orleans (doubtful) but it will be good to have him for a very challenging game. The team definitely has an identity now and is playing good basketball. If they can stay tough on defense and rebounding, things should keep going their way. They did let up a lot of first-half points but the Knicks are known for shooting a lot of 3-pointers. Anyway, good game, good crowd, and most importantly...good win.

Break The Superstitions, The Streak Is Over

As the Sixers kept racking up wins, I thought I needed to settle into superstitions to keep the streak alive. I wore my retro Chamberlain jersey to basically every home game in that run. I even stopped posting since I didn't want to wreck anything (ok, truthfully I took a few days off to catch Metallica in a couple cities...they rocked as always). Alas, all good things must come to an end. Actually, I'll take the blame personally because I did not attend the game due to it being at 1pm on a day not everyone gets off from work. In a way, it mirrored the Eagles game the day before but the Sixers left you with a vastly different feeling. Them coming back and tying up that game was important. It was important for the psyche of a relatively young team who is developing. It was important for Iguodala to step up and carry them on his back when it mattered most. Those are the lessons that can be taken from this loss. Now, Brand should return on Saturday and we will see if he can fit into the system they are clearly subscribing to as of late. Can he give the same commitment to defense? I feel good about that. Can he contribute positively to the offense? Two factors here: he needs to trail the fastbreak and allow to be the spot up shooter from mid-range should they not convert and he needs to be ready to set up in the halfcourt game down low if need be. Maybe the most important issue is can the rest of the team continue how they have been playing even when he returns? This means they cannot dip into the mentality of relying on Brand for more than they should. They all need to keep that hunger. They also cannot stunt the fastbreak and decide they will now consciously involve him on every play. No, take it to the basket just the same. Brand is a bonus to add back into the mix right now. The Sixers are 20-21 at the midway point of the year. They need to continue the good play and make their run from here on out. And oh yeah, try to score 100 points each game because they are 14-3 when that happens.

Efficient Offense Study

I was reading this article today by John Schuhmann which broke down the characteristics of 5 of the top offenses in the league and what they do that is successful. Throughout it, I was realizing what ails the Sixers and it's interesting to see what he says at the end about them. We have all heard how the Sixers are the best fastbreak team in the league and also that they score a lot in the paint. Why hasn't this translated to more success? How can you be tops in the league in a certain offensive stat but still 3 games below .500?

He offers that two of the largest contributors to an efficient offense are ability to get to the free throw line as well as 3-pointers attempted. The first makes sense because it gives you easier shots with the clock stopped, all while racking up fouls on the opponent. The Sixers aren't as bad as one would think in getting to the line (13th - keep in mind there are 30 NBA teams), however, they are 27th in terms of free-throw percentage, which obviously means they are not taking proper advantage of their trips to the line.

Second, we all know the Sixers are not a 3-point shooting team, despite their recent efforts to the contrary, but how poorly can that hurt them if they are tops in fastbreak and do well in the paint? Apparently more than one thinks. He noted that it is one of the strongest contributors to an efficient offense. Unfortunately the Sixers rank 29th in 3-pointers attempted. Also, it's not like they are missing out on much because they are also 29th in percentage made. Perhaps this is why DiLeo is imploring them to take more three's and challenging them to make at least five per game. My guess is that he sees the positive in this as being the fact that the more you make, the more the entire floor begins to open up and you keep defenses honest. There is also that part about scoring an extra point. True, the Sixers need consistency from outside in order to threaten anyone but taking more when they are available is a good start.

Finally, one clear detractor from offensive efficiency is turnovers. Nothing kills your point-per-possession stat like giving the ball away. I've noted before how the Sixers turn the ball over too much, therefore giving away easy points in transition and allowing the other team to have more possessions throughout the course of the game. I would not say that they have cut down their number overall as they still have 15.7 per game (26th in the league) but at least they are forcing close to as many (15.5, 6th in the league) and masking that problem somewhat.

The main idea here is that the Sixers have a nice strength with their athletic ability and fastbreak scoring, but they are failing in many other key areas on offense that have an equal to greater impact throughout the course of the game. Thus the tales of a 17-20 team...

Don't Stop Now...

The Sixers knocked off the Hawks today in Atlanta for a very nice win. That win is their 4th in a row and is the clear result of them playing overall better basketball. They seem to be clicking more on offense and guys are getting the ball in places they need it. Not only that, they are also getting into their fastbreak more and it's helped them immensely. Credit Iguodala and Speights with really improving their overall play lately and contributing in many facets. It will be interesting to see how Brand works into the mix when he returns. Of course, we are all hoping he doesn't disturb a good thing but rather adds to it. I'd have to say that is a nice problem to have...finding a way to have Elton Brand effectively rejoin your lineup.

Portland on Wednesday. They are a nice team out West and I'm looking forward to seeing Oden face the Sixers for the first time. The key will be Iguodala containing Brandon Roy.

In Response To Being Called Out...

...the Sixers turned in quite a performance last night against a very good Rockets team. They rebounded effectively even though they were outmatched in the frontcourt and they were able to jumpstart their fastbreak very well. I especially liked the play of Young and Speights who were effective on follow ups and spreading the floor to stretch the defense and allow the rim to be attacked by Miller and Iguodala. Also, Willie Green had a very quiet yet appreciated 14 points in his starter's role. I'm wondering more and more if Iguodala at the SF is indeed the better move. I wanted him to settle in at SG in order to keep Young on the floor at SF but maybe they found the solution for now. I guess time will tell when Brand returns and what matchups are dictated by our opponents.

Overall, Iguodala's play has been steadily improving and, while he still is forcing some shots, I'm liking his improvement on finishing at the rim. He is finding the balance between power moves/drives to the basket and the finesse to finish the shot. Nice win and it becomes even better if they can win in Milwaukee tonight. Otherwise it's just a 1-1 mark which does nothing.

On the topic of what else I should talk about, it is interesting to see some of the voting results. My hobbies and gymnastics are winning ha. Don't think for one minute that I'm not qualified to discuss the wonderful sport of gymnastics....or that I would dread it. As for hobbies, well you'll just have to see all the awesome things I do with my time if that wins out.

Why No Posts You Ask?

Because I'm protesting the team's play and refusing to acknowledge it is NBA-caliber for right now. Please vote on what my next topic of discussion should focus around until the Sixers seem once again worthy of our time.