Pregame- I’ve been thinking lately that maybe its time for Iggy to take 18 shots or so a game. I’d like to see if he can ever be a 22 points per game player on offense. So let’s up the usage rate and see what happens, although I will admit that Iggy has struggled in the past when he forces his offense. Also, I’d like to see Elton Brand maybe play less in the second and third quarters, because he isn’t a factor late in games. Elton seems to score 8-10 points every first quarter, yet he rarely gets to 20. Maybe I’ll look at the numbers this week on an off day, rather than just talking anecdotally.
First Quarter
12:00- Ugh, four quick points for Robin Lopez, two of them off the offensive glass. No changes to the starting line-up, btw.
11:00- Um, not that shot Iggy. That was a 20-foot brick early in the possession, shoot more, but smart, please.
10:00- Brand in rhythm early, as usual.
9:00- A Channing Frye three-pointer makes it 11-4 Phoenix with just three minutes gone by.
8:00- Nash drives, draws attention, kicks it to a wide open Grant Hill who dribbles closer then knocks down a mid-range jumper. We should be learning, we shoot too many long twos. When the Sixers are open they often just catch and shoot, if they’d just dribble two steps closer, they’d get much easier shots.
7:00- Iggy 0 for 3 early, making me glad I didn’t write that full article about Iggy and usage rates and him needing to shoot more.
6:00- Iggy finds Jodie wide open for a three-pointer. The shot misses, but it was a great job by Iggy to draw defenders and then find the open man.
5:00- Brand with 8 so far. I’m afraid he’s going to finish with just 16. Speaking of 16, Mo Speights has been in for a few minutes now.
4:00- Out of the first TV timeout with Iggy, Jrue, ET, Thad, and Mo on the floor and the Sixers down 19-12. Ok, make that 19-14 after an ET jumper.
3:00- Jrue to the rim for 2, cuts the lead to 19-18. I love when we play poor defensive teams, this will be a fun game to watch.
2:00- ET with a pull-up J at the foul line, making him 2 for 2 early. I wonder if Hawes is going to score tonight.
1:00- TV timeout after ET puts Jared Dudley on the floor. We are back and Lou Williams enters the game just in time to miss a shot during the final possession of the quarter.
End of the 1st- Another assist for ET, his second. Lou hit’s a quick jumper to get the Sixers the final possession, and so he can shoot a long two. WOW! ET with the final shot, a fade away from the foul line with Vince Carter covering him tightly. That would be an airball, why isn’t Lou shooting there?
Second Quarter
12:00- Nocioni scores for the first time since 1/8 in Detroit. Nocioni, ET, Lou, Thad, and Mo make up the current group on the floor.
11:00- ET with a miss, I hope he keeps on shooting. A Thad Young steal ends with a Mo Speights putback.
10:00- Elton Brand back in, and he puts the thump on Dudley. Elton is the toughest dude we have by far.
9:00- ET with another jumper for 2. Nice shot, but maybe you could move in a step before firing that long a two-point shot.
8:00- Elton with a very tough inside basket, and the foul. FT will follow the commercial, technical foul on Alvin Gentry. So the Sixers may get a FOUR POINT PLAY!
7:00- Thad carves his way through the defense, and puts the Sixers up 10. That seems high, is it really 10? I feel like that number snuck up on me.
6:00- Well the lead is quickly down to 5.
5:00- Wow! Nash just drilled a 38-foot jumper with 1 second left on the shot clock. So nonchalant.
4:00- ET gets aggressive and gets in close before shooting the jumper. A ton of minutes for ET so far.
3:00- Jrue steal and lay-up. ET with a board, passes to Iggy who gives Thad a beautiful lob for the oop. Big dunk there. Thad Young steals the ball and he just misses returning the favor and lobbing to Iggy. Iggy to the line after that one.
2:00- ET continues to smother Grant Hill on defense, he got at least one block on that sequence. Btw, Brand now has 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting.
1:00- Back from the break and ET, Lou, Jrue, Iggy and Thad are out there for a tiny line-up. So Thad Young is playing Center. Thad with back-to-back scores, I think we can say Thad is now the team’s most productive center tonight by far!
End of 2nd- Lou connects on a lob to Thad, Gortat answers with a jumper over the shorter Thad Young at the horn, so we go to the break with the Sixers up 61-47. Great first half for the Sixers. ET scored 10, Thad had 14, Elton with 13 , and Lou has 8.
Halftime- Yay! Brian James and his rotating head. We need more of that play for sure. The Sixers looked awesome that half. If things tighten up, I’d like to see Iguodala step up.
3rd Quarter
12:00- Hawes sitting to start the half. Thad still at center?
11:00- That 14 point lead has dwindled to 9 pretty quickly.
10:00- Brand (our center) with a bucket, a board, and another bucket. 17 points for Brand.
9:00- Thad with a fancy bounce pass to Iggy for a vicious slam. Brand has 19 now, can he break 20 and make a jerk out of me?
8:00- The Sixers look really good, they’re playing stingy, aggressive defense, running when they can, and hitting open jumpers. I’ll apologize in advance for jinxing the team, sorry everybody.
7:00- The Suns have Frye at center vs. Brand, the Sixers should post Brand up often. Steal by Jrue who alley oops to Iggy,l spectacular two hand finish by Iguodala.
6:00- Another steal by Jrue, that makes 5 now in all. Jrue finds Meeks who misses a three, and eventually ends up at the foul line an offensive rebound and a scrum. ET back in. Jrue with steal number six, and takes it coast to coast for two.
5:00- Suns break out the zone defense. Two consecutive turnovers for the Sixers, I’m not sure that Phoenix is to blame for that, however.
4:00- Lou Williams for 3! Jrue just misses his 7th steal, but even without the steal Jrue disrupted that Suns’ possession.
3:00- Why aren’t we attacking the Suns down low? ET hit’s a jumper and now has 12.
2:00- It looks like Collins might have decided to rest Iggy and his Achilles tendon. Foul on Jared Dudley, and in comes Iggy, that’s funny.
1:00- 7th steal for Jrue (not actually a steal, I have learned), an assist to Brand. And the foul! 22 points for Elton!
End of 3rd- Sixers don’t foul despite having one to give, and Nash drains a 3 at the buzzer. Still, the Sixers head into the 4th quarer up 87-70
12:00- Lou Williams joins the defensive effort by bodying up the bigger Josh Childress, and Lou blocks Childress’ shot!
11:00- Lou gets full body blocked by Dudley as Lou is shooting, but no whistle.
10:00- Dragic scores, we have to keep him from reliving his legendary game from last year against the Spurs when he put up 23 in the 4th quarter alone. That may have been a foul on ET that did not get a call, I guess the refs are done calling fouls.
9:00- ET drives to the basket, gets 2 men to close in on him, and he finds Thad Young for an easy dunk. That was simple and effective.
8:00- Jrue with a lob to Iguodala for yet another dunk! This has been a highlight reel game for sure.
7:00- Meeks hits a 3, negating the effectiveness of the Phoenix zone. Smart play by Sixers, plus they actually executed the play.
6:00- Traveling called on Dragic. That’s the third or fourth traveling violation called on players tonight in that exact moment. They catch the ball at the three point line, but before they can even dribble they draw the whistle.
5:00- ET misses a three, and you could hear an audible sigh from the crowd when he did. Despite his early struggles, the crowd is firmly behind ET.
4:00- Thad still playing “center” playing with Lou, ET, Jodie, and Iguodala.
3:00- Thad still scoring, he’s up to 24 now.
2:00- Mo Speights is back in, ending Thad’s night after a brilliant game.
1:00- Mo Speights hip checks Dragic trying to screen him. We’ll figure out how to set those eventually.
End of the 4th- 11-0 run by Phoenix cuts the lead to 10. Collins with a timeout, and we go to commercial as Doug shouts at the team.
What a game for the Sixers, highlight dunks, tenacious defense, and a blowout win. Just look at some of the number the guys put up tonight:
Thad: 24 points on 11 for 17 shooting, 7 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals and a +27.
ET: 14 points on 6-10 shooting, 8 boards, and 5 assists.
Brand: 22 points on 10 of 15 shooting and 9 rebounds.
Jrue: 8 points on 4 of 9 shooting, 8 assists and 6 steals.
Lou: 14 points, 5 of 9 shooting, and 6 assists
Great game, I’ll see you tomorrow with something about either Brand’s scoring by quarter, or Iggy’s usage rate. See you guys Wednesday.
First Quarter
12:00- Ugh, four quick points for Robin Lopez, two of them off the offensive glass. No changes to the starting line-up, btw.
11:00- Um, not that shot Iggy. That was a 20-foot brick early in the possession, shoot more, but smart, please.
10:00- Brand in rhythm early, as usual.
9:00- A Channing Frye three-pointer makes it 11-4 Phoenix with just three minutes gone by.
8:00- Nash drives, draws attention, kicks it to a wide open Grant Hill who dribbles closer then knocks down a mid-range jumper. We should be learning, we shoot too many long twos. When the Sixers are open they often just catch and shoot, if they’d just dribble two steps closer, they’d get much easier shots.
7:00- Iggy 0 for 3 early, making me glad I didn’t write that full article about Iggy and usage rates and him needing to shoot more.
6:00- Iggy finds Jodie wide open for a three-pointer. The shot misses, but it was a great job by Iggy to draw defenders and then find the open man.
5:00- Brand with 8 so far. I’m afraid he’s going to finish with just 16. Speaking of 16, Mo Speights has been in for a few minutes now.
4:00- Out of the first TV timeout with Iggy, Jrue, ET, Thad, and Mo on the floor and the Sixers down 19-12. Ok, make that 19-14 after an ET jumper.
3:00- Jrue to the rim for 2, cuts the lead to 19-18. I love when we play poor defensive teams, this will be a fun game to watch.
2:00- ET with a pull-up J at the foul line, making him 2 for 2 early. I wonder if Hawes is going to score tonight.
1:00- TV timeout after ET puts Jared Dudley on the floor. We are back and Lou Williams enters the game just in time to miss a shot during the final possession of the quarter.
End of the 1st- Another assist for ET, his second. Lou hit’s a quick jumper to get the Sixers the final possession, and so he can shoot a long two. WOW! ET with the final shot, a fade away from the foul line with Vince Carter covering him tightly. That would be an airball, why isn’t Lou shooting there?
Second Quarter
12:00- Nocioni scores for the first time since 1/8 in Detroit. Nocioni, ET, Lou, Thad, and Mo make up the current group on the floor.
11:00- ET with a miss, I hope he keeps on shooting. A Thad Young steal ends with a Mo Speights putback.
10:00- Elton Brand back in, and he puts the thump on Dudley. Elton is the toughest dude we have by far.
9:00- ET with another jumper for 2. Nice shot, but maybe you could move in a step before firing that long a two-point shot.
8:00- Elton with a very tough inside basket, and the foul. FT will follow the commercial, technical foul on Alvin Gentry. So the Sixers may get a FOUR POINT PLAY!
7:00- Thad carves his way through the defense, and puts the Sixers up 10. That seems high, is it really 10? I feel like that number snuck up on me.
6:00- Well the lead is quickly down to 5.
5:00- Wow! Nash just drilled a 38-foot jumper with 1 second left on the shot clock. So nonchalant.
4:00- ET gets aggressive and gets in close before shooting the jumper. A ton of minutes for ET so far.
3:00- Jrue steal and lay-up. ET with a board, passes to Iggy who gives Thad a beautiful lob for the oop. Big dunk there. Thad Young steals the ball and he just misses returning the favor and lobbing to Iggy. Iggy to the line after that one.
2:00- ET continues to smother Grant Hill on defense, he got at least one block on that sequence. Btw, Brand now has 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting.
1:00- Back from the break and ET, Lou, Jrue, Iggy and Thad are out there for a tiny line-up. So Thad Young is playing Center. Thad with back-to-back scores, I think we can say Thad is now the team’s most productive center tonight by far!
End of 2nd- Lou connects on a lob to Thad, Gortat answers with a jumper over the shorter Thad Young at the horn, so we go to the break with the Sixers up 61-47. Great first half for the Sixers. ET scored 10, Thad had 14, Elton with 13 , and Lou has 8.
Halftime- Yay! Brian James and his rotating head. We need more of that play for sure. The Sixers looked awesome that half. If things tighten up, I’d like to see Iguodala step up.
3rd Quarter
12:00- Hawes sitting to start the half. Thad still at center?
11:00- That 14 point lead has dwindled to 9 pretty quickly.
10:00- Brand (our center) with a bucket, a board, and another bucket. 17 points for Brand.
9:00- Thad with a fancy bounce pass to Iggy for a vicious slam. Brand has 19 now, can he break 20 and make a jerk out of me?
8:00- The Sixers look really good, they’re playing stingy, aggressive defense, running when they can, and hitting open jumpers. I’ll apologize in advance for jinxing the team, sorry everybody.
7:00- The Suns have Frye at center vs. Brand, the Sixers should post Brand up often. Steal by Jrue who alley oops to Iggy,l spectacular two hand finish by Iguodala.
6:00- Another steal by Jrue, that makes 5 now in all. Jrue finds Meeks who misses a three, and eventually ends up at the foul line an offensive rebound and a scrum. ET back in. Jrue with steal number six, and takes it coast to coast for two.
5:00- Suns break out the zone defense. Two consecutive turnovers for the Sixers, I’m not sure that Phoenix is to blame for that, however.
4:00- Lou Williams for 3! Jrue just misses his 7th steal, but even without the steal Jrue disrupted that Suns’ possession.
3:00- Why aren’t we attacking the Suns down low? ET hit’s a jumper and now has 12.
2:00- It looks like Collins might have decided to rest Iggy and his Achilles tendon. Foul on Jared Dudley, and in comes Iggy, that’s funny.
1:00- 7th steal for Jrue (not actually a steal, I have learned), an assist to Brand. And the foul! 22 points for Elton!
End of 3rd- Sixers don’t foul despite having one to give, and Nash drains a 3 at the buzzer. Still, the Sixers head into the 4th quarer up 87-70
12:00- Lou Williams joins the defensive effort by bodying up the bigger Josh Childress, and Lou blocks Childress’ shot!
11:00- Lou gets full body blocked by Dudley as Lou is shooting, but no whistle.
10:00- Dragic scores, we have to keep him from reliving his legendary game from last year against the Spurs when he put up 23 in the 4th quarter alone. That may have been a foul on ET that did not get a call, I guess the refs are done calling fouls.
9:00- ET drives to the basket, gets 2 men to close in on him, and he finds Thad Young for an easy dunk. That was simple and effective.
8:00- Jrue with a lob to Iguodala for yet another dunk! This has been a highlight reel game for sure.
7:00- Meeks hits a 3, negating the effectiveness of the Phoenix zone. Smart play by Sixers, plus they actually executed the play.
6:00- Traveling called on Dragic. That’s the third or fourth traveling violation called on players tonight in that exact moment. They catch the ball at the three point line, but before they can even dribble they draw the whistle.
5:00- ET misses a three, and you could hear an audible sigh from the crowd when he did. Despite his early struggles, the crowd is firmly behind ET.
4:00- Thad still playing “center” playing with Lou, ET, Jodie, and Iguodala.
3:00- Thad still scoring, he’s up to 24 now.
2:00- Mo Speights is back in, ending Thad’s night after a brilliant game.
1:00- Mo Speights hip checks Dragic trying to screen him. We’ll figure out how to set those eventually.
End of the 4th- 11-0 run by Phoenix cuts the lead to 10. Collins with a timeout, and we go to commercial as Doug shouts at the team.
What a game for the Sixers, highlight dunks, tenacious defense, and a blowout win. Just look at some of the number the guys put up tonight:
Thad: 24 points on 11 for 17 shooting, 7 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals and a +27.
ET: 14 points on 6-10 shooting, 8 boards, and 5 assists.
Brand: 22 points on 10 of 15 shooting and 9 rebounds.
Jrue: 8 points on 4 of 9 shooting, 8 assists and 6 steals.
Lou: 14 points, 5 of 9 shooting, and 6 assists
Great game, I’ll see you tomorrow with something about either Brand’s scoring by quarter, or Iggy’s usage rate. See you guys Wednesday.
0 comments:
Post a Comment