Depressed Fan

Meeks For The Three-Point Shootout?

2012-02-10T06:04:28Z

Now that the Sixers have their representatives in both the JV game (Evan Turner) and the main event (Andre Iguodala) for All-Star weekend, let's take a look at whether Jodie Meeks deserves an invite to the three-point shootout.

Just from looking at the leader board, Meeks might have a case. He's seventh in the league in made threes (52), and 18th in percentage (44.1%). Only Mario Chalmers has made as many threes as Meeks at a higher percentage (46.4%). Those numbers bode well, but there are a couple of guys who are shooting and making a ton. Ryan Anderson leads the league in makes by 15, and he's shooting 43% from downtown. Ray Allen should probably have a standing invite, he's hitting at a ridiculous 54%. I saw word on Twitter earlier that Kevin Love would compete (which will take a slot away from one of the great shooters in the league).

There are six shooters invited. Figure one spot for Love, if that rumor is legit. Ryan Anderson has to get an invite. So you've got four spots for guys like Ray Allen, Anthony Morrow (59 makes, 44%), maybe Chalmers, Kyle Korver (50 makes, 43.9%), Durant probably has a standing invitation, and last year's winner James Jones could get the nod to defend his title (Jones is shooting it well, but barely playing. Chalmers and Mike Miller probably deserve it over him.)

You can definitely make the case that Meeks deserves an invite, which leads nicely into the next question. How would he do in the competition? Meeks is absolutely deadly with his feet set and his shoulders squared to the hoop. That's the good news. The bad news is that he elevates quite a bit on his shot. It's repeatable, but when you're taking 25 shots in quick succession like that, the legs typically give out before the arms and it becomes harder to reproduce your form. The guys who shoot more flat-footed typically fare better in this competition. Think Larry Bird, his shot was a flick of the wrist. Very little body movement at all.

Here's to hoping Meeks gets the nod and represents Philly well, but I wouldn't expect him to bring home the cup (or whatever the reward is).

Thus concludes our morning interlude. We'll get back to meaningful hoops talk a little later with a full preview of tonight's matchup with the Clippers of Los Angeles. In the mean time, what do you think? Should Meeks get the invite? If he does, do you think he has a shot? Do you care either way? Thoughts in the comments, as usual.

Andre Iguodala, All Star

2012-02-10T00:09:20Z

It's probably long overdue, but our very own Andre Iguodala has finally made the All Star team. It's great for AI9 to get the recognition, and I think it should be mandated that when the Inquirer refers to him from now on they should replace "grossly overpaid" with "All Star." Congrats to @mindofai9.

For those of you in the "Iguodala is overpaid" camp, here's a look at the salaries of all this year's All Stars (* means the player is still on his rookie contract):

Player	Salary
Kobe Bryant	$25,244,493
Dirk Nowitzki	$19,092,873
Carmelo Anthony	$18,518,575
Dwight Howard	$18,091,770
Joe Johnson	$18,038,573
Chris Paul	$16,359,805
Deron Williams	$16,359,805
Chris Bosh	$16,022,500
LeBron James	$16,022,500
Dwyane Wade	$15,691,000
Kevin Durant	$15,506,632
Paul Pierce	$15,333,334
Andrew Bynum	$14,900,000
Andre Iguodala	$13,531,750
LaMarcus Aldridge	$12,872,000
Tony Parker	$12,500,000
Luol Deng	$12,325,000
Steve Nash	$11,689,062
Derrick Rose*	$6,993,708
Blake Griffin*	$5,731,080
Russell Westbrook*	$5,082,416
Kevin Love*	$4,609,701
Roy Hibbert*	$2,588,590

A reader named Jay took the next step with the table above and broke down the All Stars by cost per win share and PER. The math probably works better with win shares, because it's cumulative, but you get the point:

Sixer(s) To The All Star Game?

2012-02-09T21:25:11Z

It's been a long, long time since the Sixers both had players deserving of being selected to the All Star team, and a good enough record for the team to be noticed around the league. This year, they've got both. The teams will be announced in a few short hours, get your prediction in early.

Personally, I think the Sixers should get two representatives. Iguodala definitely, and then you can't go wrong choosing between Lou, Thad and Jrue. Jrue would have to make it for his defensive contributions (voting was done before last night's Tony Parker fiasco). Thad and Lou have each played their roles to perfection, so flip a coin. Lou gives the team the offensive lift it needs in important moments. Thad changes the game with his athleticism, hustle and uber-efficient scoring.

Vote your Sixer(s) in the poll below, then make your prediction in the comments as to who the coaches around the league will choose, if anyone:

The announcement will be made prior to the Lakers/Celts game tonight at 8pm on TNT. I'll be here during the announcement and for immediate reactions thereafter.

Parker-And-Roll Too Much For Sixers

2012-02-09T06:33:27Z

For the second consecutive game, a stout Western Conference opponent found a way to exploit the hidden underbelly of the Sixers defense. The Spurs didn't expose the Sixer bigs on the glass, instead they put their cement feet on display for all to see by running pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll. Jrue didn't even resemble the PG who's been shutting down opponents with regularity as he tried to go under, over and around a series of picks from big men on nearly every possession and failed more often than not while his bigs proved to be more of hindrance than a help. (game capsule).

Here's your rotation chart. One solid run in the second, very little of note the rest of the game:

Well, let's start by saying Jrue doesn't get off the hook because the bigs were so bad. He was part of the problem as well. He had a really tough assignment, and he didn't answer the call. He needs to be better prepared to deal with multiple picks, and he needs to realize that just because he plays the first one well (if he does, in fact, play the first one well) that doesn't mean the play is over.

The Spurs caught the Sixers off guard for most of the first half. Their plan was to attack the Sixers defense before it was completely set, before they could get their bearings, identify their help and rotation responsibilities. They'd get back on defense, turn around and the Spurs would already be attacking. It took the better part of the first 24 minutes for them to figure that out, but it still didn't solve the problem. The Spurs went early pretty much the entire game, later it allowed them to run one P&R and if it failed, the big would simply retreat to about the foul line and run it again. Tony Parker was pretty much flawless in his execution. The only success the Sixers had against the P&R was when Jrue went under the screen and gave Parker a wide-open long two. Parker missed every one of those, but he wisely didn't settle for too many.

This was, by far, the worst game of the year for Vucevic. He was downright exposed in pretty much every imaginable way. A complete disappointment. He's a rookie. Games like this are going to happen. The telling thing will be how he bounces back on Friday. Lavoy gave great effort, especially on the glass, but he also missed a bunch of assignments and got pushed around a little by Splitter.

Coming into the game, you had to give the edge to the Sixers bench. Lou and Thad both produced, but they were matched by Tiago Splitter and Gary Neal. The bench matchup wound up being pretty much a wash. The starters lost to Parker.

On the offensive end, the Sixers ran into a team that plays much like they do. Popovich's system is all about enticing opponents to take lower-percentage looks, and being just close enough to bother them a little bit. Whenever the Sixers fell into the trap, they went into offensive ruts. When they probed the defense and penetrated, they had success. Jrue had a great first half getting into the lane and setting his teammates up, for some reason it didn't happen in the second half. Iguodala got to the rim a bunch of times. Lou got in there, but couldn't get the whistles even when he seemed to draw contact. The Sixers only turned the ball over 10 times, which is a good game by anyone's standards, but they were -4 to the Spurs who only coughed it up six times.

The crazy thing about this game, and the testament to the Sixers fortitude, is that they spent the the first 39 minutes or so being thoroughly out-played by the Spurs and found themselves down by 12 points with 9:37 to go, then they came back and they had a legitimate shot of taking control of the game. After Lou set up Turner and Thad with jumpers, he missed one of his own. Lavoy grabbed the offensive board, the ball swung around the perimeter to Turner who drove baseline, found Jrue in the weak-side corner for an open three that he drained to cut the deficit to 5. All they needed was a stop on the other end. With Tony Parker on the bench, Gary Neal was running the point. The Spurs came down the floor and Matt Bonner came way out on the floor to set a screen for Neal (a moving screen, but that's beside the point). Jrue did his best to avoid the Bonner screen and Neal dribbled toward the sideline. Tiago Splitter immediately came up from the blocks to set a second screen, this time maybe two feet inside the three-point line. The best way to play Parker on the P&R was to go under. The same is not the case with Neal, who had already hit three bombs in the game. Jrue went under and kind of hesitated, waiting to see which side Neal would emerge on. Instead of meeting Jrue on the other side of the screen, Neal took one dribble, set his feet and drained a three to push the lead back to 8. That was the game. The Sixers cut into the lead a couple of times, but that was their chance. At a minimum, Jrue should've fought over the screen to take the three away from Neal. Ideally, they would've blitzed the screen and trapped Neal because he was so far out on the floor, the rest of the defense would've had enough time to rotate to Splitter if he rolled to the hoop. Everything broke down on that play and the Sixers last, best chance was squandered in the blink of an eye.

Player of The Game: Elton Brand. EB had a ton of boards, played some solid D on Duncan, but more importantly, he came into this game with the attitude that the atrocity on the glass that happened in the Lakers game would not happen on his watch. He was the only big with a pulse tonight, too bad the younger guys didn't really pick up on his cue. Iguodala had a good all around game, scoring 17 on 12 shots, and he basically shut Richard Jefferson out until a certain female ref gave him a charity bailout foul call late in the game and he split a pair of freebies. I wish they would've run more offense through Thad, especially during droughts. He finished 8/11 for 16 points with 7 boards and 4 dimes. Jrue's assists-to-turnover ratio over the past six games is now 32:6. Lou did his best to bring the Sixers back with another fourth-quarter spurt, but he stalled when he didn't get a couple of calls, and even picked up a tech.
Team Record: 18-8
Up Next: vs. LAC, Friday night.
Absurdity of the night: Violet Palmer's "don't mess with me" call on Turner at the end of the first half. Possibly the most blatant abuse of power by a referee I've ever seen. She completely blew the call on the previous trip down the floor, then punished the Sixers for calling her on it. Professionalism personified. I don't blame the loss on the refs, the Sixers lost the game on their own, but it disgusts me to see refs act like that. It's one thing to be a bad ref (which she surely is), but using the whistle to make a point, that really bothers me.

Game 26 Thread: PHI vs. SAS

2012-02-08T22:17:30Z

Tonight should be a nice test for the Sixers. The Spurs strike me as a team in transition. They've still got their three (two, tonight) stars, but they can't be centered around Tim Duncan anymore. Tony Parker has stepped up to be the focal point of the team, but they're really getting wins on the back of their depth and energy. The Sixers don't have the star(s) and they've made a living beating shallow teams. Will the Sixers' bench be able to overpower a well-coached team that goes nine or ten deep?

Jrue vs. Parker is the main matchup to watch. They pretty much split their games last year, with Parker owning Jrue in San Antonio, and Jrue returning the favor in Philly. I'd like to see the Sixers attack Bonner with Thad as soon as he sets foot on the floor. I hate facing stretch fours, and the best way to neutralize them is to punish them on the other end to the point where Popovich has no choice but to sit Bonner.

No open corner threes, put a body on someone whenever a shot goes up. Bring 48 minutes of energy and take care of the ball. Simple formula, now put in the work.

The tip is at 7pm. This is your game thread. I'll be right here throughout, counting the Sixers turnovers (hopefully on one hand), join me if you're up for another home W.

Prediction: PHI 92, SAS 81. I believe the Sixers are 3.5 point favorites, I think they win by more than that.

Spurs Present Another Challenge

2012-02-08T15:18:43Z

Another Western Conference powerhouse heads into the WFC tonight. The Spurs, much like the Lakers, have been dreadful on the road, but also like the Lakers, they have a bevy of big men who will test the Sixers weakened front court. Will Philly be able to figure out a way to keep the Spurs bigs off the offensive glass, or at least be able to compensate for the deficit again?

Here are the name you should etch into your mind before the tip: DeJaun Blair, Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter and Tim Duncan. Those are the four guys who will get on the offensive glass to steal extra possessions for the Spurs. Blair and Leonard are especially good on the offensive glass, even if the team as a whole is pretty much average.

We're spending so much time on rebounding because it was a big problem against the Lakers and early indications are the Sixers will be without Spencer Hawes again tonight. It's unclear whether Brand will play. The front line becomes extremely thin without those two, though if Spencer is going to compete for boards like he did in the past two games, they might be better off without him.

I tried to dig a little deeper into why the Spurs are so bad on the road (4-8), yet so good at home (13-1), and it wound up not requiring a whole lot of digging. They shoot much better at home than they do on the road, and their opponents shoot much better away from San Antonio. The rest of the advanced stats are pretty much in line. It's hard to explain, but usually when you see splits like that it has to do with a team's bench performing better at home.

As usual, the Spurs run a really smart offense, attempting five more shots at the rim than from 16-23 feet, per game, pretty much the exact opposite of the Sixers. They take a good number of threes/game, and convert at a good percentage. Their biggest threats from deep are Richard Jefferson, Matt Bonner, Gary Neal and Danny Green. Bonner and Jefferson are both comfortably north of 40% from deep, while the other two are a bit better than league average, but will shoot a bunch.

San Antonio has nine guys averaging more than 20 minutes per game, with Tony Parker leading the way with 33.8 min/gm, followed by Jefferson at a flat 30. With Popovich rotating guys in and out like that, I wouldn't expect the Sixers to be able to wear them down, but that doesn't mean the Sixers bench won't have an advantage. With Ginobili out and Leonard in the lineup, the Spurs bench is somewhat weakened, and they really don't have a ton of offense coming in with their second unit. Splitter has been very good, and I could see the combo of Splitter and Bonner up front giving the Sixers problems is they don't maintain discipline, but neither of those guys can cover Thad. Honestly, he should have a field day all night.

It'll be interesting to see how the Sixers match up with their starters. Jefferson is a bigger threat on the offensive end, but there's absolutely no way you can put Meeks on Leonard, the guy is a beast. I think they're going to have to live with Meeks on Jefferson and just hope he can stick with him. Jrue is going to have his hands full with Tony Parker, who scored 42 points a couple games ago. Parker isn't getting to the rim as much as he did in the past, and he hasn't exactly been scoring efficiently, but he's still the engine that drives their offense. Jrue needs to keep him out of the lane, keep him settling for long twos (he averages 5.2 attempts from 16-23 feet/game). With Duncan severely slowed by injury, and probably not requiring a double team regularly, it's Parker's penetration that creates open looks for their three-point shooters. Jrue has been great on defense so far this season, he needs to keep that up tonight against one of the league's quicker point guards.

On the offensive end, it's just going to take more of the same. The Sixers rely way too much on long twos, the Spurs love teams to take long twos against them (it's been their philosophy for over a decade), I wouldn't expect either trend to change tonight. Let's just hope the Sixers are getting the shots for the right guys, and it would be great if they'd use Jrue's size advantage at least a couple of times.

Speaking of Jrue, he had one of the best games of his career against the Spurs last season, and really carried them to a 77-71 win. Another performance like that would be greatly appreciated.

The tip is at 7pm. Game thread will land at five.

Sixers' Defense vs. the Lakers

2012-02-07T22:25:51Z

There has been quite a bit of discussion on the Sixers' defensive performance vs. the Lakers. Some of it was good (challenging of shots led to average 2-point and excellent 3-point percentages against, 16 turnovers forced), some of it was bad (all those rebounds!). So who was responsible for what? One way to tell is to do what I did a couple times last year, compute a reverse boxscore, by assigning all Lakers statistics to a Sixer. In the reverse boxscore, defensive rebounds, steals, and blocks are all accumulated while the Sixers are on offense, while all other stats are accumulated while the Sixers are on defense. When there are switches on defense, I usually assign the shot attempts/makes to the final defender, not to the initial defender (same for offensive rebounds allowed).
So here is the Sixers' reverse boxscore for the Lakers game:

	MP	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OR-TR	AST	OF-PF	ST	TO	BL	PTS
AI	38	4-11	1-2	2-2	0-4	6	3-6	0	4	0	11
LA	14	1-4	0-0	1-2	2-4	3	1	0	0	0	3
SH	32	7-18	0-3	4-6	8-16	0	1	1	2	2	18
JH	36	2-6	2-5	0-0	0-5	7	0	1	3	1	6
JM	23	3-7	1-4	0-0	0-1	1	1-1	0	2	0	7
ET	22	5-14	1-6	1-2	4-7	3	1	1	0	0	12
TY	24	5-7	2-4	2-2	2-5	0	1	0	3	1	14
NV	25	4-10	0-0	2-2	4-11	2	0	0	1	0	10
LW	25	3-5	0-0	3-4	1-2	1	6	1	1	0	9
Tot	240	34-81	7-24	15-20	21-55	23	4-17	4	12	4	90

Let's talk about the Sixers' first-half defense on Kobe Bryant first. Kobe got his points against the following defenders:

Iguodala 3-5 (FG) 1-2 (3P) 2-2 (FT) for 9 points
Hawes 0-3 0-1 0-0 0
Holiday 2-2 2-2 0-0 6
Turner 3-4 1-1 0-0 7
Young 0-0 0-0 2-2 2

Of all the made shots, only a couple were not well-defended (the 3-pointer where Turner was doubling and did not rotate to an open Kobe, Iguodala's and Thad's fouls, the "milestone" jumper where Iguodala got caught on a pick).

In the second half, the Sixers made a concerted effort to get the ball out of Kobe's hands by double-teaming in the 3rd quarter (hence only 2 shot attempts), with mixed results because Kobe sometimes made good passes to open teammates. This continued early in the 4th quarter. Down the stretch, though, Iguodala lived up to his defensive reputation and forced four misses and a turnover (offensive foul) playing mostly isolation defense, those stops being just as important as Lou's makes on the other end. Kobe's one basket in the 4th came when Iguodala essentially stole the ball and was pushed out of the way by Kobe while retrieving it; Kobe then penetrated and scored a tough runner over Vucevic. Iguodala's final line vs. Kobe: 4-9 1-2 2-2 11 and 3 turnovers forced. Turner also had success in the 2nd half vs. Kobe, forcing 4 misses and winding up with a final line of 3-8 1-4 0-0 7.

Regarding the rest of the reverse boxscore, I was quite surprised upon re-watching the game that Hawes challenged so many shots and forced a lot of misses. His 8 offensive rebounds allowed is horrible, but he really made an effort to switch out to shooters (and he was the only Sixers to have success vs. Kobe in the 1st half! -- all on switches). Overall, no Sixer really allowed a high percentage of shots except Thad, who left a few people open while he was doubling.

As I have done before, I used the actual boxscore and reverse boxscore to calculate each Sixer's PER and Opponent PER. Remember, PER is normalized so that 15.0 is league average. Here are the results:

	PER	OPP PER
AI	15.2	4.4
LA	15.2	14.3
SH	8.0	24.6
JH	20.8	10.9
JM	16.7	3.5
ET	11.4	26.3
TY	12.6	23.2
NV	13.7	19.9
LW	41.9	11.6
Tot	17.2	14.7

A few comments:

Hawes' and Vucevic's high OPP PER was primarily because of rebounds allowed. They both did a decent job challenging shots. Thad was the only one with a high OPP PER because of made shots allowed.
Turner's high OPP PER was partially because of 4 offensive rebounds allowed, but they all came on the same possession (Kobe had two, Gasol two, and Turner happened to be the nearest in all cases), so it's a little misleading.
Meeks' OPP PER was helped out by getting to guard the fossil that is Metta World Peace, who improved his 3-point pct. to 17.3% by shooting 1-4. This is direct evidence that OPP PER needs to take into account who the player is guarding.
Jrue gave up the two 3's to Kobe in the 2nd (both well-defended) and nothing else all game.
Overall, the Sixers "held" the Lakers to under league-average PER (14.7) while being above league-average themselves (17.2). Lou's PER was off the charts, helping out the Sixers' own PER numbers.

So, let the discussion begin. Do the stats back up your impression of the Sixers' defensive performance? Who did better/worse than you thought? Would the Sixers have been better off challenging fewer shots and getting more rebounds?

Lou Trumps Kobe

2012-02-07T06:35:40Z

I feel kind of bad for writing a headline like that about the Sixers, because they're honestly the furthest thing from a one-man-show in the NBA today. But Lou Williams absolutely put this game away and he deserves a ton of credit for stepping up and carrying the Sixers down the stretch. This win over the Lakers was amazing on so many different levels, I don't even know where to begin. (game capsule).

Also, if you guys like trade rumors, the guy behind MLB Trade Rumors just launched a new site that covers the NBA at www.hoopsrumors.com. They have team-by-team feeds available, so you can check out all the Sixers Rumors in one spot, or like the Sixers Facebook page, follow only Sixers rumors on Twitter or subscribe to Sixers-only news via RSS. Definitely worth a bookmark/follow/like/subscribe.

Here's your rotation chart. Note the bad stretch in the fourth (this was due almost entirely to Spencer Hawes' pitiful play on the glass) and then the sprint to the finish later in the quarter (which featured Lou and Kobe taking a bunch of shots, with only one of them making them):

Kobe Bryant his about seven terrible shots and scored 24 points in the blink of an eye in the first half. The Sixers never trailed by more than seven-points (9-2, with 8:18 left in the first quarter). The Lakers dominated the offensive glass like I've never seen before the entire first half. The Sixers were only down by 4 at the break. In the first half, the Sixers took possession of the ball in the following ways: After a made LA hoop: 18 times. After a made LA free throw: 6 times. Out of bounds to start the second quarter: 1 time. Defensive rebounds: 9 times. Turnover: 8 times. The Lakers scored on 24 of their 41 possession and hit 5 three-pointers. The Sixers were never in danger of getting blown out.

Time and time again throughout this game it looked like the Lakers delivered a knockout blow. Even when the Sixers played excellent defense to force tough shots, the Lakers would grab one, two or three offensive rebounds to keep the possession alive. Every one of those o-boards could've broken the Sixers back. None of them did.

This is not how you want to play a game. You never want to get dominated in a crucial area of the game. But this is a great way to win a game. To perform that poorly and never let it affect the other areas of the game is something to marvel at. Each time the Sixers blew an opportunity to hang an empty possession on the Lakers, they came down on the other end and methodically ran their offense, spread the shots around and never, ever coughed it up. Four turnovers to 27 assists is beyond ridiculous. Early in the first quarter I was updating the rotation chart when Jrue committed a turnover. I missed it. I'd only get a chance to see three more the entire game (going from memory, you had Hawes trying to post up Kobe and getting the ball stolen, Lou trying to thread the needle to Vucevic in traffic and a bad pass by Turner). I shouldn't be able to recall every turnover without looking it up.

The Sixers never panicked, they never pressed, they just played their game. They turned up the heat on defense in the third quarter (led by Jrue, who had three steals in the quarter) and they seemingly turned a blind eye to the pitiful effort Hawes and others were putting forth on the defensive glass. Actually, that's not true. They just picked their teammates up, which is what a team should do.

A few bullets for your pleasure:

Kobe's first-half explosion seemed to be almost entirely fueled by his chase of Shaq for fifth all time on the scoring list. Class move by Doug Collins to call the timeout afterward to allow Kobe to celebrate with his teammates. Also a good move by the Sixers to no acknowledge the accomplishment on the jumbotron. Kobe isn't a Sixer, screw him. The Sixers had a game to win.
I thought Collins went a bit overboard with the doubles on Kobe in the second half. More often than not, they led to dunks or open looks for the Lakers. The defense on Kobe was good all night, he just hit a bunch of really bad shots in the first half for pretty much all of his points. When Iguodala was left on an island with Kobe in the second half, he pretty much didn't get a single good look. He hit two shots, one on a broken play where Iguodala almost got the steal, and the other on a baseline drive where he had to go under the hoop to avoid Thad and spin it home on the other side. 2/12 for 4 points after the break, 28 points on 26 FGA and 4 FTA to go along with 5 turnovers. Kobe's hero mode down the stretch where he kept jacking bad shots and ignoring his big men, who were much more efficient.
Speaking of the bigs, the Sixers really didn't do too bad of a job on Bynum when he caught the ball on the blocks, provided he wasn't like a foot away from the hoop. Bynum didn't seem to know where the double was coming from and the Sixers did a good job of not just disrupting him, but actually stealing the ball from him when he put the it on the floor.
I mentioned it above, but it needs to repeated. Spencer Hawes should be absolutely ashamed of his work on the boards tonight. Even when he had position, he just stood there an watched Bynum go up for boards. The rest of the time, he just didn't hold his ground and let Bynum push him right under the hoop. His five assists don't make up for the 3 defensive boards in 32 minutes and 3/10 from the floor.
John Kuester completely sold out to get this win. Kobe sat out 4:07 in the beginning of the second quarter (the Sixers outscored them 8-4 with Kobe on the bench), then didn't sit another second the rest of the game. Bynum played 37 minutes, including the entire 4th quarter. Gasol played the entire third and logged 36 on the game. Kuester pushed all of his big players and it still wasn't enough.
Iguodala's 1/5 from the line is just unacceptable. Luckily, the pair he missed at the end wound up being meaningless.
Jrue wasn't a star in this one, but he really had a nice game. 13 points on 12 shots, 3 boards, 6 assists, 3 steals and only 1 turnover. In this stretch of five games against playoff teams, Jrue has 25 assists to only 5 turnovers.

Player of The Game: Lou. What can I say? The Sixers stayed right there the entire game, and Lou brought it home with a scoring flurry down the stretch. When he gets hot, he can do that, and it's something this team is going to need when the playoffs come around. Just a great job by Lou in the fourth. It's easy to say he and Kobe were both gunning, but Lou wasn't taking bad shots. He was using his dribble to create space. Kobe was using his dribble but couldn't create an inch of space with Iguodala on him. I also thought the Sixers did a great job of running Lou off screens early for a series of catch-and-shoot jumpers. I wish they'd do more of that for him, he's the best they've got at it.
Team Record: 18-7, four games up in the Atlantic
Up Next: vs. the Spurs, Wednesday night.
Comment of the Game Thread: by Lavoy Allen's Motor: "Let me be the first to say...the Lakers were missing Magic Johnson, so this win doesn't count."

Game 25 Thread: PHI vs. LAL

2012-02-06T22:00:00Z

Sorry, just thought I'd get the excuses out of the way before the game even starts. Big test for the Sixers tonight, literally and figuratively. If they can keep the Lakers' bigs from dominating, and they can somehow collect at least a decent percentage of available defensive rebounds (let's say 70% or better), they should be fine. If Bynum and Gasol go off, it could be a long night.

Brand is definitely out (he wanted to play), everyone else is available for the Sixers. Mike Brown has been suspended for physically assaulting a referee, so John Kuester will handle the sideline duties. I'm sure you all remember Kuester as the captain of a Pistons ship which mutinied last season. If you caught the Lakers loss to the Jazz on Saturday night, it appeared as though Matt Barnes was calling Kuester a four-letter word when he was pulled from the game in favor of Jason Kapono (and really, who could blame him?).

I have a sinking feeling Kapono is going to find a way to hit a couple of threes tonight, just to stick it to Philadelphia for realizing he's a useless basketball player.

The tip is at 7pm. This is your game thread. Join me if you'd love to see Kobe take 40 shots to get 40 points in a Lakers loss.

Prediction: PHI 87, LAL 85 (Kobe misses a fadeaway at the buzzer that would've tied it up, no one notices because he's so super-clutch).

Sixers Must Negate LAL Size

2012-02-06T07:14:05Z

Fresh off a successful 3-1 week, the challenges keep coming for the Sixers. Tonight, they'll face a team with more size than they know what to do with, literally, in the Los Angeles Lakers. The coaches had a flight home from Atlanta and an off day to figure out what to do with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, hopefully the guys can go out and execute tonight.

The easiest way to beat the Lakers is to somehow get Kobe Bryant to forget he's got two dominant big men to choose from. Sometimes, you don't have to do anything at all. Kobe will jack up 35 shots, pat himself on the back for scoring 40 points and wonder how the team managed to lose. Other times, he sees gross mismatches and feeds Bynum and Gasol. Let's just plan for the better version of Kobe tonight, because if he shows up and distributes, the Sixers could be in trouble.

Hawes, Vucevic, Allen, Brand and Battie will probably all spend some time covering Bynum, and none of them represents even a moderate challenge on the inside. If they're left to deal with him one-on-one, it's going to be a long night. Luckily, the Lakers aren't really equipped to make you pay the ultimate price for doubling. They're a terrible, terrible three-point shooting team. Troy Murphy is the only guy in their rotation shooting the long ball at an above league average rate, and putting him on the floor means Gasol or Bynum is on the bench, so you have more freedom when looking to double. The Sixers need to, again, fall back on their defensive strength, their perimeter players. Bynum is very skilled in the low post, I wouldn't wait until he puts the ball on the floor (like they did with Dwight Howard), by then it'll probably be too late. Instead, I'd send a small to double Bynum the instant he touches the ball. Get the ball out of his hands, try to close out on the Lakers' bad shooters (even bad shooters shouldn't be left wide open from deep), and take your chances.

I know it sounds simple, and maybe it wouldn't be all that difficult if it was only Bynum you had to deal with on the inside, but the Lakers also have Gasol, who is a perfect compliment to Bynum. Gasol is an excellent passer for a big man, and he can score out to the three-point line. He's a terrible assignment for Brand, and doubling him with a small isn't a great plan either, he's too good at keeping the ball high and hitting cutters. With Bynum I'd look to dig down with smalls, but not fully commit to the double, and hope Brand can push him out further on the floor. Gasol's a bad match up on the other end of the floor for EB as well, hopefully the rest he got over the weekend helped rejuvenate him.

There's one huge mismatch among the starters, and that's Jrue vs. Derek Fisher. Fisher is ancient. He has no prayer of keeping Jrue out of the paint, and the Sixers need to press that advantage all night. I'm not just talking about driving to the hoop, either, I'm talking about Jrue breaking down the defense and finding bigs when the help comes, or kicking out to Meeks for threes if the defense collapses to stop him. Don't settle for jumpers, just attack, attack, attack. This advantage carries over to the bench, as well, when rookie Andrew Goudelock is in. Lou should also capitalize. Whenever Thad is being covered by Troy Murphy, the Sixers need to just clear out one side of the floor and let Thad go to work. That's probably the best matchup they can hope for.

I've got a piece up on SB Nation Philly about where the Sixers stand, how they got there, and the outlook in the Atlantic. The tip is at 7pm tonight, game thread will land around 5. Another big game, let's make it another big win.