One month in. This is what I've seen:
MOST SURPRISING PLAYERS:
Danny Granger -- He's developed into a legitimate scorer averaging 24 ppg.
Marc Gasol -- Grizzlies -- He's getting 12 and 7. Who woulda thunk it? If he loses some weight, in a couple years he could develop into a more physical Pau. Wow. That would be nice.
O.J. Mayo -- He came to play. He fills it up -- 21.4 ppg -- and he's shooting better and scoring more of late.
MOST FREAKISHLY ATHLETIC not named LeBron or Dwight Howard or even
Tyson Chandler even:
Trevor Ariza -- Lakers-- I get to see this guy play a lot. He's so much fun to watch. Great defender. Great hands. Crazy quickness. Crazy hops. Pippen # 2! (in the making)
WHITE PLAYER THAT COULD BE COMPARED TO A BLACK PLAYER:
Rudy Fernandez -- Trailblazers -- dude is a sick athlete. He can dunk. Oh, and bonus points -- he shoots the 3-ball.
BLACK PLAYER THAT COULD BE COMPARED TO A WHITE PLAYER:
Um... uh...
WHITEST PLAYER EVER:
Steve Novak -- Clippers -- that guy has the whitest name ever!
MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER besides Greg Oden:
Jermaine O'Neal -- Raptors -- He's averaging a decent 12 and 8, but I thought he'd get 15-18 pts a night. Raptors could use it -- Bargnani hath not been an impressive scorer.
COMEBACK PLAYER of the month:
Dwayne Wade -- He looks like an MVP to me.
UNSUNG PLAYERS THAT IMPRESS ME THUS FAR:
Andrew Bogut -- Bucks -- It's nice to see him contributing --averaging a solid double-double.
Andris Biedrins -- Warriors -- 16 ppg, 12.6 rpg, and 1.6 bpg -- but, his numbers are slipping of late...
Jeff Green -- Thunder -- getting 15 and 8 AND he's shooting 47% from
3! That's better than Michael Redd, Raja Bell and Kyle Korver! I
know, it's early.
Aaron Gray -- Bulls -- I know he hardly plays, but you gotta love his size. And I know he's slow, but he's got good hands and he fills up the middle super nicely (did I mention he's got great size?). Hopefully as the season progresses, he'll get more than 14 mins a
night.
Chris Duhon -- Knicks -- He's 8th in the league in assists w/ 7.3 (more than Andre Miller or Rondo) and scores 11 ppg -- not bad. He's a big reason the Knicks are competing right now.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
DY Responds: A. Miller for Lowry and M. Miller?
If you're suggesting switching out Miller for Lou or Willie to run the point, I must disagree. I like Lou and i'd rather have him running point than Willie, but he's not ready and you know this. And Willie's not quick enough. Are either known for their passing game? Are you mad? Yes, this team needs to run again and they need legitimate, reliable perimeter shooting. Mike Miller would be fantastic! Iggy is obviously not a shooter and NEVER will be. We are super young and athletic -- let's not trap ourselves in a half-court offense -- it doesn't play to our strengths. It's obvious this should be a running team, but we need a speedy, savvy, penetrating PG. I agree that Andre Miller is not the answer. I like KYLE LOWRY (yes, i'm serious) from Grizzlies -- they have a glut of guards. RUN, RUN, RUN! PUSH THE PACE! Lowry and Mike Miller would fill out this team nicely... and that's not asking too much.
Fixing the Sixers....
Just when you thought the Sixers' growing pains were over, they go and drop a game to Orlando then lay a total egg in Boston. I watched the Orlando game and watching Andre Miller hoist a three from 40 feet out with 3 seconds on the clock was just maddening. I must say that I don't think that what we're seeing is simply growing pains. The roster is simply missing certain pieces and will eventually be in need of a minor renovation.
I know that it sounds like I'm just being a typical negadelphian, trashing on a team with hot young talent and a splashy new free agent that has simply not yet gelled. But watching this team--not the results, but the play of the team--it's pretty clear that, in the least, it's in need of a legitimate 3-point shooter whose name isn't Kareem Rush or Willie Green. With a player like Brand who gets double teamed in the high post so much having good shooters is essential. The fact that the 80 million dollar man Iguodala looks like Darius Miles out on the perimeter bricking open 3 after open 3 is cause for concern. Iguodala is not a shooter, never was, may never be. But his game is looking woefully lacking after four years of looking like an uber-stud.
My main feeling is that there's too much duplication on the Sixers roster and some key elements missing. For one, I'm in agreement with my main man Licky Boom that the team has clearly veered away from what made it successful last year: an aggressive fast-break style of basketball.
The team has sadly become a halfcourt team wherein, at best, Andre Miller feeds it to Brand for a 15-footer and, at worst, Brand gets doubled and kicks it out to Iguodala for a high-arching brick-of-a-3 complete with a scissor kick. But there's more than style to the problems; though I do agree that a change in style would solve a lot.
The other issue seems to be personnel. Either we don't have the right mix of players or Mo Cheeks isn't using the players we have correctly. For example, let's look at our vaunted starting line-up. Dalembert and Brand both try to scoop rebounds, block shots, and play 10-feet from the basket. Brand is much more skilled and mobile; but they do seem to be getting mixed up in each other's business. Then you've got Young and Iguodala, neither of whom can shoot particularly well, both of whom would like to take it to the rack, and both of whom are about the same size with similar games (though, yes, Young is oozing with potential and Iggy should be the team's defensive stopper). Finally, there's Andre Miller, who I'm down on lately. He is a solid point who can definitely feed the post and make good decisions. But, he's just not making good choices lately. He shoots way too much. He's a slower, more steady PG than you want on a running team--I think he'd fit Indiana's style better--and, along with everyone else, he likes shooting from 15-feet-and-in. In light of no one being able to shoot from far and Brand being an excellent post player that demands double teams, Mo has moved to using Willie Green and Kareem Rush as the teams three-point-specialists, when really Rush should be playing only a bit part and Green is better served as being a change-of-pace 1 or 2. Lou Williams and Marreese Speights, two guys with great promise, largely duplicate what's already there. Speights is a great back-up 4 and Williams is a decent ball-hog-ish 1/2 with the ability to drive to the hole.
Watching a team like Orlando with Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis raining 3s made me wonder at the brilliance of the Magic GM... he actually put together some pieces that work together. Ed Stefanski has given us some great players... and I think this team as is still has great potential. But I don't think the future of this team should include Andre Miller at the PG. Lou or Willie Green, though I'm not the biggest fan of either, would be better for the pace that the team wants to go in and if we could swap Andre for maybe another Miller named Mike, we'd have a much better-looking offense.
Of course, we could all hold our collective breath and wait for Thaddeus Young to heat up again, Sam Dalembert to start blocking shots like a madman, Elton Brand to hit his stride, Andre Miller '08 to become Andre Miller '07, and Andre Iguodala to live up to his huge contract. It could happen. It does take time for teams to gel. But 7-9 is 7-9. For a team with expectations, last place in a division that includes the Knicks and the Nets shouldn't invite complacency. In the least the starting line-up needs to be shaken up. Perhaps Young should come off the bench and Green should start. Or Dalembert should sit in favor of a leaner, meaner 5 comprised of Miller, Green/Williams, Iggy, Young, and Brand. Or maybe it should be Green, Iguodala, Young, Speights, and Brand. Or maybe just maybe we need to make a deal.
Lou Williams dumps it into Elton Brand who dishes to Thaddeus Young who makes the extra pass to.... Mike Miller for a big 3. Sounds nice, doesn't it?
I know that it sounds like I'm just being a typical negadelphian, trashing on a team with hot young talent and a splashy new free agent that has simply not yet gelled. But watching this team--not the results, but the play of the team--it's pretty clear that, in the least, it's in need of a legitimate 3-point shooter whose name isn't Kareem Rush or Willie Green. With a player like Brand who gets double teamed in the high post so much having good shooters is essential. The fact that the 80 million dollar man Iguodala looks like Darius Miles out on the perimeter bricking open 3 after open 3 is cause for concern. Iguodala is not a shooter, never was, may never be. But his game is looking woefully lacking after four years of looking like an uber-stud.
My main feeling is that there's too much duplication on the Sixers roster and some key elements missing. For one, I'm in agreement with my main man Licky Boom that the team has clearly veered away from what made it successful last year: an aggressive fast-break style of basketball.
The team has sadly become a halfcourt team wherein, at best, Andre Miller feeds it to Brand for a 15-footer and, at worst, Brand gets doubled and kicks it out to Iguodala for a high-arching brick-of-a-3 complete with a scissor kick. But there's more than style to the problems; though I do agree that a change in style would solve a lot.
The other issue seems to be personnel. Either we don't have the right mix of players or Mo Cheeks isn't using the players we have correctly. For example, let's look at our vaunted starting line-up. Dalembert and Brand both try to scoop rebounds, block shots, and play 10-feet from the basket. Brand is much more skilled and mobile; but they do seem to be getting mixed up in each other's business. Then you've got Young and Iguodala, neither of whom can shoot particularly well, both of whom would like to take it to the rack, and both of whom are about the same size with similar games (though, yes, Young is oozing with potential and Iggy should be the team's defensive stopper). Finally, there's Andre Miller, who I'm down on lately. He is a solid point who can definitely feed the post and make good decisions. But, he's just not making good choices lately. He shoots way too much. He's a slower, more steady PG than you want on a running team--I think he'd fit Indiana's style better--and, along with everyone else, he likes shooting from 15-feet-and-in. In light of no one being able to shoot from far and Brand being an excellent post player that demands double teams, Mo has moved to using Willie Green and Kareem Rush as the teams three-point-specialists, when really Rush should be playing only a bit part and Green is better served as being a change-of-pace 1 or 2. Lou Williams and Marreese Speights, two guys with great promise, largely duplicate what's already there. Speights is a great back-up 4 and Williams is a decent ball-hog-ish 1/2 with the ability to drive to the hole.
Watching a team like Orlando with Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis raining 3s made me wonder at the brilliance of the Magic GM... he actually put together some pieces that work together. Ed Stefanski has given us some great players... and I think this team as is still has great potential. But I don't think the future of this team should include Andre Miller at the PG. Lou or Willie Green, though I'm not the biggest fan of either, would be better for the pace that the team wants to go in and if we could swap Andre for maybe another Miller named Mike, we'd have a much better-looking offense.
Of course, we could all hold our collective breath and wait for Thaddeus Young to heat up again, Sam Dalembert to start blocking shots like a madman, Elton Brand to hit his stride, Andre Miller '08 to become Andre Miller '07, and Andre Iguodala to live up to his huge contract. It could happen. It does take time for teams to gel. But 7-9 is 7-9. For a team with expectations, last place in a division that includes the Knicks and the Nets shouldn't invite complacency. In the least the starting line-up needs to be shaken up. Perhaps Young should come off the bench and Green should start. Or Dalembert should sit in favor of a leaner, meaner 5 comprised of Miller, Green/Williams, Iggy, Young, and Brand. Or maybe it should be Green, Iguodala, Young, Speights, and Brand. Or maybe just maybe we need to make a deal.
Lou Williams dumps it into Elton Brand who dishes to Thaddeus Young who makes the extra pass to.... Mike Miller for a big 3. Sounds nice, doesn't it?
Friday, November 14, 2008
Spitzer on Sixers
The Sixers need to follow the Celtics model from last year in order to win it all.
In the current NBA you can't dominate conventionally through some draft picks and some FA's - teams overspend for free agents and there's only a finite amount of money teams have to spend. For the next 5 years or so also, I don't really see a team in either league that will dominate consistently like the bulls in the 90's or lakers from 99-2001. Spurs are getting old, mavs are old too, celtics aren't as good as they were last year, pistons are past their primes, and the young stars of the early part of this decade - kobe, vince, t mac, iverson, nowitzki, kg, duncan, arenas - will never be the same again (which is good that we have a young, in-tact nucleus of iggy, thad, lou will, speights).
Basically the sixers need to let miller go after this year, replace him with lou (and try and have him be a slasher/dtstributor like rondo) and use the freed up cap space as some financial flexibility in making a trade for a ray allen-esque player (michael redd??).
All of a sudden you're looking at a team of lou will, michael redd, iguodala, brand, dalembert (to continue my celtics parable - a kendrick perkins clone), with thad (similar to james posey but better), rush, ivey, jason smith, and reggie evans on the bench.
That team next year will be so far and away the best team in the east - better than boston next year, better than detroit (assuming iverson jets), better than orlando, toronto, and the cavs.
Make it happen stefanski
In the current NBA you can't dominate conventionally through some draft picks and some FA's - teams overspend for free agents and there's only a finite amount of money teams have to spend. For the next 5 years or so also, I don't really see a team in either league that will dominate consistently like the bulls in the 90's or lakers from 99-2001. Spurs are getting old, mavs are old too, celtics aren't as good as they were last year, pistons are past their primes, and the young stars of the early part of this decade - kobe, vince, t mac, iverson, nowitzki, kg, duncan, arenas - will never be the same again (which is good that we have a young, in-tact nucleus of iggy, thad, lou will, speights).
Basically the sixers need to let miller go after this year, replace him with lou (and try and have him be a slasher/dtstributor like rondo) and use the freed up cap space as some financial flexibility in making a trade for a ray allen-esque player (michael redd??).
All of a sudden you're looking at a team of lou will, michael redd, iguodala, brand, dalembert (to continue my celtics parable - a kendrick perkins clone), with thad (similar to james posey but better), rush, ivey, jason smith, and reggie evans on the bench.
That team next year will be so far and away the best team in the east - better than boston next year, better than detroit (assuming iverson jets), better than orlando, toronto, and the cavs.
Make it happen stefanski
Make it Work on the Court...
After an amazing summer capped off by the signing of Elton Brand, the Sixers took the court last week and proceeded to yuck-it-up, falling to 2-5 before beating the Raptors two nights ago to end a three-game losing streak and finally win their 3rd contest.
The problems on the court are varied and though we can blame them on "growing pains," as Philly fans we fear for the worst. Does this team have the right chemistry? Did the addition of Brand amount to pouring cold water on last year's uptempo style? Is Andre Iguodala--a jack-of-all-trades, but clearly not a no. 1 offensive option--really worth his huge new contract? Do we need to take a step back before we take a step forward?
Here's what we Sixers fiends have been seeing on the court:
Clearly, there's ample talent on this team and it needs to gel, but we also have to realize that all the pieces may not be in place yet. I wrote a while back that an Andre Miller for Chauncey Billups swap would put this team over the top. Guess what? Denver essentially made that swap. They traded Miller for Iverson and Iverson for Billups. They're not going to be world beaters because I don't think they have the supporting cast to do it, but I think a shooting point guard could eventually be what this team needs. But, then again, it's too early right now to throw anybody under the bus, right?
The problems on the court are varied and though we can blame them on "growing pains," as Philly fans we fear for the worst. Does this team have the right chemistry? Did the addition of Brand amount to pouring cold water on last year's uptempo style? Is Andre Iguodala--a jack-of-all-trades, but clearly not a no. 1 offensive option--really worth his huge new contract? Do we need to take a step back before we take a step forward?
Here's what we Sixers fiends have been seeing on the court:
- Not enough cutting when Brand has the ball. Not a lot of movement in general without the ball. This has been the Sixers problem since they became relevant again when they drafted Allen Iverson, and I have not had the pleasure of seeing a Sixers team that was characterized by good ball movement and off-the-ball cuts since the 2001 Finals year.
- A lack of shooters. Look, we all liked the addition of Kareem Rush and Donyell Marshall is an okay older player, but these guys cannot be relied on to be the team's shooters. They simply should not be playing heavy minutes at all. As is, it looks like Rush will get some minutes when the team wants to go small and surround the court with shooters, that's fine. But one of the main rotation guys has gotta step it up in the shooting department. Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams in particular need to improve their shot lest they become one-dimensional offensive players.
- Thaddeus Young may already be the Sixers best player. That's overstating it a bit, but just a bit. The guy is leading the team in scoring and he's 20 years old. He's so under control and can really do it all on both ends of court: way beyond his years. And while we're praising young guys: Marreese Speights, despite his ridiculously spelled name, looks like the real deal. Definitely a good backup to Brand.
Clearly, there's ample talent on this team and it needs to gel, but we also have to realize that all the pieces may not be in place yet. I wrote a while back that an Andre Miller for Chauncey Billups swap would put this team over the top. Guess what? Denver essentially made that swap. They traded Miller for Iverson and Iverson for Billups. They're not going to be world beaters because I don't think they have the supporting cast to do it, but I think a shooting point guard could eventually be what this team needs. But, then again, it's too early right now to throw anybody under the bus, right?
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