PhillyArena

I'm going to take a brief respite from basketball to deal with "real world" issues.

For those who have known me, both on this site and through other venues, I haven't been the biggest Samuel Dalembert fan for quite some time. For me, he's been one of the most frustrating athletes in the city of recent times, right up there with Derrick Coleman during his first stint here. A guy with the physical tools to dominate defensively and on the boards, held back by a seemingly below average basketball IQ and a questionable work ethic. After years of "he's only been playing basketball for (X) years", and "this will be the year he gains consistency" I gave up. My Samuel Dalembert fatigue had reached its breaking point, and I was ready to move on. The exorbitant salary (which isn't his fault) was the icing on the cake.

Two things I have to concede:
1) He's playing tremendous basketball, especially the past two weeks, but really for the entire year. If this becomes the new Samuel Dalembert, I'll gladly admit being wrong.
2) More importantly than his basketball play, I have to give him major props for his humanitarian efforts. He's always been active with both his time and money, and his response to the Haita tragedy is no exception. Not only is he donating $100,000 of his own money, but he's willing to match any amount the Sixers fans tonight at tonight's game.

From what I've read, it appears Dalembert's immediate family and friends are safe and accounted for. Even so, the urge to help still lives on inside Dalembert, and as a human being I can do nothing but applaud his efforts.

Despite coming into the game riding a two game losing streak, the Knicks have been playing fairly good ball of late, going 13-8 since the beginning of December. Still, they're a team that, because of their jump-shooting nature, doesn't get to the line nor offensive rebound particularly well, and certainly provided the Sixers with a winnable game had they executed down the stretch.

Before the game I said I only wanted to see one thing. I wanted to see Eddie Jordan change things up and play Jrue Holiday on Chris Paul. That was all I wanted out of this game. That wish didn't come true in the sense that Iverson/Williams still started in the backcourt, but Jrue Holiday did play the entire 4th quarter in a close game, and by and large the rookie responded.

That doesn't mean Holdiay played flawlessly. He did get beat at times by Paul off the dribble, and got caught in a few poorly conceived switches, but by and large did an admirable job against the best point guard in the game, with Jrue even out-producing Chris Paul in the 4th quarter (6 points, 1 assist, 2 rebounds for Jrue against 5 points, 0 assists, 1 rebound for Paul). That kind of experience is invaluable for the rookie, and having played a defensive lineup down the stretch (that included Holiday, Iguodala, and Dalembert on the floor at all times, with Brand and Carney thrown in) might actually help us win a game or two, as we did tonight.

The Sixers have held a double digit lead in each of the past 8 games. Not trading baskets with the opposition might help us hold onto a few.

I'm not going to get too amped on the win as a whole, as I think people are slightly over-stating how hot New Orleans was heading into the game. Yes, they had won 6 in a row, which by its strictest definition made them the hottest team in the league. That being said, they are 5-14 on the road this year, and were playing on the tail end of a back to back having struggled to pull out a win at Washington the night before. Still, it would be hard not to classify this as a solid win, if for no other reason than how they won.

Quick Thoughts after the jump.

I've been extremely busy as of late (in fact, I haven't even gotten a chance to watch the Detroit win, although I did get the rotation charts updated), so this is going to be short.

Real quick, here's what I want to see:
I want to see Jrue Holiday defend Chris Paul. In fact, I'll take it one step further. I want to see our coach change up the starting lineup to give us the best chance to win based on our opponent. I want to see Jrue start.

But we won't, and Eddie Jordan will stay the course and start the Lou Williams and Allen Iverson/Willie Green back court (Iverson's a gametime decision). And we'll get crushed by dribble penetration.

Prediction: Hornets 108, 76ers 94.

Some quick thoughts before I call it a night. I've entered the rotational data, which is now both in the searchable database as well as in last night's boxscore

Click below to continue reading my post-game thoughts.

Brian (DepressedFan and I will be doing tonight's SixersBeat radio show in just about an hour. Feel free to tune in (streams live online), or call in (917-889-3649) and we'll get you on the air. If you can't make it, feel free to post a comment here and we'll try to discuss it on the air.

You can listen live right through the player by clicking on the full article, or go to the link here.

I've often said that winning 35 games means absolutely nothing to me. Seeing bad basketball but getting the 11th pick while being financially strapped is perhaps the worst way to build a team. I don't support tanking or trying to lose (by the players or coach, at least), but I don't want the Sixers to be making decisions at the expense of player development either. It's part of what drove me insane about the Iverson signing. Even with Iverson this is a bad team, but now we're getting less development for Jrue at the point and have abandoned Thad on the wings. For me, that's not helping the future of the Sixers.

Just a quick post, then later tonight I should have a bit more about what bugged me about last night's loss, but I can't help but point out the great work Kate Fagan is doing over there on her blog. Whereas Bob Cooney has recently displayed some tempered criticism, Kate has been consistently on the attack as of late.

The best quote from Jordan (and Kate's response):

At the end of last night's game, Nick Young dominated Allen Iverson. He got whatever shot he wanted, mostly little pull-up 14-footers. At what point does defense become a priority? After Young hits one? two? three? four? Or maybe just never. The Sixers were up by 18 points because Washington could not hit the little chippies. Then they started hitting these chippies. Today, Jordan was asked if maybe you go with better defenders at that point in a game.

Jordan shrugged it off and said, "And then not score the ball efficiently?" To which the questioner responded, "Maybe when you're up 18?" Jordan responded: "Your best players should be good defenders and that’s what we’re trying to get to. Trying to get our best players to defend as a unit, defend indiviudually, so you can have balance. There’s no such thing as unbalanced. Good teams don’t just put five defenders on the floor. Your better players are your defenders."

I'm still trying to find words to respond to that quote. I'm sure I'll formulate a response to that, though, both in print and and on tomorrow's SixersBeat.

I love it. I don't think the 76ers mainstream media (ironically, considering Philadelphia's reputation) asks the hard questions as much as they should. It's about time people started calling him out, and I hope Kate doesn't feel the repercussions of such a direct and critical (but warranted) approach.

A mention also has to go to Tom Moore, who reportedly asked the question. While I don't find Tom to be quite as direct as Kate, I generally find him to ask the questions that need to be asked.

This is going to be brief, as I got caught up after the game and don't have the time to do a full write-up right now, but this is absolutely a game I want to talk about in-depth. Luckily the schedule makers have done as a favor as the Sixers have the next two nights off.

If you wanted to know everything about what is wrong with this team, last night's game gave you plenty of examples. If you want to know why Eddie Jordan needs to be gone pronto, last night provided some great examples.

If you want to know what happens to the Sixers when they play teams (even bad teams) at full strength, last night's what happens.

Last night is what should have happened Sunday against the undermanned Nuggets.

Last night was absolutely pitiful. If you wanted a case study on a coach without a feel for the game who is going to continually make the same mistakes over and over, last night was it.

Read on for a few quick thoughts before I really delve into it tomorrow.

Per Sixers.com.

I'm absolutely shocked (sarcasm).

Just about to head down to the Wachovia Center for tonight's game. Just a few quick thoughts on what we need to do in order to win, and my prediction:

• Defensive rebounding. Against Washington earlier this year we posted a miserable 58% defensive rebounding rate. That was improved a bit the second game,and has to be handled again tonight.
  
• Control Arenas. He's averaging 24 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5 assists and shooting 50% from us on the season.
  
• Limit small-ball. Jamison absolutely destroyed Thad in the first encounter (albeit Thad handled him extremely well the second), and Nick Young has been an extremely efficient shot off the bench for the Wizards against us (starting in the first game). Both could have big mismatches if we run too much small ball tonight.
  
• Turnovers. The Sixers got killed in the turnover department the last time these two teams played, a 7 point loss despite the Sixers shooting over 50% from the field.
  

Prediction: Sixers win, 108-102
Player of the game: Louis Williams (he'll score 23, give up 27, but the stat line will look good).
Serious player of the game: Elton Brand

A couple of trade rumors I ran into this morning, one of which directly affects the Sixers. Any of them have any legs (in my opinion)? Read below for my opinion and a proposal.

The Rotational Data is now up-to-date with all games entered. I've got a lot of added features I've been working on this that I'm not quite ready to debut, but they should be available shortly. Thanks for waiting.

The Sixers brass has already started putting the spin on this current win "streak" (they've won 3 out of 4 games). Eddie Jordan is already talking like it's something to be proud of, with this to say after the game:

"I'm happy for our team; I'm proud of them. And we're just beginning, I hope, to go uptown."

With the Sixers Sixers upcoming schedule in January being absurdly easy expect more of these same comments coming from the Spin Doctors. Just how easy? Check after the jump.