Sixers Showed Little Urgency In Loss To Pistons
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The 76ers played like a team that was satisfied with a split. Despite the Sixers being more athletic and having younger legs, it was the Detroit Pistons who looked fresh and certainly rejuvenated during Wednesday's 105-88 wi
Sixers Showed Little Urgency In Loss To Pistons
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The 76ers played like a team that was satisfied with a split. Despite the Sixers being more athletic and having younger legs, it was the Detroit Pistons who looked fresh and certainly rejuvenated during Wednesday's 105-88 win over the Sixers to even their best of seven series one game apiece.
"They not only hit us, but continued to hit us," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said.
Everybody knew the Pistons would come out with their best shot, playing with a sort of desperation that they haven't shown in the final few weeks of the season, when they had already clinched the No. 2 seed.
With their collective backs to the wall, the Pistons showed pride, not to mention pretty good defense.
Now it's the Sixers turn to counter, but it won't be easy if 40 percent of their starting lineup is MIA.
Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert have shot a collective 8 for 40 in the first two games.
Iguodala had just four points in Game 2 and appears to be getting frustrated by the defense of Tayshaun Prince.
Prince is among the better defensive players in the league and he is causing Iguodala to force shots.
Dalembert has had his trouble on offense, but what is more cause for concern is his defense. While he made some good defensive plays in Game 1 and had four blocked shots, Dalembert didn't block a single shot in Game 2.
In two games, Rasheed Wallace has taken Dalembert to school, scoring a total of 40 points.
So the Sixers have a lot to work on before Game 3 on Friday. This was the type of thorough beating that can demoralize a team. Now the Sixers have to show the same resiliency that Detroit displayed after lbeing stunned in Game 1.
Comments (55)
Please don't give AI max money, not worth it.— The Greek- Didn't get a chance to see the game but spoke with Tuna and he filled me in. Sounds like my recommendation of staying with Sammy on Sheed didn't work so well. Pistons drew sammy out and just got layup after layup. Per Tuna, Sixers must make some lineup tweaks(JSmith may need some time for his length) to counter the Pistons attack. Please comment with recommendations or opinion.— sfw
- Marc, I don!t think it was from lack of effort, not many teams, let alone one lacking in experience as we are, could of handled this back to the wall effort by the Pistons. Shooting wise, Sheed had the best back to back games I!ve ever seen him have. Their length at most positions is hurting us. All year long Sammy has had our players backs defensively, yet Wallace continues to pull him away from the basket. I expect more of Evans on Sheed as the series goes on although Mcdyess may try to do the same. Mo is also being evaluated by E.S. and I don!t expect a lineup change next game but if we see the same matchup issues and similar results, I!m curious to see if Mo goes to a bigger [Thad at the 3, Iggy at the 2 ] group. N othing against Willie, I thought his effort was great out there but the size difference is hurting us at all positions on the boards. As far as Iggy, I was not so much upset with his offense, he is going to have bad nights, but he didn!t seem to help in other ways like steals and hitting the boards. If Hamilton and Iggy switched teams you would see Rip have difficulty scoring also when Sam and Reggie are out there together. Next game , after watching the film, Mo will probably start the same lineup but his adjustments during the game may have to change.— seude
- Marc, I agree, our big men need to rebound with some fierceness, especially if we're gonna shoot like THAT. One bad thing that's looming over Friday's game - it's Friday, for some reason they have a hard time winning on Fridays.— sixerzguy
- It seems like the sentiment of Iggy being a max type player is disappearing quickly...but to be honest sfw, I don't think we have anyone that can really guard Wallace. To solve the Iggy problem, more burn has to be given to Thad so he has the chance to go off. I think with this, perhaps Prince can be matched up on him and Iggy can do a better job matched-up with Hamilton or something. Or perhaps a quick double on Sheed is called for when he's near the post (Reggie and Sam, or whoever is the 4 and 5 at that point) and live with the jump shot. Lou did have a nice game though, expect him to have another 12-17 pt. game back in Philly. He needs to be more aggressive with none of the Piston guards quick enough to stay in front of him. (Maybe Hamilton but we'll see about that.) Andre Miller didn't have a good game by his standard, just 3 dimes. If he's not distributing the ball, we're gonna be screwed. Not to mention Iggy had only 4 dimes...I at least expected him to have 10 assists/10 boards/some steals if he can't score...that's what leaders are supposed to do and that's kinda what he did last game. Let's see how he reacts for next game. Should be highly interesting. But I would be lying if I said that this one didn't hurt my heart...— Mercurial41
- Mercurial41 and friends, I'm a fan too. But, please, realize, the Detroit "problem" will NOT BE "solved." They're a better team, with better shooters, with more experienced, more confident, more talented players. We are AVERAGE. We did not lose last night because of tactical errors, a bad shooting night, or a previously-unseen weakness in our team. They're better than us, and we're not as good as die-hards at this blog have been thinking we are. Maybe some of the 19- and 20-year olds will blossom. Miller is a proven (and aging) stud in this league. Beyond that, we've got an overpaid hot-and-cold and exceptionally dim-witted center, Willie Green, who's streaky and less than exceptional, and Iggy, who is in no way worth more than 8-9 million but who has been encouraged to think he's a premiere player. We're losing this series and we should be open to ANY trades or moves that makes us tougher and that gets us consistent shooters.— Hobbes
- Since I don't have NBA League Pass, i was unable to watch the game but I did heaqr the WIP web-cast. I won't pass any judgment on the game other than the fact that I'm not surprised that the Pistons won the game. They did win 59 regular season games after all. And while I beleive the Sixers can win the series, I never thought they could sweep the Pistons. Back to Philly tied at 1-1, I'm hoping the Sixers can figure out a way to deal with the double teams on Andre Miller that obviously took the ball out of his hands in the half-court. And they will need to do a better job on the glass. Can't wait till Friday night.— SwollCracker
- So, what I saw, on offense, was a bunch of players forcing the issue and taking shots that are not part of their game. Sammy, Green, Igoudala all played terrible. The only player who brought it was Lou.— Morty_
- This format stinks.— Morty_
- No, really, it stinks.— Morty_
- Yes, this format stinks. One of my posts got lost.— Hobbes
- You'd think from reading these comments that the Sixers were behind in the series 3-0 instead of tied 1-1, with homecourt advantage. I take it most of you think the Sixers won't win another game in the series. I think that's being overly pessimistic, but we'll see. (NEW PARAGRAPH) What the Sixers definitely need to do better, and I know they are capable of it, is to rebound better on the defense glass. Last night, they took 15 defensive rebounds and gave up 14 offensive rebounds. That's around 50%, whereas acceptable is around 65% and good is around 70%. Detroit isn't even that good at offensive rebounding. Many have suggested the most logical starting lineup of Thad-Evans-Dalembert-Miller-AIG, which would add size and help the rebounding. If the Sixers can't control their defensive glass, they can't get the fastbreak started, and they basically have no shot over the long haul trying to match the Pistons in the halfcourt. (NEW PARAGRAPH) As for Iguodala, I'll give him a pass for one off game, though it seems I'm alone in doing that. The best way to begin Game 3 is to use him as a decoy, throw it to him in the post and let him penetrate and distribute. Let him get into the flow of the game before trying to make fadeaway/step-back jumpers.— Statman
- Statman: I think the Sixers will win at least another game. I expect them to take one of 2 at home, hopefully tomorrow since I'm going. I still think the alternative lineup is for the best. I still think splitting minutes between Carney and Green, according to who is playing better, is the way to go. And I still think this format stinks. Philly.com should improve it, or we should go elsewhere. It's a big internet. Sorry for any typos, but what can you do?— Morty_
- and no paragraphs breaks? Is this format left over from 1997? C'mon! Philly.com's tech people should be embarrassed.— Morty_
- Agree with Marc that there was a lack of effort from out guys. Especially in the rebounding dept., it looked like they weren't even trying to get position, let alone pull anything down. Very painful to watch. Dre still seems to be bothered by that ankle thing, limping slightly around btwn plays. He also needs to play SG so we can match up better, there's just no two ways about it. Also tired of watching him force shots, let thad try to take Tay down in the post with his little hooks. Need to have Sammy, reggie, thaddeus, and dre all out there at once. SFW, agree that i'd like to see more of JSmith, especially with our jump shooting woes and so we can spend more fouls just hacking sheed up everytime he gets a look.— K,M
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About this blog
John Mitchell is in his second year covering the 76ers for the Inquirer after joining the paper in November 2011. He covered the Washington Wizards for the Washington Times from 1998 to 2008. He's also worked at the Philadelphia Tribune, the Wilmington News Journal, Courier-Post, Trenton Times and Elmira Star-Gazette.Born and raised in West Philadelphia - not too far from Will Smith - he graduated from Overbrook High School the same year the 76ers won their last championship. He's a proud graduate of Howard University and the proud father of two sons, Jared and Jordan.
ABOUT MARC NARDUCCI
Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between. Narducci also has a true passion for South Jersey scholastic sports, which he has covered for many years.
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