Sixers Not Doomed Yet
There is a general feeling that the Detroit Pistons have finally woken up and that they will now go on and put the 76ers away in six games.
Here are three words that we would say to that - Not so fast.
While the Pistons looked li
Sixers Not Doomed Yet
There is a general feeling that the Detroit Pistons have finally woken up and that they will now go on and put the 76ers away in six games.
Here are three words that we would say to that - Not so fast.
While the Pistons looked like they crushed the Sixers spirit with Sunday's 93-84 win, who is to say they have turned the corner for good? Or who is to say the Sixers have finally faded?
The Pistons have been wildly inconsistent in this series. Many said after their Game 2 romp of the Sixers that the Pistons would now be in overdrive.
And then the next game the Pistons looked like they were shell-shocked, with little intensity in their 95-75 loss to the Sixers.
So it would be premature for anybody to conclude the series is over. Then again, the Sixers have to show that they are capable of wiping away the bitter aftertaste of the second half of Game 4, where Detroit simply steamrolled them.
At Monday's practice, the Sixers said all the right things, about how confident they were and how they have to do a better job in various situations, particularly defending the screen and roll.
What seemed to hurt the Sixers the most about Sunday's loss was that Detroit played harder than the Sixers in the second half. While the Sixers don't always match teams in the talent department, they pride themselves on bringing it every game. In Game 4, they only brought it for a half.
The players talked about how they relaxed late in the second quarter once they were up 14 points. And the relaxation extended into the second half.
No doubt the Sixers have their work cut out for them and there is a good reason why many figure they are finished. Still, they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
For that matter so does Detroit. The Pistons haven't shown consistency and fire for any extended period this series. Which is why Game 5 should be so compelling. And also why this series, which some felt would be over by now, has provided us with no shortage of drama.
Sorry for the dreaded double-post. Point is that it's one thing for it to happen on the middle school level, but it should not happen regularly on the NBA level.— bski- Good article today, Marc. Suede and JJG: The thing to keep in mind is that the right/ left thing works for both offense and defense, so a right handed player will be somewhat weaker going to his left on defense. A lot of the time, Thad is just quicker.— Morty_
- Forget my last comment. Duh.— Morty_
- Just posted some Game 5 Adjustments for the 76ers on my blog: www.reclinergm.com let me know what you guys think. I would just copy it here but the format would kill any readability.— ReclinerGM
- Morty, Thad is quicker than a blink goin' left but a smart defensive player, whether right-handed or left, anticipates that movement, overplays, physically blocks progress, forces him to deviate from comfort path.— jjg
- seude, Agree. Seems basic. Maybe it has to due with the speed of the game, strength of the players, pro tricks and 24 second clock. Tough to guard vintage lefties: Lenny Wilkins, Dick Barnett, Billy C ("the kangaroo kid"), Jack Marin, Gail Goodrich, Artis Gilmore, Nate Archibald, Mike Riordan, Dave Cowens, Chris Mullin.— jjg
- Morty, Didn't see your retraction till posting.— jjg
- Rec.g.m., agree about bigger lineup, it also would allow Sam to go out on Sheed because of better defensive matchups all around. I would like to see two of Jason, Reggie and Sam out there at all times. And the lack of screening by anybody other than our bigs annoys me. Agree about creating mismatches by screening our guards but have a feeling Mo won!t adjust till it is too late[game #6, down 3-2]— seude
- Seude - I have been so disappointed with Cheeks lack of adjustments through 4 games. He keeps saying this is a learning process for his guys. Now that I think about it, I think he is telling himself that too. It's a learning experience for him as well. When he was in Portland he had some really strong talent and relied on that to win games. It did in the regular season until Sheed left but it didn't in the playoffs. Mo could never get over the hump. I think he is doing the same thing now just relying on the players to figure it out and win this series rather than coaching them to win this series. We seemed to be going at their strengths (Prince's defense and their shot blockers) and taking advantage of their weaknesses (none of their bigs can guard Thad). Mo needs to get it together. Players win championships for sure but the coach needs to get them in the right position to do it.— ReclinerGM
- Looking at the film Mo should know by now they will not allow us to run for the most part; put your best 1/2 court team out there; and the fact that A.Miller!s minutes are up and his assists are 1/2 of what they were during the year tells me the ball is not in our best decision makers hands enough.Put Iggy on the wing and if the jumper is not falling go to L.Will. or Rodney or Willie at the 2. YThad shouldn!t leave the floor unless he is in foul trouble, he has been one of our top 3 players in spite of his inexperience.— seude
- REGLINER GM: I agree about the lack of adjustments. I am frustrated as well. I believe that Mo coaches these guys the way he wishes he was coached when he played. He is a successful former player and obviously that has informed his ideas about how to go about creating successful players as a coach. I have read many quotes from the players throughout the season with regard to how Mo preaches confidence, remains positive, allows the players to make mistakes on the floor and play through them and learn from them. Iggy has praised him in this way several times during this playoff series. So, I believe that Mo will continue to show faith in his guys, especially Iggy, because he would want his coach to show the same faith in him if he were on the floor struggling the same way. A couple games ago Dalembert mentioned about being on the floor and looking over his shoulder at the bench wondering if he was going to be pulled out after a mistake, saying how difficult it was to play like that. I think Mo leans in the opposite direction, many times to the detriment of the team at that particular time. Mo seems to be willing to give his guys a lot of rope to play through mistakes, accepting short term pain for long term gain in growth and development of his players. He has been doing this since back in January. There was some short term pain then, but long term he got them to the playoffs. I wish he would change up because we don't have a long term scenario in the playoffs. Two more losses and our season is over.— bski
- I'm not sure the problem is Mo's sticking with players who make mistakes (Igoudala excepted) so much as it is Mo not putting his players in position to succeed (Igoudala included).— Morty_
- Guys, draftexpress is running a series of scouting reports on players throughout the league, good breakdowns on skillsets,etc. Good fodder for summer. L.Brown got Charlotte job.— seude
- Cheeks is the basketball equivalent of Dr. Spock. (And a .500 coach even with sunny-side-of-street attitude.) Sixers need Dr. Naismith or Dr. Jack Ramsey for remainder of Pistons series.— jjg
- ReclinerGM: nice work on your blog with suggested adjustments for Game 5. I agree with all of them, really. Given that there is a > 95% chance that the starting lineup will stay the same, the strategy that might work best right away is to have the guards set picks for AIG, the way the Hawks were doing for Joe Johnson (if Mike Woodson can figure that out, surely Mo Cheeks can too!). By the way, I looked up Iguodala's stats against Detroit in the regular season, and he was 22-64 in 4 games, so it's not as if he was doing well against them at any point. He did have the one strong game (that Detroit basically tanked but the Sixers needed), where he was the best player on the floor with a 25-5-6-5 and did a stellar job on Prince when matched up with him. Fool's Gold? Probably. Perhaps by coincidence (but maybe not), it was the very next game where he hurt his leg against Foster, and he really hasn't been the same since (decent games against the Wiz and the Cats came only because he hit jump shots).— Statman
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.
