Posted: Sunday, October 31, 2010, 12:10 AM | 15 comments |
 

76ers are still looking
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The season is three games old and mark all three of those in the loss column.

Here at Conseco Fieldhouse, the 76ers lost to the Indiana Pacers, 99-86, and dropped to 0-3 on the season. Lou Williams scored 18 points in the first half, keeping the Sixers to 51-51 at the break, but the third-quarter offensive lull, which we've seen many times from this team, meant this was another run-away victory for the other team.

In the first 9 minutes of the third quarter, the Sixers scored only 5 points and committed 8 turnovers. You didn't need in-depth analysis to figure the Sixers weren't rebounding from that.

Or, as was the case at crucial moments throughout the game, rebounding at all. In the final couple of minutes of the game, the Pacers grabbed back-to-back offensive rebounds that drained the clock.

Yes, it's early. Yes, the Sixers have played two very good teams and a decent team on their home court. Yes to all of that. The team is playing hard, which is very nice and at times is easy to fall back on, but essentially this whole thing should be about winning and figuring out a way to build a team that will win.

In that vein, Sixers coach Doug Collins offered this statistic after the game (which he said he shared with his team as well): No player on the Sixers roster has a winning record as a professional. That actually struck me as quite amazing. Obviously there are the mainstays that you know don't have a winning record because they've been with the Sixers their entire careers (Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Lou Williams, etc.), but to think that even the added veterans and transplants (Andres Nocioni, Tony Battie) don't have winning records is amazing. It's a statistic that is common sense once you think about it, but still quite representative of the uphill battle this team faces.

Afterall, there are habits learned during a 27-55 season, or during successive 27-55 seasons.

"It’s one thing playing passionately and it’s another playing emotionally," Collins said after tonight's game. "I thought we started playing emotional. You can’t play basketball emotionally. We have to break a lot of losing habits. And that’s what my job is."

Here's this quote from Iguodala: "In this league, you have to have a solid unit who can complement each other in order to win. And right now we’re not on the same page. We’re playing a little selfish … on the court we’re a little too selfish instead of looking out for one another to play better basketball as a unit."

Did we mention it's early in the season? It's early still. Very early.

Here are a few observations:

*The problem, as Collins pointed out, is with the offense. This team doesn't have a player it can dump it to at any given moment and the team's guards, who are all young, tend to get frenzied in these situations. Inevitably, the game will shift to this pace, and in those stretches (i.e. the third quarter of tonight's game), the Sixers are just plain out of luck until Collins figures out a way to simplify the offense ... simplifying it to a form simpler than it already is.

*Before tonight's game, Collins said that he had to make sure to get center Spencer Hawes out of the game sooner. Collins said he wanted Hawes to play hard for about 6 minutes and then he would get him out. That's exactly what happened. Hawes came out midway through the first quarter. Only thing is, those first 6 minutes of each half were basically all of Hawes' minutes for the entire game. He played 13:30, finished with 4 points and 2 rebounds. On the other side, Indiana center Roy Hibbert played 33 minutes, scored 14 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, dished out 5 assists and spent most of his time on the court running all over the place and getting the crowd involved. They love Hibbert in Indianapolis.

*Marreese Speights has now played a total of 15 minutes in three games. He's scored exactly 4 points in three games and spent the majority of tonight's game as the last guy on the end of the bench. Something is going down with this situation, there's a disconnect between Collins and Speights somewhere along the line, and it's something to keep an eye on as we go forward. Before tonight's game, Collins said he is as "sad as anyone" that Speights is playing so poorly and called it "disappointing."

*Jason Kapono went from starting small forward to a DNP.

That's it for tonight.

--Kate

Each week, Kate will check in from the road and answer fan questions about the Sixers. Click here to ask Kate a question or e-mail her at kfagan@phillynews.com.
Posted by Kate Fagan @ 12:10 AM  Permalink | 15 comments
15
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  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:34 AM, 10/31/2010
    Did Lou even play in the 2nd half?
    — HO HUM
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:49 AM, 10/31/2010
    I will like to touch more on my post in the last thread. Since they obviously aren't a contender this year, the Sixers should be looking to get the young guys involved as much as possible, and in order for this to happen, we will need for the leaders (Brand & Iggy) to be what Brian Dawkins was to the Eagles, and that's, yep you guessed it, A LEADER! These two can be all star players if they actually put their mind to it, yes it sounds a little repetitive, but it's the perfect way to describe this situation. Elton Brand, despite getting a double-double (which should be an everyday thing for him) still played poorly tonight. It was hard watching Hibbert embarrass him in the paint. It's also unacceptable to go 5-16 while shooting the high percentage turn around jumpers that he takes day in & day out. It's clear that he doesn't have the hops that he once had in his career, so why not work on other things that you can realistically be great at, like making assists & playing defense? There isn't a player on this team that is more inconsistent than him, which brings me to Andre Iguodala. Before tonight, we all thought we've seen the Iggy that we've been wishing for, the guy that always drives the ball & is aggressive on the defensive end, instead we were just left wishing again. It's said that one day he will realize that shooting long jump shots isn't his strong point, but by that time, he will have already been traded. I remember reading what Doug Collins said during 1 of his first press conferences with this team; he spoke on making Iggy a better player by decreasing the amount of shots he takes & making him do what he's best at, so I still have that LITTLE ounce of hope that Andre listens to him. With all of that said, I am looking forward to the game against the Wizards. Evan Turner vs. John Wall will be the matchup we've all been waiting for.
    — Trend Settaz
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:02 AM, 10/31/2010
    Brutal game to watch; Sixers simply lack firepower. Williams looks to be their only consistent shooter. Turner was more aggressive tonight but he needs to hit more than layups, Holiday has not looked good offensively, Brand played hard, missed too many easy shots, Nocioni played hard, but is another inconsistent shooter, Iguodala looked out of sorts, Hawes was useless and, as usual, Speights received little playing time. Young was hitting his jumper but he, too, is not a consistent offensive threat. Unlike virtually every other NBA team, the Sixers are rarely double-teamed and thus do not get many good open looks, which leaves Kapono and Meeks on the bench and causes too many turnovers as Holiday, Iguodala, Turner, Nocioni, Brand, and Williams end up driving into clogged lanes. Only three games in, but!!!
    — chuckw
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:39 AM, 10/31/2010
    andre miller and iverson before him masked gaping holes in this roster for years. at so many seemingly insignificant yet critical points in games they manufactured points when there was no continuity in the half court offense. there are moments in every game over the past two years like the third period last night when you get the feeling that there is no way this team can score against even the most feeble defenses unless the opposition commits careless turnovers. i know its early but in looking at the prospective top draft choices in 2011 I really do not see a lot of help on the horizon - nothing but 19 and 20 year old green bananas who are all such a roll of the dice, you never know which ones will be any good 3-4 years from now. this team will be a mess for years to come.
    — barrywil
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:51 AM, 10/31/2010
    Did someone mention Andre Miller? Ever since he left it's been "colaspe city". No leadership at all period, when you loose leads like that it points to floor leadership. For all the people who keep crying for a certin person to go away because of his play I sure wish we had him back today, His name is Samuel D. as in Defense. another player we also ran out of town if he never left we'd be in better shape also and his name was AI he never shold have left. Iverson, Brand, Igadola, Miller and Sammy, Kover and Williams off the bench and yes Reggie Evans too. But that's all spilt milk, and we can't redo what we did. What's the fix, One we got to get a intimidating prescence back down low (Greg Olden)we need a shooting guard who can shoot (Ben Gordon) we need a leader point on the floor and for this we have invested much time and effort in Holiday so he has to step up and swing with a passion.
    — rayzoe
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:23 AM, 10/31/2010
    When Speights came off the court, the TV camera shot showed Collins just laying into him and yelling at him about something. Wish I could read lips, because I know it wasn't good. He is in Collins' doghouse, that's for sure.
    — mjc1
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:22 PM, 10/31/2010
    As he should be! Speights is truly lost our there & let's face it, he's never displayed any consistency since he's been a Sixer! So why did we already pick-up his option for next year then...it baffles me too! But as we all know...it's been these kind of moves made by our idiot front-office that haunt us now & will for years to come!
    — khouse
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:01 AM, 10/31/2010
    No leaders, no consistent rotation, no roles, no offensive continuity, no identity. Looks like last year all over again. They play well when they are down 15 in the 4th though.. is that a silver lining?
    — AllDawk_AllTheTime
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:04 AM, 10/31/2010
    This and making sausage is hard to watch. Doug is sifting thru looking for a few good men who can perform night in and night out. So far he has come up with two, Nocioni and Williams but obviously they are role players. I expect Jrue and Evan to make the cut. Doug would like to keep Iguodala but knows he is a complementary piece not a go to guy plus the only marketable player so he will go
    — JBP
  • 1 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:10 AM, 10/31/2010
    Doug is holding the young guys accountable. He is combining gentle love with tough love and seeing whether Thad and Speights respond. Speights was very conscious of passing the ball last night and going to the hole versus settling for the jumper, a small thing but a start. Thad has also shown signs by finishing strong, blocking some shots and actually trying to play some defense. Doug is trying to break down guys and build them back up in a better way while trying to hold onto the teams pysche with losses starting to become regular. Tough tough job but Doug can do it.
    — JBP
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:39 AM, 10/31/2010
    WHAT WAS WRONG WITH AI - WAS HE SICK OR OVER MATCHED WITH YOU PLAYED HIM?
    — russ4philly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:54 PM, 10/31/2010
    The only way the Sixers win is by playing Speights. He is the only big scorer they have, and the team doesn't generate enough points without him. Doug is riding him because he wants him to play differently and to respond to Doug as the coach. Unfortunately, for Doug, Mo is the only solution or rather option that he has to increase the Sixer's scoring. Andre, Thad, Lou and Elton can all put up their points and the Sixers can still lose the game. They need another reliable scorer and Speights appears to be the only one capable. It is very important that Speights learns to play with the rest of the team and it is a new mindset for him. Doug even wants him taking different shots in order to help the rest of the team. This will eventually produce dividends, but right now, Speights lack of playing time is hurting the team.
    — ricky
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:25 PM, 10/31/2010
    Trade Speights, Kapono, and Hawes for a reasobaly good center who can play 30 minutes a night?
    — Leegles
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:41 PM, 10/31/2010
    Why the sixers can't start our best players! evan, lou , iggy, brand and speights. go sixers! It's not rocket science. And guess who else hasn't won the coach!
    — cosmic


15 comments
About John Mitchell
John Mitchell is in his first 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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