Posted: Monday, January 19, 2009, 12:40 PM | 7 comments |
 

Brand to miss one more
options
 

As Elton Brand has alluded to for the past few days, he will miss at least one more game -- today's against the Dallas Mavericks. With Brand sidelined again, he will receive the added rest provided by the 76ers four-day layoff: They don't play again until Saturday against the New York Knicks.

Since last week's game against the San Antonio Spurs, Brand has mentioned that sitting through today's game would offer him the "optimal" recovery time for a dislocated right shoulder: six weeks. Brand dislocated the shoulder on Dec. 17, a win against the Milwaukee Bucks. Today, Sixers coach Tony DiLeo said that resting Brand today is best for the long-term:

"Our medical staff thinks the longer we can give him, the better it is for the long-term," DiLeo said.

The Sixers said they are "planning" on Brand returning to the lineup on Saturday. And, unlike last Wednesday, all signs seem to point to that game being Brand's return.

With Brand's absence, the questions about how his return will affect the streaking Sixers (winners of seven straight), can be pondered during the week. Yes, the Sixers have been 9-6 since his injury (counting that Dec. 17 win against the Milwaukee Bucks as a victory with Brand), including a seven-game win streak. But, let's put those questions aside and look at today's game.

How can the Sixers (20-2) defeat the Dallas Mavericks (23-17) and bump their record to above-.500 for the first time since they were 7-6 in late November?

The answer is pretty simple these days: Play the same way they've been playing. It's really not going to take a supreme effort, but rather the same effort that has somehow become commonplace. The one point I'll make is the free throw shooting. The Sixers were 15 for 27 against the Knicks. They're not going to be able to beat the Mavericks shooting that percentage. They just can't give away 12 points to a good Western Conference team.

But, in fairness, the Sixers had been shooting very well from the free throw line before that game.

My feeling about this game is that it's the end of a long stretch where the Sixers have played a lot of games. I'd be surprised if we didn't see "someone else" contribute in a big way today. I think we'll see Reggie Evans, Willie Green, or Samuel Dalembert come up with a big game to take some slack from Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller, Thad Young, Lou Williams, etc.

Time for the game.

--Kate

p.s. That photo is of Dirk Nowitzki shooting before the game. I like that photo, it shows how much he uses his legs on his shot. Let me clarify, I like it enough to post it on my blog, not enough to enter it into a photography contest. My standards are low.

Posted by Kate Fagan @ 12:40 PM  Permalink | 7 comments
7
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:48 PM, 01/19/2009
    Whats up Kate?
    — ktdb05
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:42 PM, 01/19/2009
    That's the kind of shooting form I had in 3rd grade, when it took every once of strength I had to muscle the basketball to the rim. That seems like over-kill for a 7ft. NBA player. Plus Dirk's got the ball so low, Muggsy Bogues could slap it out of his hands. A guy like that needs to keep the ball high.
    — GHOSTPHAYCE
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:53 AM, 01/20/2009
    I'm not a good enough shooter to rip Dirk's form on his jumper, but I am a good enough photographer (and I'm really not any good at that either) to advise Kate not to give up your day job. If Dirk were in witness relocation, he'd have no worry that someone would recognize him from the photo. :-)
    — Danno34
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:54 AM, 01/20/2009
    Upon a little further reflection, he looks like Pee-Wee Herman on the bar in "Pee-Wee's big adventure."
    — Danno34
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:17 AM, 01/20/2009
    Some comments re: the Mavs game. The Sixers were "off" this game, but part of it had to do with the Mavs' defense. The Mavs focused on taking away easy baskets: they got back on D, they took away lobs and backdoor plays (I can't remember a single one the Sixers got), they tried to shut off penetration. The Sixers eventually got frustrated and started taking bad shots in the 3rd quarter (uncharacteristic of what we have seen lately). I don't think the Mavs are as good a team as the Spurs, but they match up especially well with the Sixers on D: Kidd has trouble with faster PGs, but he is perfect for guarding Miller, and Howard gives Iguodala trouble. That the Sixers were able to hang tough and make a late run was testament to their effort and confidence of late (and it's a good indication of how playoffs might go). You had to like Iguodala's strong drive and finish to tie the game (though it went for naught -- I knew from the moment Nowitzki released that his shot was good). Other comments ... Thad continued to play better defense, and I wonder whether he would have been a better option on Nowitzki on the last play (though a healthy Brand might have been even better). Willie has had a poor month, one of the few Sixers in a shooting slump (39% FG, 28% 3-pt), and he does next to nothing if he's not scoring (ex: 1 rpg in 20 mpg this month). Iguodala has now brought his 3-pt pct. up to 32%, near his career average (as I had predicted he would earlier in the year -- regression to the mean), thanks to a red-hot 15-22 over the last five. Overall, the Sixers are in decent position in the standings, within striking distance of the #4 seed, which should be their goal. Hopefully they play a solid game against the Knicks on Friday, with tough road games against the Hornets and Rockets coming up next week.
    — Statman
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:28 AM, 01/20/2009
    One more note that deserves its own post: it's an obscure fact that the Sixers have played on the Monday after the Eagles' last five playoff losses (and it may be more, but I don't have the records prior to 2002), four of the five games have been at home, and they've lost all five. Generally, the atmosphere is funereal (the Dallas announcers noted that the whole city seemed to be in mourning) and the Sixers often seem to play down to that atmosphere. I thought this year might be different because the Sixers came into this game on a winning streak (unlike any of those other teams), and it was different to some degree, but the effect was there. Historically, the worst post-Eagles game was in 2003 (after the Bucs loss), when the Sixers blew a 23-point lead to the Celtics and lost by 1 point on an Antoine Walker 3-pointer (with Antoine putting his index finger to his mouth because he "quieted the crowd"). That was the ultimate "salt in the wound" moment for Philly fans.
    — Statman
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:07 PM, 01/20/2009
    That is indeed an obscure fact, Statman. thanks for sharing though...and here i was thinking this was the year to break curses. regarding your comments on Willie, my feeling is that his shooting numbers are regressing to mean as well - maybe they're a bit lower than his career numbers (41.3% field goals and 31.1% 3pt), but not that far off. I've been playing with scenarios in my mind of how his minutes could be split between Lou and Ivey. Now that he's hitting from 3 consistently(37% on the season), Ivey is my new best friend :). Possibly an abberation, but at least we could ride the hot hand while its hot.
    — K,M


7 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.

Follow on Twitter

Advertise Here