Flip Saunders: 'You better keep all sharp objects away from Doug'
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Flip Saunders: 'You better keep all sharp objects away from Doug'
The headline of this post is the quote of the night, from Washington Wizards head coach Flip Saunders: "You better keep all sharp objects away from Doug."
After watching this game, you might want to keep all sharp objects away from all 76ers fans.
Nobody is saying the Sixers were turning some kind of corner or were headed toward great things this season. But when they were up 17 points in the third quarter, 15 points in the fourth, and then shooting two free throws to seal the win, you could imagine that they might be able to string together a few wins. Coming off of the victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, tonight's victory would have made two in a row, and tomorrow night's game against the Toronto Raptors certainly looked winable. Maybe, you could have been thinking in the final seconds of regulation tonight, the Sixers could be looking at a three-game winning streak. It wasn't going to make the Sixers playoff bound, but it was going to keep them out of the Eastern Conference basement and have them feeling good about themselves.
Now they're right back where they started: bad, worse, not knowing how to win, making the same mistakes over and over again. The Sixers are 3-11 after tonight's 116-114 overtime loss to the Wizards. The Sixers were ahead 106-103 with 8.5 seconds left in regulation. Rookie guard Evan Turner, who had made four consecutive free throws, was walking to the free throw line to seal the victory. The Wizards were out of timeouts. Turner missed both, Washington grabbed the rebound, guard John Wall darted upcourt and caught Sixers' guard Jrue Holiday reaching for the ball from about 30 feet from the basket. Wall took advantage, went up to shoot, and earned himself three free throws.
He made all three. In overtime, Wizards' reserve Nick Yong made a baseline three pointer with 7.6 seconds left to give his team the 116-114 lead. (A quote from Doug Collins: "Evan got picked on the play on the baseline. We knew what play it was, it’s called 'Seattle,' they run him on the baseline. He got caught on the play"). On their final possession, the Sixers went to Andre Iguodala, who drove to around the left elbow, tried to pump fake, and then missed a lean-in jumper. It was not entirely dissimilar to the end-of-game plays seen from Iguodala on a regular basis.
So those are the details. If you want the feel of this loss, just watch the embedded video of Doug Collins from just moments after the game. You can sense the frustration, the disappointment, the lack of answers.
The problem that arises from games like these is not the actual loss -- the Sixers already have plenty of those -- it's the undercurrent of it's not working. It's the concern that it will compromise the focus to continue doing things correctly (or rather, continue occasionally doing things correctly). If even good play ends in a loss, why play disciplined at any point? Of course, it would be difficult to imagine what the Sixers looked like if they ever reached that point.
Here are some quotes from after tonight's game.
Elton Brand, on his flagrant foul, which resulted in his ejection with 3:32 left in the game: "It wasn’t a frustration play … He was going to get another dunk so I was trying to stop the dunk. I definitely tried to foul him, but I didn’t want him to fall awkwardly like that."
Jrue Holiday, on his foul of Wall: "I didn’t think he was shooting and he went up to shoot and my hand was right there. I didn’t mean to foul him. I got my arm in there when he was going up to shoot."
Collins on Holiday's foul: "When a guy’s running with you with the ball like that, you gotta know when he sees you coming he’s going to pick it up and launch it."
Holiday on everything: "I don’t want to say it’s because we’re young, including myself. I made stupid mistakes out there that shouldn’t be made. We’re just thinking to ourselves, ‘How is this happening?’”
It continues tomorrow at the Toronto Raptors.
--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.
The problem is not the coach, it is the players. You have to make your foul shots at the end of the game (at least 1 of 2), you have to not make dumb fouls, you have to reduce the turnovers, you have to play defense, you have to rebound. We are not losing because of strategy and coaching, we are losing because the players are not very good. Another rough year, hopefully another good draft pick, pick up a free agent or two, and continue the long process toward mediocrity...— JohnFC- Said it on Kate's end of game piece, will repeat it here. The most glaring problem right now is the lack of a veteran point guard at the end of games. How many times did Andre Miller pull the Sixer chestnuts out of the fire down the stretch? Holiday is a loose cannon right now, not a polished point guard by any means, did not play the position in college. He might become a fine point guard one day, but right now they need a veteran to show him the way and help this team win games. Lou Williams is not the answer either.— chuckw
- Among his many infractions, Stefanski let Andre Miller walk and unloaded Dalembert with no backup plan. He traded Korver for Giricek, and Reggie Evans for Kapono. He traded Willie Green and Jason Smith for Songaila and Brackins. He gave us Eddie Jordan and a wasted season in which several developing players regressed dramatically. Stefanski is responsible for this mess.
- so sad! once this proud franchise knew how to win, thorn has got to make some moves and yes moves can be made. no untouchables on this sorry team .. iggy,speights,holiday for kevin love. no one wants to watch doug put all he has into coaching this team and they make the same mistakes over and over. did anyone notice the fall back jumper iggy put up tonite..same awful shot for the past years.— bill poore
- I would bet my mortgage that Iggy wouldn't come close when the game was on the line. He's death and taxes for NOT coming through. And Stefanski should answer for all of this. He as only made things worse since he's gotten here. One mistake after the next. What does he have to do to get fired????— Hermosaphilly
- My observations from tonight's game.
Lack of interior presence. We don't have a dominate figure that can score consistently or BLOCK OUT! When the starting front court of the Wizards get about 30 rebounds (that's two guys), it says a lot about out front court.
Evan Turner is a side show when Iguodala plays. Evan Turner barely touched the ball, let a lone took a shot, until the 4th quarter. Why did we use the 2nd overall pick to pick him up if we're not going to throw him out there and see what he does? Evan Turner was calling for the ball in the 4th quarter, wanting to contribute, but Drue was either giving the ball away or Iguodala was (again) settling for jump shots.
Sixers are still a team to watch as they try to build chemistry and confidence, but tonight was tough. I think that Turner needs to become more of a focal point on offense than whoever we have playing at center (Hawes, Speights, Battle) and we need to pick up some big men who can block out and get some boards!— FlySixPhiEagles - Kate, I know Doug said Turner got picked on the Nick Young 3 pointer in OT, but the kid fell asleep on the play. Take a look at the video whenever you get a chance. No one ever touches him. He just completely loses track of Young. Pretty inexcusable, other than it being ET's 14th NBA game. I still have high hopes for him. I just hope he doesn't take the loss too hard.— peaspan
- Thanks for given speight and hawes minutes. Now can you cut iggy minutes? 6-18 limit his minutes, young and experience do not go hand to hand, because sixers are so young, the sixers get these losing experience. ps please give meeks some of iggy minutes.— cosmic
The Wizards have more veteran players than the Sixers. That is why the Sixers lost the way they did. I was going to be upset last night, but the way the Sixers lost was so absurd...not worth getting upset. Last night was a battle of terrible teams. There are many terrible teams in the NBA.— road515- Iggy's first game back and guess what.............heart-breaking loss. I think this would have been a win without Iguodala. Yeah the young guys make mistakes and they did here in the end, but I think they are a more focused team without Iguodala. Redundant with him. I hate to blame AI2 but he just doesn't fit anymore the way the original didn't at the end. Get us some big guys who can actually defend/score (or even one big). Someone keeps saying Kamen. I say yes! Songalia, Brackins & Hawes can all go. Dead weight on a bad team. Kapono isn't working out. Trades need to be made (not bad ones like the last few). Even if to free up salary cap to start this thing over. 6-76 for the 76ers seems like a distinct possibility. If we don't get the #1 draft pick Stern needs to go! Oh,by the way I'm onboard with letting Stefanski go. Snider can go with him. Bring back Croce! Don't blame Collins. Stevie Wonder could have built a better team than Stefanski and company plus we'd have better halftime music!— joecooler2u
- They truly, really, definitely, undoubtedly, unquestionably stink. In addition, I would add: they stink.— Bartleby
- Remember when Doug said he wanted Iguodala to shoot less jumpers and drive to the basket? Well, the reason why it's not happening is he CAN'T! At least he can't drive and finish, thats why he settled for another jumper at money time last night.
- Can someone make a reel of all the close games the past 2 years to see how many times Iggy has blown it in close game situations? Yeah Turner missed those two foul shots but he hit four before then and Iggy missed two before then. I can't watch another close game where we give the ball to Iggy to shoot when he is about 2-38 in these situations. Also, Turner hit all his shots from the floor in the fourth and overtime and for him not to be out there is ridiculous.— TradeIggyNow
I am actually ok with the record the way it is. If the Sixers keep playing hard and are in a lot of games this season but the record is bad and they get another top 5 draft pick to play center for next year I am good with the results. Even though the record is similar to last year the coach actually knows how to make things better in the long run. This season kind of reminds me of the 2 years before the 2001 season. They were in a lot of games but couldn't finish them off but they were building with a good coach.(and Iverson)
Let's go Sixers! Don't get too high or too low after good wins or bad losses. Tonight's another night to get things straight.— Leegles
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.
