Rush Returns
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Rush Returns
The Sixers flew home last night after their 98-92 win over the Celtics at UMASS's Mullins Center. They returned to the PCOM court today at noon, for a practice session that lasted about 90 minutes.
Of note: Kareem Rush, who had been sidelined since Monday with a left-ankle sprain, practiced. He did not appear to be limping. Photo: It looks to me like he's swinging a ping-pong paddle, but that's actually Rush working on his shot after today's practice. Rush and Andre Iguodala spent about 20 minutes post-practice alternating shots.
We'll be running a Live Chat today at 3 p.m. to discuss last night's preseason opener. If you would like to join the discussion, click here: Sixers Chat.
Here's how things broke down last night, in terms of the rotation:
Starters: Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Elton Brand, Sam Dalembert.
First players off the bench: Willie Green (for Young with 5:23 left in first), Lou Williams (for Miller with 3:17 left in first), Reggie Evans (for Brand with 2:06 left in first), Young (for Iguodala with :45 left in first).
Did not play: Donyell Marshall, Jared Reiner.
Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said he was especially pleased with the way his starting group began the third quarter -- Sixers outscored the Celtics in that quarter, 28-21.
"I thought our defense got better, our pressure got better," Cheeks said. "That’s one of the things we talked about at halftime, being better with our pressure defense. First half, first preseason game, getting up-and-down the floor, I thought we looked a little tired in the first half and got our wind in the second half and had more pressure on the ball and creating turnovers, which is something we talked about."
Elton Brand scored 11 points and had four rebounds. He spent the bulk of his minutes matched against Kevin Garnett, who frequently forced Brand into difficult turnaround jumpers from the midpost. Since the offense is geared toward running the ball through Brand, the offense looked a little slow last night. At times there wasn't much movement.
"This is his first game actually playing with a different team after being someplace else for a while," Cheeks said of Brand's debut. "It's going to be a little different. It’s going to take him a minute. I still thought he did well in the first half, second half was better. I would expect each game would be a little bit better, a little bit better."
Lou Williams shot the ball well and scored 27 points. Thad Young piled up 21 points with his rebounding and nifty (yes, I said 'nifty') finishes around the hoop. Young also picked up a few hoops in transition.
Should the Sixers start running plays for Young?
"He’s working toward that," joked Cheeks after the game. "He’s such an elusive player, scores on rebounds, has the ability to post up. While there may not yet be a play for him … we’ll see how that goes as the season goes."
After the game, Brand talked about how he feels the Sixers compare in the East.
"I think we can grow," Brand said. "To be one of those upper echelon teams, we have a lot of work to do. We’re not there yet. But, Orlando, Detroit, they’re solid veterans they’re good every year. Toronto is improved and Clevland with Lebron ..."
Added Brand: We have the talent to get there. We put in our work, which we’re trying to do, we could be there."
How did Brand feel about his debut?
"It went good," Brand said. "Definitely satisfied. Played well against the champs. Definitely gotta shake the rust off. But, especially that third quarter, we’re competing with a team that’s played together for a championship run."
Observation from last night: During the first quarter, Dalembert came down with a rebound in front of the Celtics bench. Dalembert lowered the ball and a Boston player knocked it away from him and out of bounds. Iguodala, standing next to Sam on the court, tilted his head, looked at Sam, and brought an imaginary ball to his chin as if to say "keep it tight." When Dalembert walked to the bench, an animated Donyell Marshall said something to Sam. It seems like Sam's the guy for which everyone has advice.
Cheeks on Marreese Speights: "I thought Speights played good, I thought he played well. He worked himself around, that was a lot of minutes for him to step in and play in his first preseason game. That was pretty good to do some of the things he did: rebounding the ball, making some plays. I thought for his first pro game it was pretty good."
-- Kate
Comments (10)
Sammy is indeed weak.— kgochenour- kate: obviously too bad rush couldn't play so as to help with the cohesion and observe his style with us early on but that will come and we'll see if he's just a perimeter player in our scheme. a little disconcerting about dalembert at this point-he's been playing long enough to make sure he's doing these type of things (properly securing the ball for example) automatically. sure, it's the first pre-season game and mistakes happen but the fundamentals should be there. i think i asked this in the chat (unanswered, like several-just giving you a difficult time!) but what are the keys for closing the gap w/boston (clearly a few other teams too but just focusing on this game). can brand guard kg straight-up (didn't see too many clipper/t-wolve or celtic games to recall)? not being in philly makes it a bit more challenging for some fans to have first hand impressions...— 127sixer59
- 127: I didn't know you weren't in Philly! I just thought you liked other teams (NFL, MLB) for unknown reasons. I should have known that. So, it's hard to tell what will close the gap with Boston. I thought the big difference was Ray Allen. It goes back to the topic we have been talking a lot about: the Sixers lack of a Ray Allen-type. I think Brand and Garnett can basically neutralize each other, but I think the Sixers need Brand to open things up more than the Celtics need Garnett to do that. What do you think?— Kfagan
- kate: allen has been a thorn since his UConn days! but his shooting touch is unreal. my amateur assessment is with the team we currently have we continue to play to our strengths and not try to emulate the celtics or any other team (bball doesn't have to be as much a copycat league as the nfl but it is). it'd be great to have a sharp shooter but few teams have everything you'd ideally like to have. compared to the celtics (who have a year on us in the chemistry department), we have more versatility and depth and i think brand will have to simply pound it some against kg while having iguodala really concentrate on defense and the team trap allen more quickly. exploit the other mismatches we can create, including having a more defined offensive role for young against teams like the celtics. put evans/dalembert/ratliff on kg to try to wear him down a bit and show him different looks. deny the entry passes more as well. all easier said than done! tried to be inclusive about non-philly based fans but you're right-i'm not there. i have the misfortune to be a long distance fan for all my teams (which i've never waivered from since childhood-must've had a strange sports imprint...).— 127sixer59
- Kate admit it Rush WAS swinging a ping pong paddle! (try saying ping Pong Paddle three times really fast). The picture gives it away! LOL Just teasing. But I do agree it looks like that. Keep up the great stories!— joecooler2u
- Is it because of the huge contract King gave W. Green that Cheeks won't take him out of the line up?— Wise_Owl
- By the way, any post over three lines rarely is read by anyone.— Wise_Owl
- Some things real encouraging about that game (Lou and Thad continuing to score the ball), some things same as they ever were (everyone in sixers gear collaborating to keep sammy focused). 127 - If memory serves, i think Reggie did a pretty good job on KG in the game we won against the C's last year. I'm looking forward to seeing what Rush has tonight, after hearings so much about him on this board. If he's able to step in and take over Willie's minutes with efficient shooting, that would be a huge plus. Even if he's not Ray Allen, (and else is, really?) just having a little more size and even slightly above average shooting from the wings would be great.— K,M
- k,m: agree evans played ok at times against kg and his pressure and banging can both phyiscally & mentally wear out opponents. board: knicks will have trouble incorporating d'antoni's style but it will be interesting to see miller v. duhon and brand v. randolph (who get up/down better). knicks may want to run but our transition will be much better. perhaps we'll get a glimpse of our offense can work flowing thru brand when he commands a double team.— 127sixer59
- joecooler2u: It looks so much like a ping-pong paddle (difficult to say, you're right). 127: I'm really anxious to see more offense through Brand. I'm going to try to keep an eye on the movement away from the ball.— Kfagan
Popular Posts
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.
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners:
Powered By:
