Sixers change starting lineup
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Sixers change starting lineup
Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said the switch in the starting lineup for tonight's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers was a decision made -- purely -- on matchups.
Thaddeus Young is out. Willie Green is in.
Sixers starting lineup: Andre Miller, Willie Green, Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand, Samuel Dalembert.
Cheeks said that with the Cavs guards, Delonte West and Mo Williams, Green had more experience chasing guys around the court.
Thad said he was surprised when he first heard, but when he sat down and thought about it, he realized it made more sense for the team.
Is this the new starting lineup, past tonight?
"I'm not going to say that," Cheeks said. "It's for tonight and we'll go from there."
The move also benefits Iguodala, who will start at his more natural position of small forward. Cheeks said that was not part of the thought process, but that "maybe it helps everyone all around."
--Kate
Comments (21)
For me is a bad move, Green is a good bench player but is not a good starting. I prefer the duo Lou Williams - Andre Miller. Thaddeus Young is better SF than Iguodala, but he has to sit on the bench because Iguodala is a crybaby. Mr. Million Dollar Baby needs to be in our starting lineup!!!— sixers29- Interesting starting line up - lol. Hope it's not to late and that it helps all the players with the brand transition!— russ4philly
- oh lord... green should have been traded before the season began.Cheeks should be fired. I am sick of this. I am about to cancel the NBA package.— maximus
- Not sure how this move is supposed to help. Thad has been playing great - why sit him on the bench? Iguodala's move from small forward to shooting guard is not the reason for his decline in productivity. Even he says that there is not a big difference between those positions. That said, he is playing great tonight so far. The Sixers are still losing so it probably doesn't matter anyway.— syracusenats
- Does not matter. They STINK !— Reggie92
Comment removed.- ouch - cheecks will be gone by mid jan— russ4philly
- cheeks has to go and brand should tie a knot to cheeks' feet and waddle with Mo out the door. Brand as I have been saying does not fit, he will not fit.. what is stefanski waiting for when the attendance hits rock bottom... it is a joke right now— donofrio
- The Sixers are sunk....they overpaid for Elton Brand and for Iguodala and they are now stuck with their contracts.....Poor Ed Snider....gotta lose Eddie STUPanski.— rockinrob
- I like this move. Young is not "The Greatest", he's a nice up and coming player. I can recall postings about Young being better than Durant, you guys are highly delusional and even thoughts about him becoming better than "Melo" again I say get real. With that said, start "Iggy" at the 3(because overall Iggy's better) W.Green at the 2 and Miller at the point for the time being. I'd like for us to get JR Smith(Nuggets) to start at the 2 Williams at the 1 and Iggy at the 3.— Anguilla Al
I like this move too. Also agree about Young, he is a great "young" player, but let's not get carried away. Remember the Cavs are playing extemely good ball right now to put it mildly. I thought the Sixers played a great style and clearly, no matter what Mo and Iggy say..Iggy is MUCH more comfortable at the 3. Brand looked like he didn't have his legs under him and Hubie said it a few times, we miss a lot of shots really close to the basket and drop a lot of interior passes. We looked like we are starting to get HOW we should play but we are still sloppy, trying to figure out when and where people should be. I do blame Mo some for that, if the spacing is not good, why is it not being fixed? And Hubie kept saying "get the ball out" after a rebound...I have been shouting that at the tv constantly...get the ball moving up the floor!!!— srvdove- srdove: I think it was you last week who hit on one of the main reasons Iguodala is more comfortable at SF -- guards tend to take away his greatest strength on offense, penetrating. With small forwards guarding him, he's better able to get in the lane and less likely to get stripped. That said, his jumper has been better recently (maybe all the practice has paid off!), and that has helped his overall game, regardless of which position he plays. Another overlooked point is that Iguodala is better on defense against small forwards, because he usually has a speed advantage, and his length makes up for any height/size disadvantage. His stats as SF vs. SG this year bear out all of this and are quite striking. I have more to say about this game, but one other quick comment for now: Thad Young needs to stop relying so heavily on his jumper. His great start is long gone, and his "improved jumper" seems to have been a mirage (10-18 on 3's to start the year, 10-43 since). He's not a jump shooter any more than Iguodala is. He needs to get back to his strengths and make use of his good post moves (and the coaching staff needs to move him closer to the basket), because right now he's not even giving the team what he did last year.— Statman
- I agree, Statman. There is plenty of minutes against most teams for both AI at SF and some at SG and for Young coming of the bech at SF and some at PF. Opposing line ups very big or short and fast at the gaurds might limit AI and/or Youngs minutes. So be it - more time for the bigs!— russ4philly
- Another observation Hubie made that I thought was interesting was the Igoudala's strenght - driving the lane - tends to clog it up for EB(and i thought, vice versa for that matter too). I didn't watch a ton of Clips games in the past, but i seem to remember EB taking up position a few steps outside the paint and working in with that pretty decent one-or-two dribble move he's got. And i did think flipping the rotation around was a pretty good move - Willie (perish the thought) has been a pretty solid player this year. Thad has been struggling of late, and totally agree with statman that hes taking too many jumpers (though i do think that with practice that's a shot he should be able to hit eventually). It was real nice to see Igoudala, Miller, and Lou find their shots at any rate, but i was really scratching my head with that Ratliff/marshall/Ivey (and i forget who else) lineup in the 2nd quarter, and thought that in the bad stretches we had far too many bench players at once again...our starters actually played pretty well, except green ironically, who hardly played.— K,M
- Actually, i should amend that last thought im my post - Miller and Igoudala played well. Brand still looks hurt (I thought he was noticably shuffling & moving gingerly towards the end) and Sammy didn't play much. Probably he's been affected by the knee lately too...— K,M
View comments: 1
|
2
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:
