Posted: Thursday, December 18, 2008, 3:50 PM | 29 comments |
 

Without Brand, begin Operation Sammy
options
 
The news might seem like a thunderbolt to the Sixers, that Elton Brand will be missing for a month with a fracture and a torn labrum in his shoulder. They just changed coaches and now they're going to have to spend an extended period of time essentially marking time until Brand returns and Tony DiLeo gets a chance to integrate him into the running game the franchise so desperately craves.

Except that there is something that can be accomplished in Brand's absence.

Call it Operation Sammy.

The goal should be two-fold: to get Samuel Dalembert out of the funk into which he has sunk this season, and then to trade him for the shooter that this team needs so badly.

Sammy is big. Sammy can run. Sammy can rebound. When whatever weight of the world that rests upon his shoulders is lifted, he gives you something. For an outsider looking in, he has a couple of the unteachables -- big, fast -- and he can resemble a nice piece in a rotation. Weighed down, like this season, he is a waste of playing time. But get him going, galloping, excited again, and you've got something.

In Brand's absence, the Sixers can attempt to re-create what they had at the end of last season. There is a decent chance, in fact, that they will look better in Brand's absence than they have with him on the floor, that they will re-discover their intensity and their legs without everybody tripping over themselves in an attempt to defer to everybody else. Some people might mock that. The correct reply goes like this:  given time and health, Brand will make them better. He is not the reason they slowed down -- the rest of them are the reason. And come playoff time, if there is a playoff time, Brand will make them a far more viable team than they were last spring.

But a shooter remains the gaping hole in the blueprint. Dalembert might be able to get them that shooter. At this point, though, Dalembert will get them nothing. They need to re-find whatever he has lost, re-capture the fun for him, and then do a deal. Marreese Speights can fill his role -- he's doing it more and more anyway.

So that's it. That's how the Sixers make this month productive.
Posted by Rich Hofmann @ 3:50 PM  Permalink | 29 comments
29
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:11 PM, 12/18/2008
    Not only would I trade Sammy, Id tell Speights to start at C in his place. Who could we get for Dalembert? Lebron James?
    — low2behold
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:17 PM, 12/18/2008
    Sammy has the basketball IQ of me when I was 7
    — Joe the Bat
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:27 PM, 12/18/2008
    The cap wouldn't work for that deal. That's absolutely the only reason it wouldn't happen.
    — B in DC
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:38 PM, 12/18/2008
    I would trade Sammy for a basketball player with no legs. I mean come on. This guy is the worse...WORSE Center in the league. Give him away at this point. Bring back Korver. What a dumb move that was to trade the teams best outside shooting threat. DUMB as usual.
    — Big Ragu
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:43 PM, 12/18/2008
    Everything happens for a reason. This is Sam's chance to flourish, and show some other team starving for a big man that he has some skills. Then, dump him on them suckas for a headshooter. Tell them to call BK for references! Its a shame that as many years as he has been playing professional ball that he has not been able to develop 1 low post move. Speights is for real, that kid has a nose for the ball. I like that he and Moses are from the same city.
    — VDogg
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:44 PM, 12/18/2008
    Everything happens for a reason. This is Sam's chance to flourish, and show some other team starving for a big man that he has some skills. Then, dump him on them suckas for a headshooter. Tell them to call BK for references! Its a shame that as many years as he has been playing professional ball that he has not been able to develop 1 low post move. Speights is for real, that kid has a nose for the ball. I like that he and Moses are from the same city.
    — VDogg
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:46 PM, 12/18/2008
    If they wanted to run; why did they get Elton Brand instead of Josh Smith?
    — chgtown
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:48 PM, 12/18/2008
    This guy was a project when drafted and continues to be one. Athletic, blocks shots and rebounds ok, and runs the floor fairly well, but is utterly useless on the offensive end. Unload him soon please!
    — GetRealYouIdiots
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:48 PM, 12/18/2008
    This guy was a project when drafted and continues to be one. Athletic, blocks shots and rebounds ok, and runs the floor fairly well, but is utterly useless on the offensive end. Unload him soon please!
    — GetRealYouIdiots
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:49 PM, 12/18/2008
    Agree to start Speights... If anyone would trade a shooting guard for sammy, take it before they realize sammy is the Milennium version of Shawn Bradley... Just ask Jimmy Lynam...who traded Penny Hardway for Bradley long ago... It's like deja vu...
    — JimmyD
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:05 PM, 12/18/2008
    I agree with the Josh Smith comments. The problem is not that Brand is not a great player. The problem is that they got an older, injured player instead of staying young and getting Josh Smith. That, if I am correct, was not Mo Checks doing !
    — freyday17
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:32 PM, 12/18/2008
    Sammy is a popular choice for fan-bashing but compared to the rest of the "centers" in the NBA, he's actually pretty solid. He rebounds well, he blocks shots and alters a ton of shots, he starts fastbreaks when he blocks his shots instead of blocking them out of bounds like most guys, his 10-15 jumper is much improved, he's a solid FT shooter, he attacks the offensive glass, etc. Some of you guys who like to whine and complain about everything always focus on what players can't do instead of focusing on what they can do. Sammy's numbers have gone up and down this year because Cheeks couldn't figure out his rotation. Sometimes he would get enamored with a particular line-up and leave Sammy on the bench for long stretches. When the guy gets 30+ minutes in games, he produces. Anyone who actually understands the game of basketball understands that defense has been the biggest problem for the Sixers this season. When Sammy isn't out there, the defense is a lot worse. Speights is going to be a good player but he's a poor defender right now, makes a lot of mistakes on the court and often gets out of position. He may "look" like more of a basketball player than Sammy to the casual fan, but it's about wins and losses...not "looking good" on the court. If this team played solid defense, hustled for 48 minutes (like they did the last year and a half) and took better care of the basketball, they'd have a lot more wins right now. Adding some guy who is going to make 1-2 three point shots a game isn't going to change much. They've got Marshall and Rush if they want that.
    — JimG
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:44 PM, 12/18/2008
    JimG is the only one with any basketball IQ. GReat job Jim.
    — Reese
  • Comment removed.


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About Rich Hofmann
Rich Hofmann arrived at the Daily News in 1980 for a job whose status was officially designated as "full-time, temporary." A senior at Penn at the time, he was hired to fill in on the copy desk during a staff illness. The notion of him covering the Eagles or being a columnist did not exist in anyone's imagination. It was supposed to be six weeks and out, but he never left. It is only one of the reasons why so many people have concerns about him as a potential house guest. Rich has blogged the postseasons of the Flyers and Eagles. E-mail Rich at hofmanr@phillynews.com

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