Sixers have talk, trying to halt one-game 'skid'
The SIxers talked for about an hour before hitting the court yesterday, trying to iron out some problems that led to first home loss on Wednesday.
Sixers have talk, trying to halt one-game 'skid'
Bob Cooney
The Sixers were scheduled to practice at 11 a.m. this morning at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, but the gym was quiet until about noon.
That's because they team met for that amount of time to talk about the problems that happened during Wednesday's 108-104 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets. It was the first home loss of the season for the Sixers and dropped them to 10-4 overall.
"We had a meeting of the minds, a little pow-wow just to make sure everybody’s on the same page and to avoid slippage," said guard Lou Williams. "Just to make sure everybody is on the same page. When you lose a game I think it’s important for everybody to sit down and say “OK, are we all right?” just make sure everybody’s on the same page. That was basically it. We had a players’ only meeting just to make sure everybody was happy. Make sure we continue to push forward."
It shows how far this team has come lately that one loss caused a meeting which at first included the coaches, then was players' only for the last 10 minutes or so.
"This is the most success we’ve had in a long time and we’re not planning on letting that go," said Williams. "We can’t afford to lose three or four in a row based on guys not being able to talk out small little things. We lost one, we consider that a losing streak in our building, so we just had to talk it out."
Also, starting center Spencer Hawes was still hurting with a strained Achilles'. Unless he improves dramatically, it would appear he is very iffy for tomorrow's home game against Atlanta and maybe even Saturday's game in Miami.
More to come.
Also, check out our earlier post on the Sixers' bench, when ranks among the NBA's best.
Comments (35)
I'm with you, Bob. The fact that one loss in a long season has called for a team meeting is a good sign. Gives me a lot of confidence that they care.— sixers_610- Hmm... would those "small little things" include Iggy inability to hit a foul shot in crunchtime, or maybe Holiday looking to dump the ball to Iggy for the final shot instead of taking it to the rack himself (where he probably would have picked up the basket and the foul)?— llkewlbean
- That's two games where Dre has missed free throws late (Utah and Denver). Plus, he should have passed to Lou Willimas late in the Portland game. Am glad team held a meeting. Shows they care. They have been in every game this year, no other team in NBA can say that this season. All have had a blow out loss.— 76er
- This is very good news. You cannot accept losing winnable games if you're trying to win a division. I do wish we knew who called for the meeting. Better to talk now that after losing 3 straight this week. Tomorrow is a Must Win in my book.— Yakov
- This is a great story because we all want this young team to keep on keeping on. Atlanta has a big front line so Nik will be a big deal tomorrow.— Koons
- Man, if Dwight Howard wanted to come here in FA, they would be set. I know, keep dreamin.— SilliBilli
- "...We lost one, we consider that a losing streak in our building..." GREAT quote from the Boss!
— DennyP - Love this article. Hopefully they recognize that games like last night are going to be the rule (i.e. fiercely competitive) when dealing with +.500 teams and not the exception.
If Vuc can learn to stay out of foul trouble, we don't miss Hawes nearly as much.— evolutionary - It is not one loss... they have lost 4 out of 5 games to teams that are currently playoff teams... The winning percentage of the teams that they beat is under .300... They realize that if they are going to be a legit contender they need to actually beat legit teams.. so far they have not!— observer01
Comment removed.- I am a critic of Andre Iguodala. He is turnover prone. He had a decent game against Denver when he was getting his points off of defense and rebounding. His turnovers in the clutch is precisely why I am critical. He is not a "go to guy", he is a nice piece.— reveugene
- Sixers should trade Iguodala for a big, given Hawes' injury and lack of front court depth. Let Thad or Turner take Iggy's starting spot.— fufkin
- Team meeting? How about stop giving Iggy the ball at the end of games. Heck, take him off the court.— bobcitydoc
Jrue Holiday has my trust and respect. what ever decision he makes i will live with.Turner, I compared you to andre miller and not brandon roy.. ( how do you like the comparison) STOP RUNNING AWAY FROM THE OPEN 3! You ran from from one corner 3 and picked up an offensive foul. TAKE THE SHOT! If you are unwilling to take and make the open 3 you will probably NEVER START! overcome the fear trust your mechanics shoot it. keep an open stance and your knees DEEPLY BENT and your hands ready.. GO UP TIGHT AND IN ONE PIECE! Jodie... lock it in.. Brand. be ready for the playoffs. vuc.. stay outta foul trouble.. lou get your buckets.. keep an eye on your shooters.. battie stay ready.. 200 shots per day.. spot ups pick and pops turnarounds. power leg lifts.. LEGS BATTIE LEGS!! Strong legs from you. thats what we need. thad.. i like the transition lob to thad.. all started by jrue giving the ball to iguodala who had the better angle. if we can develop that play for thad we got something. and if the wing is not there push it ahead to thad and EVERYBODY fade to the 3 point line. SLOOOOOOOOOOOOW THAD.. in transition.. SLOOOOOOOOOOOOW!! 1. Catch it. survey/ size up the defender. if he sags 15' j. if he stops the ball ATTACK THE LEAD FOOT! 2. Shot fake 3. HOLD YOUR PIVOT!!!! 4. cross step/dribble.. after the head fake he's beat.. CLEAN!!!! If nothings there no big deal back him down and wait on your shooters get the assist. so its not.. 1!2!3!4! its 1!2!...........3!!!!!!!!!!!!! nothings there 4. the pause between 2 and 3 allows the ref to see your pivot and NOT call the travel.. and as you back the defender down remember a strong elbow in your back is an automatic spin. as soon as you feel it once. SPIN.. practice it. no elbow in the back?? use your footwork. KEEP THE BALL CLOSE TO YOUR CHEST (No air space) for the middle or baseline fade. 15' or closer. i dont want to see a college 3 pt fadeaway.. I want the 8-10' fade.. nice game— combocancer1975- Sixers will NEVER trade Iggy .. should trade Iggy,& 2 #1s for Howard or at least Trade Iggy for a young solid established BIG man! come on Collins, stop trying to push Iggy on the fans that know pro basketball— bill poore
- While not accepting defeat is a positive sign, I fear they can have meetings till the proverbial cows come home, but if Hawes continues to miss time, their front court weaknesses will doom them against teams with length. Vucevic is a smart, well coached center with good skills, but as a rookie, he will be fouled out of most games by NBA refs, and Battie, about to turn 36 and a career 21 minute per game player in the league, can only provide one or two short bursts per game. Brand is overmatched at center, and Brackin and Allen will never see the court.— chuckw
- some here seem not to know basketball period, said it many times last year and again: hawes is the weakist point on the team he not only is physically weak he is slow and injury prone can't defend jump and rarely blocks shots, I mentioned also that sixers should try to bring back dalembert(playing well on the rockets) who can still run block shots defend and rebound his game is far better than hawes if you don't see that you either don't know anything about basketball or you are lying it is just that simple.— only 9
- only 9: I would expect that Collins feels toward Dalembert as he did toward Speights, so that ship has sailed. Hawes may not be great and appears to be injury-prone, but Collins loves to run the offense through him, has little confidence in Vucevic for extended minutes, and keeps sticking Brand and Battie at center. Sixers are better with Hawes in the lineup then without him, and by the way, I would assume that many posters on these sites know as much if not more about basketball than you do, so drop the high and mighty I know more than you guys do nonsense.— chuckw
- I'm a huge sixers fan and it's nice to see them doing so well but it's time to get real. This squad is really fun to watch and I do like this team but we're headed for years of 1st round exits. This isn't how you build a championship team, we have the wrong mentality. We aren't going to attract any big free agents until we win multiple playoff series. What we should be doing is going the route of the Thunder. Build our team through the draft and this year would have been a perfect start by tanking the condensed season and earning a top pick. Sure, I know that's a lof of sacrifice and lost money for the organization (we still aren't selling tickets as of now) but this is how it's done. Danny Ainge (however mean-spirited it looks) has the right idea of opening shop on the entire celtic's squad, he understands his team can't win it all now and he's willing to do whatever it takes to start a new era. We can't settle for mediocrity. Trade players, get picks, amnesty Brand.— tkParklife
- I always liked Lou Williams.— Fritz and Alice
- I would rather have dalembert back than Speights. Dalembert is durable and he rebounds and blocks shots. Unlike Speights, he is a proven rebounder. He his looking good down in Houston.
tkparklife: That plan you mentioned sounds horrible. Tanking a season to aim for the #1 pick is a loser move. With the lottery you dont even know if you would get the top pick. OKC hasnt wont any titles yet so its a little early to say the best way to win a title is to follow their lead and go for high draft picks. After 14 games you are guaranteeing a 1st round exit? Wow. Seems too early to make that call in my book. Cleveland drafted Lebron after a terrible season and had him for 7 years- how many titles did they win? How many did the Nuggest win after drafting Melo? Do you know how many "no brainer" trades to pick up superstars dont end in title runs? It's rare that such trades actually produce the results promised.— Yakov - I understand what you're saying Yakov. I'm just really frustrated. It's true that OKC hasn't won a title but at least they have the talent to compete among the elite, true title contenders, you gotta admit that. I just don't think we can compete. Maybe it is too early but even so Chicago and Miami seem miles ahead of us. Cleveland made it to the finals with Lebron, they had a chance. The Nuggets with melo made it to the Western Conference Finals they had a chance. Like these teams I just want a chance to compete. The Sixers organization of course are satisfied with what they got and aren't willing to take any chances. I think they ought to keep a very open mind. Also keep in mind that this draft class is looking pretty darn good. — tkParklife
- Fans continue to say winning multiple series will get big time F/A to come and play. Really? The Sixers were a mediocre team when they gave EB the Max! He didn't care about the playoffs won or lost. He cared about how much money they showed him. For past years this team has been strapped by salaries and mismanagement. Were the Knicks winning before Melo decided to show up? I think not. Its money, no Superstar will come here unless the Sixers can pay what they are worth. The Sixers gave Iggy and EB superstar type money when in fact they were not Superstar caliber players. Winning helps but money is the root of all championships. How would Josh Smith look now on this team besides and old EB with tired legs? Go Sixers— phillyinNJ
- Why do we have money just wasting on the bench PLAY ALLEN PLAY BRACKIN lets see what they can do we drafted them because we saw something in them. Lets develop that show some confidence in them and maybe shore up this front court a bit til Hawes gets back. I see why this team can't turn that corner no one wants to make the big disistion.(Amnesty Brand) he would be a better figure on the bench coaching then on the floor playing.— DVS 1
- Why do we have money just wasting on the bench PLAY ALLEN PLAY BRACKIN lets see what they can do we drafted them because we saw something in them. Lets develop that show some confidence in them and maybe shore up this front court a bit til Hawes gets back. I see why this team can't turn that corner no one wants to make the big disistion.(Amnesty Brand) he would be a better figure on the bench coaching then on the floor playing.— DVS 1
- Why do we have money just wasting on the bench PLAY ALLEN PLAY BRACKIN lets see what they can do we drafted them because we saw something in them. Lets develop that show some confidence in them and maybe shore up this front court a bit til Hawes gets back. I see why this team can't turn that corner no one wants to make the big disistion.(Amnesty Brand) he would be a better figure on the bench coaching then on the floor playing.— DVS 1
- Why do we have money just wasting on the bench PLAY ALLEN PLAY BRACKIN lets see what they can do we drafted them because we saw something in them. Lets develop that show some confidence in them and maybe shore up this front court a bit til Hawes gets back. I see why this team can't turn that corner no one wants to make the big disistion.(Amnesty Brand) he would be a better figure on the bench coaching then on the floor playing.— DVS 1
- Why do we have money just wasting on the bench PLAY ALLEN PLAY BRACKIN lets see what they can do we drafted them because we saw something in them. Lets develop that show some confidence in them and maybe shore up this front court a bit til Hawes gets back. I see why this team can't turn that corner no one wants to make the big disistion.(Amnesty Brand) he would be a better figure on the bench coaching then on the floor playing.— DVS 1
- Why do we have money just wasting on the bench PLAY ALLEN PLAY BRACKIN lets see what they can do we drafted them because we saw something in them. Lets develop that show some confidence in them and maybe shore up this front court a bit til Hawes gets back. I see why this team can't turn that corner no one wants to make the big disistion.(Amnesty Brand) he would be a better figure on the bench coaching then on the floor playing.— DVS 1
- Why do we have money just wasting on the bench PLAY ALLEN PLAY BRACKIN lets see what they can do we drafted them because we saw something in them. Lets develop that show some confidence in them and maybe shore up this front court a bit til Hawes gets back. I see why this team can't turn that corner no one wants to make the big disistion.(Amnesty Brand) he would be a better figure on the bench coaching then on the floor playing.— DVS 1
- Why do we have money just wasting on the bench PLAY ALLEN PLAY BRACKIN lets see what they can do we drafted them because we saw something in them. Lets develop that show some confidence in them and maybe shore up this front court a bit til Hawes gets back. I see why this team can't turn that corner no one wants to make the big disistion.(Amnesty Brand) he would be a better figure on the bench coaching then on the floor playing.— DVS 1
- Why do we have money just wasting on the bench PLAY ALLEN PLAY BRACKIN lets see what they can do we drafted them because we saw something in them. Lets develop that show some confidence in them and maybe shore up this front court a bit til Hawes gets back. I see why this team can't turn that corner no one wants to make the big disistion.(Amnesty Brand) he would be a better figure on the bench coaching then on the floor playing.— DVS 1
- oops hit the enter button to many time sorry— DVS 1
- Sixers need to extend thier bench with some capable vets. Allen and Brackins need to be send to the D-league and play. Not doing anything but watching up here.— edogs
- Love this team, love how one loss has them this upset, looking for a big performance tonite.— JayOfDaJungle
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About this blog
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
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