76ers: learning end-of-game situations
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76ers: learning end-of-game situations
76ers had everyone back at practice today, including Jason Kapono who missed the last week for personal reasons. Kapono will be with the team for tomorrow night's game against the Portland Trail Blazers. So all 14 players were present and healthy for today's practice. One bit of news: rookie big man Craig Brackins will leave for the D-League's Springfield Armor, possibly as soon as tonight. Brackins, who has appeared in only one game for the Sixers, will be down there for about a 10-say stretch that includes five games. After today's practice, Doug Collins said the team is allowed to send Brackins down a total of three times and that the team has pinpointed three different occasions where the Armor have a cluster of games. Collins said the three trips will allow Brackins to play 16 games down there. Collins said assistant coach Quin Snyder would travel with Brackins for the first few days to give Brackins the lay of the land and to continue working him out.
"We’re hoping he can go get some game time and see how much he’s improved," Collins said. "We’re excited that he can go play."
Brackins didn't seem concerned with the move, actually seemed anxious to get some game minutes, and said he would be focusing on his rebounding and defense because the team "already knows I can score."
When the curtain was lifted on today's practice session at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Sixers were in the last 5 minutes of a team scrimmage. It was the traditional blue team (first team) vs. white team (second team) and in the final 25 seconds, the white team was holding onto a 28-24 lead. The white team had the ball under the opposing basket, shot clock turned off, and blue team was pressing to force a turnover. The white team guards broke the pressure and got the ball to Marreese Speights near halfcourt. Since the blue team had committed most of their defenders to the backcourt, Speights turned and had basically a 3 on 1 against blue-team defender Spencer Hawes. Let's keep in mind that the shot clock was turned off and all the white team needed to do was hold onto the ball until either the clock expired or the blue team fouled. Instead, Speights attacked the basket and ran over Hawes. It was clearly an offensive foul. Collins immediately stopped the scrimmage. He was not pleased. He was impassioned in pointing out how Speights' decision was the 100 percent incorrect decision to make in that situation.
It was good to see Collins so adamant about the possession and the poor decision, because these are the types of plays the Sixers have made down the stretch of games, contributing to their 4-13 record.
"It's the little things and that’s what I told our guys," Collins explained. "I reiterated that we have not won a game yet in single digits. Every game we’ve won has been in double digits … that’s why we’ve been doing some situational stuff at the end of practice."
You can check out the video of Collins explaining this, which should be embedded in this post.
"It is situational and that’s what we’re trying to teach these guys," Collins said of end-of-game moments. "A lot of these guys have never played with the understanding of a clock. I say, when you play AAU basketball, you play until the horn sounds. You just keep running and running until the horn sounds and you know the game is over. And guys become products of that a lot of time. Not understanding how valuable the ball is at critical times of the game."
We also asked Collins about the recent struggles of rookie guard Evan Turner. First, Collins said he "would rather not" remove Turner from the starting lineup. Collins said he wants the current starting group to gel and that if he needed to make an early substitution, he would solve the issue that way.
"I think he’s getting reacclimated to Dre being out there," Collins said of Turner. "Because when Dre is out there and Jrue is out there, both of those guys handle the ball. I think you see it on the break. One important thing also is that Evan’s rebounding is down. A big part of Evan’s game is rebounding the ball and then he has the ball to push it up the floor."
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.
Kate, are you the Sixers payroll. Why do you love this team so much.— Drew777- BobbyV: if Iguodala stays, then I doubt that Turner will get the opportunity to play meaningful minutes. JonKap argues, of course, that the only way Turner will improve is during the off-season and via practice. I don't agree completely, but Collins is certainly reducing his minutes now that Iguodala has returned.— chuckw
- Chuck, guarantee Combocancer would support moving Turner so Iggy can shoot 1-7 including 0-5 from three in crunch time. If Iggy is untradable, so be it. Does not in my humble opinion mean that we must trade the #2 overall pick after 17 games in his rookie season. As I said before, that would be insane.— Bobby V
- BobbyV: I doubt that many posters would prefer Turner being traded over Iguodala, but whether Iguodala can be traded because of his contract and because of intransigence by the Sixers front office is unclear. One or the other needs to be moved, in my opinion.— chuckw
- Anyone who thinks Turner should be traded to make room for Iggy is absolutely insane. Iggy has had plenty of years to show us that he is the best he will ever be. Turner is 17 games into his rookie year AND it is obvious that he, like many others, plays worse with Iggy in the lineup. Unfortunately, Stefanski thinks we should get a perrenial all star in exchange for Iggy, therefor this mess continues. Hey Iggy, tonight why don't you make a 4th quarter free throw or clutch shot? Just for the contrast from normal.— Bobby V
- Kate,
Collins' teachings must be working. The young players are improving. Thad,Jodie, and Jrue are better. Thad leads all NBA forwards in FG% after 20% of the season. Jodie just needs some minutes and he'll probably become a more formidable 3pt shooter. Jrue's progress is obvious. Contrary to most ,I beleive Iguodala will get better too. He's already very good. Perimeter defense,turnovers, and FB points will keep us competitive until we get an interior defender. There aren't many available however.— philsix6 - Chuckw, very true about Iguodala fading in the 4th quarter. Can't taked the missed free throws down the stretch. I think the bigger key here is that Holliday looks like he will be the star of this team. He has made some terrible decisions down the stretch, but he is learning on the job. I have to keep telling myself that this is a kid that didn't event play pg in college because of Collison being on the team. I think he will be the one with the ball in key spots late in games and I think that he is the type of player who will get it done. One thing for sure is that Jrue is a confident player. I would still like to see use Turner more in a backup pg role and I think that this would benefit the team all around at least until a trade is made.— Mattb
- Mattb: one thing for certain; either Iguodala or Turner need to be moved, and I agree with you that Turner may be the player dealt, although whether because of talent or because of Iguodala's contract is unclear. One thing we don't know for certain yet: Iguodala simply fades late in the fourth quarter, but will Turner also come up small late in games?— chuckw
brackins???.. d league?.. its official.. WE GOT NOTHING FOR SMITH AND GREEN! gave them away.— combocancer1975
Comment removed.- I am glad Kate asked about Turner and find Doug's comments interesting. Forget about how Evan has struggled on offense, how about how bad he has been on defense? Andre and Evan are clearly similar players, but who is better? Evan seems to have a better mid range game, but shockingly Dre is a better three point shooter. As far as athleticism it isn't even close as Iguodola is on another stratosphere. Defensively Dre is light years ahead of Turner. Evan is a better free throw shooter. They both are good rebounders and passers. Clearly Evan has deferred upon Andre's return. From what I have seen, it would seem that Turner would be the player that should be moved as scary as that sounds.— Mattb
- I listened to Collins on the above soundbite. Comparing us with the Nets? Doug is an Icon in Philly and a great broadcaster. He couldn't coach Jordan and Pippen. He was out in Det. and Wash. Snyder is nowhere to be found (Flyers are winning !!!)Has Thorn shown up yet?? Easy Ed is where?? No problems though ....no attendance and the 2nd worst record in the league. No one knows and no one seems to care.— batmann1
- Now there's something I can agree with...jasoncville, you are one serious dope moron. Poor Kate having to watch this bad rerun this much. 76ers stink and if they blew the #2 pick, it's not going to get any better anytime soon.— PhillySubsMac
Somehow I think the head would miss the basket.- dpcoz: all they need is a raised platform, a guillotine, and a basket for the head. Great idea, but they should start at the top of the organization and move down from there.— chuckw
Kate, whith the way this team plays, you should demand to see an execution every time they lift that curtain. First suggestions are Spencer Hawes and Speights.— dpcoz- JBP: my thoughts as well, as Turner has played poorly since Iguodala's return, but I wonder if Turner will be moved instead? JonKap may be right when he insists that Iguodala is untradeable, at least until the new CBA is agreed upon.— chuckw
- Seems like Doug is agreeing with those who felt Iguodala and Turner are too much alike especially in the way in which they both like the ball in their hands. Also seems that the drafting of Turner was with the expectation that Iguodala would be traded this season toeither reduce payroll and/or pick up a more complementary piece.— JBP
- I want iguodala to close the game (last 2 min) in the mid post.. TAKE YOUR TIME!!!! Live with the result.. I can accept the loss as he's learning how to close.. No one succeeds without failure in sports.. It's the courage to take the exact shot again.. The one you missed to lose the last game. You can't practice being clutch.. Experience is the only teacher. I want the ball in Iguodala's hands not Lou not jrue NOT TURNER. iguodala.. CLOSE THE DAMN GAME!! Make the right play.. Score until they double.— combocancer1975
- Comment removed.
- seriously if newspapers, and this one in particular, are struggling so bad to stay alive, perhaps they should eliminate or at the very least significantly scale back the coverage of sports teams that lets face it, are completely irrelevant and have a minimal at best following. If you haven't guessed yet those teams would be the sixers and flyers, and to be honest you can scrap the first 3 months of the baseball season since it those games are essentially meaningless— jasoncville
- Kate what did you do wrong in this life or a previous life to have to cover this team. You must have been a very bad!
- Would be nice if Iguodala, as well as Turner, filled the lanes more, with Holiday leading the break.— chuckw
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.
