Ba Ba Ba Blowout

by Jordan Sams on Nov 3, 2008 9:12 PM PST

That was so easy a caveman (or Steve Nash) could've done it.

Beautiful game tonight. We did the things we set out to do. We defended our home court and feasted on an NBA-bottom feeder, and in doing so, returned to .500 and did it in blowout fashion.

Likes:

-We won by 34 points.

-14 turnovers is still a lot, but it's not 18, which is what we've been averaging. One step at a time.

-8 steals. Solid.

-M16! Cheeks finally played everyone's favorite benchie and he came though. His offense was a little off tonight, but he contributed in other ways. In 22 minutes he scored four points, grabbed two boards, dished out two assists, blocked three shots and got two steals. He was all over the place and his jumper was still looking smooth. Hopefully he's a permanent rotation guy from here on out.

-Speaking of smooth, Thaddeus Young is a monster. His shot is 110% better than it was last year. His dribbling has improved and he now has a little swagger to him. Add that to his already advanced skills in finishing around the rim and his ability to beat every man down the floor, and we have ourselves a nice weapon on our hands.

-Andre Miller only took five shots and had zero turnovers. That's the kind of point guard we need.

-Lou-Will. Instant offense and he took better shots tonight. Good job.

-10-13 from beyond the arch. That's right. We hit ten threes. Most of them came in garbage time via Donyell Marshall and Kareem Rush. Regardless, it's nice to see us hit some threes.

-Willie Green was 5-6 from the field, 1-1 from downtown, 5-5 from the line and had zero turnovers in 16 minutes. Take a picture of this performance folks, because these are the kind that will get him out of my doghouse.

-Holding on to a 20-point lead! Wooooooooo!

Dislikes:

-Andre Iguodala. The dude's nonexistent. He's supposed to be our franchise player and he got paid like one this off-season. As of right now, he's a complete bust in my mind. Thaddeus Young is running circles around the Igg-man. It's ridiculous.

-The Kings announcers. It's pronounced Speights, not "Spreights" you lil' jokers.

-25-35 from the line. I still feel like we could be better.

Player of the Game: Mo Cheeks for playing Marreese Speights. If I had to pick a player, it would probably be Thaddeus again.

Box Score

Record: 2-2

Favorite Open Thread Comment: "I wonder what Don Imus would say …"--Whodie126

Tweet Comment 24 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

don't jump on iggy just yet

he doesn’t need to score 20 a game right now. we know he’s capable of it, but right now, what’s important is finding the right mix between elton, andre, and thad.

iggy just needs to be responsible with the ball and bide his time. he’s gonna get his minutes, and eventually, he’s gonna get his shots, but right now, his scoring is not needed for the team to win.

just sit back and realize that your 25 year old franchise player from the last 2 years, where you’ve been pretty successful, is now your 4th option.

this is a good thing.

When they should be sacrifice bunting, they are buying effeminate designer jeans. When they should be fouling off pitches, they are masturbating. Always, they are masturbating.

by variablesdont on Nov 4, 2008 9:39 AM PST reply actions

Yeah

I’m not worried about him not scoring (even though he’s on my fantasy team), but he doesn’t seem to be contributing in any other ways either. Yeah he has 5 boards and 5 assists a game, but he’s shooting 42, 16 from downtown and 66% from the line, not to mention his three turnovers a game.

Where will you be when the Sixers hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy? Hopefully Liberty Ballers.

by Jordan Sams on Nov 4, 2008 9:55 AM PST up reply actions

Andre’s Turnovers have ALWAYS been an issue – i’m not worried about his scoring cause i don’ t think it’s a vital contribution FROM HIM when we have guys like brand and young filling it up – and williams off the bench.

His turnovers are more often than not (seemingly) from showboating attempts when an easier pass would be more efficient

He’s not going to be a consisten 20 point a game scorer in his career – it’s just not who he has ever been – he’s ever been ‘the guy’ on his team

And no – his contract is not a franchise player contract folks – sorry to say it – ‘franchise’ players who sign contracts for as long as Iguodala’s contract have 3 digits in their contract, ala 100+ million.

It’s a different economy of scale, and yes he got paid well, but he didn’t get franchise player money – sorry – it’s just what it is – and people need to stop putting unrealistic expectations on him (and any other athlete) beause of the size of their contract. He’s not suddenly going to be a new player – he’s the same guy he’s always been – just making more money – it’s how it works

by jemagee on Nov 4, 2008 11:08 AM PST reply actions

I just want him to be as good as last year.

So far he hasn’t been.

Where will you be when the Sixers hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy? Hopefully Liberty Ballers.

by Jordan Sams on Nov 4, 2008 1:01 PM PST up reply actions

It’s 4 games in

ANdre Miller has sucked bloody arse as well

I’m not too concerned

yet

by jemagee on Nov 4, 2008 1:06 PM PST up reply actions

Doing the Bull Dance, feelin' the flow... working it, working it

Hey man, I finally broke down and registered. I love the new site and you’ve been doing a fantastic job as always. Thanks for the shout-out in the opening post.

Anyway, just a few thoughts over the first four games this season. Of course there are always plenty of negatives to point out, like any good native Philadelphian is born to do, but I’m going to focus on the positives. I really like the new look of this team, despite the two ugly losses. We are finally dangerous from the perimeter, our rebounding is phenominal, Thad is a stud, and our half court set looks good (not great). Miller has been taking too many shots, but he hasn’t declined as much as so called experts expected. I love our bench, which for the first time in years has a little bit of depth. Even Willie Green has been putting together quality minutes. I expected a couple of ugly games early in the season, but I have complete faith in this organizations ability to come together within the next few weeks. I’d love to to see more M16 and more plays run thru Thad.

I know I said I wouldn’t complain, but Iggy’s play has bothered me alot. He’s a nonfactor on both sides of the court and his jump shot has not improved. What the hell was with that 3 point heave during the ATL game? If he worked on his shot this summer, than I have a 12 inch package. He needs to work out with Thad, who obviously worked hard in the offseason on all areas of his game. I don’t want to hate on Andre, I love what he brought to the team last year, but he’s got to find his game again.

I’d love to write some more, but works hectic. Keep up the good work.
P.S. – sorry about the Cowboys

by SexualTyrannosaurus on Nov 4, 2008 12:46 PM PST reply actions

Haha thanks bro.

Yeah Andre has been a real disappointment. He needs to find his role on the new-look team.

Where will you be when the Sixers hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy? Hopefully Liberty Ballers.

by Jordan Sams on Nov 4, 2008 1:03 PM PST up reply actions

Iggy will be fine

Who cares of how he plays in games like this, I like the fact that he didn’t force a thing last night, fine.

It’s in game like vs the Hawls that he leaves you wondering, with the bad decisions taken down the stretch.

Anyway the potential and the depth of this team is scaring, even more when you consider that last night Ratliff wasn’t active and we will miss Jason Smith for the whole season… we would go like 15 man deep !!!

Let me find a place where to vote for Thaddeus !!!

(I updated my blogrol changing my link from Sixersoul to LB)

by Ricky - Sixers4guidos on Nov 4, 2008 5:10 PM PST reply actions

I’m wondernig why Andre Iguodala is constantly singled out – like in a game against the hawks – when the whole team made horrible decisions and did horrible things.

by jemagee on Nov 4, 2008 6:08 PM PST up reply actions

because of the “play to pay” ratio

http://www.libertyballers.com

by Remis on Nov 4, 2008 7:52 PM PST up reply actions

Just the way it is.

Willie Green is always singled out, when Lou does a lot of the same things. I don’t know why it happens. It just does, because I still hate Willie and love Lou.

Where will you be when the Sixers hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy? Hopefully Liberty Ballers.

by Jordan Sams on Nov 4, 2008 8:14 PM PST up reply actions

Dear god – did you just compare Louis WIlliams and Willie Green as equal players? That’s just ridiculous.

As for the ‘pay to play’ ratio (which is complete and utter bollox) wouldn’t Elton Brand be more responsible for any loss than Andre Iguodala – his mistakes are much more costly. Brand and Dalembert were the ones letting the hawks get to the lane at will.

by jemagee on Nov 4, 2008 8:25 PM PST up reply actions

Absolutely not.

Lou does a lot of the same things though and doesn’t get as much criticism.

Iggy is just the first guy to blame, because he’s pretty much self-proclaimed him the franchise player and the leader of this team.

Where will you be when the Sixers hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy? Hopefully Liberty Ballers.

by Jordan Sams on Nov 4, 2008 8:32 PM PST up reply actions

Because he does a lot of things willie doesn’t do.

Lou dribbles with his head up
Lou can draw contact and get to the foul line
Lou has a PPS north of 1 – his PPS isn’t one of the lowest in the league – consistently
Lou passes
Lou has more point guard skills than willie green (which is kind of sad)

Lou Williams is a better version of willie green – which is why he should get all greens minutes

by jemagee on Nov 4, 2008 8:55 PM PST up reply actions

lol Listen

I’m not defending Willie Green.

Iggy’s going to get a lot of blame if we lose. Plain and simple.

Where will you be when the Sixers hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy? Hopefully Liberty Ballers.

by Jordan Sams on Nov 4, 2008 9:13 PM PST up reply actions

I’m just wondering why he gets ‘more’ blame if he’s paid more – and elton brand is immune from blame it seems.

Sam Dalembert seeemed immune from many for a while even after he was making 10 mil a year

Maybe, per usual, people have unrealistic expectations from #4 – he’s no different than he was the first seasons when he was under his rokoie deal – he’s the same player – if you expect him to be different you’re SOL

by jemagee on Nov 5, 2008 6:49 AM PST up reply actions

effing elton brand just got here, he’s played 4 games buddy, he’s been known to be a great player… iggy can be a great player but he hasn’t shown it too much this season, and after the huge contract he just got, he’s going to be suspect to more criticism than ever before

http://www.libertyballers.com

by Remis on Nov 5, 2008 1:33 PM PST up reply actions

Well a – it’s stupid
B it ain’t true

Iguodala has ALWAYS been subject to more criticism than almost anyone on the team – andre miller and sam both make more money than him – but people were on Andres jock more than anyone else last year – now we have excuses for elton brand – he just got here – like there are excuses for sam

the problems with andre iguodala is the fans (the majority of them who don’t know any better) have NEVER really had realistic expectations for Andre Iguodala – and that’s the problem plain and simple

by jemagee on Nov 6, 2008 11:45 AM PST up reply actions