Summer League Game 2: Holiday, Speights, Defense lead Sixers past Celtics
by Jordan Sams on Jul 6, 2010 4:50 PM PDT
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PrintThe Sixers found themselves down 15-3 early in the first quarter, but their tenacious defense allowed them to claw back and eventually defeat the Celtics 86-69. After watching a defense-less, Eddie Jordan-coached team for 82+ games last season, tonight's effort on defense was a sight for sore eyes. Two Summer League games in and the team is already buying into Coach Collins' defense-first philosophy. I love it, and cannot wait for the regular season.
Individual analysis after the jump ...
Jrue played another stellar basketball game. He carried himself with extreme swagger and was always in control. He found open teammates with ease. His defense was once again fantastic, prompting this tweet from David Thorpe: "Holiday is going to be on an all-defensive team pretty darn soon. Book it."
Jrue's play -- in both games -- can be summed up with one phrase: best player on the floor. My only complaint is he seems to be taking defense a little less seriously than he did last year -- gambling more, allowing lazy blow-byes and attempting the "Rondo poke away" more often. Hopefully that changes once the season starts.
Meeks played his second solid game in a row. He was active on defense, ran the floor and shot the ball well. He also threw down a surprisingly Andre Iguodalaesque slam on the break. No complaints from me.
Evan Turner had another "ehh" game. He clearly has to adjust to NBA competition because the moves he used in college simply don't work against NBA'rs -- even the scrubs in the Summer League. He also needs to adjust to playing off the ball. In college Turner handled the ball and the offense ~90% of the time. Now he has Holiday, Iguodala and Williams to share with.
David Thorpe had some negative things to say about Turner's attitude:
I'm not loving Turner's "I'm better than you" attitude. He's on cruise control and needs to be on red alert.
I noticed this with Turner as well. I don't think it's a big deal. If Turner was dropping 20 points per game, no one would mention his attitude, but because he's struggling a bit the analysts need something to talk about.
Much like yesterday -- but to a lesser extent -- Turner affected the game in other ways, racking up assists and steals. He was also very active on defense.
Speights had no where to go but up after last night's performance, and he did just that. His rebounding and defense were improved, he took less ill-advised shots, and his passing/court vision were as good as I've ever seen. Some of the passes he made out of the post blew my mind. Marreese still has a ton of room to improve, but tonight was a step in the right direction.
Note: He still doesn't look 100% healthy coming back from his knee strain.
Cedric Simmons had another intriguing game. He had some impressive rebounds and finishes around the rim en route to his 10 points and 7 rebounds. He's definitely a guy to watch for the rest of the Summer League, and I'd love to see him get a training camp invite.
Next up: Tomorrow, 3 PM, vs. OKC
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Jodie looks really good right now, but of course its on the Summer League
eff you we winning anyway
A.I. IS BACKKKKKKK
We are all witnesses…
Sit back and watch as the Jodiac Killer singlehandedly ends the Willie Green era, which is all I ask of him. Seriously.
I think if both those things happened, and they got a serviceable defensive big man who can rebound back, and possibly a real backup PG who passes and plays defense, I would throw a party.
Here’s the sixers package, One expiring contract (Green) worth approximately $4 million and One young guard who is instant offense with approximately $15.5 million and 3 years left on his contract, $5 million this season.
Wanted back, One veteran point guard and one young defensive bigman who can rebound.
Don’t know if $9 million is enough to get both a PG and PF/Cback in return, unless the big man is still on his rookie contract.
Turner’s my backup point guard. I don’t really want a backup point, unless it’s in the “old, broken down, give them experience” mold, like Ollie. But even that we have McKie for.
Derek Bodner
LibertyBallers || @derekbodner || derek.bodner@draftexpress.com
This is kind of irrelevant to the game but AI9 was asking for nicknames for Jrue and I gave him the LibertyBallers name and he liked it: http://twitter.com/AI9/status/17904174483
But he wants to call him “The Mitt” since Jrue reminds him of Gary Payton
Nice post Jordan, Simmons is certaintly intriguing, after today I don’t think it’s impossible he’ll get a training camp invite. Here’s the writeup I did right after watching the game, posted it in the game thread but ehh here it is.
Turner once again contributing across the board, clearly still adjusting to the NBA, and more importantly I think, playing off the ball. It’s not something you just learn and perfect overtime so if anyone is worried about Turner not dropping 20 a game, don’t panic just yet.
Jodie played with good tenacity on defense and was effective for the most part, didn’t miss any dunks and got a few steals. If he can become Korver esque from 3 point land, he will be valuable.
Speights was horrible to start, forcing up shots fading away, losing the ball in traffic and turning it over on an in bounds pass. Quite surprisingly however was his contribution on the boards, notching a double double once all was said and done. In the fourth quarter, he went on a mini hot streak going 3-3 from the field and finished with a one handed alley-oop dunk from a bit of an errant pass from Jrue. Also had a few nice passes, especially his nifty little dump off to Jrue in the lane.
Jrue played excellent defense once again, and forced numerous turnovers and resulted in large number of fast break points. He very rarely gives up on defense, and today was a testament to that. At one point, he flew from the corner of the screen and almost stole the ball, and flew back in again, just totally pestering the ball handler. Jrue’s been the MVP of these games so far, and we can expect that for the rest of the games as well.
Cedric: Mikey B’s boy Ced looked solid today, specifically offensive rebounding, and boxing out. He and Speights, I feel, did a respectable job patrolling the paint and securing rebounds, which is a sight for sore eyes. We all know Cedric is a long shot to make the roster, but he is a good story. He also had a nice offensive rebound followed by a sick dunk, "RAAAAAAAAH"
All in all, I think we played very good perimeter defense, as Turner Meeks and Holiday combined for a multitude of strips and steals, and played claustrophobic defense. Speights and Simmons secured rebounds and the team seemed more cohesive.
Turner once again contributing across the board, clearly still adjusting to the NBA, and more importantly I think, playing off the ball. It’s not something you just learn and perfect overtime so if anyone is worried about Turner not dropping 20 a game, don’t panic just yet.
Right through the pre-draft period I had this concern in regards to Turner. How will he adjust his game to not having the ball in his hands so much, and competing against much larger and stronger competition.
I think we have the best starting 1-2-3.
by guitarmouse35 on Jul 6, 2010 8:55 PM PDT up reply actions
I’m sure there’s a few angsty teen ballboys, so we may not be out of the fire yet.
Liberty Ballers / Ridiculous Upside / @TAFKAMikeBourn
The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Michael Bourn
by Michael Levin on Jul 6, 2010 7:50 PM PDT up reply actions
I saw a bit of Simmons when he played for the Bulls.
He’s tenacious, willing to play hard and rugged and tries to make full use of his ohysical gifts and basketball abilities. There’s a lot to like about him attitude-wise and I think there’s value to keeping him around as an 11th or 12th man who can do spot duty on tough forwards like Bosh, Kenyon Martin and Luis Scola.
There can only be one Noce!
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