FanPost

The Sixers choke on defense too!


Read this article for a statistics based assessment of the Sixers crunch time problems. They have a legitimate issue with late game, crunch time offense - and here are the stats to support it. [as if witnessing the last two years were not enough evidence].

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/PERDiem-120322/nba-philadelphia-sixers-crunch-time-failures-blame-d

However, this illuminates another facet of the problem that is even more damning. Our "#1 defense" in the league chokes on defense as well in late game situations ... one of the worst in the league with 5 minutes left, worse yet with 2 minutes left, and plain worst in the last minute of the game.

The numbers don't lie. What they do say is we have a coaching problem. Do I want to see Doug Collins outta here? NO WAY. I have been a Doug Collins fan since my college days at Illinois State, then when I moved here to Philly and became a Sixers fan. As soon as he was named coach I trumpeted that he'd turn around the franchise .. and I've basked in the teams progress over the past two years.

Unlike the way we treated Speights, I don't want to give up on Collins or dump him. But I do say, WAKE UP!! ADMIT YOU HAVE A PROBLEM and FIGURE IT OUT ... and if you can't figure it out then go to the locker room with 5 minutes left and turn things over to Michael Curry.

Doug has been teaching this team to lose and it's been nowhere more evident than the first win over Orlando this year. With 8 minutes left in the game, he has his team running out the clock as if it were a college game in the 70's. When it predictably falls apart and they just escape with a win ... he rails at Evan Turner. Guess what, he had this team turtling similarly in game after game - that was just the worst example.

Does Doug deep down believe this team can't win? Don't know - don't care ... but these stats don't lie. Stop being arrogant in press conferences tossing off 'that's just the way it's done in the NBA' responses when the press asks why you play late game hero ball with Lou Williams - who is incapable of delivering [ball movement isn't important at the end of the game???]; don't take the strength of your team which is depth Try putting your defensive best team on the floor - which generates most of your offense anyway - instead of your gunning, undersized Meeks/Williams combination in a tight game. And certainly don't extend this phobia into the entire game as we hit the stretch of the season ... - going to a 7/8 man rotation ... ruining what little life is in EB's legs by the time the playoffs start.

This is fixable. The problem is there about as much chance of Doug Collins doubting himself and his self destructive patterns as there is of Andy Reid running the ball or learning clock management.

It's discouraging. Wonder how many facets of my life frustrate my friends and family the same way.

Oh well, I'll cross my fingers. But I can't help wishing for an injury that would limit DC to 43 minutes a game for awhile so he could actually watch and analyze what was going on.

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