February 18th, 2010 - the day the Sixers shocked the basketball world by giving up the 37th overall pick in this year's draft for future all-star Jodie Meeks. In 19 games with the Sixers, Jodie managed to lead the league in nicknames (The Jodiac Killer, Jodiac Arrest, The Meekster, Air Jodie, and Willie Green 2.0) per/82 with .26 per game. Besides that amazing feat, seeing Meeks in limited action was hardly enough to accurately evaluate his future with the Sixers.
The Meeks era in Philadelphia started out extremely rough. He'd come into games with the Willie Green mentality of "I have to get as many shots up as possible, as fast as possible, and as low-percentage as possible!" As you can imagine, that didn't work out too well. It led to a lot of forced shots, air balls, and comments from the Philly faithful like, "We gave up our second rounder for this guy? Really?"
As the Meeks era progressed, he began to improve. The best way I can sum Jodie's improvement over the last 10 games is this: I was rooting for losses and ping pong balls long before the trade deadline. When Jodie's playing time increased I was stoked. "Yes, this guy is going to help us lose enough games to draft John Wall!" Then, he started hitting shots. Then, the Sixers starting winning games they shouldn't, losing ping pong balls in the process. As an avid rooter for losses, I was actually frightened at the thought of Jodie Meeks entering the ball-game. That's the best compliment I can give a guy.
I knew Jodie could shoot threes (41% at Kentucky and 38% as a Sixer), but his solid defense came as a surprise. He's extremely undersized for a two-guard (6'4'' with a 6'4'' wingspan), but his effort and toughness might turn him into an average defender in this league.
Next year's big for Jodie. He gets to play a full season for the Sixers, and the Sixers get to evaluate him for a full season. If he can continue to shoot lights out from beyond the arch and find ways to defend two-guards, he might have a future with the team.
3 stats
- Jodie was second on the team in points per/36 with 17.3 per game.
- Jodie was fourth on the team in eFG% (.472) on jumpers, behind Kapono, Green, and Holiday.
- 78% of Jodie's shots were jumpers.