Thaddeus Young - Odd Man Out, and Other Random Thoughts...

[STChaser]

Thaddeus is starting to look like our most reliable wing shooter. He's also the only player aside from Andre Miller who has any semblance of a post game. I'm also pretty sure he's our best free throw shooter now that Korver is gone. And yet this kid rarely gets touches on offense. I think Reggie Evans is more involved in the offense than Thad. Is it time Cheeks starts drawing up plays for the kid?

-Also, what on earth is Kevin Ollie doing getting Williams' playing time?
-Considering WG had the flu last night and looked like a$%, why wasn't Carney given more minutes?
-Has anyone else noticed that several players on this team DON'T know their roles? Reggie Evans trying to run the floor when he's got a wide open teammates right next to him? And I'm all for Andre Miller putting up points but I think some nights he gets carried away.
-Finally, what on earth are we doing with our bench? We've got three unserviceable PF's rotting on the pine. It's time to do some spring cleaning, cut Shav and bring in Justin Williams and think about replacing Booth with a more serviceable 5. There's got to be more out there than this....

STChaser

[The Guilty Party]

I think the Sixers have done a solid job of bringing Thad along this season. He's the 2nd youngest player in the NBA and is a starter on a team that is currently in a playoff race (no matter how pathetic it is).

I don't mean go all "dond" on you here, but since I'm happy with what this coaching staff has done with him so far, I'm not about to call into question what plays they do or do not draw up for the 19 year old.

[dbodner]

I'm also pretty sure he's our best free throw shooter now that Korver is gone

Er...he's been pretty bad at the line, especially since becoming the starter. He's shooting 67.4% on the year, 64.7% as a starter. He's actually been pretty bad from the line.

Other than that, I do agree he needs to be more involved in the offense. It'll come with time though. I can't be too upset with it, since, as others have said, he's the 2nd youngest player in the league, and is starting, and is playing 30 minutes/night during that time as a starter.

[Johnny Broad-Street]

Dbodner's right. He's in really good shape all things considered. Circumstances are going to go up and down all season,, but we really need to keep our eyes looking forward and at the big picture, and I thinik the big picture is shaping up game by game

[Salvistine24]

i agree with a lot of what STchaser said

while i cant fault cheeks with not putting too much on thads plate...i do think there are other glaring issues which need to be dealt with...i think the andres sometimes become too ball hoggish or only look to one another to score...now usually that is ok bc they are our two best offensive players but there are times i scratch my head...like a few weeks ago, sam went on a 10-0 run himself only to be stopped bc iggy wanted an iso fadeaway jumper...

while both andres are our best offensive players, neither are good enough on offense to pull the iverson stuff...if your teammates get hot, ride them...

as for evans, its a similar thing...he doesnt touch the ball in the set offense bc 1) he has a terrible touch but 2) when he is open and should get it, the andres will iso for themselves...which then causes him to hog on fast breaks when the andres should have the ball

its not that big of a deal bc both guys have had nice years (esp miller) but its worth noting that as there are times they get too caught up offensively with themselves

[Johnny Broad-Street]

Personally I'd rather the Andres iso with Evans open. You can throw him the bal a few times to keep defenders honest, but he shouldn't be getting the ball unless he's alone for a dunk/layup or if he rebounds it himself and puts it back.

[STChaser]

TGP,
Trust me, I like Cheeks overall. These are just little things I've noticed. They pale in comparison to how I felt about O'Brien...

STChaser

[dbodner]

I wouldn't even throw Reggie the ball when he's open for a layup either. Last night he got an offensive rebound, had a clean look from about 6 feet, looked at it, thought about it, and kicked it out. It was one of the most amazing things I've seen an nba basketball player do.

[PrimeTime21]

Another random thought: I've noticed in the past several games minus the Grizzlies game that Sam is only getting 4 or 5 touches a game. I think this team (and Sam) play best when he gets it going early on in the game.

[tk76]

Sam has pretty much stopped taking jumpers outside of 15 feet. He has tried to work on his hook shot- but it hasn't looked all that promissing. I think if he continues like this we will see a samall dip in his scoring, but an improvement in his FG%.

He has been a bit less active on the boards, burt part of this may be a result of Thad moving into the starting line-up- which for all of its positive impact does hurt our rebounding.

Regarding the speed of Thad's development- I'm all for letting him do what he is good at and not forcing him out of his comfort zone. let him join Dala (and Kobe) this summer, and then next year try to build on his game. I would not mind more touches in the post- but I prefer his intro to the line-up over how Smith has been forced to assume the role of center before he is physically ready (out of necessity.)

[Salvistine24]

you know what though...sams scoring has decreased but the team is winning so maybe giving some of his touches to young/carney/smith is working in the long run...

what they need of sam is defense and o-rebounding...he doesnt have the skillset to be a dominant offensive player however he has improved his finishing at the rim greatly this year...we will see in the future that most of sams offense will come through broken plays or last second dishes when guys like iggy are in trouble when trying to penetrate the lane

and in regards to my initial post...im in no way advocating that evans deserves touches on offense, just using the andres looking away from him as an example which leads to evans ball hogging on breaks instead of giving it to the andres...insert carney if need be for evans...same point...when you dont pass the ball to players when you should (they are open and in their comfort zones) they will tend to try to do too much when they get the ball themselves

[STChaser]

Speaking of Carney, what is up with his floater ALWAYS hitting the back of the rim? Anyone else notice that? Seems like he always puts too much on it. Was he a better shooter in college?

STChaser

[IggyTheBEaST]

Carney his the back rim on ALL of his shots, not just the floater. Except for his layups which he puts off the glass too hard