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The clippers are understandably bitter about what happened with the Brand situation, but I'm not sure they're just saying this to spite us.

Brand and Miller were paired together for a year in Los Angeles during the start of their careers, as well as on team USA during the FIBA world championships in 2002.

Apparently Miller has done a pretty poor job in getting Brand the ball when they previously played together. Is anyone worried about this? How much validity is there to the claim that they don't fit well?

At least Miller is only under contract for another year, so if it doesn't work out, we can use the added capspace to get a young pg...

So no one has any qualms about pairing Miller with Brand, when there are quite a few people saying the two never worked well together?

After watching Miller play here, I can't see a Brand/Miller conflict being a big concern for anyone. If it does rear it's ugly head then, as you mentioned, Miller can walk at the end of the season.

The whole PG/SG/SF combo doesn't really play with brand's strengths. That doesn't mean that we're not a vastly better team today than yesterday, but we're still not there yet.

dbodner wrote:The whole PG/SG/SF combo doesn't really play with brand's strengths. That doesn't mean that we're not a vastly better team today than yesterday, but we're still not there yet.

Agreed...still a lot of room for growth, but definitely a step in the right direction.

In the midst of my celebrating, I've been wondering the same thing. Ideally, you want a PG who can either slash into the lane at lightning speed and dish the ball to Brand, or someone who spreads the court on account of being a dead-eye shooter. In the Sixers' case, it also wouldn't hurt if they got a solid, relatively tall defender who could guard opposing SGs, thereby letting Lou get significant PT at the 2. Miller doesn't fit any of those requirements.

Kirk Hinrich would fit two of them (good defense, and reasonably good perimeter shooting), but his contract's nothing to scoff at. Another option might be to trade Miller for an SG straight up, and hope that Lou's capable of acting as the slashing, 3-point shooting PG that the Sixers could use.

dbodner wrote:The whole PG/SG/SF combo doesn't really play with brand's strengths. That doesn't mean that we're not a vastly better team today than yesterday, but we're still not there yet.

Wait, so what does work well with Brand's strengths? You mean he should be surrounded by shooters?

I don't think we're going to have the floor spacing to maximize Brand's effectiveness. For that matter, I don't think we're going to have the floor spacing to maximize Iguodala or Thad's effectiveness in the half court set, either. We'll be better, but not it's not a perfect combination.

dbodner wrote:I don't think we're going to have the floor spacing to maximize Brand's effectiveness. For that matter, I don't think we're going to have the floor spacing to maximize Iguodala or Thad's effectiveness in the half court set, either. We'll be better, but not it's not a perfect combination.

So basically we need a team full of shooters...I guess that also means you can't have Igoudala and Thad starting, as they're both average 3 points specialists...

Heres our current lineup:

Miller/Lou
Iggy/Willie
Thad
Brand/Evans/Speights
Dalembert/Smith...

How would you change this team so we were able to better utilize Brand's/Iggy's/Thad's effectiveness in the half court offense?

I'm not even going to touch the on the floor argument, because others can and will express themselves better, but given that sf said that Miller was actively trying to sell Brand on coming to Philly, and it worked, I suspect that moving him now would piss off Brand to no end. Given that the supporting cast is different, and the system is different, there's no reason why they can't take advantage of the opportunity on the court to build up their on-court chemistry, so I'd hold off on messing with the off-court chemistry until we see how they work now.

The better question is whether Sam Dalembert will be the right fit alongside Brand on the offensive end. With Brand operating in the low post, does Dalembert have the perimeter game to be succesful or will he clutter up the lane for Brand. I don't see Reggie Evans as a fit with Brand on the floor, making him expendable.

Swoll Cracker wrote:The better question is whether Sam Dalembert will be the right fit alongside Brand on the offensive end. With Brand operating in the low post, does Dalembert have the perimeter game to be succesful or will he clutter up the lane for Brand. I don't see Reggie Evans as a fit with Brand on the floor, making him expendable.

I think thats the least of our worries. A Dalembert/Brand defensive combo's superiority to most of the league will far outweigh the downsides of Dalembert offensive inefficiency...

Its not like he can't make a shot either. He's a decent shooter, who can hit the 12 footer every now and then, is great with alleyoops, and will probably get a couple of good passes from Brand every night, which even he won't be able to fumble...

We can offset the lack of a premier offensive front line by stacking this team with shooters to better spread the floor. Hopefully adding a couple this year as well as next offseason plus the gradual improvement of Thad/Iggy/Lou in that department should put most of our concerns to rest.

Jason Smith is a pretty good shooter. Thad Young is also a pretty good shooter. His best position right now is pf, because he can beat them down the floor and they also have to respect his jumpshot, but I see no reason he cant adjust to the sf. This team has several good midrange shooters, its just that Williams is the only one who shoots it well from beyond the arc. That's not a huge problem. IF they feel like they need a shooter off the bench, those guys are cheap. JJ Redick can likely be had for nothing. First things first, Iguodala needs to be brought back or the team will take on a new look.

Swoll Cracker wrote:The better question is whether Sam Dalembert will be the right fit alongside Brand on the offensive end. With Brand operating in the low post, does Dalembert have the perimeter game to be succesful or will he clutter up the lane for Brand. I don't see Reggie Evans as a fit with Brand on the floor, making him expendable.

This sounds like a perfect way to get Speights into the game for some backup C minutes to me. He can space the floor hit the J easily while Brand pounds the ball inside. We might give up some height in the post on the D side I think we can get away with it in the East.

Cassidy wrote:

Swoll Cracker wrote:The better question is whether Sam Dalembert will be the right fit alongside Brand on the offensive end. With Brand operating in the low post, does Dalembert have the perimeter game to be succesful or will he clutter up the lane for Brand. I don't see Reggie Evans as a fit with Brand on the floor, making him expendable.

This sounds like a perfect way to get Speights into the game for some backup C minutes to me. He can space the floor hit the J easily while Brand pounds the ball inside. We might give up some height in the post on the D side I think we can get away with it in the East.

Not a bad idea at all...

best way to find out, ask clipper fans

IggyTheBEaST wrote:best way to find out, ask clipper fans

LOL it really isn't when the clippers despise Elton Brand right now...They'll say anything to rain on our parade...We need an unbiased opinion...

I think a Miller/Brand combination will work just fine. I mean c'mon, alot of time has gone by since they were together in LA and both have grown as players and have a ton more experience than they did back then.

I applaud what your front office has done, with Brand and Speights combined with Dalembert as a solid trio up front. If Young emerges this year, then there's a nive trio between him, Igoudala, and Miller.

Personally I would like to see free agent Tony Allen on your team. One more veteran with leadership skills. I believe that it's time to do like a number of topend teams do and add at least a couple tough, veteran role players. Heck, even someone like Kurt Thomas would be terrific.

As a Seattle Sonics fan, who now has abandoned them 100%, I'll look forward to following your team this coming season. I think with Brand you'll be much improved.

By the way, I'm from Canada and hope that Dalembert gets lots os playing time with the national team and will be even better for the NBA season.

Our first bandwagon fan! Feels good!

The Clipper fans are just angry they lost the face of their team. They're so tired of being mad at their owners that they'd just take it out on the player this time as a greedy bastard. It's nice when we get the better end of a negotiation as a Philadelphian. Hopefully it doesn't backfire. I don't see why Miller can't play next to Brand. Both are better adept in the halfcourt set. Miller isn't a run and gunner. Thanks, Canada guy, but I don't see Dalembert changing much over the summer offensively. If open, he'll hit the J, and he'll get most of his points off putbacks. He'll also continue to fumble ball like a pingpong and not see the pass that's coming right at him. Hopefully he'll change..