The Sixers need to figure out how to mesh

[LongLiveHinkie]

You could tell last night and during the preseason that something just didn't look right. It feels like they have no idea how to react to a legit post presence being on the court, since it has been forever since they've had one. Whenever Brand touches the ball, there is no spacing, no cutting, no movement. They just clump together and stand around. Then when Brand is double teamed, he has no one to give the ball too.

They look good in stretches where the overall talent just takes over, but this team is too talented to not know how to play together. In a tough eastern conference, they need to figure it out, and fast.

[tk76]

It's a long season- there should be ample time to work out the kinks. I just hope they stay healthy and peak towards the end like last year. This team needs to win with defense, and it still needs to create running chances in order to be effective.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

Oh, and they will. It's as Westbrook said. Sometimes the talent of the team(and Elton Brand makes this team, VERY good) will lead them to victories. They could be alot better offensively though. Iguodala simply needs to shoot better. It's one game. But he needs to shoot better. He needs to shoot at least 44 percent or so. When you shoot significantly below 45 percent(40-42 percent) You had better be an Allen Iverson impact player or your shots go to waste. Thaddeus was about the only player I was satisfied with, but even he played sloppy and picked up fouls.

It's one game, but it was very telling. The Pre-season is a chance to prepare. Mo Cheeks did not prepare them well enough. Which is both surprising and non-surprising. I always said that a roster like this would prove Mo Cheeks's worth.

[Skates]

I generally don't find the NBA training camp and pre-season period to be sufficient for teams with a lot of new players to really get it together. This is especially true for a team with as many new pieces as the Sixers, but nonetheless color me less than impressed by the job the Sixers have done so far. As the quote in one of the Philly papers said today, they looked like a bunch of guys who were just introduced to one another. I agree with Dedicated that this is the year we find out if Mo can coach talent. One game is a small sample size, but they looked terrible system and cohesion wise, even though the improved talent was pretty obvious.

[dond]

Not to worry ... they will be fine. All basketball players try to win games without working hard. However, when it becomes clear that they will not win without 100% effort they will become the team they were in the second half of last season. The coaches know it and the players know it. Now, they just have to take a deep breath and go out and work hard. There is no other way.

[9th Wonder]

We're one game in. I'll be worried if this is still a problem in a couple weeks.

[geiger]

It takes time. Teams with young players in key roles, with a new offense and a new number 1 option, who is coming off missing a year due to injury, don't mesh overnight. It might take them 20 games before they are comfortable with one another. Doesn't mean they will go 0-20, but it does mean that while they should still be able to beat the bad teams, they might struggle with the good teams more in the first half of the season than they will in the second.

[76ciology]

It's not really about meshing..

It's finding a legit way of scoring with our halfcourt sets. It's finding an offensive system that would fit our team. A kind of system or even halfcourt sets that can make people say, "damn that would be hard to stop."

We can keep meshing for centuries, but for the wrong reasons, it's would just be worthless.

[dond]

It's not really about meshing..

It's finding a legit way of scoring with our halfcourt sets. It's finding an offensive system that would fit our team. A kind of system or even halfcourt sets that can make people say, "damn that would be hard to stop."

That's what I thought "meshing" was. What did you think it was ?

[bballin76]

haha, they'll be fine. it takes time to bring in 6 new guys.

[76ciology]

It's not really about meshing..

It's finding a legit way of scoring with our halfcourt sets. It's finding an offensive system that would fit our team. A kind of system or even halfcourt sets that can make people say, "damn that would be hard to stop."

That's what I thought "meshing" was. What did you think it was ?

Meshing for me is improving on what their current game plan is by spending time with each other playing basketball.

The thing here is that their current game plan isn't suiting up well for me. Because I don't think that you can win the championship by relying too much on transition offense than on halfcourt offense, which seems to be what they are doing this season.

Right now, we're like the Boston Celtics without their halfcourt offense prowess.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

No, in the Raptors game, they generally didn't shoot well, period. Whether it was on the break or in the half-court. Also, Elton Brand played a bad game by not stationing himself in the mid-to-low post area, where he really could've abused Bosh downlow. Also, when you turn the ball over 18 times, you're not going to win many ball games. Even if you're the Boston Celtics.


We can be alot better offensively, but don't be decieved. It isn't because we're running more then we're setting in the half-court. In the Toronto Game, we couldn't run because we either turned it over or missed the shot. Believe me, nothing worked that game.

[76ciology]

No, in the Raptors game, they generally didn't shoot well, period. Whether it was on the break or in the half-court. Also, Elton Brand played a bad game by not stationing himself in the mid-to-low post area, where he really could've abused Bosh downlow. Also, when you turn the ball over 18 times, you're not going to win many ball games. Even if you're the Boston Celtics.


We can be alot better offensively, but don't be decieved. It isn't because we're running more then we're setting in the half-court. In the Toronto Game, we couldn't run because we either turned it over or missed the shot. Believe me, nothing worked that game.

Well, I agree with some of your points like not shooting the ball well and turning the ball over a lot.

That is what happens when other teams are able to shut down EB42 aka "the guy who shoulders own halfcourt game", we now settle on outside jumpers from Iggy and Young. And right now, both guys are not capable of scoring 20+ points from our halfcourt sets. Iggy still can't shoot and Young is still a work in progress.

When we run our halfcourt set, most of them were defended well by the Raptors. Maybe because it's too predictable or we just don't have that much options on offense other than EB and scoring in the paint. And because they were well covered by Raptors' defense, we are now left with 12-10 seconds on our shotclock, that leads us with isolation plays for EB 42. Which again, was defended well by Bosh or JO. [/Summary of Sixers Halfcourt Offense against Raptors]

My problem here is this..

As long as you got good PF/C defender, our halfcourt offense is very easy to defend. All you have to do is to shut down EB42, now your down to either AI2 or Young carrying the scoring load for you. And most of the time, they will be covered by opponents' perimeter defenders or Iggy just can't knock them down. Because of this, you're now you're left with 10-12 seconds for either isolation plays with Brand against good PF/C defender or two man game between Brand and Andre Miller, which isn't money so far.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

A Half-court offense is easy to defend, when as you pointed out you settle for jumpers. But I am serious about my point about EB. Look at the tape of the Raptors game and tell me how many times he initated himself in the mid to low block? About 5, tops. No real legit PF is going to create shots for others, or even create shots for himself if he is stationed on the perimeter.

Now, look at the tape of the Knicks game. I can guarantee that he was in the post 10-12 times. About double of the time as in the Raptors game. And what happened? He scored 24/14/3 blks.

Yes, it was against Zach Randolph and David Lee. But it was also because he initated the offense. He went down low in the block. There is NO PF in the league, that doesn't station himself in the post and plays well. When KG had his beastly clinching games against the Lakers. It was because he abused that pussy named Pao Gasol, instead of his 18 footers.

I love Elton Brand's mid range game as much as the next guy. Especially because of his speed and quickness. But he needs to do what he did against the Knicks more often: Bang down low, mix it up. Because when he's on his A game, he truly is one of the game's greats.(As proven by his career stats. Only matched by the game's greats).

[sixerswillrule]

You guys are worrying way too much at such an early stage of the year. Wait at least a month or so before analyzing everything and pointing out the weakness. It takes time...

[The Guilty Party]

You guys are worrying way too much at such an early stage of the year. Wait at least a month or so before analyzing everything and pointing out the weakness. It takes time...

+1. Why the worrying? Let's at least wait until December before getting our panties in a bunch.

[Wildfire]

I'm not worried about our players so much as our coach. We have the players needed to win 47-50 games but they're not being put in a position to succeed. Not to mention our perimeter defense hasn't improved whatsoever.

Thad needs plays ran for him, he won't shoot lights out like that again more than likely, but it's obvious the kid is our 2nd best offensive option at this point.

Is it just me or is Miller pressing a lot? He has Brand and/or Thad open a lot yet he takes some pretty ridiculous shots at times, I expect that out of Sammy and Iguodala, but that's surprising from Miller.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

Sans his utter stupidity in the closing moments of a tight minute. I actually found Iguodala's game pretty acceptable. But you are right about the talent of this roster and yes, of the coach.

I want you to take a look at the first half of the Hawks and the 2nd half. And tell me what you saw in regards to Elton Brand. If you tell me you saw an EB that was in the mid-low post in the first half generating something. Then you got it right. Elton Brand is one of the best post players in basketball. Clippers fans may not want to admit it. But that's alright. We saw it against the Knicks, and we saw it in the first half against the Hawks.

So, what do we magically do? We post Brand up on the High-post(thereby forcing him to take those jumpers which might or might not fall). And if they don't fall, we generally have nothing on offense.

Elton Brand in the post elavates this team to extremely high levels. And it must be preached to the point where even Brand doesn't wander any further then 15 feet. Elton Brand's low post ability opens up driving lanes, which Iguodala cannot open up for himself usually. I'm tired of seeing Iguodala take jumper after jumper. I want him to abuse those driving lanes that Brand creates. I want Samuel Dalembert to feed off Elton Brand alot more. Hit those open jumpers Daly, crash into the paint so Brand can feed you. And finally, do please work on your hands. If you could catch Iverson's alleyoops. You should be able to manage a pass from the post, which is like a quarterback giving it to a running back.

If I were the coach, I would employ Rick Adelman's Princeton offense. No, Thad Young won't be as hot. But he'll hit a couple of threes at times, so will Iguodala hit the mid-ranger. And both can/will penertrate to the bucket. But this is where I'd employ Marshall and Rush. These two guys would be huge for us if used in the right position. Even Royal Ivey(6'4). Allows us to play Louis Williams at 2 guard so he can focus on doing what he does best:Score.

[83SixersRocked]

I only saw a little of the game last night, right when the Hawks closed the gap from about 10, to two. I had no idea the 6ers had just coughed up a 20+ point lead.

In the few minutes I watched, one thing stood out to me, and that was Andre Miller coming down and taking a quick jumper or drive to the basket. There was no ball movement at all. I couldn't help but think of the AI years.

What kills me is that the 6ers are absolutely killing teams on the boards (finally!), yet the other team somehow gets more shots. Turnovers are the difference if you go by the box score. Last night Iguodala was the worst offender, with six. At times he seems to be pressing like he did in the Detroit series, and trying to make something out of nothing. I'm not X-and-O-savvy enough to know if it's Iggy's fault, or if there aren't enough options on particular plays, if somebody else isn't where they're supposed to be, or what. Maybe there are some instances of adjusting to pecking order issues on the court. But I think it's Lynam's problem to solve. Somehow. Spread the offense, move the ball, create the kind of open shots his guys can hit. And don't forget about EB.

[76ciology]

My thoughts to improve this team:

The big difference against the Hawks:

Sixers:
34 points in the first 12 minutes
4 points in the last 4 minutes

Hawks:
Limited to only 18points in the first 12 minutes
13 points in the last 4 minutes

The on going trend right now for the Sixers is they are very much capable of having big leads after the first 12-24 minutes of the game. Because transition offense plays a big role after the first 12-24 minutes of the game. With both teams looking to run with their high energy.

But after the 1st half, games now come down to halfcourt sets. And during this time, sixers most of the time find themselves lost on offense.

As of right now our halfcourt set is pretty much like this. Andre Miller calls a play where Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young will be coming off screens set by EB42 and Sammy D. Most of the time they will be covered by perimeter defenders of the opposing team. Thus, we waste about 6-10 seconds and now left with 10 seconds in the clock now we settle for:

A.)Isolation in the post for EB
B.)Isolation in the post for Andre Miller
C.)Isolation in the post for Andre Iguodala

And most of the time, we are left with low percentage shots since all three of these guys aren't good isolation type players against good defenders. EB42 is better off as a jump shooting big man. Andre Miller although is pretty good low post player in the post, but he isn't capable of scoring huge numbers with his post offense. AI2's post offense still needs some work and is pretty much better off slashing to the lane.

What we need right now is to create a "money" play for this team. And right now, the only way I do see it is a two man game between Andre Miller and EB42. This will open up opportunities for AI2 (like Raja Bell's role with the Suns) and Young for wide open shots . Help defenders comming from Sammy could translate for alley-oop plays or drop passes for Sammy.