Why has this team turned aroun- and will it last?

[tk76]

No one is saying we have arrived and we are far from being a contender. But we really have turned around what was looking to be a dismal season.

This team was 16-28. They split their next 4 and then have gone on this amazing 15-4 tear. It may have started as us beating bad teams on an easy stretch of the schedule, but now we are beating... everybody. Lesser teams get blown out and veteran laden contenders suddenly bend to our will.

Was it as simple as a young team needing confidence to play to their potential? Are they playing way above their heads? Is there that little between good and bad teams in this league?

This team lacks both experience and top level stars. I realize they play hard- but they were playing hard and losing earlier this year. Why the huge turnaround?

[bebopdeluxe]

tk76:

Experience...and Andre Miller.

I do think that in addition to the caproom that we created, the Korver trade was the start of a transmogrifying change for this team...one that seems to still have significant legs.

In a funny way, I wonder what would have happened guys like Iggy Sammy, Willie and Lou would have had a chance to do this with AI...would it have worked? Would it have been better? Worse?

I don't think they would have shared the ball as much - which has been a key component to the success that this team has had lately. I also do not know if they would have stepped up defensively as much as this team has.

But, hearing some of the recent comments from coaches (like Popovitch) from the teams that we have beaten lately, they are all impressed with our youth, length and energy level. They talk about how "aggressive" we are and how we "keep applying pressure"...pretty nice attributes to have attributed to our team. We are currently #3 in the East (behind only Boston and Detroit) in scoring defense...and probably in the top 7-8 in the NBA. That is a MAJOR change from the past few years.

Over the past 15-20 games, our perimeter defense (both in terms of energy level and execution) has not been this good since the 2000-01 team. To me, that says it all - becuase hard defense (other than having some good coaching and solid team principles) is all about EFFORT. Wanting to get it done. And this team is getting it done.

We may focus on all of those wonderful transition/fastbreak points that we are scoring...but you get those through defense and rebounding. We are able to keep the Spurs and the Pistons (barely) at arms length through defense and half-court execution. Any team can win games and get in the playoffs. Teams that win in the playoffs are generally good in two areas: defense and halfcourt execution.

And it seems to me that it is the improvement in those two areas that is the most important aspect of what we have seen over the past 20 games. However, I will reserve complete judgement on this stuff until I see the Sixers tested in the playoffs.

[barkley34]

have gone on this amazing 15-4 tear.

I just posted the same thing than read your post so I deleted it. Pretty amazing the run we are on right now.

We are now officially one of the hottest squads in the league.

15-4 in our last 19 games.

7-1 in March.

Quality wins over Dallas, San Antonio, at Phoenix & at Detroit.

Amazing but in the span of only 2 months we went from being a below average team to beating some of the leagues elite teams.

[TheAnswer03076]

No one is saying we have arrived and we are far from being a contender.

Are we really that far? After Boston and Detroit, the East is a crapshoot. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night. If we can get the power forward we need in the offseason this team could contend. The improvement on defense has been fantastic and we finally have an identity. People keep saying we're far from contending, but with the level of competition we face, I just don't see us being too far from being a threat to win the East.

[Samson]

bebopdeluxe and barlkey34....

I agree with both you....Strange, and great things are happening in the NBA,,, and we are part of it....The Rockets, the bunch of trades....And the Sixers...woooooohoooo...


I guess I just have a softspot thinking about AI throwingup Alley Oopsl, one after another.. AII, Thad, Carney, Dalembert, Smith, Shav, etc...Just dunking, dunking, dunking, ALLEYY MOFOIN OOPS off of AI passes...

mmm...dreams...

but you feel me?

[Samson]

and no we are not that far, what you talkin about willis/tk76

[UptownPhilly]

IMO Boston would give us h*** even with a good PF.

We still need someone that can hit the three. We have some nice young guys, but their inexperience against a Boston/Detroit is a big factor.

We'd match up well against Detroit if we had a Brand/Okafor to man the paint.

Boston on the other hand is just too deep. Aside from the trio, they have proven guys like Posey, Cassell, Brown, and even Eddie House that can come in contribute.

[SendEm]

The Sixers need to play honest defense against the Celtics. Doc Rivers knows that Cheeks plays a system that allows 3 point shots. The Celtics have 4 great 3 point shooters who can all play at the same time. We can't beat the Celtics by giving them wide open looks that they can knock down. The Spurs were given wide open looks last nightand they missed them. When Bret Bary returns they will be making a few more of those looks.

With that said the Sixers are playing hard nosed defense while taking care of he ball on offense. I want to see them beat a team like the healthy Raptors/Celtics/Warriors who can knock down 3's. They have had trouble competing against that type of club this season.

[Fire BK]

That's easy. Thaddeus Young. 17-6 since January 26th. When he started getting major minutes.

This team turned around as a result of one subtle move by this shrewd GM. Addition by Subtraction. He knew Thad needed all of Kyle's minutes and as soon as Thad got in a groove, this team took off. He is the difference.

Firing BK was the first real turning point for this organization. Billy would've never had the foresight to cut ties with KK this year. Therefore the wing position would've been too crowded for Thad + Carney + Lou to break loose as they've been doing lately.

Rangy defense leads to steals. Turnovers lead to easy buckets. That's how they've been running teams ragged lately. NEVER would've/ could've happened with KK. Trade = Turning point.

[dond]

That's easy. Thaddeus Young. 17-6 since January 26th. When he started getting major minutes.

This team turned around as a result of one subtle move by this shrewd GM. Addition by Subtraction. He knew Thad needed all of Kyle's minutes and as soon as Thad got in a groove, this team took off. He is the difference.

Firing BK was the first real turning point for this organization. Billy would've never had the foresight to cut ties with KK this year. Therefore the wing position would've been too crowded for Thad + Carney + Lou to break loose as they've been doing lately.

Rangy defense leads to steals. Turnovers lead to easy buckets. That's how they've been running teams ragged lately. NEVER would've/ could've happened with KK. Trade = Turning point.

This has been said before. I agreed with it then and I agree with it now. That trade, though I hated to see KK go (and he is doing well in Utah), may have been the single most important move that allowed more minutes for all of the young players. The good news is that playing time revealed that BK made some very good draft choices and it appears the Sixers are loaded with raw talent that is starting to show up in wins.

The other factor in all of this, in my opinion, is that with the departure of AI, the environment has returned to ... coaches coach and players play and these players and coaches all get along and show respect for each other.

[sixers_610]

Everyone is making very good points. Glad to see a lot of people in agreement.

I do worry though.. will it last? On paper, we shouldn't be winning these games. Sometimes teams have a magic that eventually goes away, and we can't fall back on talent.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

"On Paper?" What do you mean by that Sixers_610. If you mean by the lack of an all-star forward or any of that I agree. If you mean in the way we've played basketball then I completely disagree. It's taken them about all season, but it's like a baby: 1 step at a time.

Now they're starting to utalize Thaddeus Young and Dalembert and Andre Miller in half-court sets scoring the basketball whereas a couple of months ago all you had to do was take care of the ball and you could beat us. Now they're creating all types of different traps and sets on the defensive end and they're using Lou Willams and Miller(and recently Ollie) in defensive rotations to get out and run.

We've gotten so much better that Mo himself is looking a bit average as a coach lately. So I guess the one fan we need to give props to is Dond. He's always stuck by Mo and the team. And I don't neccessarily agree with Mo's coaching. But props to Dond, he saw this coming and I'll enjoy the ride with everyone.

[sec-106]

And let's not underestimate the importance of the last half of last season.

[tk76]

I do worry though.. will it last? On paper, we shouldn't be winning these games. Sometimes teams have a magic that eventually goes away, and we can't fall back on talent.

I share this concern. FireBK made some good points, but this all seems to be a fragile thing. We still go through some ugly stretches where other teams are outplaying us.

During those down times it seems like Miller single handedly keeps us in games by being able to take over and score in isolation sets. Miller keeps us close, and then when the offense finally clicks we go on a huge runs.

Maybe the addition of a good PF will give us a second player alongside Miller to keep us in games when our high powered running game is off track. Also, eventually we will need our young players to replace Millers role in isolations. Hopefully in a year or two Lou, Dala and Thad will be more efficient scoreers in half court sets.

[sixers_610]

"On Paper?" What do you mean by that Sixers_610. If you mean by the lack of an all-star forward or any of that I agree.

That's exactly what I meant.

[dond]

We've gotten so much better that Mo himself is looking a bit average as a coach lately. So I guess the one fan we need to give props to is Dond. He's always stuck by Mo and the team. And I don't neccessarily agree with Mo's coaching. But props to Dond, he saw this coming and I'll enjoy the ride with everyone.

Thank you for those kind words. I appreciate it.

I think Mo Cheeks is probably beginning to hear some kind words also and he truly deserves it. I have always believed that if you work hard and try to do the right thing, good things will happen. Well, he helped that little girl sing the National Anthem and ... the rest is history.

[ITK9]

andre miller is the reason.

[dbodner]

Again, Thad Young is playing the majority of his time at PF. Has been ever since he's been getting meaningful minutes. He can and should have gotten those minutes with Kyle here playing 20 minutes per. The "shrewd GM" didn't trade Kyle to improve immediately. He traded Kyle to improve our cap situation over the summer. Rodney Carney and Louis Williams have been the beneficiary of a Kyle Korver trade, not Thad Young.

Thad Young was not getting minutes because Mo Cheeks didn't think Thad Young was ready. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, when Willie Green got injured earlier in the year, Maurice Cheeks went with Rodney Carney over Young. That speaks volumes about where Thad was then, and where Thad is now. If Thad was being held out before, that is the fault of Mo Cheeks, not Kyle Korver.

There's also this false notion that we needed to get rid of Korver to be a good running team. Not so. A couple things to consider:
1) We were a very good fast break team with Korver. In November (I'm including the first game October as being in November), we scored more points than our opponents in 11 of the 15 games. On average we scored 6.2 points per game more on the break than our opponents. December was similar, scoring more points than our opponents in 14 of 16 games played, with a +6.13 per game average.
2) After the Korver trade, our fast break actually went DOWN. Whereas we scored more than our opponents in 25 of 31 games in November/December, we got outscored 5 times alone in the month of January, and our differential on fast break points dropped down to 4.5 per game. This was after Korver left.
3) In February we outscored our opponents in 12 of 13 games, with a differential of +12.77.

Putting everything into the timeline:
- Korver was traded at the end of December (December 29th). This provides us an almost perfect timeline to split up the games.
- Thaddeus was inserted into the starting lineup more or less on February 1st against Orlando. I say more or less because there have been a handful of games (5 since the beginning of February) where Mo has brought Thad off the bench for matchup reasons at the 4.
- Thaddeus has, with the exception of the game Willie Green missed, gotten all of his starts at PF.

So, our fast break did not immediately improve getting rid of the slow footed Kyle Korver. In fact, our fast break was one of the best in the league with Korver logging major minutes on the wing. It was also one of the best in the league during the second half of last year, with Kyle logging major minutes. In fact, in the month after Korver left, we actually got worse. When did we improve? When Thaddeus Young began logging major minutes at the Power Forward position.

Coincidence? Probably not.

Similarly, this wasn't a team that couldn't force turnovers with Kyle Korver in the lineup. No, we were one of the best in the league, actually. We forced 14.8 per game in November, and 14.9 in December. In January, post Korver? Once again, we dipped, to 14.4. It wasn't until February when we improved, jumping up to 16 per game.

Ah, but once we got rid of Korver, we started winning, right? Not so much. The Sixers finished out December on a 9-4 run, which has pretty much been forgotten lately. In January, once we got rid of Korver, who was oh so terribly slowing us down? Ooh, those were some dark times. Immediately following that 9-4 stretch with Korver, we went 2-11 without. Boy, for a team who just needed to get rid of that guy, we sure did go on a tear when he left, didn't we?

So, what do we have?

Korver left at the end of December. We actually forced less turnovers and got less fast break points without Korver in January that we did in either November or December with Korver, and went from a team playing well and winning games to a team that had fallen off the face of the earth and couldn't beat anyone. Thaddeus got inserted into the starting lineup getting major minutes in February, at PF, and we forced more turnovers, got more fast break points, and started winning basketball games.

Which lineup change had more to do with our increased play? I think it's pretty cut and dry. Young has been getting his time at PF, not SF, and the time would have been here with or without Korver. This notion that you cannot be a good fast break team, and cannot force turnovers, with Korver playing 20 MPG is a joke, and simply not factually correct. It's a tried and true notion that a deadly trailer on the break greatly enhances fast break productivity. Kyle has proven that with our fast break success in the past.

Thad at PF is a great asset to our fast break. He's a great outlet passer for a big man, an above average ball handler for a PF, pushes the ball constantly even on inbounds passes, and is faster than 95% of PF's in the league. It has been those qualities that have ignited our fast break from being a very good fast break in the beginning of the season to an exceptional fast break in february and march. It was not removing Kyle Korver from the lineup with catapulted our increased fast break proficiency, nor did he hold us back in the past.

Now, if we agree that we were a very good fast break team in the beginning of the year with Kyle, and that we didn't improve until Thad started playing major minutes (and actually decreased when Kyle left), the final question on debunking these myths is: could Thad have gotten the playing time with Kyle on the roster? Absolutely. I'll repeat this again for those who don't want to hear it, Thad has been getting a vast majority of his time at PF. There is no reason to believe Thad wouldn't be getting those minutes at PF with Korver here playing 20 on the wings. Not playing Thad earlier in the year was the decision of Mo Cheeks, not Kyle holding him back. Was Korver holding back Thad when Green got injured and Mo decided to start Carney instead? Hardly. That was Maurice Cheeks holding him back.

This team did force turnovers and get fast break points with Kyle here. They did not improve when he left (they actually declined), but instead they improved when Young began starting at PF. If you want to look at the improved play of this team, look at the increased role of Thaddeus Young, the improved play of Andre Miller, the improved shooting of Wille Green in half court sets, and the decrease in turnovers by Andre Iguodala (and subsequently the team). That's where the improvement is coming from. Kyle was moved because of the flexibility we gained in the offseason, NOT because of a "shrewd GM who realized we wouldn't be able to force turnovers and run" with him in the lineup.

[sixers_610]

We all knew Mo had a good heart, but at the end of the day, you have to win.

[dond]

We all knew Mo had a good heart, but at the end of the day, you have to win.

That is absolutely true. However, I guess it is my contention/believe ... that a coach with a good heart, who works hard at preparing his players, and treats his players with respect and instills confidence in them ... will have a team that will run through fire for him. And getting the players to play hard for you every night is over half the battle. That is where the Sixers are now !

The next step, and it is not an easy one, is to find more players that fit into this mold. They need more players of good character who have no preconceived notion of how important they are and how much playing time they deserve or how many touches they should get or anything like that. They need players who just give it their best when called upon to play. If they can find a quality power forward with those credentials ... the sky is the limit.