Defense Right ?

[freshie2]

Fully agree on the defensive focus, and that Detroit beat the Sixers up d/t defense and lack of inside. This is why I've pushed for a long PF, who may not be the go to guy on offense. Biedrens will never be a 30PPG player, but he's long, young, and a solid rebounder/defender who is quick enough to cover the 4, yet long enough to get minutes at the 5. He wouldn't have answered the scoring issues against Detroit, but he gives you better defensive options, would have been a huge lift on the boards, and pushes Thad to the SF spot, which further improved the defensive/rebounding matchups.

When Ed rebuilds this team, I hope it is more a defend and run system (which I think they tried to reach this season) vs a shot every 7 seconds type system. They need pieces, but are much closer to being a very solid defensive/rebounding team than a 120ppg team...plus defense and rebounding is a much better system in the playoffs (in case nobody noticed).

[Kunlun]

Defense is important, but what we need right now is offense. If we could get players that played both then that would be ideal.

[Sixerscan]

you are too funny, you want me to get past me genuinely believing that we need to improve our defense because you say I am mistaken and embarrassed to admit it . Is this really a dictatorship? I watched every game in that series and I felt Like tearing my hair out every time Detroit had an easy and almost uncontested lay-up or Jumpshot. We got destroyed time and time again in the pick and roll and Yet I'm supposed to console myself with the fact that we are a team that is good at forcing turnover's. Yes , let's improve offensively. You are right

Again, we made Detriot play worse than they did during the regular season. You can say, "What about that time Prince scored like 30 baskets in a row?" Well at the end of the day their entire TEAM didn't play as well as their entire TEAM did during the regular season, and this sport isn't about individuals, it's about TEAM.

Detroit isn't the Sonics, they are a good offensive team. They are great in the half court set. It's not realistic to expect to completely shut them down.

And Im bringing up the offense thing because you said us getting better at defense is more important than getting better at offense. My point is, you can beat a team if you only allow 92 PPG and force 17 TOs, you can't beat a team consistently if you only score 85 PPG. So that should be more of a priority IMO.

Of course we can get better on defense, every team in the league, even the Celtics, can get better. Heck, if we want a championship 11th in DE in the league isn't gonna cut it. But being 20th in OE just completely shuts you off from any chance whatsoever or being a contender, we were the worst of any playoff team. So if we can figure out a way to get someone that makes us better at offense without making us noticeably worse on defense, I think that's more important than the other way around.

I'm sorry if you think I'm being unkind to you, just trying to have a conversation, wasn't my intention. I have to go now, but if you want to continue I'll respond in a few days.

[sixerswillrule]

That's some great logic right there. Let's try to make one of the worst half-court offenses in the league even worse! Right, and the Nuggets' defense is perfectly fine, it is its offense that needs work...


Can this team stand to improve on defense? Certainly. Should it be more of a priority this season than offense? No way, not even close. If we don't get players who can SCORE, then we won't win, period.

[SendEm]

That's some great logic right there. Let's try to make one of the worst half-court offenses in the league even worse! Right, and the Nuggets' defense is perfectly fine, it is its offense that needs work...


Can this team stand to improve on defense? Certainly. Should it be more of a priority this season than offense? No way, not even close. If we don't get players who can SCORE, then we won't win, period.

The Nuggets do need attention to their offense. You can't win an NBA title with bad ball movement and isolations no matter how great two of your scorers are. In both the Sixers and Nuggets case they are in need of new philosophies on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court. That has contributed to why both the Nuggets and Sixers were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. You can't win an NBA title while playing a switch everything, high pressure, trapping, double teaming, gambling defense like the Sixers. You also can't win a title while having a player as ordinary as Andre Iguodala dominate the basketball. The Sixers probably ran the most simple offense in the league and it was still simple back when Iverson was here under Cheeks.

We're in need of a serious coaching upgrade, being able to get your team to play hard isn't everything. You then have to come with game plans and plays. Cheeks needs to hire an assistant who is an expert in coaching offense with motion and not this silly simplistic old school dribble penetration pro-style 1-on-1 crap. If we had superior basketball players at every position Cheeks style might work, that's of course only against non zone defenses.

In reality there is LESS to build on from this season than the average Sixer fan is willing to accept. Thad Young is seriously the only bright spot that I see that looks like potential championship caliber basketball. Everything else has its CHIP limitations from Andre Miller to the coaching philosophy.

[sec-106]

To me, the D in that series was like the O, had the coaching staff steered the matchups more towards the Sixers advantage, the Sixers would have been more productive on both.

[freshie2]

Yes...the lineup changes would have impacted both ends of the court, but still not significantly enough to win the series. They still have a lot of room to grow, but it's not crazy to think they can get to the conference championship in two seasons if they make the right moves. Take Detroit...there is not one player on that team who can carry a franchise like Lebron or Kobe, but collectively, they have a very good core 4-5 and solid bench that is successful in playing a hard nosed defensive game. The Sixers have difficult choices this off season, but if they improve the front line quality/depth, and then get the outside shooter off the bench, they really are not that far from being legitimate contenders in the East...it's still not a next year fix, but it's not completely out of reach.

[ankle420breaker]

I'm having difficulty understanding the hate fest here towards our defense. Were we supposed to beat Detroit in the first round or something? Did we underachieve in the post season? We lasted longer than a team that was 22 games above .500.

There is a reason why Detroit is a perennial participant in the ECF's. They have 4 extremely tough covers in their starting 5. Even Dwight Howard couldn't stop Sheed in the post. Our defense was able to create enough turnovers to allow us to get into the open court and at times switch the momentum to favor our style. I'm satisfied with taking Detroit to six games with the lineup we currently have. Now, if we add a low post threat to the equation and don't find ourselves playing shorthanded on the offensive end, I think you'll find our attack to be much more well rounded.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

-= original quote snipped =-



Thad did guard Sheed and it looked terrible. Sheed shot over the top of him easily. I can remember Thad as clear as day guarding Sheed TIGHTLY behind the 3 point line in the corner where the camera can only see Sheed's back. Sheed just shot it right in Thad's face and Thad had no ability to do anything about that shot because he was too short.

Did I ever say Thad would do a better job on Sheed? NO. But it would have the best TEAM effect. You can't possibly suggest to me that taking a 7 foot shotblocker from the paint is ever winning basketball.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

The Nuggets do need attention to their offense. You can't win an NBA title with bad ball movement and isolations no matter how great two of your scorers are. In both the Sixers and Nuggets case they are in need of new philosophies on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court. That has contributed to why both the Nuggets and Sixers were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. You can't win an NBA title while playing a switch everything, high pressure, trapping, double teaming, gambling defense like the Sixers. You also can't win a title while having a player as ordinary as Andre Iguodala dominate the basketball. The Sixers probably ran the most simple offense in the league and it was still simple back when Iverson was here under Cheeks.

In regards to the Nuggets Post: Their offense is not the problem. Even at Age 33, Iverson performed better then half the league and still looks strong. I figure he has 5+ years left. Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony is a player that they MUST trade. He's not a defensive player, nor does he get others involved(a pitiful 3.4 APG and only 2.4 against the Lakers, suggesting that the LAKERS are a good defensive team). Oh and here's the best part. He averaged 3.3 TPG. 3.3!

He's a FORWARD and he's turning it over like a GUARD and plays HORRIBLE defense. He's Glenn Robinson all over again. So the Nuggets should trade him. They should contact Joe Dumars and the Pistons.

We're in need of a serious coaching upgrade, being able to get your team to play hard isn't everything. You then have to come with game plans and plays. Cheeks needs to hire an assistant who is an expert in coaching offense with motion and not this silly simplistic old school dribble penetration pro-style 1-on-1 crap. If we had superior basketball players at every position Cheeks style might work, that's of course only against non zone defenses.

Just say "Fire Maurice Cheeks"

In reality there is LESS to build on from this season than the average Sixer fan is willing to accept. Thad Young is seriously the only bright spot that I see that looks like potential championship caliber basketball. Everything else has its CHIP limitations from Andre Miller to the coaching philosophy.

Miller will be gone, either by the deadline or in the timespan during the lottery to free agency. His expiring contract is merely all that's attractable.

Team Needs:
-PF (can be back to the basket or a hybrid forward)
-PG. The Grizzlies have 4 of these, I'd perferably get Mike Nardi When Healthy, Nardi has been a multi dimensional talent in Memphis.
-And anything else you can think of.

[SouthJersey]

Nardi? I dont think he played a game for Memphis this year.

[ahwi_quacoe]

I guess I'm just a defense lover . I would rather have a team that struggles to score and learns to become efficient scorers thorough excellent execution a la Larry Brown style of play then a George Karl or Don Nelson every shot is a good shot and let's run approach. The 2001 playoff team was a perfect team in my mind. We could hold teams to less than 80 points per game . Of course the rules have changed and made it harder to do this but I yearn for a team that I know even if undersized or racked with mismatch problems could still play EXCELLENT man to man and team defense. I would love to see more full court presses and traps but I know this would require a boot camp type coach and MO Cheeks is just not that type of guy. We're a young team that can run so why not take advantage of that on the defensive end. Why not disrupt the other teams offensive flow and reduce time having to play defense in the half court set? Is there a reason why we see so much less presses and traps today ?