10/10 Knicks v Sixers

[tk76]

Game wrap:

Positives:
Big deal
-Brand looked like a beast. 18 pts in the 1st 10 min. Of course the Knicks have horrible post defenders, but still good to see.
-The first team showed much better offensive cohesion- especially playing off of Brand.
minor
-Ivey looks like a decent role player
-Iguodala and Miller looked fine
-Speights looks good- would be nice if they fed him the ball more in the post. I also hope to see him get at least some burn with the starters.
-Reiner lokes like a talented stiff (good jumper, big, seemed to have a McCullough like good floor sense, but without the post moves
-Lou and Youngs injuries appear to be minor

Bad:
-Rush is coming off an injury, which hopefully explains why he shot 0-6, and that was the best part of his game. He looked really bad trying to play defense and made bad decisions with the ball. If he can hit a wide open shot he will have a role. If he tries to do anything else it looks to be a problem. Unless he can shoot he is not close to eing an NBA player, let alone a rotation guy.
-Evans- We saw lots of the bad Evans without any of the good. No big deal, but he looks to be a horrible fit on a second team that lacks scorers, and it kills Lou to blow by his man and then have to pass it to an open Evans.
-Young had a down game and then got scratched in the eye.
-Poor defensive rotations on jumpers (nothing new.)
-Sam still looks a bit lost with the starters.

[tk76]

BTW- if anyone needs a good Brand pic for an Avatar, you might want to use this one:

[CoachK]

Went to the game last night. I got free tickets through some email thing the the Sixers were doing. My wife heard about it and sent in the email. I went the next day to pick up my tickets.

I recently just moved back to the Phila. area so it was the first time in the Wachovia/Citi Bank/Wells Fargo Arena. Great arena! Brand looked like an All-Star last night, Iggy and Miller looked real good also. I was real impressed with Speights his reputation sure hasn't followed him to the Sixers.

[ankle420breaker]

There's no question Speights is physically NBA ready. His offensive game is solid right now, he should be a hand full after a few years playing with Brand. He's still learning the NBA game, you can see he was out of position on a couple of plays on defense and he was allowing his man to back him down easier than they should. Nothing that can't be fixed. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes him to crack the rotation.

[is1531]

There's no question Speights is physically NBA ready. His offensive game is solid right now, he should be a hand full after a few years playing with Brand. He's still learning the NBA game, you can see he was out of position on a couple of plays on defense and he was allowing his man to back him down easier than they should. Nothing that can't be fixed. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes him to crack the rotation.

I was wondering why Miller never passed Speights the ball, yet after Evans messed up twice, Miller throws him a bounce pass in the lane. Maybe Miller wanted more comedy.

[tk76]

You can tell that Speights works had on the defensive end and has the athletic talent to be effective on that end. Short of him just not being able to learn rotation- I can't see him having problems once he gets coached up.

I watched a few recorded Gator games after the sixers drafted him, and I was impressed by how versatile he was on defense. He rotated all the way out to contest guys as the three point line, took charges and was a good defensive rebounder. I did not see enough to comment on his low post man on man defense or his outlet passes (Brand could teach him- he's amazing getting the ball out.)

Maybe DeBodner can comment on those areas, I know he watched a lot of tape.

[geiger]

He had some problems on defense in Florida, as did that whole team. Part of it was due to poor conditioning - something which no longer appears to be a problem.

Some things, like rotations, outlet passing, boxing out, positioning, etc. is something that is learned over time. He's a 21 year old rookie, so it's not surprising he'd be behind the veterans on this. Big men tend to take longer to develp and their defense is usually the last thing to come around. He has good tools, depending on what position he ends up playing.

Another area is strength. This again comes down to his being a 21 year old kid. With a proper conditoning regiment and diet, and with the gradual natural maturation of his body, that too should come around.

I was a huge, huge fan of his. I am still shocked he lasted until 16. I was advocating Sixers try to trade up as high as 10 to try to nab him. There were rumors of problems, including conditioning, attitude, intelligence, and pot smoking that probably drove his stock down. If Stefanski learned under Thorn, I would not be surprised if those rumors were fueled by the Sixers themselves.

I've been very surprised by how polished certain aspects of his game are and I've already seen growth since the Summer League in his ability to position himself on defense. He seems to have nice hands and isn't a bad passer either. Nice little jumper, some post moves.

This is a kid who - if he is hard working and dedicated enough - can end up being a perennial all-star. I feel the same way about Thad Young too for that matter.

[tk76]

This is a kid who - if he is hard working and dedicated enough - can end up being a perennial all-star. I feel the same way about Thad Young too for that matter.

I don't know if they will both be perennial all-stars, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them both be near all-stars (like Iguodala was last year.) I'm nearly as high on Lou. I see him as a major impact player in 2-3 years. He hasn't gotten down the midrange game, but he's working on it, and he is a special talent given his scoring knack and ability to get by his man at will. We were spoiled watching AI- and Lou has a diffenent game, but is developing some of the same unstopable offensive skills.

Ed talked about the Detroit model of 5 good-great players, and the Sixers really have a shot to replicate that with Brand, Iguodala and the potential of Thad, Lou and Speights. Sam and Miller are above average too. It will be great to see them all peaking before Brand declines.

[dbodner]

Maybe DeBodner can comment on those areas, I know he watched a lot of tape.

My biggest gripe with him defensively was actually defending the post. he didn't do a good job denying his man from establishing position, and really gave up position down low as a result. He was almost disinterested in defending his man when he didn't have the ball. Denying position in the post IMO is the most important ingredient to effectively defending the post, and when he went up against competent post players he got beat at times in college. He also tended to lose his man on pick and rolls some, and defensive rebounding was inconsistent. He was also definitely somewhat out of shape to start the year.

All of these were correctable, though. The only thing that could hold him back from succeeding on either end of the court is his attitude, work ethic, and effort. I can't say to know him enough personally to make a call on that, and I trust Tony D's and Ed's judgment there. I don't think he was tremendously quick off his feet from a standstill, and that could prevent him from being a great shotblocker, but with the length of his arms, if he has good timing he could be more than competent in that regard as well.

I'm very high on Speights. If he works hard, both on and off the court, he's going to be a stud. We definitely could have an all-star caliber big man.

[geiger]

Coach David Thorpe on ESPN, who is very high on Speights, had this to say in September about him:

September 19, 2008

Speights is one of the most talented players in this class. But he is also the rookie most prone to take plays off and avoid being physical. The best way to address this is to ensure that every rep, every day in every practice, is done at game speed. Building a habit of "locking in" on every possession starts today, and it will create a monster for the Sixers come playoff time, when each possession grows in importance.

[eyeatoma]

^^^Old news...lol

[ankle420breaker]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/six ... lking.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/six ... _home.html

A couple of good articles on Speights. It appears as though the coaches and players are working diligently to keep him progressing. The general consensus seems to be that he's a quick learner. It'll be interesting to see where he is in the rotation when the season starts and where he'll be heading towards the all star break.

[geiger]

I think he will follow the same road Young did. He'll likely start off getting spot minutes (unless there are injuries or someone has a disastrous start) and then basically progress to the point where Cheeks has to put him into games.

[tk76]

Coach David Thorpe on ESPN, who is very high on Speights, had this to say in September about him:
... The best way to address this is to ensure that every rep, every day in every practice, is done at game speed. Building a habit of "locking in" on every possession starts today, and it will create a monster for the Sixers come playoff time, when each possession grows in importance.

Going against Evans and Brand in practice- I'm sure if he lets up they will be the crap out of him, in a good way.

As long as he doesn't spend too much time cracking jokes with Sam.