sixers vs knicks 2 (10/14)

[bedjaw]

Thad really looked good but he is not ahead of Iggy at this point. Iggy has so many responsibilities on O and D. Mo it seems has correctly simplified the game for Thad, that doe not take away from how good he has looked. Speights is very impressive "as a rookie". He is way ahead of were many of the top PFs were in their rookie preseasons. Guys like Amare, David West and Boozer were not this polished as rookies. He has a ton of potential but still has a alot of work to do. From what I've seen he has been the 2nd best rookie (I have not seen Oden play) behind Love. LWill struggle when he is the PG. I can't see him taking over that sport this year--he just seems to far away from being a PG. However when he is a combo guard he is electric. He might not be the PG of the future but he will certainly be a big tim scorer and that is ok for a 2nd rd pick. I also think Sam has played better. He seems to have a clear idea of what he wants to do when he gets the ball. He doesn't always execute but I am not seeing the aloofness that he has shown in the past. WG is going to be effective off the bench. He will have the advantage against most 2nd team two guard and can be effective as a scorer when Iggy and Thad are on the bench. I wouldn't worry too much about Brand. He was never an explosive player and keep in mind he did miss all of last year (- 8 games). I would have been more surprised if he came out on fire. He is coming off a serious injury and joined a new team. We may not see the "true" EB until December. The main thing is he looks completely healthy. He is doing all the things (physically) that he did before the injury. Now he just has to knock the rust off and gel with his new team.

[barkley34]

A few more games like this and the pic above will replace team USA Brand/Miller as my Avatar...

Speighs is the new Thad.

How did his defense look? Can he defend the 5? Does he get pushed around down low on his post defense or is he strong down there?

[geiger]

I would like to see how we do against starters of teams other than the Knicks, who might be the worst team in the league this season.

[Nofx8881]

how has dalembert looked?

the boxscores from all the games so far aren't treating dalembert too kindly. is he injured or something?

[tk76]

moved

[tk76]

How did his defense look? Can he defend the 5? Does he get pushed around down low on his post defense or is he strong down there?

Spieghts looks active on defense. He might miss some rotations and has been victimized by some vet moves to draw fouls- but his instincts seem right. he is very quick to the ball (watch the clips I posted.) He is strong on the boards and does not shy away from contact (and he is big.)

Brand and Iguodala seem to be encouraging Speights, and it looks like he is adapting to the NBA game quicker than most expected. The minutes with him and the starters to finish out the game last night where a very good sign- as was his +/- for the night.

I read in Fagan's blog that the previous game Mo was about to send in Brand, but Brand told Mo to leave Speights in becasue he was doing well. The team really seems to be trying to help the kid- I'm hoping he gets PT even sooner than Thad. I guess its a question of how loyal Mo will be to Evans.
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how has dalembert looked?

the boxscores from all the games so far aren't treating dalembert too kindly. is he injured or something?

Sam has looked a bit out of sorts now that Brand is in the post. Last night they had him at the top of the key, and he looked a bit more comfortable. I'm pretty confident that Brand and Sam will jell on the floor. From what I have read they get along really well, and its probably just a matter of Sam learning a new comfort zone playing more on the weak side. We all know that Sam doesn't pick things up as quickly as some players, but he eventually is effective.

[geiger]

Rookie big men are rarely very good defensively and Speights is no exception. This season, playing mostly against other team's back-ups and probably getting more time at the 5 than the 4, his defense should be less of a concern so long as he can rebound the ball consistently on the defensive end and provide an offensive punch at the offensive end.

I'm very excited about the growth potential for Young, Williams and Speights, but we also have to temper our expectations. Young is 20, the other two are 21. There will be growing pains. Look for progress throughout the season.

[Sixerscan]

Why is Andre Iguodala playing 35 minutes in a preseason game?

[TheAnswerAI]

Mo said that was a good game to get them in game shape. Another point is that our next game is on saturday so there should be enough time to get back on track.

[geiger]

He is trying to get them in track shape. They've been running a lot in the workouts. There are what, 3 pre-season games left? The last one the starters don't play much. Plus, we are in a circumstance where we have a lot of new players, Iggy is playing a new position and a new role. Have to get the guys used to playing together a bit.

Not a big fan of it either, but at the same time, I understand where Mo wants to get them ready in light of our circumstances and plays them about 5 to 10 minutes too long for a pre-season game in 2 or 3 games.

[Sixerscan]

Iguodala should be in game shape already. He played 30+ on Sunday too. $80 million players don't play that much in preseason. He's not a young player anymore, he should know what he has to do.

Young has been playing a fairly obscene amount too. I get the feeling Cheeks really thinks it's important to do well in the preseason.

[geiger]

Iggy is also learning a new position so maybe that has something to do with it. I just don't know. It's definitely too many minutes for a starter.

[tk76]

The starting roster has to adapt a lot to adding Brand and Thad's new role on the wing. I'm not surprised Mo is giving them a lot of minutes (although Sam, Brand and Miller have not played nearly as much as Iguodala and Thad.)

Also, when all of the starters are on the bench the 2nd unit has been killed. I think he wants to stay in games, even in the pre-season, so is leaving Iguodala out there. Don't know if its the wrong move, but it doesn't bother me that much, A few 30+ min runs in the preseason won't make a diffensence in whether a player is to worn down in June.