Tom Moore 2.0

[kingofthecourt67]

Brevin Knight or Juan Dixon, anyone? Could be Ivey again, too.

Tom, keep putting up these hilarious point guards, this way the only way people will attend 76ers games will be when the 76ers have a promotion night featuring free popcorn, soda, ice cream and hotdogs. Don't forget the stomach ache to go with your lovely evening at the Wachovia,lol.

While, he had a reduced role the last year, Brevin Knight was a solid point guard a few years ago with the Bobcats. I remember he was a great distributor. I wouldn't be opposed to signing him in case we unfortunately do not get either Blake or Miller.

Don't get me wrong, I don't expect him to do much. But he could be a good mentor for our young guys.

[kingofthecourt67]

So Elton Brand is no longer a superstar? One of the 4 active players to average 20/10 isn't a superstar? Being injured automatically means that he is going to suck next season? I actually believe he will return to his previous form.

After the injuries the last two seasons and his struggles when he did play last year, Elton Brand is no longer considered a star in NBA circles. Perhaps he can change that perception, but he must show it on the court.

I honestly think that given the extra year to rehab his achillies, he has the ability to become a perennial player in the league again. I understand what you are saying: he may very well not be considered a star. But i think that it is unfair to right him off. And that ineffectiveness was also matched by Iguodala's poor play as well. Perhaps that was the coach? Or working with Miller, who he did not work with in the past before.

All I am trying to say is don't write the guy off. He still can get it done.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

Andre Miller is a ballhog, shoot first PG. If Miller wasn't "quiet", he'd be called a poor man's Iverson.

[Westbrook36ptII]

He's not a shoot first PG. He was on this team because no one else could score and he had no choice. Put him on Portland and he reverts back to his usual self.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

When Miller was passing, we were winning games.

There ain't anything confusing bout that.

Stefanski should send Lou and scrubs to Vegas. So I can see a better quality league and Lou.

[freshie2]

Miller has never been a shoot first PG, and probably has 1/2 the FGA/game of Iverson. I get your point, but don't think it is valid...he shot b/c they needed him to be a scorer. Give him a few high end scorers, and he's not scoring more than 12 ppg.

[tmoore]

Offense wasn't the issue with Miller -- it was his inability to keep his man in front of him, which led to too many defensive breakdowns.

[freshie2]

True...one thing you definitely see with Jrue is he's defense first...nice ball pressure and recovery. Needs to work better through screens, but that may be partially due to the lack of defensive time together with his teammates.

[Don]

kotc67,
I don't believe Tom's "writing" off Brand, but I can understand that if in NBA circles he may have lost value based on consecutive years of having major injuries that take him out for a significant number of games. I'm still a believer in his comeback this coming year, but I don't think it will equal a comeback for the Sixers to the 3rd or 4th best team in the East with Lou running the point. Maybe he'll be an All-Star this year (I don't think there are too many outstanding PF's in the East aside of KG and Bosh), but as a team we may be where we are right now, next year. By the way, remember KG's also coming off injury this coming year.

My one hope for the team is that Thad comes out with more aggressiveness, strength, and increased desire on the defensive end so that both he and Iguodala can be all-stars this year. The East is stacked with 2's and 3's, so I'm not sure for Thad, and I'm about 60% confident for Iguodala.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

As much as we all seem to want Miller gone I think he will be missed. Milled won more games for us than he lost in my opinion and we weren't a playoff team without him these last two years. I personally don't like Millers game but I do think he helped our team win. With that said I am actually anxious to see what Louis Williams and Holiday are going to do for us as our point guards.
I think Williams is more of a scorer but there is no reason to believe he can't put up 5-6 assists per game. I think his scoring average will go up as well and we will all be very happy with him even if he isn't our point guard of the future.
At this point my focus is not on Miller but more on Williams/Holiday and how they develope. I think it's a good thing to have these young guys lead our team for a year and see how they do. While in some minds it's a step backwards I personally don't feel it is. It is nice to make the playoffs but who cares if you are a first round exit every year.
This year should be a focal point of these players....
Williams- can he become a legit player for us now that he has his chance?

Iguodala- Can he take it to another level and carry us the way Pippen carried the Bulls when he had no MJ?

Young- Is this his year that he becomes a real force, and possibly our future?

Brand- Can he bring it like he used to a couple of years ago? He's got a ton of doubters and I think Brand will be looking to shut them up.

Holiday- Can he show us that he is our future point guard and another future star on this team.

One thing I will say good about our team and that is that I love how we build through the draft. I think it's really the only way to go in the NBA. I mean we add a solid free agent like Brand to a mix of draft picks built from within and most of the time things blossom after a couple years of struggle.

Our own Phillies are a classic example.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Sorry about the previous long post. But....To add to that I forgot to mention other guys like Speights, and Jason Smith. I think both are tremendous talents but need a lot of polishing on their games. Someone compared Speights to Zach Randolph. That makes a lot of people cringe but not me. If Speights has the offensive potential that Randolph has what is so wrong about having that type of weapon on your team? The mistake that has been made with Randolph is that he has been used as a "franchise" starting power forward since his days in Portland. A player of Randolph's caliber (pure scorer) is used more effectively in a system like the Princeton offense as a sixth man. I think Speights is going to be a great offensive player, a mediocre rebounder, and an average NBA defender. I'll take that at 6'10 off the bench any day of the week.
I think we have a really solid young core of guys to build with right now, and I think the Sixer brass is in more of a wait and see mode right now.

[ojr107]

Tom- All of a sudden the new cap numbers come out- and we are hearing reports out of Portland that the Blazers are not interested in Miller because he is a bad fit. Sounds like PR on the part of the Blazers to explain away not going after him.

[tmoore]

Tom- All of a sudden the new cap numbers come out- and we are hearing reports out of Portland that the Blazers are not interested in Miller because he is a bad fit. Sounds like PR on the part of the Blazers to explain away not going after him.

I got the sense that Miller wasn't a primary target for Portland, but rather a secondary option. Perhaps they're looking in another direction or deciding he wouldn't be an ideal fit.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

If I were Portland with cast they have in place.... A point guard would not be my primary concern. It would be small forward and I think Lamar Odom is a perfect fit there for them and I think that is really their next target since Turkoglu bolted to Toronto. Portland has a lot of point guard prospects. A couple of them are overseas and they did draft Patrick Mills this year late in the draft.
Steve Blake is really the perfect point guard for that team where BRoy is the main ball handler. Jerryd Bayless is in waiting as well.

[psykosacul]

Andre Miller is a ballhog, shoot first PG. If Miller wasn't "quiet", he'd be called a poor man's Iverson.

You keep saying this. I think you are focusing too much on last years stats and the appearence of his game. Last year was not representative of andre miller as far as dominating the ball. Last year he took the team on his shoulders a lot because they lacked scorers and assertive players. There for he kept the ball in his hands and made plays himself, because that is what the team needed.

Andre Miller's over all game however has never been seen as selfish. He is consistently among the nba leaders in assists, and plays starters minutes yet has never scored 20ppg.

It CAN be argued that miller is a player who needs the ball to be effective, but i really dont think you can come up with valid points and data to prove he is a "shoot first ball hog"

[ryst]

its sad to see the sixers this ofseason.
while teams all over the league are making moves and trying to upgrade the sixers are sitting idle, doing nothing.
and i dont want to hear that crap "there are no moves to be made" , there are plant of moves to be made , either the sixers ownership dont want to spend any money or the GM is just a chicken and have no guts.
we trades,free agent signing,sign and trades all over the place, and the sixers tell Andre Miller to **** off and offer Mike Bibby a one year contract , that is laughable.

the sixers could have try get and number of players who were out there(some of them are still out there) but did nothing

this managment and team get a big fat F this summer

[ojr107]

True, we could have gotten some really good veterans, but this issue is at what cost? Would it have been wise to sacrifice a guy like Thad Young to get a veteran like Vince Carter?

[UptownPhilly]

there are plant of moves to be made , either the sixers ownership dont want to spend any money or the GM is just a chicken and have no guts.

I know how you feel, but what we're seeing is Stefanski and the crew trying to put it all together.

Stefanski has made a good amount of deals so far.
-The Korver deal was very bold, and opened up Cap Space for us.
-The Carney deal was also exceptional.
-We got Kapono this season, which is a deal many of us wanted.

I agree we may be screwed with our PG situation, but we don't have many options now

In terms of spending money, we're certainly not cheap or afraid to spend money by any strech of the imagination.
-Stefanski gave Iguodala, Brand, and Williams lucrative deals last summer.
-We've still got Dalembert on the payroll, who's got a large paycheck for the next few seasons.
-Not to mention Miller wants $30 mil/3yrs and nothing less.

The reality is we're in a tight situation and may have to rough it out for the next few years. Some moves could put us in an even worse situation, so it may be wise to stay pat for the meanwhile...

[Westbrook36ptII]

its sad to see the sixers this ofseason.
while teams all over the league are making moves and trying to upgrade the sixers are sitting idle, doing nothing.
and i dont want to hear that crap "there are no moves to be made" , there are plant of moves to be made , either the sixers ownership dont want to spend any money or the GM is just a chicken and have no guts.
we trades,free agent signing,sign and trades all over the place, and the sixers tell Andre Miller to **** off and offer Mike Bibby a one year contract , that is laughable.

the sixers could have try get and number of players who were out there(some of them are still out there) but did nothing

this managment and team get a big fat F this summer

The teams that are making moves are the teams that actually have a chance to win a title or the teams that aren't capped out. The teams in between aren't doing much.

[ryst]

why does it always have to be Thad Young who need to be traded?
there are other players who can be traded or moved , such as Dalembert,Green,Lou Williams,Jason Smith and others

i dont belive the sixers that there is no market for this players(Dalembert,green etc) they lie about because they dont want to spend money and take more years on a contract
for god sake, Zach Randolph was traded this summer! he does nothing but score,is a black hole,terrible team mate,has many off the courts issues,and has much worse contract then Dalembert.

i dont belive in any way or form that there is a market for Randolph and not for Dalembert.
is Randolph was traded twice in the last couple of years then Dalembert could have been traded 5 times.

but the sixers have a cheap owner who doesnt want to spend money or they have a gun shy GM(remind me of Paxon fro the bulls the last few years and even he did something at the deadline last year) who is scared to make moves.
so far Stefanski tenure is a big fail and if he continue to act and react they way he does , god have mercy on this franchise.