Thursday, November 6, 2008

Things that must improve for the 76ers

Still frustrated after last night...

Off the top of my head:

Andre Miller is NOT running the show and cannot get Brand the ball in the paint where he is most effective, Mo Cheeks is having terrible difficulty finding a rotation that can find any sort of rhythm, Thad NEEDS more plays for him on offense as he is clearly our best offensive player right now, Iguodala cannot do anything right, his jump shot looks worse than last year and the offense must not be run through him anymore, Dalembert has zero chemistry with Brand in the paint and is still trying to do way too much on offense, Speights needs to play more, Louis Williams is our second best offensive player and could give Miller the boot (I think he's a better option at PG right now than Miller).....

Games like last night make me think about Miller's effectiveness with this team. Last year Miller was excellent at controlling the tempo of the game and getting others involved. This year he simply cannot do that. I don't know if it is Mo Cheek's substitutions, the new players, the lack of chemistry or due just to poor performance. When the Sixers get eaten alive by a guy like Mario Chalmers, who no disrespect is a decent player and one of my favs from Kansas, you have to wonder something is very wrong here. All in all I place the blame of last night's perfomance on the Andres. They simply must play better.

I think what we will see is a change in offense from Mo Cheeks. The offense is not working because Iguodala is expected to do too much and honestly, his handle is so poor that you cannot give him the ball and expect him to make a play for himself or others. THADDEUS is our best player right now and should take over his Iggy's role of getting others involved. Will that happen? Doubt it. We have to remember that it's only the 5th game and chemistry issues are to be expected. But last night's performance was unacceptable and frankly pathetic. I don't think I've ever seen a team so out of sinc since Iverson was here.

As for Mo Cheeks, it is clear that he has not instructed what he needs our players to do.

Samuel Dalembert CANNOT continue to put the ball on the floor after getting a offensive rebound a foot from the hoop and CANNOT continue to take jump shots.

Elton Brand CANNOT continue to take jump shots from the perimeter. Our rebounding has been good, but our offense will never flow until he is given the ball inside the paint on a consistent basis. Lets be clear, there have been MINIMAL plays running off of Brand on offense and Mo has to do a better job of that.

Thaddeus Young CANNOT continue to be our best option on offense in the first half, only to be completely dismissed in the second. Thad has leap frogged Iggy and has risen as our second best offensive player behind Elton Brand. More plays must be designed around Thad.

Andre Iguodala CANNOT continue with his dismal shot selection. He is trying to be Dwayne Wade and is far from it. A HUGE part of Iggy's ineffectiveness is a result of our lack of a transition offense and defense. The Sixers are creating turnovers therefore not getting any opportunities to run, which was Iggy's strength last season. When that happens his performance will increase, but his little step back jump shots just inside the 3 point line are making me go insane. Iggy's role should be limited to fast break points, put backs, getting to the free throw line and running off screens and pick and rolls. That's it.

Andre Miller CANNOT continue to turnover the ball. He is our leader and our entire offense. Last year he had a career year, so expectations might be a little high this season. He must learn how to get others involved fast, or our rising superstar Louis Williams might take his job sooner than we have imagined.

Overall Mo, Iggy, and Miller need to step up there game. No more half court offenses, run run run run run. Get Iggy in the game by pushing the tempo. Get Brand the ball in the paint and not at the free the line. Run some damn plays for Thaddeus Young in the second half. Tell Dalembert to stay in the paint and if he doesn't he will get b^tch slapped. Get Speights big time minutes. Get Reggie Evans the hell out of Philadelphia.

And that's the bottomline.