Tom Moore 3.0

[tmoore]

Jordan was asked about eight of 21 teams shooting 50-plus percent from 3-point land this season vs. the Sixers: "We’ve got to get better, no doubt about it. I’m not going to make excuses. We’ll just try to put personnel out there that can stay on the perimeter. Right now, our core guys are just not getting out on the perimeter. If we go small, we can probably do it, but then we get hurt in other areas. We just got to get better at it."

Oblivious to the fact that the same personnel was not nearly this terrible at defending the perimeter last year.

Sixers' opponents shot 36.7 percent from 3 last year, making a franchise-record 585.

This year, Sixers are on pace to allow 106 more (691) and become the first Sixers' team to give up higher than 37 percent. They're at 42 percent, with the Grizzlies next at 38.6 percent.

Even Jim O'Brien's team, which seemed awful, "only" allowed 565 and 36.2 shooting from downtown.

[76ciology]

Sixers have an uncanny knack of leaving good shooters wide open. From Chauncey Billups to Matt Bonner to numerous others, they inexplicably help and give those guys clear looks. It's way too easy.

Well, I might be wrong, for this is just a theory of mine.

It's no secret that Sixers offense thrive with their fastbreak points. And most of these fastbreaks are because of those MISSED long perimeter shots by our opponents. IMO, Sixers is sagging off on the perimeter and letting/tempting the perimeter scorers shoot from the outside to gain long rebound that would initiate the break. It's just that I think they are either sagging off too much from the perimeter and they are paying for it.

[Mojo7]

Sixers have an uncanny knack of leaving good shooters wide open. From Chauncey Billups to Matt Bonner to numerous others, they inexplicably help and give those guys clear looks. It's way too easy.

Well, I might be wrong, for this is just a theory of mine.

It's no secret that Sixers offense thrive with their fastbreak points. And most of these fastbreaks are because of those MISSED long perimeter shots by our opponents. IMO, Sixers is sagging off on the perimeter and letting/tempting the perimeter scorers shoot from the outside to gain long rebound that would initiate the break. It's just that I think they are either sagging off too much from the perimeter and they are paying for it.

I would agree, except they actually had the running philosophy for the last couple of years while playing much better perimeter D. The answer is simple: Jordan is a moron.

[Hipster Doofus]

How hard is it to just stick on players out on the perimeter? Forget the inside. 3>2, especially when the chance of making three pointers is much higher since the players shooting them are left wide open. Plus, drilling a three is just psychologically more tiring and depressing for a team than seeing a gimmick layup. Stick on the damn perimeter for once and see what happens.

I don't get why our players always rush to defend the post even there's nobody there. It's just stupid. The opposing players are parked in the corners and hitting threes like free-throws.

[76ciology]

How hard is it to just stick on players out on the perimeter? Forget the inside. 3>2, especially when the chance of making three pointers is much higher since the players shooting them are left wide open. Plus, drilling a three is just psychologically more tiring and depressing for a team than seeing a gimmick layup. Stick on the damn perimeter for once and see what happens.

I don't get why our players always rush to defend the post even there's nobody there. It's just stupid. The opposing players are parked in the corners and hitting threes like free-throws.

Well, there's a lesser chance of scoring the ball with a three than a lay-up in the paint. Then there's our lack of depth in the C position, that could pose a problem if more players score in the paint for there's a better chance that Dumb Sammy can get foul troubled. Then there's our perimeter players who might be forcing our opponents to take perimeter shots for the long rebound that would initiate the break then going for the highlight that would make it to NBA TV's Top 5 daily. I'm not sure with these reasonings, but it's the only reasons I can think of on why we are leaving perimeters scorers wide open.

[KevinLin]

I've noticed 2 times when the defense really suffers. 1. When they send the reserves out there. Other teams just attack Kapono and Green. 2. When they switch to that zone they play. Least effective defense for this team and always leads to a corner 3.

This team has a very frustrating bench. Green and Kapono are inconsistent scorers who occasionally light it up for 20, but they both play poor defense. Ivey and Carney play OKAY defense but have poor offense. And when you put them on the floor all together the team gets exploited on both ends.

[tk76]

Maybe instead of Jordan going even more to small ball, EJ can rely on the fact that Sam/Brand can protect the paint. That way the perimeter guys can just man up and not leave their men.

If they stop over-helping the 3 ball will not be so much of a problem. Sam and Brand can deter penetration without the other plays leaving their men?

Of course this type of simple solution is well below the radar of EJ's Mensa Level Princeton Defense.

[ChuckS]

[Quote] "1. When they send the reserves out there. Other teams just attack Kapono and Green."

It's just a shame that Lou and Thad cannot play 48 minutes every game.

[tmoore]

Iverson said he was a little sore this morning, but did some extra running after the hour-long practice to help get through it.

[tmoore]

Jrue Holiday said his shoulder is feeling a lot better than it did two days ago and hopes to play tomorrow.

[tmoore]

Iverson: "I was sore when I got here. After I ran around and did a couple drills, it kind of went away. I knew it's something I'd probably have to deal with for a little while in the morning."

[ankle420breaker]

Tom, it looks like Speights may be ahead of schedule

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... to_return/

Have you heard any inklings about an earlier ETA for his return? Our bench has REALLY missed him.

[tmoore]

Tom, it looks like Speights may be ahead of schedule

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... to_return/

Have you heard any inklings about an earlier ETA for his return? Our bench has REALLY missed him.

Funny -- that's my story being linked. He wouldn't talk time frame before the game.

[tmoore]

Jordan on the team's mood in the midst of a 10-game losing streak: "We’ve got a good group. They’re optimistic. They’re enthusiastic every day. It’s a tough time. It tests you in every way."

Asked what the Sixers are doing that's preventing them from winning, he said, "I just don’t want to be negative. There’s enough negative with the record. I want to be positive in every sense, in everything that I say and think, ‘Let’s get better.’ I’ve got a lot of responsibility to make that happen. I take a lot of the blame. Every statement I make, I need to be positive."

[dbodner]

I’ve got a lot of responsibility to make that happen. I take a lot of the blame."

Except when he says "if they don't bite as puppies, they won't bite as dogs".

the man's a walking contradiction.

[ankle420breaker]

Talk about going right to the source. That's encouraging news. Appreciate the updates, Tom.

[tmoore]

Sure.

Jordan on what can be done to speed up the process with Iverson: "You don’t speed it up – you just let it take its course. Let’s be diligent and patient with the process and it'll come."

[tmoore]

Iguodala on why the Sixers are so bad defending the 3: "I think we need to communicate better. We are athletic, though. Our reaction time was a little slow. We’ve got to be better at making reads regarding time of possession. Our biggest thing is we gamble too much. Some of our young guys tend to go for plays that aren’t really there, trying to hit a home run instead of getting a single and a stop.

"Another thing is having a good basketball IQ. You’ve got to have a good understanding of the game, knowing your matchup, personnel. We rely on help a little bit too much. When the help’s not there, we tend to say, ‘Where’s the help?’ When the help is there, (they throw) a skip pass and get a 3-pointer. We’ve got to get better with individual defense and matchups."

[Foshan]

Iguodala on why the Sixers are so bad defending the 3: "I think we need to communicate better. We are athletic, though. Our reaction time was a little slow. We’ve got to be better at making reads regarding time of possession. Our biggest thing is we gamble too much. Some of our young guys tend to go for plays that aren’t really there, trying to hit a home run instead of getting a single and a stop.

"Another thing is having a good basketball IQ. You’ve got to have a good understanding of the game, knowing your matchup, personnel. We rely on help a little bit too much. When the help’s not there, we tend to say, ‘Where’s the help?’ When the help is there, (they throw) a skip pass and get a 3-pointer. We’ve got to get better with individual defense and matchups."

lol so in general we are stupid and suck at D. Thank you Iggy for clearing that up for me.

[tmoore]

Iguodala on why the Sixers are so bad defending the 3: "I think we need to communicate better. We are athletic, though. Our reaction time was a little slow. We’ve got to be better at making reads regarding time of possession. Our biggest thing is we gamble too much. Some of our young guys tend to go for plays that aren’t really there, trying to hit a home run instead of getting a single and a stop.

"Another thing is having a good basketball IQ. You’ve got to have a good understanding of the game, knowing your matchup, personnel. We rely on help a little bit too much. When the help’s not there, we tend to say, ‘Where’s the help?’ When the help is there, (they throw) a skip pass and get a 3-pointer. We’ve got to get better with individual defense and matchups."

lol so in general we are stupid and suck at D. Thank you Iggy for clearing that up for me.

At least he acknowledged some of their deficiencies, instead of going with the party line of "they just made shots" or "they were way behind the 3-point line."