 |
| Spencer Hawes Swatted Away the Nuggets Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE |
And with that, the Philadelphia 76ers Andrew Bynum era is
underway!
Even though Bynum didn’t play this evening, it’s still clear
that this team has a new identity without Andre Iguodala. This team is clearly
a more cohesive unit, there’s generally more ball movement on offense and even
from my crappy feed on my laptop in London, I could still observe excellent
communication on the floor amongst the Sixers players.
Now, let’s dive into tonight’s positives and negatives
Positives
3 Wings
Besides big Drew, the Sixers’ biggest additions this
offseason were their new trio of wing players, Jason Richardson, Dorrell Wright
and Nick Young. Tonight, while they weren’t the devastatingly knockdown
shooters that they were in the preseason, the trio still combined for 33 points
and contributed 5 of the team’s 7 three-pointers. Naturally, as the team
settles down, they won’t be as shot-happy and their shooting percentages will
all go up, but you also have to be especially pleased by their defensive efforts
as well. The three wingmen totaled 7 steals, 4 blocks and 14 rebounds.
You have to like what they will bring to the team this season.
Jrue’s Passing
The biggest storyline of the Sixers season this year besides
Bynum is Jrue Holiday’s progression. As the team just inked Holiday to a multi-year contract extension (terms not undisclosed), fans and members of the
media are looking for Jrue to improve in three areas: Attacking the basket to
score and get to the line, three-point shooting and distribution. Tonight,
Holiday shot made four of five free throw attempts and dished out 11 assists.
He still needs to look for his drive more often, especially off pick and
rolls, but you have to be absolutely pleased with how easily and efficiently
Jrue involved his teammates against the Nuggets.
Team Defense
Living in a quad-dorm with three Celtics fans currently, I
was a broken record last night during the Celtics-Heat contest about how thin
the Celtics interior defense is. Without Bynum, the Sixers D obviously suffers
from that weakness as well. However, against Denver, in the second half and
particularly the third quarter, it was very clear how cohesively the Sixers
were playing on the defensive end. They rotated terrifically, jumped out into
passing lanes and tipped the ball almost every time a Nuggets player even set a
toe inside the paint. The 76ers forced 15 turnovers tonight, including two
impressive shot clock violations.
Spencer Hawes
Ever since Spencer’s first game off the bench last season,
after he returned from his first injury, I’ve said that Hawes is most effective
when playing off the bench. While watching the starters open the game, you can
see that big Spence is just itching to play, listening to Collins bark and
“teach” and that obviously pays dividends on the court. As a reserve, its
evident that Hawes plays with a mindset that he needs to make the most of his
minutes. If he does, he’ll finish the game like tonight. If he doesn’t, he’ll
sit during crunch time. But he’s also shown physical improvements during the preseason
and against Nuggets. He is in great shape, allowing him to be more agile, especially
defensively (FIVE BLOCKS), and play more minutes. Hawes also is sporting a more fluid
shooting motion, which he proudly showed off on his two three pointers tonight, and an awesome mullet.
It will still remain imperative that Collins doesn’t react the wrong way to his
performance tonight and insert him in the starting lineup.
Negatives
Opponent Offensive
Rebounding
Just like last season, the Sixers showed that they are very
susceptible to opponent offensive rebounding tonight. Obviously, Bynum will
drastically help that cause. But the team needs to overall work on defensive
rebounding as a unit . On multiple occasions tonight, the 76ers did a great job
collapsing on the ball and forcing a missed shot with great team rotations, but
then forget about going after that missed shot. Hopefully, this is something
Collins will “teach” in practice.
Too Shot-Happy-
As the Sixers have been publicizing all preseason, the team
now boasts a bevy of three point weapons. They were straight lethal from beyond
the arc in the first quarter, but following that hot shooting, the team as a
whole got a little too shot-happy, especially in the beginning of possessions.
When Denver made their 17-3 run in the fourth quarter, it came largely do to
the long rebounds of Sixer three-point misses that started Nugget fast breaks.
When the game slows down in fourth quarters, and when Bynum is back, the team
will have to look to get the ball inside more and attack the basket in order to
maintain late-game leads. You
can’t fall totally in love with the three ball for all 48 minutes.
4th
Quarter Stagnant Offense
As previously mentioned above, the Sixers offense in the
fourth quarter did not consistently get inside the paint and to the rim late in
the game. In a typical Doug Collins-coached team fashion, the 76ers relied on
midrange jumpers in the half court instead of ball movement that created
layups. Playing against the best teams in the league, and when opponents are in
mid-season offensive form, a stagnant late-game offense can be the death of
this young and energetic team.
Collins play-calling
While Doug Collins is largely praised as one of the greatest
“teachers” of the game, I’m still consistently amazed at how poor of a
play-caller he is. Doc Rivers is revered for his ability to always design an
effective play out of timeouts, and that helps the Celtics score anywhere from
6-10 points a night. I don’t think Collins knows how to draw up a successful
and effective play out of a timeout. Frankly, I’ve never seen it. He showed it
again tonight when a high pick and roll between Hawes and Holiday turned into a
turnover and layup for Denver. Let’s hope Bynum can change all that.
But, the team looked tremendous even in the absence of
Bynum, so let’s end on a very positive note. Besides Spencer, Jrue, three-point
shooting and the victory, these Sixers guys look like they really love playing
together. There was A LOT of chemistry on the Wells Fargo Center court tonight
for a team that really just came together a few months ago. The average age of
this team is 26.2. They’re young, excited, full of energy and ready to make a
statement this season. Maybe they’ll be able to pull off a top-4 seed in the
Eastern Conference playoff picture.
And, as always…
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6ers!!
No comments:
Post a Comment