The Nets controlled the game for most of the first half, but Philly was able to capitalize on a 12-point third quarter by New Jersey. After two missed FTs by Elton Brand, the Nets still couldn’t get a good shot up to tie, as Jarvis Hayes forced a three that missed by a mile.
The Nets struggled greatly in the transition game, getting outscored 25-2 on the fast break.
Besides his last three attempt, Hayes probably had his best game of the season, scoring 18 points on 4-8 from three.
Fighting stomach issues, Brook Lopez had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Yi Jianlian had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The Sixers only shot 36.5 percent from the field and 62.1 percent from the FT line, but they did a better job controlling the ball than the Nets, only committing 12 turnovers.
Terrence Williams played some critical minutes down the stretch, and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Before we talk about tonight’s game, I want to look at the game Wizard’s game winning play and show you how the Nets defended it. In my opinion, the play was well defended, but better (maybe luckier) offense prevailed:
As Boykins continues to dribble out the clock, Antwan Jaminson comes up and sets a screen for Earl. The reason they are setting the screen is because most teams switch screens late, and the Wizards are trying to get a big to cover the speedy Earl Boykins.
And that is exactly what happens, Kris Humphries is there to cover him. Ben Couch talked to Humphries about the play:
“In that situation, the last thing I wanted to do was get caught in the air and foul,” Humphries said. “I probably should have pushed up a little bit more and tried to get him to go more toward the basket, take a little tougher shot.”
I actually think Humphries did a very good defending Boykins. You don’t want to close out too hard on him, because if he does, he will end up dribbling right around Humphries and get himself an easier shot. Since Humphries is so tall, he basically forced Boykins to shoot over him, which is a good thing. He just made it this time.
As for tonight, the Nets are welcoming All-Star starter Allen Iverson to New Jersey. The Nets have played the Sixers twice during their season-opening losing streak, and lost both by a combined 6 points. Both games were exactly the same, the Nets down two missed a chance at winning/tying the game, then the Sixers made 1 of 2 foul shots, and then the Nets were not able to get a game tying attempt up. Hopefully tonight things will be different. Onto the lineups…
Keyon Dooling vs. Allen Iverson
Iverson has aged quite a bit, but he still shows flashes of his greatness from time to time. If Devin Harris was playing tonight, I would actually be worried he might go off, but I am confident that Dooling (the better defender than Harris) will be able to handle Iverson.
Advantage: Push
Courtney Lee vs. Jrue Holiday
Even though Jrue Holiday starts, he still plays slightly less than 16 minutes per game. In those minutes, he is only averaging 5.4 points per game. He is going to be a very good player, but it is going to take him some time to get adjusted to the league. When Holiday is covering Lee, I expect him to be aggressive and attack the basket. That is something he does very well.
Advantage: Courtney Lee
Chris Douglas-Roberts vs. Andre Iguodala
CDR is starting to get back into a rhythm a little bit. He was attacking the basket a little more, and looking for chances to get a shot up. I have been saying that I would like to see CDR be a little selfish as he tries to work out of this slump.
Advantage: Andre Iguodala
Yi vs. Elton Brand
Kris Humphries had his first bad game as a Net, but that didn’t really hurt the team since Yi was able to play pretty well during the game. I think what Kiki is going to do from here on out is play the hot hand. Whoever is playing well will be out on the court, and last game it was Yi. I did like that Kiki put in Humphries instead of Yi for that last possession.
Advantage: Elton Brand
Brook Lopez vs. Samuel Dalembert
Brook Lopez shouldn’t have any problem with Samuel Dalembert in my opinion. Dalembert is a very good shot blocker, but he doesn’t have the size to keep Brook out of his scoring spots (and that is the only time Brook seems to have trouble). Lopez has the strength to get into Dalembert’s body and negate his jumping ability. That is key when you are dealing with a very good shot blocker.
The Philadelphia 76ers make their last trip to the Izod Center for the season tonight, so with us to give us some insights is Carey Smith, from the TrueHoop blog Philadunkia.
NAS: Since the All-Star rosters were announced, there has been some talk about the injustice of Allen Iverson being voted in as a starter. Can you find any justification for it?
I actually think al of the outcries about the injustice of Iverson starting are funny. The ASG is about who the fans want to see, not which players are the most deserving. The fans voted for Iverson, so he should get the start. I understand that his level of play this year does not warrant a starting spot in Dallas, but under the current ASG selection process, which I should add needs to be tweaked, Iverson did nothing wrong and should start. There was a very good story on hoopstvonline.com this week about Iverson’s ASG “injustice” and all the heat he has taken. I agreed with what the writer had to say, Iverson is getting roasted but some how Kevin Garnett who does not deserve to start either, has not caught any heat. http://www.hoopstvonline.com/news/iversonvkgasg.html.
NAS: There are a number of Sixers players who have been mentioned in trade buzz. What’s your sense of the truth to these rumors? Who do you think stays, and who goes?
The 76ers will absolutely make a trade, but the numerous rumors that pop up everyday are making hard to decide which players will be exiting. They’ve been shopping Sammy D and his awful contract for two years now and continue to do so. The problem for me is that Sammy is playing the best ball of his career. He has racked up 6 double-doubles this month and has become a game changer on the defensive end. Still his contract is killing us, so it’s probably best for the long run to deal him. Obviously Iguodala is rumored in several trades and I’ve heard Louis Williams and Thad Young mentioned as well. That’s kind of scary since just this past summer, those three were envisioned as the core this franchise was going to build around. If I had to bet, I’d say Williams and Dalembert go.
NAS: You’ve been highly critical of Sixers coach Eddie Jordan throughout the season. Would you like to trade him for Kiki Vandeweghe?
I’d have to disagree that we’ve been highly critical of Eddie Jordan. In fact I would have to say that lately we have been super highly critical of the job Jordan has done and deservedly so. We gave Jordan plenty of breaks at the start of the 2009-10 season because the players were learning his offensive system and the Sixers had some injuries early on to starters (Mo Speights and Louis Williams). During the initial grace period, we noticed just horrific coaching tendencies that Jordan displays and we held back from writing about them. But once everyone was back from injury and Iverson had been in the lineup for a week or two, the gloves came off and it has not been pretty. Poor substitution patterns, lack of a concern for defense, refusal to play appropriate match up games (on both ends of the floor) and the inability to define players roles are just some of the basic NBA coaching sins Jordan has committed. Still I am not sure how much of I is Jordan’s fault. I said it this summer and I’ll say it again now Jordan was the wrong choice for this team as his coaching style and X&Os do not fit the personnel.
I would trade Jordan for a bucket Gatorade, so yes I would trade Jordan for Kiki. I would then take Kiki and make him a player/coach as the Sixers sure could use his career 53% field goal shooting touch on this squad.
