GM72: Rapid (26ers) Reacts

Posted by: C. Smith
03/28/14 9:12 am EST
8 Comments
Philadelphia 76ers 98 FinalRecap | Box Score 120 Houston Rockets
Thaddeus Young, PF 33 MIN | 6-16 FG | 1-2 FT | 9 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 6 TO | 15 PTS | -29A 9 point 1st Q nearly led a double-double for Thad, but if you watched the game last night you saw that he looked tired, did not shoot the ball well and was sloppy with the rock (6 TOs). There was a very un-Thad-like play last night where D12 blocked #21′s shot and Thad fell to the floor. By the time he got up, the Rockets were scoring at the other end.

Henry Sims, C 26 MIN | 6-11 FG | 6-8 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 18 PTS | -12Sims only scored 4 points while this game was competitive (in the 1st half) but he hustled all night and has likley earned a roster spot ofr next year. That of course assumes Hinkie is not going for the double-tank.

Michael Carter-Williams, PG 28 MIN | 2-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 10 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 4 PTS | -17Casper Ware (5) scored more points in the 1st half than MCW (2)…Enuff said

James Anderson, SG 29 MIN | 11-18 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 30 PTS | -15Congrats, you lit up the Rockets again. Now try and do it vs. a team you don’t have a grudge against and one that plays defense.

Hollis Thompson, SG 20 MIN | 2-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | -7“The Keeper” started again and didn’t score a single point in the 1st half.


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Tonight: Remember the Plan

Posted by: Rich Iacuzio
03/27/14 10:40 am EST
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bretbrowncarterwilliamsThe 2013-2014 76ers season has not been for the faint of heart, and tonight in Houston it will get a little more painful for us die-hard fans.  Tonight the Sixers will match the NBA record for most consecutive losses at 26 straight.  Two years ago when this franchise was one quarter of solid basketball away from the Eastern Conference Finals, a losing streak of this brutal nature seemed impossible.

What makes this season even harder to swallow is that according to Brett Brown, all this losing is just the beginning.  Brown’s vision requires this once proud franchise to plod through the rebuilding phase for the next “three to five years”.  Sure, that sounds like a very long process, but we all know it’s the right thing to do. 

But will the rebuild truly take three to five years as Brett Brown claims?

 


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Wiggins Watch: The One is Now Done

Posted by: Alex Gorge
03/26/14 12:18 pm EST
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wigginsblackbckdropAfter two years of Lebron like hype building around potential lottery pick and college freshmen Andrew Wiggins, it’s time to prognosticate about what happens next.  My take: the net result from one year of solid college play is that in Wiggins, an NBA team will be drafting a solid prospect, but one that is a project.

Yes I said it, a project.

A lot of people had Kansas as a lock to at least reach the Elite Eight of this years tournament, nope, the Stanford Cardinal clearly didn’t care about anyone’s bracket.  After smooth sailing in the second round versus Eastern Kentucky, Kansas was surprisingly beaten by the Cardinal 60-57.  Against Stanford Andrew had just four points, four rebounds, one assist and four turnovers.  For many this leaves a lot of questions still to be answered about the NBA future of Wiggins.

 


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GM71: Rapid (Happy 25th) Reacts

Posted by: C. Smith
03/25/14 9:27 am EST
One comment
Philadelphia 76ers 91 FinalRecap | Box Score 113 San Antonio Spurs
Thaddeus Young, PF 35 MIN | 7-20 FG | 3-5 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 17 PTS | -3Thad scored 7 of his points in the 1st Q and than went ice cold. His brutal shooting night doomed any hopes the Sixers had of staying competitive in this game past the 1st Q.

Henry Sims, C 33 MIN | 5-8 FG | 0-2 FT | 7 REB | 7 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | -8After a very slow start (zero points in 1st half), Sims recovered to stuff the stat sheet.  However, he did have a couple nice dimes and two steals in the 1st half.  Still the game was out of reach when he did most of his scoring damage and that’s reflected in his grade.

Michael Carter-Williams, PG 38 MIN | 5-20 FG | 5-7 FT | 7 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 17 PTS | -5Another poor shooting night for MCW who will be spending a tremendous amount of time with Brett Brown this coming summer working on his stroke.  He only committed 3 TOs, but handed out only 4 assists.

James Anderson, SG 33 MIN | 4-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 6 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | -15Anderson’s defensive lapses last night were comical.

Hollis Thompson, SG 37 MIN | 3-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | 0Thompson scored the first 5 points of the game for the 76ers and than checked out of this one.  His grade is a D+ (technical difficulties).


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Is the 76ers Defense Improving?

Posted by: C. Smith
03/24/14 2:39 pm EST
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Hollis-ThompsonondeeditedfWith March Madness in full effect this weekend and the 76ers underdogs in their match up with the Knicks on Friday and the Bulls on Saturday, we decided to give the usual Rapid Reacts post the weekend off.

Despite the most recent set backs — a 1-point loss at the Garden against the Knicks  and a 10-point defeat in Chicago — as well as a losing streak that has now stretched to a historic 24 games, we found something positive to discuss about the 76ers.

That one item of sunshine we have noticed happens to be the Sixers’ recent play at the defensive end of the court.  That’s right, after months of bashing this team for their inability to play defense at a respectable level, it appears we may have to back off a little because the 7-6 have improved in that area over their last five games.


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Fo’ with the Foes: New York Knicks

Posted by: C. Smith
03/21/14 12:32 pm EST
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nyk_dance07_305x350_2This edition of “Fo’ with the Foes” – Philadunkia’s advanced scouting series which with the help of an accomplished journalist from around the NBA beat or blog world, previews key upcoming 76ers games – features tonight’s opponent, the New York Knicks, who have won seven in a row and now feature Zen Master Phil Jackson as the savior of their franchise.

After the jump, I’ll look a Fo’ key items for tonight’s game.  Additionally, we’ll get a little more insight into the New York team the Sixers face tonight from our colleague Sam Spiegelman from theknicksblog.com which covers the Knickerbockers for SNY.tv, as Sam will answer Fo’ questions on the Knicks from us here at Philadunkia.


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GM68: Rapid (Da Bulls) Reacts

Posted by: C. Smith
03/20/14 10:15 am EST
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Chicago Bulls 102 FinalRecap | Box Score 94 Philadelphia 76ers
Thaddeus Young, PF 38 MIN | 10-19 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 4 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 24 PTS | -13It’s fun to watch Thad now that he has the green light on every trip down the court.  Last night he rained threes, scored in transition and on hustle plays.  A quick start (11 pts in 1st Q; 9 straight in one stretch) and an impressive 2nd half produced a solid scoring night.  His 3PM that tied the game at 85 all in the 4th was sweet.

Henry Sims, C 24 MIN | 2-9 FG | 0-1 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 4 PTS | -8An 0-7 shooting start doomed Sims to his worst game as a 76er.  It also didn’t help that Sims got abused by Carlos Boozer at the other end of the court.  Still, the flip hook he rolled home in the 3rd Q was silky smooth.

Michael Carter-Williams, PG 38 MIN | 7-16 FG | 2-4 FT | 9 REB | 7 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 16 PTS | -2A near double-double by the ROY candidate was highlighted by 43.7% shooting from the field (7-16) and only 3 turnovers.  Now if he could just learn to play defense and knock down his FTs.  His floater in traffic during the 3rd Q was ridiculous, but on the next trip he hoisted up and ill advised 3PA and that killed the Sixers.

Tony Wroten, SG 43 MIN | 6-16 FG | 1-6 FT | 6 REB | 7 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 17 PTS | -8When a career 22% 3-point shooter has a night like TWroe did on Wednesday, you just have to sit back and laugh. However, I wasn’t laughing too much when he bricked a 3-ball late in the 4th Q with the Sixers down only 3 points. FYI…the play-by-play sheet from last night has Wroten down for missing 4 lay-ins in the 4th Q.  Uggghh

Hollis Thompson, SG 19 MIN | 0-1 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +1After his best game in months against the Pacers, “The Keeper” comes crashing back to reality.  When you get rocked by Mike Dunleavy, Jr., it’s not going to be your night.


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Fo’ with the Foes: Chicago Bulls

Posted by: C. Smith
03/19/14 2:24 pm EST
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luvabulls-cheerleader-kafiThis edition of “Fo’ with the Foes” – Philadunkia’s advanced scouting series which with the help of an accomplished journalist from around the NBA beat or blog world, previews key upcoming 76ers games – features tonight’s opponent, the Chicago Bulls, who on paper are significantly better than the 76ers, but come to the WFC off a loss last night at home to OKC and are 3-3 in their last six games.

After the jump, I’ll look a Fo’ key items for tonight’s game.  Additionally, we’ll get a little more insight into the Chicago team the Sixers face tonight from our colleague Nick Friedell at ESPNChicago.com as Nick will answer Fo’ questions on the Bulls from us here at Philadunkia.


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Wiggins Watch: March Madness Edition

Posted by: Alex Gorge
03/19/14 11:03 am EST
One comment

wigginsblackbckdropThose who are predicting the early demise of the Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA tournament because of center Joel Embiid’s injury may want to rethink their bracket selections.  As the saying goes, “Man down, next man up.”

The man who now has to shoulder an even heavier load for Bill Self’s team during March Madness is freshman sensation and scoring machine Andrew Wiggins, who as my colleague Michael Kaskey-Blomain explained yesterday (Via ESPN.com’s Chad Ford) is a propsect that the 76ers front office holds in high regard.

And for those of you have been living under the Ben Franklin Bride recently — Wiggins has been simply unstoppable in the month of March.


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GM66: Rapid (Lucky 21) Reacts

Posted by: C. Smith
03/18/14 10:05 am EST
2 Comments
Philadelphia 76ers 90 FinalRecap | Box Score 99 Indiana Pacers
Thaddeus Young, PF 41 MIN | 9-19 FG | 1-3 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 23 PTS | -1Thad started the night by burying 2 threes in the 1st Q.  He also had 10 points in the 3rd Q.  #21 was over-matched trying to guard David West, but he hung tough all night on the defensive end.

Henry Sims, C 28 MIN | 3-10 FG | 3-4 FT | 11 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 9 PTS | +8Sims did not have his shooting touch last night, but it is a pleasure to watch a big who understands defensive rotations and is willing to do the grunt work down low to help his team.

Michael Carter-Williams, PG 43 MIN | 7-20 FG | 1-5 FT | 13 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 6 TO | 15 PTS | -7A solid (But IMO quiet) double-double from the ROY candidate. He has now led the Sixers in rebs in 3 straight games and 5 of the last 6.  I am not usually one to complain about the refs, but when MCW starts getting respect from the guys wearing the stripes, his life will be a lot easier and his stats will go through the roof.  Still, he has to slow down on the 3PAs, cut back on the TOs (6) and you must make those FTs.

Tony Wroten, SG 36 MIN | 7-18 FG | 3-3 FT | 4 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 17 PTS | -3Outside of shooting too many 3-balls, a solid night by Wroten who scored 7 points in the 4th Q to help the Sixers stay close in this one.  I just don’t understand why a career 21% shooter from three continues to jack up 3PAs.  FYI…TWroe is averaging 15.6 ppg. in March.

Hollis Thompson, SG 41 MIN | 6-7 FG | 1-1 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 17 PTS | -6A 10 point 2nd Q by Thompson set up his biggest night in months.  He was money from deep and helped out on the boards against Indy’s big frontline.


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