Fo’ with the Foes: Charlotte Bobcats

Posted by: C. Smith
12/06/13 12:56 pm EST
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charlotte_bobcats_dance_team3This 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 Charlotte Bobcats, who despite being 3-7 in their last 10 contests, currently sit 1-game ahead of the 76ers in the race for the 8th and final playoff spot in the East.

After the jump, I’ll look at Fo’ key items for tonight’s game.  Additionally, we’ll get a little more insight into this Charlotte team the Sixers face tonight from our colleague Spencer Percy at queencityhoops.com, as Spencer will answer Fo’ questions on his Bobcats squad from us here at Philadunkia.


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DRAFT13: Where Are They Now?

Posted by: C. Smith
12/05/13 12:47 pm EST
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pierrejacksonIf you think back to June 27th, 2013 – a.k.a. Draft Night 2013 – you may remember that in addition to the shocking, Jrue Holiday to New Orleans, mega-trade that Sam Hinkie pulled off, the Sixers’ new GM also executed several minor deals involving second round draft prospects.

In all, “Hinkie-palooza” (As we dubbed that night of crazy trading action Sam produced.) saw the Sixers trade for or select  four different players that the franchise no longer holds the rights on.  They were here one moment and gone the next.

After the jump I’ll take a look at what these four players have accomplished in their basketball careers since being used like pawns during “Hinkie-palooza” by the 7-6′s forward thinking GM.


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GM19: Rapid (2OT) Reacts

Posted by: C. Smith
12/04/13 9:46 am EST
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Orlando Magic 125 FinalRecap | Box Score 126 Philadelphia 76ers
Thaddeus Young, PF 48 MIN | 10-20 FG | 2-2 FT | 12 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 25 PTS | +9Thad’s play since his return from a personal leave of absence has been outstanding. #21 put up 7 points in the 3rd Q; his intense block/pin at the 1 minute mark of the 4th Q was a game saver; he scored huge baskets in the 4th Q; splashed a 3-pointer in the first OT and had a smooth drive to the hoop in 2OT.  It’s fun to watch Thad playing so well.  The only issue I had with his play last night is that Thad had significant trouble guarding “Big Baby” Davis.
Evan Turner, SF 42 MIN | 7-16 FG | 10-13 FT | 6 REB | 5 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 8 TO | 24 PTS | +12 He still dribbles to rock too much for my tastes, but for the most part, I really liked what I saw from Turner last night until the 4th Q.  In that Q, Turner was 2-5 with 4 TOs
Hollis Thompson, SF 33 MIN | 4-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | +10It was only his second game in the starting lineup and Hollis produced a very efficient effort.  He was 3-3 for 8 points in the 1st Q and HT’s dive on the floor, hustle play for a loose bal in the 2OT was a key to this W.
Spencer Hawes, C 41 MIN | 7-15 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 17 PTS | +1Without Vucevic in the lineup, Spencer was able to concentrate on his offensive game and nearly put up another double-double…Hawes supllied the Sixers with needed scoring in the 3rd Q when he threw in 9 points.
Michael Carter-Williams, PG 47 MIN | 11-19 FG | 4-7 FT | 12 REB | 10 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 7 TO | 27 PTS | +12MCW was simply amazing last night.  Some highlights…He scored 4 straight in the 2nd Q and 11 overall in the 1st half to keep teh Sixers in this one early.  The rookie had a huge reb & put back with :55 remaining in the game.  The dime he dropped to Anderson in OT was fantastic.  As was his drive and finger roll in that same quarter.  He had another amazing assist in the 2nd OT and his lefty layin during that stanza was clutch. With his triple-double, MCW joined Tony Wroten an exclusive 76ers club.  Wroten’s came on Nov. 13 in an 123-117 overtime win against the Rockets.  Previous to Wroten’s and now MCW’s tripled-double, the last Sixer triple-double was by Andre Iguodala on March 23, 2005.

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Fo’ with the Foes: Orlando Magic

Posted by: C. Smith
12/03/13 1:42 pm EST
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MagicgirlThis 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 Orlando Magic, who handled the Sixers 6 days ago, but have lost two straight, including a 18 point drubbing in Washington last night.

After the jump, I’ll look a Fo’ key items for tonight’s game. Additionally, we’ll get a little more insight into this Orlando team the Sixers face tonight from our colleague Evan Dunlap at orlandopinstripedpost.com, as Evan will answer Fo’ questions on his Magic squad from us here at Philadunkia.


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GM18: (Drumm’d) Rapid Reacts

Posted by: C. Smith
12/02/13 10:47 am EST
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Philadelphia 76ers 100 FinalRecap | Box Score 115 Detroit Pistons
Thaddeus Young, PF 29 MIN | 9-17 FG | 4-5 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 24 PTS | -7Thad was awesome last night and appeared to be the only Sixer willing to mix it up with the Pistons bigs.  His second effort AND1 in the 3rd Q was simply awesome.  Thad posted 10 points in the 3rd Q.  In the three games since his return from a personal leave of absence, Thad is playing great ball and averaging 21.6 ppg. and 8 boards.  He is also shooting 46% on threes (6-13).
Evan Turner, SF 31 MIN | 7-12 FG | 4-4 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 20 PTS | +1I liked a lot of what I saw from Turner last night including the 13 points he scored in the 3rd Q and that he got to the FT line.  But his defense is getting worse and when he got picked by Andre Drummond in the backcourt and than fouled him, I nearly lost my mind.
Hollis Thompson, SF 28 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -13With how well he has been playing of late, I expected a little more from Hollis in his first start.  Hopefully it was just a case of nerves and Brett Brown sticks with him in the first-five, because he certainly has earned a shot at starting.
Spencer Hawes, C 31 MIN | 5-15 FG | 0-0 FT | 9 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 3 BLK | 0 TO | 11 PTS | -3Spence provided no resistance to any of the Detroit bigs and his shot was off last night.  To be honest it was one of the worst games I have seen him play all year and he still almost recorded a double-double.  Hawes has not made 29 threes this season after hitting 31 in all of 2012-13 under Doug Collins.
Michael Carter-Williams, PG 34 MIN | 5-15 FG | 5-5 FT | 6 REB | 6 AST | 6 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 15 PTS | -8MCW got schooled by Brandon Jennings in the 1st half and he really never recovered.  I have a feeling that smaller, quicker guards will give Carter-Williams trouble for the frest of the season.  That’s to be expected given MCW’s length.

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GM16: Rapid (Big Nik) Reacts

Posted by: C. Smith
11/28/13 10:14 am EST
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Philadelphia 76ers 94 FinalRecap | Box Score 105 Orlando Magic
Lavoy Allen, PF 31 MIN | 3-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | -3Overall not a bad game by Lavoy.  Allen grabbed a couple boards in the 1st half and he scored 4 points in that critical stretch of the 3rd Q.  However, last night he also fumbled away two great dimes that should have been convereted into dunks and at 5:33 of the 4th Q Glen Davis blocked a Lavoy jumper.  That play was simply embarrassing.
Evan Turner, SF 42 MIN | 7-14 FG | 2-2 FT | 11 REB | 8 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 17 PTS | -6After an 0-3 start, ET recovered to have a nice, but relatively quiet game.  I know the Sixers staff is working on his 3-point jump shot form and footwork, but 4 3PAs from #12 is too many for my tastes. FYI…Turner is now 4-for-his-last-26 from deep.
Daniel Orton, C 19 MIN | 4-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 8 PTS | -13If you think about how little NBA basketball this kid has played in the last two years (19 games total) than you would realize how thankful we should be that he can contribute at all.
Michael Carter-Williams, PG 40 MIN | 9-21 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 4 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 23 PTS | -11Overall I thought MCW had a solid game.  I especially liked his defense on Oladipo for most of the 2nd half.  However, 23 points on 21 shots is not the most efficient scoring night; he threw up a complete brick on a key possession in the 4th Q and I’d like to see more than 3 dimes out of my starting PG.
James Anderson, SG 34 MIN | 2-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 6 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 4 PTS | -12Anyone else had enough of this experiment?  In the 7 games since his 36 point outburts, JA has scored a total of 69 points — or 9.8 ppg.

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Top 5 Moments of the First 15 Games

Posted by: C. Smith
11/27/13 8:50 am EST
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2getherwebuildmantracopyThe 76ers are now 15 games into the 2013-14 season and to say it has been a roller coaster ride is an understatement.

A 3-0 start that included a home opening win over Miami and a thrilling 3-point victory over Chicago, was followed by losses in 8 of the next 10 games.

Memorable offensive performances by Spencer Hawes, Michael Carter Williams and James Anderson have been countered with nightly defensive efforts of the Swiss cheese variety.

I think you get the picture…This team is young and still getting to know each other. Thus the 76ers are subject to drastic swings in their level of play.  But surprise, this post is about highlighting the positive moments from October and November.

After the jump we’ll take a look at our Top 5 moments (via video) from the first 15 games of 2013-14.


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Is Smart a Good Fit for the 76ers?

Posted by: C. Smith
11/26/13 3:41 pm EST
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marcus smartDISCLAIMER:  The following post is NOT an outright endorsement of Marcus Smart as the 76ers 2014 NBA Draft Lottery selection.  It is simply a hypothetical idea that crossed my mind last night as I watched Smart and Oklahoma State crush South Florida…

Leading up to the 2013-14 college basketball season my thoughts on the 2014 Draft class were that either Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker would be the best fit for the 7-6.  As I have watched both of those All-America caliber kids play this year, my pre-season thoughts have only been confirmed.  Both are athletic, fantastic wing players who could step right in and start for Brett Brown.  Either one would be a tremendous fit as a draft pick for the Sixers.

However, as other NBA teams continue to out-tank the 7-6 (I’m looking at you Suns, Jazz, Bucks and C’s. ) I have begun to take a much closer look at some of the other elite players in college basketball.  So last night as I watched Oklahoma State demolish USF, I asked myself the following , “What if the Sixers aren’t in a position to select Wiggins or Parker?  What if Hinkie is on the clock and Marcus Smart is the best player available?  Would Smart be a good fit here?” 


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The Value of Free Throws for the Sixers

Posted by: Jeff McMenamin
11/25/13 3:00 pm EST
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Toronto Raptors v. Philadelphia 76ersAnyone who’s ever played basketball in their lifetime knows the importance of getting to the charity stripe. On any basketball team, more often than not the best player on your team will also be the one that makes and attempts the most free throws. This is the mark of a true scorer.

For the Sixers, getting to the line has been a crutch for this team since 2007, the year Allen Iverson (the franchise’s second all-time leading scorer) was traded to the Denver Nuggets.

In the seasons following Iverson’s departure, the Sixers as a team have only ranked in the top 10 in free throws made for a full season just once — in 2008-09 when they ranked sixth. Otherwise, the Sixers have ranked in the bottom-half of the League in terms of hitting and attempting their freebies since then. Until of course — this season.


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At Least They’re Not the Nets or Knicks

Posted by: Josh Newman
11/25/13 11:31 am EST
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knicks-netsThe 76ers were nothing short of a revelation in the infancy of this NBA season.

Projected to be historically bad and seemingly lining themselves up to be a lottery team in June’s loaded NBA Draft, the Sixers responded by opening the season with wins over the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls as part of a 3-0 start.  In addition, rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams drew comparisons to Magic Johnson after he scored 22 points to go along with 12 assists, nine steals and seven rebounds in his debut against the Heat.

Since then, the Sixers have come down back down to earth, losing 9 of their last 12. Eight of those defeats have featured the 7-6 giving up at least 106 points or more. Still, it could be worse.


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