ANALYZING THE SIXERS

Posted by: Jeff McMenamin
01/02/13 8:44 am EST

A relatively new and popular way of analyzing sports teams and players is through the use of advanced statistics.

Around the NBA, you’ve seen teams hiring their own stat guru’s to better evaluate talent based on their findings.  Early in December, the Memphis Grizzlies hired ESPN’s highly popular analyst, John Hollinger, as their Vice President of Basketball Operations.  At the beginning of the season, the Sixers hired Aaron Barzilai, creator of the website basketballvalue.com, as the team’s director of analytics.

The most famous stat-guy in the front offices of an NBA team is Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets. He was the first NBA general manager to be hired through the Moneyball concept of thinking.  This past offseason, he famously signed Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik while also trading for James Harden.  The Rockets are now one of the most intriguing and exciting teams to watch in the League, currently holding the NBA’s second-best offense.

Being relatively new to the subject of advanced statistics I couldn’t think of a better way to both enlighten myself about the topic and to give readers a better understanding as well then to interview one of the more popular number-crunchers out there today.

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GM 27: RAPID REACTS

Posted by: C. Smith
12/22/12 9:22 am EST
Atlanta Hawks 80 FinalRecap | Box Score 99 Philadelphia 76ers
Lavoy Allen, PF 36 MIN | 3-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 3 AST | 6 PTS | +10

I like the fact that Lavoy saw increased minutes in last night’s game (21.3 mpg over last 10) as I’d rather have him on the floor than Kwame. He did some nice things with those extra ticks, like the 2 OREBs he grabbed in one trip at the 3:40 mark of the 3rd Q. Or also in the 3rd, the help D that he supplied on which he tied up J-Smoove for a jump ball.
Thaddeus Young, SF 40 MIN | 9-16 FG | 0-0 FT | 11 REB | 4 AST | 18 PTS | +23

He’s been simply amazing this year and last night he posted what might have been he best all-around game of the season.  Two stretches of his play really stick out for me.  In the 3rd Q he had a steal that led to a break; then he tipped in a Holiday miss and after that he drew a charge.  The OREB play in the 3rd Q where he battled for the ball 3 times on the glass before grabbing it and putting it back in was also stellar.  He’s now scored in double figures in 17 straight games.
Evan Turner, SF 41 MIN | 10-17 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 6 AST | 21 PTS | +29

Turner is so much better when he is not playing the point.  His stretch of play to open the 4th Q was fantastic — shot clock beating FG; slam on the break and then a beauty of a dime to Thad on the blocks.
Jrue Holiday, PG 36 MIN | 5-13 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 7 AST | 11 PTS | +15

Jrue did a nice job of working himself back into the lineup without forcing things or trying to do too much.  What a difference he makes for this team.
Jason Richardson, SG 33 MIN | 7-12 FG | 0-2 FT | 8 REB | 7 AST | 17 PTS | +30

J-Rich got off to a fast start — 8 points; 7 dimes; 3 rebounds and 2 steals — in the 1st half and had a very solid overall game.  His FGM made to open the 2nd half was huge.  His beautiful post up, spin move and kiss off the glass in the 3rd Q put the Sixers up 10 and IMO was the knock out blow for the Hawks (even though the run by Louis got them within 8).
Dorell Wright, SF 20 MIN | 2-5 FG | 2-4 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 7 PTS | -4

I thought we learned in Texas that this guy needs more minutes and more looks.  I guess I was wrong.
Spencer Hawes, C 20 MIN | 5-10 FG | 1-1 FT | 8 REB | 2 AST | 12 PTS | +5

I thought he would have more trouble against the Hawks physical front-line, so this was a surprisingly strong effort from Spencer.
Damien Wilkins, SG 4 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | -7

If he can give us this production every night, we’ll make the playoffs (sarcasm here).
Nick Young, SG 10 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | -6

I’d like to see his minutes further reduced.
Kwame Brown, C DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | PTS |

DNP — CD…That’s what I’m talking ’bout !!!!

After the Jump, Six Things We Saw


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GM 25: RAPID REACTS

Posted by: C. Smith
12/19/12 10:04 am EST
Philadelphia 76ers 100 FinalRecap | Box Score 107 Dallas Mavericks
Evan Turner, PG 38 MIN | 7-16 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 5 AST | 17 PTS | -3

Honestly I don’t know what to think about this kid’s play anymore.  One minute his play is stellar play — 5 straight points and 10 overall in 1st Q — and the next minute you want to bench the kid — in the 4th Q he had a stretch where he missed an ill-advised FG; then had a TO; next he air balled a 3PA and followed that up by dribbling the shot clock out.  I’ll have more in depth thoughts on Turner after the jump.
Thaddeus Young, PF 37 MIN | 5-13 FG | 2-4 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 12 PTS | -14

After a slow start (0-5 on FGAs), Thad recovered to have a decent game.  His solid 3rd Q kept the Sixers in this game.  However he had significant trouble on the defensive end of the floor vs. DAL.
Kwame Brown, C 19 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 4 PTS | -9

Again, I am grading this on “The Kwame Curve”, so 7 rebs in 19 minutes is just a sick outing for this guy.  Still the smooth dime from Wayns that he blew in the 2nd Q drove me crazy and Kaman abused him.
Jason Richardson, SF 30 MIN | 5-14 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 4 AST | 11 PTS | +7

Sooner or later J-Rich going to find his stroke, right?  It amazes me how hard it is for career jump shooters to score when they have to create their own shots like Jason is being forced to do this year. Still he hits two shot clock buzzer beaters that bailed the 7-6 out and he provided some defensive presence on Mayo in the 2nd half, so not a terrible night.
Nick Young, SG 24 MIN | 3-6 FG | 1-1 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 8 PTS | -9

He had a 4-point play and scored 6 straight in the 1st Q…That’s about all he did last night.  His defensive effort on Mayo was pathetic
Lavoy Allen, PF 6 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | +6

Not sure what he has done wrong, to apparently end up in the Do(u)g-house, but the Sixers could have used him on the floor last night.
Dorell Wright, SF 30 MIN | 8-18 FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 25 PTS | -7

This is the D-Wright I was looking for when we acquired this guy.  I even thought he did a decent job of taking the ball to the cup last night.  He kept the Sixers in this game all by himself in the late 4th Q and if we can get efforts like this more frequently from Wright, this team could do some damage when Holiday gets back.
Spencer Hawes, C 27 MIN | 5-7 FG | 8-8 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 18 PTS | +4

A very solid night from Spencer.  I love that he got to the FT line 8 times and knocked all of those freebies down.  His 10 straight in the 4th kept the Sixers alive in this one.  However his help defense on Mayo (Blew by Hawes 2x) and his man-to-man on Kaman in the final minutes was brutal.
Maalik Wayns, PG 21 MIN | 1-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 9 AST | 3 PTS | +2

I realize that his shooting last night was atrocious and that can not continue, but I thought the Sixers offense flowed much better with Wayns at the PG (more on this later).  His behind the back dime to Allen in the 2nd Q capped off a 9-2 run.  And when DC put him at the point with 3:55 in the game, he (w/ a lot of help from Wright) pushed the Sixers to make this game entertaining down the stretch.
Royal Ivey, PG 4 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -3

Mehhh
Damien Wilkins, SG 5 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -9

I would like to have seen DC give Wilkins a chance to guard Mayo for a longer stretch.
Jrue Holiday, PG DNP SPRAINED LEFT FOOT MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | PTS |

Please come back soon!!

After the Jump, Six Things We Saw


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OHH NO…PLEASE NO

Posted by: C. Smith
12/13/12 3:29 pm EST

In case you have not been on Twitter or the WWW in the last two hours, here’s the news flash…

Jrue Holiday did not practice Thursday and is a game-time decision for Friday night’s contest against the Pacers in Indianapolis.  A sprained left foot kept him out of practice today and appears to be the reason for Jrue’s sluggish 4th Q in Wednesday night’s debacle vs. CHI. 

Holiday had both an X-ray and a MRI today, which again according to numerous sources indicated that the foot is simply sprained.

According to sixers.com Holiday will wear a walking boot and as the team travels to Indianapolis Thursday afternoon in advance of their Friday night meeting with the Pacers.  He is a game-time decision (but arent’s we all).


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THE EVAN TURNER BACKLASH, BACKLASH

Posted by: Tom Sunnergren
12/12/12 9:02 am EST

There aren’t a whole lot of areas, in sport or otherwise, where the opinion of the casual observer and the studied wisdom of the experts dovetail, so it’s worth noting that entering this season the two occasionally warring factions were in almost perfect agreement on this point: Evan Turner’s awfulness.

The reasoning went like this: he hurt his team directly by being a poor shooter and missing shots, then indirectly because the opposing player tasked with covering him could, secure in the knowledge that if ET hazarded an FGA he’d likely miss it, drift off him and into the lane; shrinking the floor and undermining scoring opportunities for his teammates.

The things Turner did well — like being the best defensive rebounding guard of all-time last season, for starters — were either glossed over by these critics, or explained away as insufficient to offset the harm he did to the Sixers’ offense. There were numbers involved in some of these arguments.

Sometime in early November though, the sentiment swung; slowly at first, then more abruptly. 

Something like a pro-Turner consensus began to emerge.


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IS HOLIDAY ELITE !?!

Posted by: C. Smith
12/07/12 7:59 am EST

That’s a question that has been hotly debated here at Philadunkia during the early part of this 2012-13 NBA season.  Many of the scribes and readers here on this site believe “The Jruth” is well on his way to becoming a very good player and is quickly closing in on that “elite” level.

A few others, including my talented colleague Steve Toll, beg to differ.

Late yesterday Sunny Saini of the ESPN Stats & Information department wrote a post that outlined some interesting data which indicates that Jrue is in fact absolutely headed in the direction of becoming an “elite” point guard in this League.

After the jump we have some excerpts from that post which should promote a spirited debate in the comments section today.


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GM 17: RAPID REACTS

Posted by: C. Smith
12/02/12 10:33 am EST
Philadelphia 76ers 88 FinalRecap | Box Score 93 Chicago Bulls
Lavoy Allen, PF 33 MIN | 4-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 10 PTS | -1

Has Lavoy rediscovered his 2012 Playoff game??  Let’s hope so.  He came just 2 boards short of posting back-to-back double-doubles.
Thaddeus Young, SF 40 MIN | 10-16 FG | 2-5 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 22 PTS | -4

Another solid game from Young.  Thad just punches the clock each and every night.  Although his missed FTs had me pulling out my hair.
Evan Turner, SF 43 MIN | 6-17 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 7 AST | 12 PTS | -4

A horrible shooting night kept Evan from a third straight 20+ point game, but it was the play in the 4th Q where he got his pocket picked from behind by Noah that had me throwing the remote.  That exchange was a huge 4-point swing in this game.
Jrue Holiday, PG 39 MIN | 9-17 FG | 4-6 FT | 3 REB | 7 AST | 23 PTS | +3

Jrue scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half (9 in the 3rd Q) and committed only 1 turnover all night.  I am loving the $41million extension more and more.  He is averaging 21 ppg. and 10.5 apg. over the last 4 runs.
Jason Richardson, SG 34 MIN | 3-12 FG | 1-1 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 8 PTS | +3

So far I have been very happy with J-Rich’s play this season, but last night that was not the case.  He has two jobs on this team — hit jumpers and provide veteran leadership.  Against Chicago he failed miserably at one of those jobs.
Dorell Wright, SF 19 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | -9

With Swaggy P out, Wright got some decent burn.  His shooting was of great help off the bench, but his 3 TOs will keep him in the Do(u)g-house for the near future.
Spencer Hawes, C 22 MIN | 2-7 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS | -5

A bad shooting night and 3 TOs have me wondering if this guy will ever return to the form we saw from him early in the 2011-12 season.  I also wonder at what point his pride will kick-in and this 7-footer will go out and grab 10 or more rebs in a game?? (He’s done that once all season.)
Maalik Wayns, PG 9 MIN | 0-3 FG | 2-2 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | -8

The first bad game in this rookie’s short career.
Arnett Moultrie, PF DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | PTS |

DNP-CD….Really???
Kwame Brown, C DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | PTS |

I am certainly not a big Kwame supporter, but couldn’t he have at least gone in and fouled Noah 5 or 6 times??

After the Jump, Six Things We Saw…


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TRIPLE THREAT

Posted by: Jeff McMenamin
11/30/12 3:00 pm EST

Jrue Holiday (left) and Evan Turner have been crucial to the Sixers success this season.

As everybody already knows, the NBA is a star-centered league. It was never more evident then when one of the NBA’s most respected coaches, Gregg Popovich, was chastised for deciding to sit four of his star players in a game last night against arguably the NBA’s best team in the Miami Heat.

For the 2012-13 Sixers, it’s been more of the same. From the start of the campaign up until now, there’s been one man drawing the attention of the national media, while next to nothing has been said of the “team” that stands at 9-6, good enough for the fifth best record in the Eastern Conference. The focus has been on Andrew Bynum, the All-Star center who hasn’t been able to play a minute this season for the Sixers as he recovers from offseason knee procedures.

Before the Sixers’ first nationally televised game this season against the New Orleans Hornets, the Sixers were on ESPN.com’s front page. Instead of a story focusing on the promising youth and acquisitions the Sixers were able to make in the offseason, it was a story focused on questioning the Sixers ownership, calling the moves they made this season a “risk”. All of the negativity was built around the status of Bynum, the Sixers’ most talked-about offseason acquisition since Elton Brand.

Just 10 days later, as the Sixers stood at 5-4, another article came out about Bynum damaging cartilage in his knees while going bowling. Most recently, as the Sixers sat at 7-5, out came yet another article on Bynum only this time about him being out indefinitely for the 2012-13 season.

As the national media now steers its way away from Philadelphia (due to Bynum’s playing status being much clearer), maybe the NBA’s fans will be able to focus on the Sixers in a positive light and see who they really are this season as a team rather than who they’re not.


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MITCH THE MAGNIFICENT

Posted by: Tim Parker
11/29/12 10:34 am EST

There aren’t too many things that Philadelphia and Memphis share in common.

One city is best known for its historical grandeur, fine restaurants and rabid sports fans, while the other can only boast Elvis and BBQ.  But, Philly and Memphis do share one very unique thing in common.  The City of Brotherly Love and the Barbecue Pork Capital of the World have both had its professional basketball teams’ bamboozled by Lakers’ general manager Mitch Kupchak in deals that allowed the Lakers to acquire two of the most dominant big men in the NBA – Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard.

Yes, long before Kupchak alienated not one, but two coaches in Lakerland (including arguably the best coach in professional basketball history), he suckered our beloved Sixers franchise which was starved to leave the world of the irrelevant (that was nestled in a direction of going nowhere fast) to take on Andrew Bynum and his bum knee, scratch that,  two bum knees.

The 76ers were supposed to receive a Bynum with plenty of superstar potential whose knee simply needed some rest.  Once the knee was stable and now that he was out from under the Kobe dominated Lakers; he would ultimately come into his own as a perennial all-star.

At least, that’s what Bynum was supposed to be.


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BYNUM RUMORS OR NON-RUMORS

Posted by: C. Smith
11/20/12 3:42 pm EST

If you are at work and just now catching up to the fact that the Twitter-sphere is on fire with Andrew Bynum “knee” Tweets and threads, here’s what you missed out on so far…

Apparently very late on Monday night / early this morning (1:39Am according to the byline date stamp) delawareonline.com ran a post stating that writer Jason Wolf had talked to an “internationally respected orthopedic surgeon” about Bynum’s knee issues.  I am summing up here, but the surgeon basically stated a diagnosis using the evidence on Bynum’s knee that he had reviewed.  Based on what this surgeon read / heard and combined with his experience in this field of medicine, the surgeon reached an interesting conclusion on Bynum’s bruised knees. 

Shorty after the story started generating a huge buzz on Twitter, it magically disappeared from delawareonline.com.

However, we found the story and after the jump you can read it for yourself and decide whether or not this is responsible journalism…    


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