We loved that he grabbed 7 OREB and his hustle on several plays in the second half were a big part of the Sixers comeback, but he was horrific shooting the rock and did not make a single trip to the FT line.

If you’re a “leader” on a team and you’re not going to get me 20+ a night, you have to play lockdown defense.  Dre usually does that…not so much last night as he was helpless against Lebron.

Well at least he’s finally in the starting lineup, which is a good move in my book.  Also he hit his FT.  Now if we can just get him 20+ mins. a night and teach hime how to draw a foul

His defense on D-Wade in the second half was down right nasty (Wade had zero pts. in the 4th).  He even traded some verbal blows with the Heat’s all-world guard, so we like that he did not back down at all.  He also carried the 7-6 offensively when they made their comeback — scored seven in the first 9 minutes of the fourth.  However, his brutal start (3-8) did not help the Sixers at all.

Was this Jrue’s worst outing of the season? Possibly.  Not even his stellar defense in the 3rd could save his grade tonight. But he still should have played at some point during the final 14 minutes of this game.

Forget for a second that one of the leaders of the “Night Shift” was ice sold from the field tonight.  What has us really upset was his 1-3 shooting from the FT line at the end of the 3rd Q.  Those misses simply killed us.

What would you like me to say here?

Thad had some shooting woes last night, but his energy and hustle were a huge reason the Sixers got back in this game during the second half.  His defense on Chris Bosh had the all-star center completely frustrated.

Not doubt that Capt. Streaky provided a huge boost in the 4th Q (7 pts.), but your 3-point specialist has to do better then 1-5 on 3PAs.

That’s more like the Lavoy we know.

8 points on 13 shots is not good, especially when you are coming off an 18 point night.  Most concerning for us were his 3 missess in the 4th Q.  EB looked tired and old during that stanza and his shot was flat.  Also…is there a forward in the League who gets his shot blocked more often?  EB simply has no lift.

We’d still like to see him be a little more assertive in the half court offense, but that’s being really, really picky tonight.  His defense on the perimeter during the 2nd half was simply stellar.

Tony went 2-3 from the field in 11 minutes and didn’t make any major mistakes.  For a guy who has no right being in the Association, what else could we give him but an A?

Simply amazing again tonight.  We’re not ready just yet to start a Jeremy Lin level of hysteria here in Philly for Turner, but after a second straight double-double, we’re getting close.  Of special note was his 7 points and 3 boards in the 1st Q that helped the Sixers stay in this game when they were getting killed down low.  Is it me or does ET simply appear to have more energy and spring in his step then everyone else on the court.  He looks “fresh” (for lack of a better word) compared to the rest of the ballers out there.  He also hit the bucket that gave everyone in the WFC free Big Macs…’nuff said.

Holiday got off to a slow start and didn’t score his first basket until 3:40 remained in the 2nd Q.  He quickly followed that up with a 3-ball, but because of foul trouble couldn’t keep the momentum going in the 3rd Q.  So, after a long stretch on the bench, Jrue simply took the game over in the 4th.  Jumpers on the break, 3-pointers, following his own shot, back door cuts, Holiday did it all in the 4th (Holiday scored the Sixers’ first seven points in the fourth.).  His 4th Q totals — 10 points, 3 rebounds and one charge drawn.  He basically closed out the Jazz in this one.

Except for two ill advised running leaners in the second half and a couple of missed FTs, this was one of LW’s best games of the year.

The leader of the “Night Shift” was red hot in the 1st half and his energy carried the Sixers during the late 1st and into the 2nd Q.  At one point he scored 8 straight for the Sixers.  However, even while he was carrying the Sixers, we were concerned that he was scoring by settling for jumpers (That all went in.).  That came back to haunt him in the second half as his J went cold.  It took him a second to adjust, but Thad eventually did and then scored the ball off the bounce.

Meeks missed 2 3PAs and had two awkward drives to the rim during the 2nd Q and that was all the evidence Collins needed to realize that Jodie didn’t have it tonight.  He did not see the floor in the 2nd half.

It seems Lavoy Allen is deep in Doug’s doghouse as the kid from Temple saw limited minutes in the 1st half and no burn in the second at all.  C’mon Doug.  Lavoy is certainly a better option then Ol’ Man Battie.

“Big Nik” missed a couple shots that he usually knock down, but other then that it was a solid night.  We’ll continue to push for more minutes for the rookie as well still remember what he did vs. Houston when he got 28+ minutes of playing time.

EB’s string of double-double comes to an end vs. MIL and it was not pretty.  Early foul trouble may have prevented him from getting into the flow of the game but we have to point out…How many times did Brand fail to score because what little vertical lift he once owned is now completely gone?  Too many to count.  Also Drew Gooden simply killed him all night.

What else can we say about Dre taht you haven’t heard already?  Yes, he scored the ball efficiently, got his teammates involved and played solid defense on Jennings at times.  And he nailed several “bail out” 3′s that saved the Sixers at the end of the shot clock.  However “the leader” of this team didn’t score his first bucket until there was 4:50 remaining in the 1st Q, had only one FGA in the 4th Q (which he made) and shot 2 FTAs.  We need more from him in these close games.

A quick start — 3 for 3 in the 1st Q had us excited that “Big Nik” was headed for a huge game.  But that 1st Q was followed by and 0-5 the rest of the way.  Foul trouble also hampered his efforts last night.

Well, a lot of you had your wish granted last night as Collins shook things up and ran Turner with the first-five.  Whether ET capitalized on it or not is a matter of opinion.  We know it’s very hard, but let’s try to ignore for a minute the 0-10 start ET had last night (1-12 overall) and the fact that he missed some easy bunnies and lay-ins.  He was a monster on the glass, something the Sixers desperately need.  ET also got to the rim with easy, but simply couldn’t finish. He also did a nice job of getting the other Sixers involved and played good defense.  Still 1-12 is hard to ignore and we are trying hard to do just that.

Obviously not a great shooting night for Jrue and Jennings simply killed him in the 1st Q.  But the thing that stood out for us is that Jrue spent too much time playing off the ball.  The Sixers need to get to the rim (and thus the FT line) more often and for that to happen Jrue has to your primary ball handler.  He also did a much better job on Jennings as the game went on, but 19 first quarter points is unacceptable.

A big scoring night for LW was capped by a stellar 4th Q.  He even drew a charge in the final quarter.  LW also got to the FT line which is something we have been begging the Sixers to do for weeks now.  However he chucked up (and missed) an ugly jumper at the :45 mark of the 4th Q with the Sixers trailing by only two points.  And of course he missed another “last shot” with 6 ticks remaining and the 7-6 down by two.  Can we please go to someone else as our closer?

We love the double-double he had last night as Young-Smoove was one of the few Sixers who brought the energy and did not look tired.  He was rewarded by Collins with a start in the 3rd Q.  But we’ll only think of one thing for Thad in this game…How on earth did he miss that point blank tip-in during the final seconds?

With ET in the starting lineup, Meeks became part of the “Night Shift” and provided an instant lift off the bench.  He nailed two 3PAs at the end of the 1st Q.  Then he hit another to open the 2nd Q and threw in a driving lay-up for good measure. Jodie had tallied 11 points at half, but Capt. Streaky only scored 1 bucket the rest of the way.  He missed two wide open 3′s in the 3rd and finally another one at the 5 min. mark of the 4th Q.  Uggghhhhh

Let’s just move on.

Elton Brand was a huge reason the Sixers were in this game at all.  For EB it was his third straight double-double.  While Joakim Noah had a field day grabbing boards, Brand stood tall and helped to get the Sixers extra possessions.  His jumper was precise as it was last year.  He played some of his basketball of the season.  Though, he needs to be more of a factor in the 4th quarter, as he his the most important veteran on the team.

Had it not been for two horrid 3 point attempts in the closing moments of the game (one was an air ball early in the shot clock and down only 2 points & the other missed the rim and hit the other side of the glass), Iguodala’s efforts would have been more than satisfactory.  He had the jumper working early in the game, did an outstanding job of getting his team involved offensively and was his usual spectacular self in transition offense (though, there wasn’t too much of that).  Yet, the last Iguodala memory from this one will probably be his last 2 shot attempts.  FYI…Those two awful misses were the only two FGAs by our 2012 All-Star and the alleged leader of this team in the 4th Q of a tight game. 

He’s learning, sure.  But, his turnovers are becoming unacceptable to take.  He’s not providing much anything else to the Sixers (at least on this night) other than being a big body.  The least he can do is be more careful with the basketball.

Absolutely Horrendous!  The following should sum up his night…There was a sequence in the third quarter where he missed 3 WIDE OPEN threes in one offensive possession.  He’s supposed to be a shooter.  Allen Iverson was also supposed to be a point guard.  And Stephen Jackson is available.

Holiday was hot in the first half.  He got involved in a bit of a mini-duel with Derrick Rose early on.  That didn’t last long. He became more of a facilitator in the second half.  It’s good to see him being more aggressive , but he’s got to start developing more penetration into his game.   That dime he dropped to Thad on the break during the 4th Q comeback was a thing of beauty.

It was a rough night for Lou.  There were no 4th quarter heroics, when his team could have used it the most.  He jacked up two horrible long jumpers in the early 4th that helped produce a 8-0 run for the Bulls.  Though, it was impressive to see him hustle defensively, dish the rock, and look to his teammates despite his woeful shooting night.

Young was very quiet in the 1st half, but he woke up like a monster in the 2nd half.  His 4th quarter kept the Sixers alive as the Bulls started to pull away. He did just about everything in the 4th. He dropped huge jumpers.he finished fast break opportunities and hit big free throws.  He didn’t get much help though.  He had a good defensive night, though he and the Sixers got caught on some switches and Derrick Rose simply got the better of him at times.

Turner did not play well.  He made terrible shot selections, including a shot in the 4th quarter that helped the Bulls score on the other end and establish an 8-0 run.  That was a pivitol point in the game as the Bulls stretched their lead to double digits in the 4th.

Lavoy Allen could learn a thing or 2 from his fellow rookie.  Vuc had more than a solid game as he scored in various ways.  He backed down Noah at times.  He knocked down his smooth buttery jumper.  He made nice inside moves to score and he battled all night long in the trenches.  It would have been interesting to see how he would have performed in the 4th quarter but Thaddeus Young needed to be out there.