I said it before and I’ll say it again.  Lavoy Allen’s nickname should be “Mr. Softee” if you’re talking about his play so far this season.  He’s disappeared and been owned in the paint in nearly every game this year.  His best defensive effort came in the 18 minutes he played against Dwight Howard and the Lakers on New Years day…since then he’s gone back to being the player that we know and haven’t loved. I’m praying that there’s a spot open for him in the Do(u)g house.

This was easily Thad’s worst performance of the season and the Sixers suffered immensely because of it.  Reggie Evans and Andray Blatche (I’ll get to him later) just absolutely dominated Thad on the blocks, combining for 22 points and 30 rebounds.  Lately, Young has seemed to have lost a little bit of the wind in his sails. This is  a very bad sign for a team who desperately needs his intensity every night.

Not much to say here, just a very quiet game from Turner.  His two turnovers in this game were exactly the same and equally as maddening.  On both occasions, he tried to toss the ball from the half-court to an open Sixer near the basket.  Both passes were sniffed out by Nets defenders back in transition. Eight points, seven rebounds and five assists just doesn’t cut it in 36 minutes of playing time.  As pitiful of a stat as it is, his seven rebounds actually led the Sixers in this game.  Turner is another player who seems to be affected by the Sixers’ latest road trip.  He hasn’t been playing consistent basketball since the middle of December and his past four games have been consistently bad.

If anyone should be frustrated over this Sixers loss, it should be Jrue Holiday. His defense on Deron Williams left a lot to be desired (as he dropped 22 on Jrue), but offensively Jrue was the only reason the Sixers were able to keep the score close in the first half.  In the first quarter, Jrue was involved in all 24 of the Sixers’ points they were able to score in the quarter.  Jrue scored 12 while dishing out six assists for part of the other 12 points.  Jrue, however, came out flat in the 3rd committing three turnovers and only netting seven points the rest of the game.  He looked frustrated on the court and his play was evident of that.  He’s been saying the most prayers lately for Bynum to make a fast and healthy return.

His six points in the second quarter and solid defense on Joe Johnson made me think that JRich would end the game with a nice stat-line.  Unfortunately, that was the only notable quarter for Richardson as he spent the majority of the rest of the game on the bench.

Well…On the bright side, Moultrie got a few minutes right?

DWRIGHTWAY played DNOTWRIGHTWAY in 20 wasted minutes.  Back to the Do(u)g house.

If the offensive end of the court was the only side of the court you needed to play on in a basketball game, then I was highly impressed by Spencer Hawes.  He was hitting open shots, he drilled a couple three’s, he had a nice spin move in the post for a dunk and he was crisp on his passes.  On the defensive end of the court however, he was absolutely manhandled on the boards, he picked up four fouls and he couldn’t play a lick of defense all game.  That was not Hawesome.

From being cut, to being re-signed to a 10-day contract, to getting the most minutes he’s seen in nearly a month all in just two days.  Talk about a whirlwind start to the week.

I was actually slightly impressed by Wilkins’ play in this game and his up and under in the second quarter was a top-play nominee in this game for me.  He was the top rebounder coming off the Sixers bench with four, which goes to show you just how dire the Sixers’ need is for a rebounding big.

Hopefully the haircut Swaggy is promising to his fans in the near-future will change his atrocious play he’s displayed this season.  He is all sorts of negative on the court and his shot-jacking style is raising my blood pressure levels everyday.

All I have to say is…An 18-2 run by the Nets to start the 3rd quarter.  The Sixers were outscored 35-14 overall in the quarter.  A 48-47 halftime deficit was suddenly an insurmountable 83-61 drubbing by the end of the 3rd.  The Sixers have been outscored by a total of 67 points in their last three games. You can talk about rebounding and size in the paint all you want, but it’s obvious that one coach made his halftime adjustments Tuesday night and the other coach did not.  What got me the most was when Doug was shown laughing on the sideline during what should have been a highly infuriating 4th quarter to the coach.  Unless you were listening to Ed Helms’ pipes on your ipod, then you better have some good reasoning behind it.  It’s time to get back to the good ol’ drawing board Dougie.

If Collins had locked Iguodala in on Kobe Bryant from the start would this game have been a blowout?  His defense on #24 in the 2nd half was excellent and was a major reason the Sixers were able to pull this one out. He didn’t score much until the second half but he had an active and solid night overall.  Coach Collins’ decision to halt all the defensive switches the Sixers typically execute and have Dre stay on Bryant late in the 4th Q totally saved this W for the 7-6.

He’s not Elton Brand and he certainly did not play like it. Though, he didn’t hurt the Sixers in a game where everyone’s best effort was needed. Allen is continuing to show good court awareness but has to grow especially defending down low and grabbing boards.

Hawes was horrendous in the 1st half. He didn’t shoot well and was an absolute non-factor against Andre Bynum and Pau Gasol on the boards.  His lack of toughness didn’t hurt the Sixers in the end but midway through the 4th it looked as if his lack of physical play would have been a major factor to a Lakers win.  His teammates bailed him out.

Meeks had the worst possible start that he could have imagined.  He earned 2 quick fouls on two questionable calls that sat him on the bench.  Though, that turned around quickly as he began to drains his 3′s and showed great hustle defensively, including diving for loose balls and sacrificing his body.

Mr. Willams was fantastic.  He simply took over the game for the Sixers in the 4th quarter — 14 points (He also scored 12 of the Sixers last 14 points.).  It seemed almost that he couldn’t miss.  The Lakers had no answer as Williams drained shots from all over the court including 2 monster shots from downtown.  One coming with Sixers trailing in the 4th, the other would propel the Sixers final run to pull away.

Young didn’t get much play late in the second half.  Though, when was in the game he had an ok performance.  He was solid defensively but the matchups were not there for him on the offensive end unless he was being guarded by Troy Murphy.

His first task was to help guard Kobe Bryant.  That ddin’t go over so well.  At times Kobe took Turner to school which ultimately led to the end of defensive switching among he and Iguodala.  Turner was solid otherwise in this one.

Vucevic did not back down from the challenge of playing against Bynum and Gasol.  He actually held his own.  Out of the Sixers big man rotation, he had the best game of them all.  That’s not much though.  The good news is that his post game is continuing to improve.