Another Home Loss

Okay, here we go fans. The Sixers dropped another game on the home floor of the Wachovia Center at the hands of division foe, the New York Knicks. Right now at this point in time, the Knicks are the better team and are playing a lot better, but the Sixers really could have pulled this game out when it was all said and done. Instead, the beloved Sixers are licking their wounds after a 93-92 loss and there are some questions that still need to be answered. Most notably, the consistency on offense and the defensive woes that have plagued the Sixers all season long.

Looking back at the game, the Sixers played pretty solid on offense in the first half, sticking with the Knicks who like to shoot, shoot and shoot some more. The score at the half was 47-46 in favor of the Broadway Crew. During that first half thought, Allen Iverson was effective in getting his jumper going early and Willie Green came off the bench to hit some timely shots, including a nice, smooth twine tickler from the land of plenty. The Sixers had confidence, poise and swagger. On the Knicks side of things, Jared Jefferies started out the game 4-for-4 en route to a 15 point performance. Jared who? Yes, I know it’s sort of hard to take in knowing that this guy’s highest point total in an NBA game in his career is 21. He was a big factor early on for the Knicks and got some easy buckets to boot. This is the case where the Sixers evaluate just how awful the defense has gotten and where they need to direct their attention moving forward.

On offense, the Sixers hung in tough and made some key baskets, with the likes of Marreese Speights coming off the bench in the fourth quarter and netting 10 points and grabbing six rebounds in just over eight minutes of work. Rodney Carney was timely with his three point shot in the second half and finished with three long bombs en route to his 13 bench points. Andre Iguodala struggled mightily in this game, scoring only four points and made only two of his nine shots. Lou Williams was not much better, chiming in with 5 points and Thad Young shot 3-for-13 and totaled 11 points. These three combined to shoot 6-for-29 from the floor and were truly abysmal on the offensive end. The only player who contributed anything really was Iggy, with his five rebounds and eight assists. The other two in Williams and Young didn’t do much to help out the cause in any other way.

Finally, after watching the contest, it is evident that the shot selection purely sucks. The Knicks went into a zone for most of the second half and especially in t he fourth quarter. There was no dribble drives, taking it hard to the rack or finding the gaps for open mid range jumpers. Carney was hoisting threes and luckily he caught a bit of a rhythm and kept the game close. But, keep in mid with this beloved Sixers squad, a lot of jump shooting will doom the chances of turning this season around and trying to make a playoff run in the east. Iverson’s legs are older, which means the lift on his shots are not what they used to be. Carney is streaky. Young is, well not playing well and needs help on his offense and defense. Lou Williams is a scoring bench player, not a starter. Iguodala is athletic and can create his own shots, but his jumper is often scrutinized. As you can see, sticking with jump shooting and not taking it hard to the rack and drawing more fouls will result in more losses. That’s the story on the offensive side of the ball that I saw last night and the Knicks offense took the majority of their shots inside the arc or near the rim. Take note, David Lee’s game… mid range consistency, along with finishing hard at the rack and getting to the line. Typical old school, fundamental game and that’s how wins amount in the end.

The Sixers get ready to face the Sacramento Kings on Friday at 7pm at the Wachovia Center. Kevin Martin has recently been cleared to play and Tyreke Evans is turning out to be a solid rookie point guard in this league. With other elements to the mix, the Kings have been quite fun to watch this season and the Sixers will have their hands full as they try to right the ship at home.

PEACE FROM THE 570