I was at the Kings game Friday night. I took some friends down. Hopefully
they will speak to me again some time in the future.
The first half defense was bad, but it got worse in the second half. The
3rd quarter in particular may have been the most dreadful exhibition of
defensive basketball I have ever seen. I've coached kids' teams where
there
was more focus and intensity in the players. Bibby was out, but his
replacement (unrecognizable name) constantly drove past Andre Miller-- and
Lou Williams--- with ease. Perimeter defense was lousy, inside defense
was
worse. Mikke Moore, a journeyman with a shooting range of about two feet,
went 10-11, and they were all uncontested dunks. Dalembert seemed
distracted, and his replacment, Jason Smith, frankly just didn't play
tough
enough. On the occasion when Dalembert did pay attention to the lane, the
unrecognizable point guard just passed the ball back to Kings center Bard
Miller, unguarded at the foul line, who calmy sank 15-foot set shots all
game. The last time I saw anything like this, it was the Globetrotters-
Nationals game. Now why couldn't a guard rotate over to Miller to cut
off
the passing lane or at least defend the set shot? Good question, I have
no
answer. As I said, perimeter defense was lousy. Willie Green, Lou
Williams, and Andre Miller all deserve blame.
The lack of hustle of defense also shnowed up on the boards, where the
Sixers got out-rebounded, 39-31. Watching the game, the disparity seemed
even worse.
Game highlights: well, my Italian sausage sandwhich was rather tasty, and
only $5.50! Hip Hop the rabbit made some nice flying dunks. The Sixers
actually shot well from the outside, particularly Korver, Green and
Miller.
Lou Williams showed a nice ability to drive to the lane. None of this
redeemed their defensive rottenness. However, Andre Ig and all the big
men
(Dalembert, Evans, and Smith) just stunk up the joint start to finish.
----- Kurt Straub
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