Once again, the Sixers luck out and play a team with its three best players
out--- in this case, Durant, Wilcox, and Ridnour. If you want to count
Oden, out all year, then it was the Sonics without their four best
players.
So while the win was nice, I would not get too excited. Now if the Sixers
can beat the Jazz, Lakers, or Nuggets on this road trip, that will be
something worth writing home about.
Watching the entire game, I thought Iguodala, Miller, and Carney (!!!) all
played well. Sammy did not help much on offense, but he did have 6 blocks,
not too shabby! Off the bench, Young continued his recent sleepwalking.
Giricek made a contribution, hopefully we will see more of that. Lou
Williams was awarded "star of the game" by the Comcast broadcasters, which
I
think was a mistake. He was very active on offense, and drove the lane a
lot and drew fouls to his credit, but I did not ever see him working the
ball as part of the greater offense. He played what might be called
"Iverson Defense," i.e., looking to steal the ball, but not really paying
attention to staying in front of his man. Lou is a talent, and I love his
speed. He might be the best three-point shooter on the team now with
Korver
gone. However, he is miles away from running the offense as a point
guard.
Even as a two guard, he will be much better on the open floor than moving
where is supposed to go in the half-court offense.
When Willie Green comes back, I'd like to see him and Rodney divide up
time
at the two guard spot for a while. Green plays better with lower minutes,
anyway. Carney has played so much better lately, we need to see if it's
for
real. (I want to believe, but have doubts.) Regardless of who starts,
give
them both around 24 minutes, see who helps the team more.
---- Kurt Straub
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