<div align="center"> at <font color="red">Rockets (18-29)</font> at <font color="navy">Bobcats (24-23)</font> Monday, February 6th, 2006 Wachovia Center, Philadelphia 7:00 ET, Fox SW (Away) - Comcast SportsNet (Home) </div> [div=50%] <div align="center"><font color="navy"> <font size="1">(A. Iverson, A. Iguodala, K. Korver, C. Webber, S. Dalembert)</font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Allen Iverson - 33.7 PPG Leading Rebounder: Samuel Dalembert - 10.1 RPG Assist Man: Allen Iverson - 7.6 APG The 'X' Factor: Kyle Korver (11.2 PPG, .423% FG, 3.6 RPG)</font> <font size="3">Backcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/allen_iverson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="navy">Allen Iverson</font> PPG: 33.7, APG: 7.6, SPG: 1.98 Often called the best player in the league pound for pound, Allen Iverson has come back from an ankle injury firing on all cylinders. He's torched the Cavaliers in his first game back so its obvious the injury has done little to slow down his high speed style of playing. Second in the league in scoring, Iverson can score a ton of points against the opposition and if he gets hot, there really is no stopping him. Like many have said before, you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him. However, he's also underrated on the playmaking/assists end, because he just makes things happen. Whether its driving into the lane for the two, dishing it off a pick/roll to Webber, or creating for guys like Dalembert or Korver, Iverson can simply get the job done and a whole lot more. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/andre_iguodala.jpg[/imgl]<font color="navy">Andre Iguodala</font> PPG: 12.0, RPG: 6.0, FG%: .516 You're in for a treat tonight. Andre Iguodala has the explosiveness, the hops, and the athleticism to give you the highlight reel. If ever he's on the fastbreak alone, you'll know Iguodala's going to be giving you a jaw dropping dunk. But, all this is for the Dunk Contest. What else does he bring? A great defender, Iguodala can hold his opposition to either the minimum in points or frustrate them into a bad shooting night. In addition to that, he has a great tendency to fill up the statsheet by the end of the night. Some points here, some steals there, some assists, and then some rebounds all in one nights work. In addition, if he gets his shooting touch on, Iguodala can make the other team pay- and it has happened before. However, more than likely his assignment tonight will be containing Tracy McGrady. </font> <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/kyle_korver.jpg[/imgl]<font color="navy">Kyle Korver</font> PPG: 11.2, RPG: 3.6, 3PT%: .424 And now, I present you the three point expert. Kyle Korver is absolutely dangerous from the arc and can rain down if you aren't guarding him close enough. Simply, if Korver's shot is on, he's very dangerous, and there's little you can do to stop me because of his quick stroke and shot release. However, he isn't just good for his threes, this season he has also added a nice mid ranger, some muscle, and a bit of ball handling moves to his resume. In addition to that, he's also one of Philadelphia's better team defenders which will more than likely be key to containing Tracy McGrady. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/chris_webber.jpg[/imgl]<font color="navy">Chris Webber</font> PPG: 19.6, RPG: 9.7, APG: 3.2 Although Sacto Webber no more, the modern day Webber is still doing pretty good. He's provided a nice second scoring threat to Iverson but more importantly he's been doing a nice ball of creating the offense and setting other guys up. No doubt players like Korver, Dalembert, and Iverson have benefited from this. Tonight, you'll be seeing the pick and roll with Webber and Iverson a lot which often results in many open jumpers for Webber. However, whether or not he makes these I'll leave up to him. Sometimes his shots on, sometimes its not, who knows? </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/samuel_dalembert.jpg[/imgl]<font color="navy">Samuel Dalembert</font> PPG: 9.5, RPG: 10.1, BPG: 3.26 Samuel Dalembert has been a player of frustration for many, well at least me anyway. He gets a ton of stupid goaltending calls, often makes bad decisions with fouls, and is virtually clueless on offense. However, negativity aside, Samuel Dalembert is a great player. He is a block machine and currently leads the league in that category. In addition to that, Dalembert is probably the most consistent player on this team grabbing boards. Really, he averages about ten a game, come on! Offensively, he's still raw but more than likely he'll surprise you with a random jumper here and there. </font> [/div] <div align="center"><font color="red"> <font size="1">(R. Alston, D. Wesley, T. McGrady, J. Howard, Y. Ming) </font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Tracy Mcgrady - 26.9 PPG Leading Rebounder: Yao Ming - 9.1 RPG Assist Man: Rafer Alston - 6.0 APG The 'X' Factor: Stromile Swift (9.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG, .73 BPG)</font> <font size="3">Backcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/rafer_alston.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Rafer Alston</font> PPG: 9.8, SPG: 1.15, APG: 5.3 Alston has turned the corner, hitting more of his shots, turning the ball over less, and creating a lot better for his teammates. Undoubtly, much of this has to do with getting familiarized with Van Gundy's system. Most notably, his turnovers have gone down and his scoring has considerably picked up. Regardless, Alston has shown that he can mold it with McGrady and Yao and potentially make the trade that sent him to Houston seem less lopsided. Defensively, he's decent, and has improved under Van Gundy. The big thing he brings to Houston is probably his three's, quickness, and passing skills. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/david_wesley.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">David Wesley</font> PPG: 9.6, RPG: 2.9, APG: 3.3 David Wesley has done a noble job of filling his role for the team. Unfortunately, all that hasn't been enough. Without McGrady, he has stepped it up, but since his return, Wesley has done a nice job just doing that- hitting the three ball and some nice defense. In the last game, Wesley notched nineteen points as well as shooting respectable percentages. But, he's a streaky player so if his shot is off, the opposition should have no trouble keeping him from scoring. If he can shoot it up efficiently, that should be enough from his job. However, the problem is that Wesley is most definitely a streaky shooter and its hard to pin point which man will show up in his shoes. In the past few games, he's taken a slightly bigger role on offense- sometimes driving in and drawing the foul on the other team. </font> <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/tracy_mcgrady.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Tracy McGrady</font> PPG: 26.9, RPG: 7.1, APG: 5.0 Since his return, the Rockets have been jump started a been winning more games, but its obvious why. This is one of the elite guards in the league we're talking about. One on one, he's simply unstoppable and no matter how much you can be disgusted by his weird looking shot, he usually makes them. He can take you from outside, or drive it inside to do damage. Quite simply, this guy's Tracy McGrady. Although in the last couple of games he's struggled, you can never really count him out because well, impossible is nothing. Defensively, he's underrated and can actually frustrate his opponent into taking bad shooting nights. Although he's not really matched up against anyone too potent tonight, you'll know he'll have the advantage on both ends of the court. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/juwan_howard.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Juwan Howard</font> PPG: 9.4, RPG: 6.5, APG: 1.3 Unfortunately since we're not living five years ago, Houston's going to have to settle for something around 12 points and 8 rebounds from Howard. In fact, I would be pretty happy if that happened. Still, Howard has surprised me before with his scoring but in the past couple games, his production has really dropped. His scoring's down, his rebounding has dropped, and really hasn't been all that effective. In fact, there have been many talk about possibly Chuck Hayes and Stromile Swift taking over more and more of his minutes. Nevertheless, he complements McGrady decently and provides some mediocre defense. He's going up against Webber tonight, so he's going to have to bring his A game. </font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/yao_ming.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Yao Ming</font> - PPG: 19,7, RPG: 9.1, BPG: 1.46 Since coming back to the lineup, Yao has done pretty well considering he has been out for about a month. At 7'6" he can rebound the ball and block it competently and is always a presence on the defensive end because of his height. Offensively, his turnaround jump shot is the most dangerous since its nearly impossible to block it but he also has the nice spin move going to the basket. In addition, he also has a dangerous jump hook and obviously, the ever potent dunk over the defender. However, tonight, you might not be seeing much of him due to either his ability to get into foul trouble or his conditioning since he just came back from that nasty toe injury. </font> <div align="center"></div> <font color="navy">Distribute the ball</font> - Iverson can't do this alone. And neither should he feel he has to. The two stars need to share the ball a bit and create somewhat of an offensive flow between them which other players can feed off of. Most notably, Iguodala who is one of the highest percentage players on the team, needs to be getting more touches on offense. Meanwhile, guys like Korver and Dalembert are going to need for this to happen to be able to do anything on offense. <font color="navy">Defense</font> - This has seriously been a problem for Philadelphia. The guys just haven't been rotating into position enough and just leaving teammates on one on one coverage without help. To stop McGrady, Yao, and the Rockets tonight, they're going to have to make more defensive stops and provide each other help defense. <font color="navy">Stop McGrady</font> - Quite simply, stop McGrady. If he is hot and is feeling it, he can win the game for Houston. Thats why its going to be necessary to rotate and help Iguodala out on the defensive end. Never let him get any open looks and just try to put a hand in his face everytime he shoots a jumper. <font color="navy">76ers: 93</font>, Rockets: 89
Allen is struggling right now... and turnovers are a huge problem so far in the game (14 in the first half, 9 in the second quarter alone). These two things need to turn around, and we need to hope Tracy still stays cold, otherwise it'll be a loss for us tonight.
Well lets see here, according to sportsline.com, the 2nd quarter produces 9 points, we have 2 assists to 12 field goals, they have 12 assists for 16 field goals. We have 2 assists to 14 Turnovers, they have 12 assists to 6 TO's. Lets just forget about that 2nd quarter and get back to playing basketball. I think we will make a big run and hopefully rally to win.
tough loss by the sixers. i thought this was a very winnable game and i thought they should have came out on top. sammy once again had a monsterous game, especially on defense when he got 17 boards! AI was regular AI, c-webb had a great game too. actually, all our starters pretty much had a good game. the main thing that is killing is is our bench. after sending away hunter (or at least he isnt playing) we have no one else on the bench to give us a spark. kyle korver IMO has to be the most disappointing player for the sixers. i had high hopes for him coming into the season after he broke the sixers record books for the most 3 pointer made in consecutive games, and came in 2nd in three point shooting. as of now, he plays no D and cant hit a shot for his freaking life. he was 0-6 today. if this team wants to win, korver has to really step up and be the player we all envisioned him to be, which is a player that provides a spark coming off the bench, which is something he hasnt done yet.
also, you forgot to add bench diesel. probably the worst aspect of the whole sixers team, besides defense. korver was supposed to be the guy that lit things up and gave us a spark, but like i just said, this guy cant do **** now. he doesnt play D, and he cant shoot. the guy cant do anything. he better get his game back soon, because in the beginning of the season, he was one of my most favorite sixers, but now, he is on my most hated list.
Korver- 1 point. We thought he was getting 18-20 this season. AI- 6 of 22, no rebounds, *no assists* Bench- 3 points 15 minutes between 3rd and 4th qt with no field goals. We had no right to win this game, some how it was close.
Recap from Yahoo <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Jeff Van Gundy has an easy time explaining Houston's recent success. "When we have Yao (Ming) and Tracy (McGrady), we're a good team. It's pretty simple," Van Gundy said. Houston's coach might want to add a stubborn defense to go along with that 1-2 scoring punch, also. Houston held Philadelphia without a field goal for more than a 15-minute span when the Sixers missed 19 straight shots in the second half of the Rockets' 87-81 victory Monday night. "That was probably part defense and probably partly them missing shots they can make," Van Gundy said. Only free throws kept the Sixers in this one after an incredible stretch of offensive ineptness. They did not score from 4:41 in the third to 1:05 in the fourth -- 15:36 overall -- and nearly became the second team in the last week to go without a field goal in the fourth quarter after the Kings went 0-for-20 against Utah. The Sixers also committed 24 turnovers and shot 33 percent from the floor. "We couldn't put the ball in the basket," said Allen Iverson. What an understatement. The Sixers missed 14 straight shots in the fourth quarter before Iverson finally scored on a three-point play. Andre Iguodala followed with a 3 that made it 85-79, and Iverson added another basket, giving the Sixers three baskets -- three! -- in the quarter, but it was too late. "We got stops when we needed them," said Rafer Alston, who scored 19 points. "It wasn't always pretty, but we'll take it for sure." Yao scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and McGrady had 13 for the Rockets, who won their fourth straight game. Yao's 27 are the most points he has scored since returning five games ago after a 21-game layoff following toe surgery, but it was on an 9-for-21 effort. No team gives the Sixers fits like Houston and it was no different this time. The Rockets beat Philadelphia for the seventh straight time, 11 out of 13 in Philadelphia, and 22 of 26 overall. Iverson scored 32 points and went 20-for-24 from the line for the Sixers. Chris Webber had 18 points and 15 rebounds, and Samuel Dalembert grabbed 17 rebounds. The Sixers went 32-for-37 on free throws; the Rockets 17-for-23. "I can't see that happening again," Webber said of the scoring drought. "The turnovers killed us, too. That's really not us. It was really out of character offensively tonight (Monday). That, we know, won't stay the same." Because of all the fouls, Houston had trouble pulling away in this one, even with eight more field goals overall and five more 3-pointers. Alston finally pushed the lead to double digits when he hit a 3 midway through the fourth quarter, then added a jumper that made it 81-69. When Dalembert sank two free throws, it cut the lead to 83-72 and gave the Sixers their 18th straight point without a basket since Iguodala scored on a reverse layup late in the third.</div> like AI2AI888 said, the 4th quarter was unacceptable
I could swallow this lost. We didn't take care of the ball, only scored 9 points in third quarter(it happens), outrebounded and still almost won the game. We got the Bobcats next and I'm sure you will see a much better performance. Hopefully.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Avery:</div><div class="quote_post">I could swallow this lost. We didn't take care of the ball, only scored 9 points in third quarter(it happens), outrebounded and still almost won the game. We got the Bobcats next and I'm sure you will see a much better performance. Hopefully.</div> That's what I thought after the second game of the season (@ Detroit), and then we get blown out of our home gym by the Bobcats the very next game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">That's what I thought after the second game of the season (@ Detroit), and then we get blown out of our home gym by the Bobcats the very next game.</div> But that was early on in the season. We lost a heartbreaking game to MIL then got tourched by DET so their spirits was probably low. Now that we've shown we can play with adversity and can come up big in games no reason why the Sixers can't bounce back and get things going again especially at this point of the season when they are o so close to taking over the AD again.
