<font color="DarkRed">Philadelphia 76ers (6-7)</font> @ <font color="dimgray">San Antonio Spurs(12-3)</font> Time: 8:30 PM, EST Location: SBC Center TV: CSN, FSNSW, NBATV ____________________ <u>Last Metting</u> [ Recap ] <font color="DimGray">San Antonio Spurs</font> 88, <font color="DarkRed">Philadelphia 76ers</font> 80 ____________________ <u>Starting Five</u> <font color="DarkRed">Philadelphia 76ers</font> C- Marc Jackson F- Josh Davis F- Kyle Korver G- Andre Iguodala G- Allen Iverson Head Coach- Jim O?Brien ____________________ <font color="dimgray">San Antonio Spurs</font> C- Rasho Nesterovic F- Tim Duncan F- Bruce Bower G- Manu Ginobili G- Tony Parker Head Coach- Gregg Popovich ____________________ <u>Players To Watch</u> <font color="DarkRed">Allen Iverson</font> PPG: 26.5 , RPG: 3.4, APG: 8.2 <font color="dimgray">Manu Ginobili</font> PPG: 15.5 RPG: 5.2, APG: 4.7, FG%: 48% ____________________ Keys To The Game <font color="DarkRed">Philadelphia 76ers</font> <ul>Contain Duncan When it comes to Tim Duncan, there isn't really anything you can do about him especially with this team for that matter. No matter what who you throw at Duncan, Duncan is going to dominate regardless and the times he doesn't it most likely he's having an off game. Nonetheless, trying never hurts, and that?s what Samuel Dalembert did. Now while Duncan finished with 36 Points and 13 Rebounds in the last confrontation, if O?Brien puts Dalembert on Duncan, you never know, Dalembert just might be able to slow him down. Previously, when Dalembert got into the game, he did an EXCELLENT job containing Duncan. And Duncan met up with Dalembert in the locker room in the previous game, and asked why he didn?t see him in the 2nd half. 76ers fans as well as Duncan was surprised as well. So that alone, shows that Duncan had some respect for Dalembert and was looking for some competition. So just maybe, Dalembert could be what we?re looking for as far as slowing down Tim Duncan.[/list] <ul>Push The Ball The Spurs play a rugged, slow type of game which is heavily in their favor. So the 76ers must push the ball and get into the open court in which they can speed the game up. If they do speed the game up Tim Duncan may very well not be as effective.[/list] <ul>Get Off To Fast Start In the last meeting, the Spurs held the 76ers to a mere 8 first quarter points. So Iverson and co. cannot let that happen again. Granted that they didn?t have such a miserable 1st quarter, the 76ers could have arguably walk away with the win. With that being said, they must look to score early on.[/list] <ul>Defense Now while many teams come into games against the Spurs thinking that they must try to score and not defend, they're wrong. The Spurs are a very underrated offensive team, and with Ginobili ability to score, and Rasho and Barry perimeter shooting with Duncan dominance in the middle, the 76ers can let the Spurs get into an offensive groove. The Spurs are arguably the best defensive team in the league, and they're defense is always there but if they're offense is on point, it's very, very difficult to stop them.[/list] <font color="dimgray">San Antonio Spurs</font> <ul>A Answer For The Answer As far as Allen Iverson goes, he's had many brilliant games against the Spurs with the exception of the last game. And actually putting some of the blame on himself when they previously lost to the Spurs, look for Iverson to have a big game. Now while he can pour 50 Points on any given night, the Spurs must watch out for his playmaking ability and not just his scoring. Iverson is averaging a career high 8.2 assists, and the confidence in his teammates has gone up tremendously and while looking at the 76ers roster, there isn't a real legitimate 2nd scoring option, Iverson ability to dish the ball is making the TEAM the 2nd scoring option. So this is something the Spurs really look at.[/list] <ul>Kyle Korver Bruce Bowen needs to limit Korver open looks. In the last meeting Kyle Korver in a way single handily got the 76ers back into the game. Now while he's just a 2nd year player and doesn't necessarily have any other key strengths with the exception of his shooting, his defense and rebounding has drastically improved, and he's no longer just a 3Pt-Shooter.[/list] <ul>Deny Ball Penetration Evidence from the last meeting, the 76ers perimeter shooting is very streaky, and they got a lot of scoring done in the paint. So the Spurs must look to clog the paint and deny ball penetration from the likes of Green, Iguodala and especially Allen Iverson. They must force the 76ers to take as many perimeter shots as they can, but while the 76ers shooting is indeed streaky at times it can also be very good effective, but most likely the 76ers may have another average perimeter shooting display because of the Spurs strong perimeter defense.[/list] Probable Outcome:<font size="1">(Not my opinion)</font> A championship bound team against a team that's not even a guranted to make the Playoff's. You be the judge. 76ers 88, Spurs 94
This game is winnable, but I dont know if the Sixers will pull it off. The last time these teams played the Sixers could have easily won the game if they scored points in the first quarter (when I say this I dont mean literaly, because the Sixers did score an amazing 6 points. I expect the Sixers to play hard this game, they are going to have to hold Tony Parker like they did the last time they played, Parkere didnt even score.We have to defend on the perimeter and box out on defense, if we give the Spurs lots of second chances, they will captialize.
The Sixers always seem to play well against the Spurs last season without AI they managed to beat them in San Antonio. The Spurs where on a little bit of a losing streak to the Sixers before they managed to beat them earlier this year. I think like Silky Smooth said its winnable. Nothing is guarenteed in the NBA with the Raptors and Celtics both pulling off upsets the past few nights.
I'm speechless, and disgusted. This was the worst game of the season for the Sixers so far. Something has got to change or something, losing by 31 points is not acceptable.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Silky Smooth:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm speechless, and disgusted. This was the worst game of the season for the Sixers so far. Something has got to change or something, losing by 31 points is not acceptable.</div> agreed, the turned the game off after the 2ndquerter and watched south park. From Seeing this box score : http://www.nba.com/games/20041201/PHISAS/boxscore.html I am happy I watched South PArk. I remember mentioning some where that the starting line-up of Jackson, Davis, Korver, Iguodala, and Iverson will not work against teams like the Spurs. I saw a front court of Sammy and Marc JAckson at the point after Corliss got hurt from Sammys hustle play. That didn't work too well either. The Sixers need more size to compete with teams like the Spurs and Pistons. For matters worst I think Corliss Williamson is injured. I hope hes okay or this will be a BIG hit.
I hate when this kind of stuff happens! Your a couple games below .500 and you may have a good squad of guys but you don`t know what`s going on. Maybe it was just the scoring the Spurs put up. Both Tim Duncan and Devin Brown posted 24 pts. But Duncan couldn`t be stopped. 24 pts, 6 blocks, was 10-12 from field goal range...hopefully we can get a win against the 5-11 Grizzlies.
Wow this is a total and complete break down for the Sixers it seems to me JO really has not been trying to motivate the team up to this point to win besides AI's position and center he has tryed at least 2 different starters at each spot. As far as the Spurs go they are a good team, but losing by 31 is just horrible.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">[IMGl]http://www.nba.com/media/sixers/AllenI_170_041201.jpg[/IMGl]Trailing in a game for the first time in a week, the San Antonio Spurs responded with a vengeance. Tim Duncan and Devin Brown fueled a huge second quarter as the Spurs rolled to their fifth straight victory, a 105-72 trouncing of the Philadelphia 76ers. Duncan and Brown each scored 24 points for the Spurs (13-3), who don't have the NBA's best record but look every bit the best team. During their winning streak, they have allowed an average of 78.4 points and won by an average of 22.4. "We usually don't win by these kind of differences," Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. "It has really started happening this year, though." In this one, San Antonio got off to an uncharacteristic slow start and trailed, 23-16, with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first period. It marked the first time it had been behind since the early stages of a 94-80 win over Dallas a week ago. </div> <div align="center">Recap Box Score Postgame Notes</div> There is not much you could say about this game, simple as that. 31 point blowout whether it?s from a championship bound team or an expansion team, the 76ers just weren?t there last night. And when I say that I mean they weren?t there, like the Spurs are a great team no doubt about that, but I doubt they could have really beat a team like the 76ers like that. The Spurs never did anything like this before, and actually had many problems in the past against this team. So right now, I'm just looking at that game as an extra loss added to the record. Behind my head this game never existed, the 76ers just weren?t there. So right now I'm not alarmed at all, because they just gave that game away, no effort no nothing. (I'm not taking anything away from the Spurs btw because they played great and they?re obviously the benefactor to why the 76ers lost they way they did) Well, the 76ers look very solid and played great in the first quarter, and if you watched the game you could tell that the 76ers had the momentum heading into the 2nd quarter. With their type of play in the 1st quarter it really convinced me that they REALLY might win. But after that everything fell apart. I once thought it was a fluke when the Spurs held the Sixers to 8 first quarter points, but after what I witnessed last night, it was not a fluke. Heck, they almost did it again because the 76ers only had 11 Points in the 3rd quarter. But after that game, I have to say, I have a new found respect for the Spurs. I always thought of them as a great team, but after the way they dominated the 76ers and other teams at home, this is team is the real deal. Next up, Memphis Grizzlies. This game should get a lot of publicity because it's going to be Mike Fratello coaching debut with the Grizzlies. So the 76ers should make sure that they perform well, and make everyone forget about that blowout lost to the Spurs because you can bet this game will be the first one shown on SportsCenter the day after.
