<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
Thanks for posting the preview. Another home blowout, 105-72. I think we are seeing a future star being born. Devin Brown with 24 off 8-14 shooting. Also a mention for Beno Udrih with 10 points and 3 assists, looks like the Spurs have found another point guard steal. The Spurs are playing near prefect basketball at this moment in time thats for sure.
If there's an award for scouting, the spurs would've been winners for the last few seasons.Ginobli,Parker,Devin Brown,Beno... the list goes on. All quality players, ready to contribute right away. The rest of the league should really learn from the Spurs on how to run a basket ball team. Everyone on the team seems to understand their roles and it translates to efficient and perfect ball on the court. The best team in the league by far!
The Spurs are playing great Basketball right now, indivdually and as a team. When the Spurs play like this, they are hard for anyone to beat anywhere. The scary thing is, we aren't even a quarter of the way through the season yet, and the Spurs are playing like it's a few games before the playoffs.
THe Spurs abbsolutley dominated the Sixers. A complete blow out. IMO it was also the Sixers worst game of the season so far, probably because of the San Antonio defense AND the fact that they just played like trash. I would bet $50 that the Spurs win the championship this year. Their basketball play right now is just unbeatable.
