Sixers Season thread 2

[SunMo]

on 1, i think you're right.

but the end of a close game isn't the time to try to shoot yourself out of a slump.  you miss one, you've had your chance role player, give it to the super stars.

i'm almost positive ai drove & dished to salmons on both 3 attempts....his drive that got blocked was a bad shot, no doubt.

anyway, if ai's goal was to make salmons even more afraid to shoot at the end of close games, i'm sure he accomplished it by ragging on him in the locker room the other night.  the team should be a lot better now.

would the team be any better if he gave him a big hug at the end of the game and told him it didn't matter?  these guys are pros, the games count.  wins and losses are what it's all about, the team moms aren't breaking out orange slices and capri suns at halftime.

[hunt]

on 1, i think you're right.

but the end of a close game isn't the time to try to shoot yourself out of a slump.  you miss one, you've had your chance role player, give it to the super stars.

i'm almost positive ai drove & dished to salmons on both 3 attempts....his drive that got blocked was a bad shot, no doubt.

anyway, if ai's goal was to make salmons even more afraid to shoot at the end of close games, i'm sure he accomplished it by ragging on him in the locker room the other night.  the team should be a lot better now.

would the team be any better if he gave him a big hug at the end of the game and told him it didn't matter?  these guys are pros, the games count.  wins and losses are what it's all about, the team moms aren't breaking out orange slices and capri suns at halftime.

maybe the team would be better if all teammates had each other's backs....unfortunately, i don't think we'll ever know.

[SunMo]

but your saying that if you criticize somebody that means you don't have their back.  those two aren't mutually exclusive.  i would contend that AI had Salmons back by not roasting him in the media.  he stood up for him.  isn't that having his back?

[hunt]

but your saying that if you criticize somebody that means you don't have their back.  those two aren't mutually exclusive.  i would contend that AI had Salmons back by not roasting him in the media.  he stood up for him.  isn't that having his back?

based on salmons' reaction, i'd say iverson did more than criticize him. 
iverson "saying the right things" to the media is irrelavent, if not hypocritical.

[ice grillin you]

the team moms aren't breaking out orange slices and capri suns at halftime

damn your teams were nice with capri suns...we were ghetto fab sucking on orange and grape bug juice huggies


iverson did not dish out on those shots...he didnt touch the ball on the possesions...thats the point here...granted salmons was open...but he cant shoot threes at any point in the game why is he launching them at crunch time

and since when cant your criticize teammates...thats what leaders do...as sun said he didnt do it in the media...he ripped him in the lockeroom after the game...back in the day he might have gotten a lot worse...hes lucky iverson is his teammate and not larry bird or michael jordan

[hunt]

well, i must have been watching some other game then.

anyway, there's in-fighting in the sixers' locker room...salmons said it & webber said something about it too.  mo needs to get control before it gets worse.  the team leaders, if there are any, clearly aren't handling the situation themselves.

[hunt]

On the NBA | Do Sixers fans have "Iverson fatigue"?
By David Aldridge
Inquirer Staff Writer
Since 1996, one of the things the Sixers could count on, night in and out, was Allen Iverson's amazing ability to get people to fork over their hard-earned cash to watch him perform. He was one of the few players in the NBA with that kind of star power, a pull on the populace that crossed racial and economic lines, a true star who bolstered attendance locally, television ratings nationally, and jersey and shoe sales worldwide.
And it didn't seem to matter if the Sixers were a novelty, title contender or solid playoff team - people came to see Iverson perform. (It had to be Iverson; the Sixers have gone through coaches and complementary players over the years like a drunk sifting through peanuts at happy hour. Iverson has been the only constant in a sea of changes.)
But this season, as has been well-documented in these pages, the Sixers' home attendance has taken a precipitous drop, even though they are a team that puts points up in bunches and entered last night a half-game out of first in the Atlantic Division.
The team's home average of 15,021 fans in its first 15 dates represents a 9.8 percent drop in attendance from a similar number of home games last season. And that average ranks 28th of 30 teams in the league.
The e-mails flew in fast and furious after an analysis of declining attendance appeared in The Inquirer on Dec. 6, and there were any number of factors cited for the drop: high ticket prices, the team's lack of defense, the general decrease in quality of play in the league, the price of gas, and on and on. But there were comments from fans that could strike at the heart of the team's financial future.
Some people were also tired of Iverson.
Not of him personally; he is still beloved most everywhere in town. Nor were they lamenting some change in his game. The irony was that they decried that very consistency: they know he's going to shoot a lot, and score a lot. But they no longer think that's worth their money, especially with the Sixers floundering around .500 in the first two months of the season.
Here's the question that must gnaw at Ed Snider and the folks at Comcast-Spectacor this holiday season: Do they speak for the majority of Philadelphians? Is this the same dilemma that faces the Phillies: good, but not great; interesting, but not compelling?
Has "Iverson Fatigue" set in?
If true, the Sixers are in real trouble.
Let's face facts; people aren't going to shell out top dollar in the future to watch Samuel Dalembert and Kyle Korver and John Salmons by themselves, no matter how prolific each may become. This league is, and always has been, about its stars.
"I think he's still one of the top draws in the league," team president Billy King said of Iverson yesterday. "It hasn't manifested itself at home as of late, but overall, as a team, we have to play to the point where the fans appreciate it."
By most measures, Iverson is as popular as ever nationally. He's the leading vote-getter among guards for February's All-Star Game in Houston. His jersey is the second-most popular among all NBA players in sales this year, behind Miami's Dwyane Wade. His Answer line of Reebok shoes is still wildly popular. He was a mega-hit when he traveled to China with Yao Ming for a promotional tour last summer. And the Sixers continue to be fourth in the league in average road attendance, drawing 18,438 away from Philadelphia.
Yes, there have been a lot of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday home games, notorious poor-drawing nights, and only a couple of Friday and Saturday night tilts.
None of that should matter.
When Allen Iverson is in the house, the place should be filled - or at least close to capacity.
Yes, ticket prices are high. They've always been high. They're always going to be high. No one should expect a working-class family to regularly plunk down $250 a week to watch a basketball game. (And, yes, sportswriters get in for free.)
But this is a big city, isn't it? Surely, there are enough people with the desire and the means - and there are cheaper tickets to be had - who could come out and see Iverson and the Sixers before age and mileage take their inevitable toll on him.
The Sixers believe things will pick up when better teams come in on better nights. Their "Holiday Pack" of four games sold well in December. And they're hoping the turnstiles will pick up when Boston comes in on a Friday night in January, followed by a Wednesday game against the Nets, and a Saturday night game at the end of the month with the Knicks.
Maybe we'll know for sure then.
But one day, relatively soon, Iverson won't be in town anymore, and the likelihood is that the Sixers won't be any closer to contending for a championship than they are today.
And then it will be too late.

[hunt]

Posted on Tue, Dec. 27, 2005
Sixers Notes | Road trip resumes, starting in Denver76ers Notes

After two days off for the holidays, the 76ers are back to a familiar place in late December: the road. Disney on Ice's visit to the Wachovia Center sends both the Sixers and Flyers packing during this time of year.
A road trip that officially began with Friday's 111-108 loss in Atlanta continues with six games in 11 days beginning with tonight's matchup with the Nuggets in Denver.
The Sixers left for the trip last night, which means they beat Denver to the Mile High City. The Nuggets played last night at Golden State.
The Sixers (14-13) will meet Portland tomorrow. After two days off, they will play in Utah on Saturday.
That will be followed by another set of back-to-backs, next Tuesday in Sacramento and Jan. 4 in Phoenix. After a day off, the trip ends Jan. 6 in Los Angeles against the Lakers.
"It's so important to win that first one" on the trip, Sixers swingman Kyle Korver said after yesterday's practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. "You want to get off on the right foot because you are out 11, 12 days and don't want to start on a sour note."

Quirky stat
The statistics have shown that when Allen Iverson scores a lot, the Sixers often lose. Iverson scored 53 points in Friday's loss to Atlanta. The Sixers are 3-4 in games when he scores 40 or more points; 4-7 when he scores between 30 and 39; 5-2 when he scores between 20 and 29; and 2-0 when he scores fewer than 20. Iverson leads the NBA in scoring, averaging 34.3 points per game. 

Nice respite
After Friday's loss, coach Maurice Cheeks gave the Sixers the next two days off before resuming practice yesterday.
Having two days off during the NBA season isn't a common practice for many teams.
"I haven't had two days off since I've been there," said Korver, now in his third year.
Even during the all-star break, Korver hasn't had off because he has participated in the three-point shooting contest in each of his first two seasons.
"It went by fast," Korver said of his break. "It was nice to have a few days off and nice to get going again."

Disappointing Denver
The Nuggets, who were 32-8 after hiring coach George Karl last season, took a 13-14 record into last night's game against Golden State. Denver had lost five of its last seven before last night.
Carmelo Anthony, seeking his first all-star berth, entered last night leading Denver in scoring at 23.6 points per game. Center Marcus Camby was averaging 16.9 points and 13.3 rebounds.

[hunt]

Posted on Tue, Dec. 27, 2005
Let's see if the Sixers fly united on this tripBy PHIL JASNERjasnerp@phillynews.com

DENVER - This was originally going to be about how the 76ers' trip really started here tonight against the Denver Nuggets, even though they played Friday in Atlanta. But that premise ended with the 111-108 loss to the Hawks. Not merely the loss, but the way the Sixers unraveled down the stretch.
It was looking good when Allen Iverson had 51 points, only a few minutes remained and the Sixers were in strong position to win. It wasn't looking nearly as good when Iverson got just one shot in the team's final six possessions, when John Salmons inexplicably missed three shots and got fouled on another attempt in the final 2 minutes, 21 seconds. And it was looking even worse when Salm-ons, sitting at his locker-room stall in Philips Arena, said he heard teammates talking "behind their breath" about his shots.
Just like that, this Sixers odyssey became more than just another trip. Define the travel schedule any way you want. If you wish, begin with the previous Sunday's game in Toronto; that would make it nine games in nine cities (and two countries) in 20 days. Or, let it start with the Hawks, as a seven-game trip, even though the players were off Saturday and Sunday for the holidays and practiced yesterday in Philadelphia. Or, call it a six-game Western swing, beginning tonight.
If you choose the last option, you can even buoy your hopes and aspirations by telling yourself that the Sixers, despite being 14-13 overall, are 7-0 at home vs. Western Conference opponents and that just two opponents on this trip - the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers - have winning records.
But, now, this is about the Sixers re-establishing who they are. After yesterday's practice at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, though, Salmons had had a chance to calm down.
"It was a comment out of frustration," he said. "A team is just like a family; you might have a little quarrel now and then, but a real team, a real family, they come together and they put it behind them and grow."
In Atlanta on Friday night, both Iverson and Chris Webber - the team's primary scorers and locker-room voices - said they were unaware of what Salmons was talking about. But keep in mind that Salmons - in his fourth season - had never publicly uttered anything even remotely close to being negative. He doesn't need to be prodded to tell you he is faith-driven.
But this is most of what he said in Philips Arena: "This team ain't really a team, playing and acting the way we act around each other. I just heard some things that were said."
He was asked whether he found that disappointing.
"It is," he said. "That's not how a team should be."
Later, he said: "That's messed up. That's our team. What are you going to do? It's been like that for while."
Coach Maurice Cheeks said he couldn't "beat a guy up for taking a shot," although he did mention to Salm-ons that the option was always there to drive the ball to the basket, to draw a foul or to put himself in position to kick the ball back to an open teammate on the perimeter. There was a belief in the locker room that, on at least one of the late possessions when Salmons attempted a long jump shot, Kyle Korver was open. Korver is the team's best shooter.
Cheeks, who had been more disturbed by the team's lack of defense and rebounding when they needed them the most, yesterday said: "When you go out on the road, it can be two things - you can slice apart, which I don't ever see us doing, or you can bond together... And I anticipate that's what we'll do."
Webber said: "I think we've got to develop late-game court savvy. If a team makes a run at us and gets [a lead], and we were up, we have to have our heads about ourselves and realize the situation. Coach always preaches knowing the time and the score. [We have to improve] just our court awareness, just being a little calmer at the end of games."
Cheeks has been saying something similar since Dec. 18 in Toronto, when he was asked about the treacherous road ahead.
This is the Sixers' road map: the Nuggets tonight, coming off last night's game at Golden State; a return to Portland for Cheeks tomorrow night (he was the Trail Blazers' coach for more than three seasons before being fired in March); the Utah Jazz on New Year's Eve; the Sacramento Kings (Webber's second return to the city that was his Western Conference home for six seasons); then the Suns and the Lakers.
Cheeks said, in terms of goals, he looks at the trip in segments. Was he heading out on the road with a number of victories in mind?
He was, but he wouldn't say what that number was.
"I'll keep that number among us," he said.

there.
now you won't have to read the philly papers today.

[PhillyPhreak54]

So if Iverson guns it three straight times without looking at his teammates, that's okay, but if someone else does it, it's not?

I see.

AI even said after the game and again the other day that he knows people rip him when he does what Salmons did so he won't rip Johnny for hoisting up the shots. He said that they're a team and they should stick together either way and support everyone.

So is he talkin out of both sides of his mouth? If what Hunt heard is true then he is. Unless Salmons misinterpreted what was being said. Maybe he's too sensitive.

Nailon shouldn't be saying anything though. The dude doesn't even play anymore. If you have your minutes jacked by Shavlik Randolph...just stfu.

[ice grillin you]

So is he talkin out of both sides of his mouth? If what Hunt heard is true then he is

no he isnt...you should never drop dimes on your teammates to the media...iverson ripped him right after the game but put a united front up for the media...nothing wrong with that

[Rome]

So is he talkin out of both sides of his mouth? If what Hunt heard is true then he is

no he isnt...you should never drop dimes on your teammates to the media...iverson ripped him right after the game but put a united front up for the media...nothing wrong with that

Unreal.  You bash McNabb for doing exactly, precisely the same thing yet there's nothing wrong with Iverson doing it.

Talk about hypocrisy.

[rjs246]

McNabb isn't black enough for IGY. He needs more guns, more tats, less passing and more ebonics.

[BigEd76]

Yeah....so apparently we don't need AI... 

[Magical_Retard]

lets see team is mediocre, and has been since larry brown left (and even his last season), and thats Iversons fault? attendance i believe is down all around the league and i doubt its cause of Iverson for us. if we were playing say like the Pistons are we would have better attendance. you always have die hard fans but its hard to fill up the court when ur team isnt exactly great.


also for the game....on a night when AI has 50+ and is shooting pretty damn good u would think the plays would be called for him  or run thru him. living in nyc i dont get to see any games so im assuming iverson didnt touch the ball in the final few minutes?