Jody McDonald, ala "Jody Mac" is a host of a popular new sports station and show) in the mid-afternoon on WPEN 950 AM, that I listen to almost every afternoon driving home. Recently, he had an interview with Maurice Cheeks, the new coach of the Sixers and former NBA star point guard, who was asked whether he was concerned about getting off to a slow start would be harmful for his team.
Cheeks replied something to the order of "that he had rarely got off to slow coaching starts and would have to cross that bridge if it came to it". He did say also that his team would always play hard and would stress defense.
However, while facing a daunting early schedule, with two away and home back to backs starting this Tues, the Sixers and Cheeks (who I had picked to surprise and win the Division like some other pundits) may be on the verge of "facing that bridge" quicker than hoped, at least in the earliest portion of the season.
They suffered a tough opening night loss Tuesday night to the Bucks, 108-107, after leading by 7 points with a little over a minute left in regulation. With less than three seconds left in the 4th, Michael Redd calmly drilled a three over the outspread arms of Chris Webber who was rushing over to help out defensively, and then the Bucks went on to dominate the over-time.
Then they literally got thrashed by the defending Eastern Conference Champions, the Pistons, 108 to 88 last night on the road.
The problem in this game was simply two fold - Detroit moved the ball beautifully and got 30 assists to the Sixers 11 and while the defensive intensity appeared at times to be there, something is not clicking right now on that side of the court. The Sixers constantly seemed to be a step slow in rotating to the open man and seemed to be unable to respond to Detroit's wonderful ball movement and screens.
Detroit's guards, especially Chauncey Billups, (with a double double of 12 points and 10 assists) were able to penetrate and dish or score with relative ease which mimicked what happened a night earlier when T.J. Ford at times had his way with the Sixers interior on the way to a near triple double(16 points, 9 boards, and 14 assists). Richard Hamilton torched the Sixers for 37 last night while Michael Redd had done the same with 30 the night before.
It is important to note that much of Redd's scoring had come after defensive stopper Andre Iguodala had fouled out, but the Sixers simply had no answer at all for Hamilton's many mid-range jumpers that featured a beautiful and smooth quick release.
Superstar Allen Iverson was succinct in explaining his teams early season woes in the AP report from last night: "We aren't playing defense and we aren't rebounding the basketball," Iverson said. "This has gotten off to a bad start, but we have to find a way to turn it around".
They face Charlotte at home on Friday before heading to Indiana Saturday night as they try to salvage something more positive from opening week -that had started so positively with loud ovation Tuesday night for "NBA Legends", Julius Erving, Chuck Daly, and Moses Malone - who had come to cheer on former teammate Cheeks in his opening game.
First impressions of the Sixers so far as they head into trying to salvage something out of the opening week:
1. Chris Webber is showing some very positive things on the court, at least offensively. He was especially active in the opening night heart-breaker and had a night that brought back memories of his past terrific play in Sacramento with a 32 point and 14 rebound performance. He followed this up last night with a 16 point and 9 rebound effort. So far he does not look to be slowed by his knees, at times has even looked good defensively, despite his teams overall woes in that regard.
2. Stephen Hunter is playing at center as starter Samuel Dalembert is out with a strained muscle. Hunter brings energy and had a pretty good opening night with 11 points but slipped to only 6 points in last nights loss despite 30 plus minutes of play. He seems to be an adequate short term answer but just does not seem to be an intimidating in the middle as Dalembert, but should provide some nice bench depth, and will gain needed experience in the next two weeks or so until Dalembert returns.
3. Iverson had been brilliant on the offensive end with two straight game with 30 plus points, but one wonders whether or not, he tried to do too much himself last night as Detroit pulled away in the 3rd quarter?
Conversely, on opening night he was playing a wonderful inside and out game with Webber at least and the Sixers offense flowed until the final minutes of regulation in a beautiful fashion.
However, the Sixers do seemingly need to also try to get at least Andre Iguodala more involved - he has had only 13 shots in the opening two games and this athletic sop re right now does not appear to be a part at all of any consistent offensive sets.
4. Guard John Salmons continues to impress, and contributed 13 points last night. Right now, he appears to be the reserve guard that Cheeks has the most confidence in to spell Iverson after a very strong pre-season, although Kevin Ollie did get in for 17 minutes last night but was not a major contributor offensively with just 4 points and no assists.
5. Cheeks appeared down but committed to turning things around quickly, after the first game tough loss, which he like his players felt they should have won. One cannot discount that Webber and others seem to enjoy having this "players coach" on the sidelines. Surely, he is greatly respected in Philadelphia for his past heady play as a point guard and as a former assistant coach but how will the Sixers respond if they continue to struggle early in the year?
Cheeks was very outspoken that his teams discrepancy in assists would simply not get it done after the game last night (AP report); and I expect he will be stressing that fact and defensive intensity and strategy in film sessions prior to the upcoming "back to back".
I for one, am confident that we will see a more inspired effort than last night against the Bobcats and the Pacers, but based on the early results, at least defensively, the Sixers may be in for some early season struggles.
However, don't discount that with a healthy appearing Webber, Iverson's talents and compe iveness, and Cheeks track record in the NBA and life - that they will not soon turn it around.
Essential to this will be to get Iguolada more involved and others. John Salmons has shown the capacity to score and may be on the court more with Iverson as well, but reserve Kevin Ollie and Lee Dailon also have to step up their games. Meanwhile, Hunter and others will have to try and pull down more "rebounds by committee", as Chris Webber cannot do this alone for the Sixers. It will also be important for Cheeks to recognize that although winning is important in these early games, he will need to monitor the minutes of especially Webber, but one also wonders if Iverson, can continue to do what he did last season, i.e., play over 40 minutes each night at his pace, without suffering an injury that could truly hurt the Sixers ability to compete in the East.
Cheeks made another comment on the radio interview on WPEN that in the past his teams often had winning streaks later in the season of 10-12 games or so. It is not implausible to see the Sixers at least rolling off a 5-10 game streak if their defense can improve, Webber continues to play strong, and Dalembert comes back healthy and proves to be, as expected, a major defensive "force in the middle".
Therefore, it is too early to panic, but I am sure Cheeks is appropriately concerned, and I expect to see impressive efforts in the near future and perhaps as early as this week in the upcoming back to back against the Bobcats and the Pacers.
Next week is an interesting stretch at home that includes Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant of the Lakers and Dallas with its talented roster that is capable of challenging in the West. By that time, I hope I have something more positive to definetely say on the "State of the Sixers" after facing a lot of talented players and teams.
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