11/8 - Giving Sixers fans a case of the Wednesdays

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Mazzula just got into a back and forth about the number of 3's they took during his presser.

Here's the reality:

The C's went 15/47 from deep for 31.9% and 45 points.

They went 21/43 from inside the arc for 49% and that translates to 42 points.

Tatum and KP were 2/6, Jaylen was 2/7, Pritch was 0/2, White was 3/11 and Al was 1/6 from deep. Most of those looks were pretty damn open. If they make just 2 or 3 more of those open looks and if KP converts on 2 dunks, this game is completely different.

It's so, so far away from worrying. Just stay healthy. It's all I really care about.

I completely agree. Stay healthy and let the rotation develop. This will likely change as the season evolves but if I had to guess, their missing piece is another scorer with a bit of a midrange type of game just to give opponents another look. Today I have Alec Burks in my shopping basket for this team.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

I've been quiet on CJM after killing him (maybe a little unfairly) last year. I want him to succeed, but Im really underwhelmed with him.

Don't be talking about the current NBA's Coach of the Year favorite like that.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

I completely agree. Stay healthy and let the rotation develop. This will likely change as the season evolves but if I had to guess, their missing piece is another scorer with a bit of a midrange type of game just to give opponents another look. Today I have Alec Burks in my shopping basket for this team.

A simple “get buckets” situational pro like that would be nice.

 

[bankshot1]

Don't be talking about the current NBA's Coach of the Year favorite like that.

I'm not much of a prop bettor, but I might take a nibble on the other side of that one.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

A simple “get buckets” situational pro like that would be nice.

He comes fairly cheap (C's can take on his salary per all the front page stuff) so I am guessing he'll have a market. But a guy like that would be a great rotational piece given all their other parts.

 

[Light-Tower-Power]

We’ve played the “if they just shot average on good looks…” game for a couple years now. I’m all good with that logic. I’m not saying it isn’t technically accurate but I’d hope the team does not hold that expectation because it hasn’t worked yet.

This is where I’m at. They need to work harder to get great looks vs. good looks. A lot of the dribbling around above the break then one pass into a three isn’t that great. They may be open but they’re not in rhythm.

I’m not in sky is falling mode by any means but I will admit I have roughly zero fucking patience for sloppy play and sky high expectations given the roster and what we’ve endured over the past two years.

 

[OnTheBlack]

Sky is falling.

Sky isn’t falling, and they will get better as they gel - but the expectations for this roster are the title and they have lost to the only two teams playing well on the schedule so far. Both times the offense looking very defendable. It’s a concern. They aren’t a perfect team and that’s not saying the sky is falling.

 

[kieckeredinthehead]

This is where I’m at. They need to work harder to get great looks vs. good looks. A lot of the dribbling around above the break then one pass into a three isn’t that great. They may be open but they’re not in rhythm.

Open catch and shoot threes are the best shot in the game (maybe barring open dunks, which unfortunately they missed tonight, too). When the tracking data’s available, I suspect we’ll see they took and missed a lot of them tonight. I have no idea how you would go about quantifying whether they were “in rhythm” or not or how you would even define that.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

This is where I’m at. They need to work harder to get great looks vs. good looks. A lot of the dribbling around above the break then one pass into a three isn’t that great. They may be open but they’re not in rhythm.

I’m not in sky is falling mode by any means but I will admit I have roughly zero fucking patience for sloppy play and sky high expectations given the roster and what we’ve endured over the past two years.

You can probably attribute much of the offensive flow issues with the ball going through Jrue and Porzingis much of the time so there isn't much cohesiveness yet. Once everyone gets familiar with knowing when and where their looks are coming from I'm sure their timing and rhythm will improve. You have a short preseason and right into the games without players knowing when/where these shots are coming.....we almost have too much offense on that starting unit and a lack of roster balance.

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

The numbers suggest the tight game the score does: 12 turnovers each, steals and blocked shots basically the same, free throws basically the same. Sixers got off four more shots, but Cs shot 13 more threes, so they didn't lose the math problem.

You can maybe point to rebounds, where Sixers had 13 more, but they only had three extra offensive rebounds and it's mostly explained by more missed Cs shots.

And Cs had 8 more assists, so it really doesn't seem like they were being out-offensed or something.

Sixers held the Cs under 40% shooting on their home court and pulled out a 3-point victory. I'm sure they're not in love with their finishing minutes where they almost blew a 12-point lead with three to play.

Hard to see too many huge negatives here.

 

[kieckeredinthehead]

Sixers held the Cs under 40% shooting on their home court and pulled out a 3-point victory. I'm sure they're not in love with their finishing minutes where they almost blew a 12-point lead with three to play.

15! Harris hit the dagger to make it 102-87 with a little more than 3 to go. The Sixers were up 14 with 2 minutes to play and the ball. Then the Celtics went on a 13-2 run in under 90 seconds.

 

[kieckeredinthehead]

Open catch and shoot threes are the best shot in the game (maybe barring open dunks, which unfortunately they missed tonight, too). When the tracking data’s available, I suspect we’ll see they took and missed a lot of them tonight. I have no idea how you would go about quantifying whether they were “in rhythm” or not or how you would even define that.

To follow up on this..

Last night 25% of their shots were 3’s taken with the closest defender 6+ feet away (more than the 17% season average). They shot 26% on those chances (season average is 35%). Contested shots and shots with the defender 2-6 feet were all in line with season average.

In terms of rhythm, the percentage of 3’s taken with <2 seconds touch, 2-6 seconds, and 6+ seconds were all in line with season averages. Makes on shots with touch <2 seconds were also similar (35% season average vs 34% last night). On the season, they’re making 42% of 3’s with 2-6 seconds touch; last night they made 29%. On the season they’re making 35% of 3’s with 6+ seconds, last night they made 20%.

Which is all to say that they had a bunch of good open looks and just bricked them.

 

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