Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Posted: 9 p.m.
By Dei Lynam
CSNPhilly.com
Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider was on hand at the Sixers Wednesday practice. He and Doug Collins were arm and arm when the team huddle broke. The chairman was sporting a Sixers sweatsuit, though he was wearing an orange shirt underneath.
His presence was a much-appreciated sign of support on the eve of Thursdays Game 3 against the Miami Heat.
Before Wednesday nights slate of games, the Sixers are in one of five playoff series that have completed two games and in four of those series the home team has a 2-0 advantage. All has not been lostas a matter of fact much has been gained.
We cant push fast forward, life doesnt work that way, Doug Collins said. Michael Jordan, it took him seven years and 125 teammates to win a championship. Do I want to win the games? Absolutely, nobody competes more than I do. But the growth of these young guys, as a franchise, that is what we are looking at. Right now, standing here, I know that the seeds have been laid. The culture has been laid for this franchise to become an elite franchise.
We have to grow up and this is helping us grow up. I hope we grow up by winning a game on Thursday.
NBA
The Sixers are one of the more inexperienced teams playing in the postseason and there is no substitute for having that. Andre Iguodala has 19 playoff games under his belt, though he has never advanced to the second round. He does remember how much he learned playing against the Pistons twice in his postseason career.
When you go through these experiences, whether a guy is playing good or bad, theres growth just in terms of the caliber of the team you are going up against, Iguodala said. You should learn a lot from them. When I first got here and we were playing against Detroit in the playoffs, I learned so much from that team, Tayshaun (Prince), and Chauncey (Billups). That has helped me improve so much over the years in the league.
Jrue Holiday has played well in his first two career playoff games, averaging 15.5 points, four rebounds, 3.5 assists and one turnover in 36 minutes a night. His eyes and ears are open at all times, soaking in as much from his surroundings as possible.
Because we are playing the Miami Heat and because we are playing against three all-stars I think we are learning a lot, he said. I think we learned a lot just playing them two games straight. We learn a lot from the perspective of how to be winners and what we need to do to win, even though we are young and they are a veteran team because you can always learn something from a veteran team.
Collins continues to reiterate that the Sixers need to score the ball to have a fighting chance. Iguodala has averaged 4.5 points while shooting just 27 percent from the floor. Iguodala came to the Wells Fargo Center after Wednesdays practice to put up hundreds of shots in an effort to get those numbers to rise. Miami has definitely made his offensive life, and that of his teammates, miserable.
What I have been trying to do is set the tone for the team to get good looks, Iguodala said. They want you to quick-shoot. They want you to take bad shots because that is how they get in transition. Essentially, they are a really good team. Joel (Anthony) does a good job of protecting the basket. I think what they want me to do is attack them and then when I do get by my defender two bigs come up and they want our bigs to take shots outside the paint.
I think for our guys if they could come out and see the ball go in the basket a little bit would be such a lift, Collins said after watching his team shoot 34 percent in the last seven quarters. People who have ever played a sport when you miss a lot of shots it can be demoralizing and it takes a little bit of your spirit away. Thats what happened the other night between their defense and us missing a dunk, a lay-up and three free throws early in the game. We just couldnt find the basket.
Consider this: There are seven playoff teams that have at least two players averaging more points than the Sixers leading scorer, which is Thaddeus Young at 19 a game and Young is the only guy coming off the bench that leads his team in scoring.
The Sixers were built to be well-balanced, but dominance seems to be the answer for postseason success.
Go get all the playoff games that were won this year and check the two leading scorers in that game, Collins advised. See how many points they scored (combined). The fewest is 42. Derrick Rose had to get 75 in two games to beat the No. 8 seed, 72 for (Kevin) Durant and (Russell) Westbrook in the first game and 50 points for LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
There are two guys usually that will carry the load scoring. Thats why we have to score the ball. At the end of the day, you are not going to shut Miami out. If you can keep them to 94 points I think you have a great chance to beat them.
The Sixers held the Heat to 97 points in Game 1, 94 points in Game 2. In the regular season, that average for points allowed (95.5) would rank eighth-best in the NBA.
The Sixers ability to score off the stops they are actually getting would certainly help their cause and ease their minds. Fast breaks are fewer in the second season, but they do not have to be extinct.
I think if we get stops on defense I think we can still get out and get open shots, Holiday said. The first game that is how we played and that is how we got out in the open floor. I think it depends on our defense and then getting points in transition.
That said, we do have to make shots in the half court. They obviously can do that. For us it takes paying attention to detail, execute our plays better, run our plays better, go through them harder and we will get good shots out of that.
E-mail Dei Lynam at dlynam@comcastsportsnet.com
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