I Bet You ...

Friday, November 6, 2009

At the end of Thursday’s shootaround a gentleman’s bet between head coach and assistant coach was made on whether or not Samuel Dalembert could make a three pointer. Jordan said no; his assistant was in Sam’s corner. Dalembert proceeded to bank in the three. Jordan couldn’t believe his eyes, while Dalembert was fired up.

I am not expecting long-range jump shooting from Dalembert against the Nets but I am predicting a solid performance despite the fact that he is going up against Brook Lopez, who has had success against the Sixers, including a 24-point, 17-rebound game in Philadelphia last January.

Dalembert says, “He took advantage of what the defense gave him. We figured that out and we just need to  give him his respect and make sure we are guarding everybody else.”

Given the result the last time out for the Sixers (105-74 loss to Boston) Eddie Jordan is not worried that his squad will take the 0-5 Nets lightly.

“To get your tush handed to you the way Boston handed it to us then you should be ready to play no matter who you are playing against,” Eddie Jordan said Thursday morning.

The Nets likely will have only nine guys available to play, with three starters out of the mix. Devin Harris and Yi Jianlian are sidelined with injury. Chris Douglas Roberts did not travel with the team because of the flu. There is an outside chance that he could make his own way to Philadelphia before tonight’s start.

New Jersey has just one player available that plays the point guard position that would be Rafer Alston. He will most likely be joined in the back court by rookie Terrence Williams. The Sixers back court of Lou Williams and Andre Iguodala need to take advantage of both individual match-ups; Iguodala with his experience and Williams with his ability to get to the rim.

Get stops and get out on the break. New Jersey is averaging just 89 points and they are allowing 103. Those two numbers would say the Sixers should be able to force their up-tempo preferred style of play.

“That is the way we like to play. That is when we are most effective. But we have to get stops. They are going to play small; they are going to play off the dribble a lot. And they have guys that can play off the dribble. Watching the Denver game, it was a one point game at half time. So we’ve got to do what we do best – we need to be organized, we have to attack them defensively and turn them over, and we have to get stops and get out and run,” Jordan said.

It would behoove the Sixers to jump on the Nets early and never let up, never letting them find even a little life. New Jersey is short handed, they are lacking confidence and in some articles they are already finger pointing. On their home floor, the Sixers should have the mental and physical edge in this game.