Sixers outclassed by Lakers

Turnovers

The crux of the problem last night were turnovers, with enough blame to go around to the entire starting lineup. There simply aren't going to be very many games won when your starting lineup turns the ball over 17 times. The seven first quarter turnovers were bad enough (and kept the Lakers close), but then starting the second half with three before scoring a point pretty much sealed the win for the Lakers.

Iverson and the way-back machine

I thought Iverson was terrible in the first half. Ironic that in the second half he was the only reason worth watching. His performance in the 3rd quarter reminded you why he was so captivating early in his career, and for a moment you almost believed he could single-handedly bring the Sixers back.

It was a brief moment. But fun.

Kobe

I thought Holiday played very good defense on Kobe, forcing him into a few turnovers off of contested drives in the lane and pretty much contesting every attempt. Even when Kobe went off in the fourth, I can't complain about the defensive effort. A player of that quality is going to make contested jumpers. The Sixers contested him, and when he put the ball on the floor kept him from getting to the paint at will.

On the flip side, Kobe's always been a capable defender on Iverson, and after Iverson got hot and they switched Kobe onto him it pretty much killed the Sixers run.

Big-men play

Despite Paul Jolovitz's protest, I do agree with Eddie Jordan that the big men did a great job controlling the paint. Did the Sixers get outscored? Sure. They were also playing the best frontcourt in the NBA and held their own. Brand was a beast down the stretch blocking shots and forcing turnovers, and Dalembert did a much better job on Bynum than he did last year.

Do I agree with the way Eddie Jordan handled the media? No. After saying he thought the Sixers interior defense was phenomenal, he then complained that he didn't know how the media would twist it. After Paul Jolovitz questioned Jordan on the statement, he said that if he couldn't see the effort that he didn't know basketball.

I may not agree with Jolovitz's side of the argument, but I definitely don't agree with Jordan's handling of the situation.

Questionable minutes

Louis Williams did not play in the second half, and was apparently unhappy about it, which he showed by complaining on his (private) twitter account. I had no problem with it. During the minutes Williams got in the first half I thought he was playing poorly, on both ends of the court.

Could this become an issue? Williams was benched 5 games ago, and had already gone from a 33-35 minute per game player to a 25 minute per game player. He's played less than 20 minutes in a game exactly twice this year, the last two games. If this continues, could the team have a potential distraction? I think we might be on the precipice of one already.

Random player thoughts

Obviously, Iguodala's struggles are going to gain a lot of attention, and deservedly so. He was obviously struggling offensively, and has failed to reach double digits in scoring in 4 of his last 5 games (while playing 40+ minutes in 3 of those 4). His averages during that span (11 points, 7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 35% shooting, 40 minutes) aren't going to blow anybody away. He's still playing good defense (although lost track of Artest a few too many times early in last night's game), but how much of his offensive struggles have to do with the trade rumors? I'd probably lean towards this just being a slump, but it's something to watch.

After the game Jordan said he thought Iguodala (who only took 7 attempts in nearly 43 minutes) left shots on the court.

For a game in which Thaddeus Young struggled offensively, I thought he contributed more than he normally does. Granted, usually when Young struggles with his shot he's virtually worthless, so it's not saying all that much, but I liked his hustle, thought he grabbed some good defensive boards, gave effort defensively.

In the end, this was a game which the Sixers were outclassed. Iverson's 3rd quarter helped keep the game respectable, and watchable.

Player of the game: Allen Iverson. Brand was just as deserving, but Iverson kept the game entertaining.
Stat of the game: in 8:44 seconds of playing time, Louis Williams failed to get a rebound, assist, steal or block.
Boxscore