• March 29, 2024

Lack Of Rebounding Hurting Sixers

At 10-8, the Sixers have had an up-and-down start to their season.

They’ve had some nice moments, including an early season victory over the Boston Celtics. They’ve seen some positives from their young roster, including Jrue Holiday, who is beginning to assert himself as one of the top point guards in the Eastern Conference. They’re also one of only four teams in the East to reach 10 wins over the first month of the season, and they’ve done it all without the services of All-Star center Andrew Bynum.

However they’ve also had their share of down moments. They’ve struggled to defeat superior competition, losing a couple of tightly contested games to the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder. They’ve suffered an embarrassing loss to the Detroit Pistons (who entered their match against the Sixers with an 0-8 record), and were run out of their own building last night by the Minnesota Timberwolves on a night where Kevin Love failed to record a double-double for the first time all season.

The most glaring issue that has come to hurt this team repeatedly this season is the lack of production that they’re receiving from the center position. LaVoy Allen, Spencer Hawes, and Kwame Brown have collectively struggled to pick up the slack at the position. None of these guys seem to want to seize the opportunity for playing time presented to them by Bynum’s absence.

During last night’s loss to the Timberwolves, the Sixers were outrebounded 40 to 27. Allen, Hawes, and Brown combined for just 11 rebounds while Minnesota’s Josh Howard (a shooting guard) come up with 10 boards on his own.

This has been a recurring theme throughout the season. The current Sixer centers have shown that they’re an inconsistent, soft bunch that allows opposing bigs to have their way on the glass while offering little to no resistance

Of the guys that they have right now, LaVoy Allen probably has the best chance to step up and develop into a passable option at the position. Allen showed a little potential during last year’s playoff run where he forced himself into the rotation with his excellent play against the Celtics. He has a decent offensive game, but he can’t sustain a high level of play for very long.

Spencer Hawes is a frustrating player to watch. On any given night, he could provide the team with a double-double, but more often than not he’ll give the Sixers a mediocre effort complete with poor shot selection and soft defense. Hawes doesn’t like to get physical in the paint, and would rather be a three-point shooter. With guys like Jason Richardson, Dorell Wright, and Nick Young on the roster, the Sixers have plenty of sharpshooters, they need Hawes to understand that he’s most valuable playing near the basket and Doug Collins has got to force him to do just that.

Kwame Brown is a decent defensive presence, but gives you next to nothing on the offensive end.

The team’s only other legitimate option would be rookie Arnett Moultrie, but the first-round pick seems to be a long way from earning the trust of the coaching staff.

Unless the Sixers can get their rebounding woes under control, they’re going to continue to have problems. The best solution to this issue would be to have Andrew Bynum get onto the court, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon.

Denny Basens

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paulman
paulman
December 5, 2012 1:49 pm

76ers Lack an Identity..
This will be a ho-hum Season with nothing to get all that excited about which is what the NBA has become where you have a few Stacked Teams, a few really Poor/Rebuilding Teams and the middle 20 Teams who are simply .500 Tyhpe of Teams with Players/Teams changing Rosters almost every Season..
It’s a joke of a Leauge who cater to the Superstars only and not the great SPort of Basketball which is rarely played any longer at the NBA Level..
It’s become a Jump-Shooting, PIck and Roll and basically One on One Basketball…Boring I say..

haveacigar
haveacigar
December 5, 2012 2:05 pm
Reply to  paulman

agreed fraud which is why the nba is your business it is why you roll the dice on bynum. you have to take your chances unless you are satisfied being 1 of the 20 middle teams. if bynum fails maybe you end up getting a FA or if they really fail a top pick.
thats the business.

DCar
DCar
December 6, 2012 4:40 am
Reply to  haveacigar

HAC, this team will forever be a middle of the road team, stuck in the black hole of mediocrity forever, unless they get lucky & either draft a stud, or get lucky & hope a good FA comes here. IMHO, neither will ever happen. You can’t draft studs, when your front office is inept, & you wind up barely making, & missing the playoffs every year. Stuck in neutral! Hey, at least we got rid of Stinkadala!

DCar
DCar
December 6, 2012 4:46 am
Reply to  DCar

Having the 2nd pick, & wasting it on ET, will haunt this team for years! Cousins & Favors would look good in RWB right about now.

haveacigar
haveacigar
December 6, 2012 7:05 am
Reply to  DCar

thats the point the nba is a bastard of a game. it kind of sux. sixers had the 2nd pick, that draft class sucked. if you don’t land a GREAT player in the top of the draft you are mired in mediocrity. look at how many misses there are in top 3 players over the last 5 years.

DCar
DCar
December 6, 2012 12:13 pm
Reply to  haveacigar

Agree 100%

paulman
paulman
December 5, 2012 2:08 pm

I will suspend myself (with Full Pay & Benefits of course) from Commenting on the NBA any longer…

1977
1977
December 5, 2012 2:39 pm

Can moultrie get some PT when it matters? he has to be better on the boards than hawes.. he avg 10 + a game in college. how bad is he that he cant get a few minutes when we get out rebounded every game?i knew collins would do this. hes a good coach , never great and will never play his young guys extended minutes. u cant win with a guy like that..the starters will be out of gas by the end of the season. thats why we backed into the playoffs last year…. u wanna see great coaches check out pop and doc.

DCar
DCar
December 6, 2012 4:37 am
Reply to  Denny Basens

Agreed! Mr. Softy Hawes, & Allen are non-factors at 4 & 5. Thadd is not a 4. Give the kid Moultrie a shot, cause it looks like the mutt Bynum will never play here. But I hope he’s still having fun shooting foul shots at Dave & Busters. What a piece of useless, elephant dung!!!!

paulman
paulman
December 6, 2012 1:42 pm

Ever Notice that JH disappears when he calls go wrong..
I haven’t read a comment from him about his Show Your Luv for the 76ers latel.. Then he’ll come on here and say, You guys get a life, I’m busy and have more improtant things to do.. But then when his 76ers win 3-4-5 Games in a Row, he will be on here contstantly telling everyone how great this Team is and how he called how everyone is playing and the rotations that COllins is using yada, yada yada.. Does Anyone else notice this too…

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
December 6, 2012 1:47 pm

Denny you cannot say Jrue Holiday is beginning to assert himself as one of the top point guards in the Eastern Conference when he is the worst pick and roll defender in the Eastern Conference. Jrue’s offense is among the top point guards but when you take into account his defense he is just an average NBA eastern conference point guard.

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
December 6, 2012 1:52 pm

DCar has it correct Thad Young is not a Power Forward —
Denny has an article about rebounding and doesn’t mention Thad Young’s rebounding — teams have figured out the Doug Collins is putting alot of pressure on Evan Turner to defensive rebound so his defensive assignment has begun to drift away from Evan for alot of wide open 3 pointers on lane penetration. ( This is because Thad Young is getting crushed on the boards early that Evan and Jason are having to help out in the paint)

paulman
paulman
December 6, 2012 2:33 pm

Thad Young only Plays Power Forward because the 76ers have no one else and plus Thad cannot shoot the ball from further then 8 Feet fromt he Basket which is why he can’t play the Small/Shooting Forward which has been his problem since he;s come into the NBA..
Thadd Young Size and Athleticism is perfect for the #3/Shooting Forward Spot, but Thadd cannot shoot so Coach Collins is forced to play him out of position versus bigger,stronger players at the #4 Spot to have him on the Floor… I have been saying this for the last 3 Years that he plays out of Position for he does not have the ball/shooting skills to play #3 and also does not have the size/strength to play a #4
The Proverbial Square Piece and a Round Hole that seems to be everywhere in Philly Sport Teams .. It must be contagious coming down Packer Ave

1977
1977
December 6, 2012 6:42 pm

Thads one of the hardest workers on the team but he’s not a starter or a PF. minnesota , knicks chicago,celtics,brooklyn, atl, all have tougher bigger rebounders..You gotta get moutrie in there

paulman
paulman
December 6, 2012 7:01 pm

I agree Thadd is a hard worker and excellent Teammate, but he’s really best suited for 15-18 Minutes off the Bench as a #7 player and bring in energy,defense and some fast break opportunities, he doesn’t handle the ball well, he doesn;t hoot the ball well … I think he should see about getting his eye’s checked though.. I don’t recall ever seeing an NBA Player never shoot the ball the same way twice, his form is all over the place and now in his 5th Season is unacceptable to me.. He is what he is..

paulman
paulman
December 6, 2012 7:37 pm

NHL Labor talks between Ownership and Players Uniton lasted less than 1 Hour before they called off the rest of the meetings..Sounds like a lost season
That have about 1 more Week to get this Deal Done so they can start by early Jaanuary.. If not the Season is over..

Jon Hart
Jon Hart
December 7, 2012 3:42 am

Jrue getting some recognition. He’s entering elite pg status
http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=truehoop&id=52245

Jon Hart
Jon Hart
December 7, 2012 3:53 am

Fraudman- JH never runs. He’s very consistent win or lose. They were on a 3 game win streak then it was snapped the other night yet I stayed quiet. I don’t comment off emotion, what I say makes sense and has validity. We Sixers fans we’re hoping to have the big guy BYNUM down low in the post right about now but it hasn’t happened yet though I see it coming in about 2months unless his condition shows no improvement. But we we’re expecting to be where the knicks are right now but it hasnt happened. I expect the Sixers to have BYNUM around Febuary around allstar break then we ll see what we really have with this team because this entire squad was built for a low post presence.

Jon Hart
Jon Hart
December 7, 2012 10:21 pm

What a game tonight! What a win! Where are all the ET haters at now??!!?? The kid has been on fire! You know what they say about the 3rd year, make or break year, bust or no bust. He is certainly not a bust, in fact hes playing at a very high level. Tonight he had 26 points 10 rebs 5as against a tough tough defensive/ veteran savvy Celtics team… The Sixers are now 11-8 on the year and the Celts 10-9. Great great win..

Where you at Birdo?? Fraudman?? Showyaluv!!!

DCar
DCar
December 8, 2012 4:17 am
Reply to  Jon Hart

JH, agreed. Great game. Was there with my 2 Sons. But lets see some consistency, before anointing him the next coming. He’s still up & down, hot, & cold. Also is there any coincidence that Jrue, ET & Thadd, all look much better, since they got rid of your fraud idol, Stinkadala? Been telling you guys for 2 years, he needed to go, because he sucked, & was holding back the kids growth & chemistry. Now, if the mutt Bynum would stop milking his phantom injury, we could have the making of a legit playoff run, not like the fraudulent one, that we had last year.

DCar
DCar
December 8, 2012 4:18 am
Reply to  DCar

BTW, I hate the Celtics!

daggolden
daggolden
December 8, 2012 7:11 am

Watching game on TV and John Berry said if ET could play the Celtics everynight he would be a all-star. But saying that I give credit where credit is due. He has played alot better. There is no better rebounder in the game at his position he is phenomenal at it. He still looks dopic on the offensive end the only difference is the ball is going in which is all that counts. For some reason his attitude and demeanor just rub me the wrong way and for one of “my guys” to do that is unusual.

paulman
paulman
December 8, 2012 9:04 am

Nice Win by the 76ers who needed a quality win

Biglion821
Biglion821
December 8, 2012 12:33 pm

Very nice win indeed.