I was just relaxing on my couch watching the Sixers/Wizards game last Friday night. The Sixers had made a good first impression for me. I know it was only a preseason game and the Wizards are awful but it was fun to watch. They looked in mid-season form. You had Lou Williams and Elton Brand knocking down jumpers left and right. Holiday was looking like a future star that he is.
Spencer Hawes looked thinner and quicker on his feet out there. I tell you what Graig Brackins has a nice looking jumper. Don’t really know if that will translate into the season though. May take over Speights spot. Considering that he came to camp out of shape to no surprise to me.
Thus brings me to my main point Evan Turner. Turner, who came out with a ton of energy needed to take a deep breath at first. He just seemed to me that he was going too fast for himself but settled in nicely after that. Turner ended up having 16 points 7 rebounds and 3 assists against the Wizards. The key to me was that he played thirty-minutes. I can see Turner putting up those numbers if he gets that much time. The question is will he?
Right now Jodie Meeks is slotted at the two-guard position. I understand why Meeks is in the starting five. He is able to creat space on the floor with his shooting ability. Turner needs thirty-minutes. The Sixers did not draft him with the number two overall pick just to be a role player. Obviously, he has Iguadala blocking his path also.
Do you trade Iggy? Yes, like I said before if the right deal comes along. So what does Collins do then? I am not saying he should start right now. I am telling you for the third time.
EVAN TURNER NEEDS THIRTY MINUTES a game.
Collins used him more as a point-guard and had “Sweet” Lou at the two guard position on Friday night. Evan plays well with the ball in his hands. He has very good handle and does a nice job of creating his own shot. I would still like to see him play off the ball more in which he struggle with in his rookie campaign.
With all that said he put in a ton of time in with Herb Magee this off-season trying to make his jumper more fluid. I know it was only one game but his shot did look more fluid than last year. Here’s hoping that his hard work pays off for him. By the way, Rashard Lewis is the second-highest paid player in the NBA. LOL. Nice trade Washington. Real nice.
Is it safe to assume Joe, that you are starting to get a “Man-Crush” on Turner too…Your not leaving many athletes left in the Philly area Joe…. ha ha
Paulman I know. LOL. I love Turner and Holiday a ton
evan can getthirty without changing much. the difference between 15 mins a game and thirty is 3:15 a quater. Just change the sub pattern a little… if he ups his play to that high level on the reg, he’ll get those minutes. Meeks productivity wanes with more time, if hes shooting well play him, if not give turer the bulk of those minutes.
Joe, I don’t think is going to happen right away, especially with
Meeks starting & stink @$$ Iguodala still on this team. For the life of me, I can’t understand this infatuation, that they have with Iggy. He stinks & is highly overrated. He is a cancer to the progression of this team. They just signed Thadd to that big contract & drafted Turner 2nd overall to come off the bench. Our bench is better than our starters. It is asinine & doesn’t make a lick of sense. They missed the boat again by not trading Iggy the hell out of here, & they made a mistake by not using the exception on Brands, inflated contract for the next 2 years. Play the young guys, so they can gain chemistry & cohesion, for the long run. They aren’t going to win anything with Brand & Iggy anyways. Jrue, Turner, & Thadd are the future of this team anyways. I JUST DON”T GET IT. Teams are out there making good moves to better their teams, but we are worrying about f^#@ing useless mascots. SWEET JESUS!
BTW, on a real team, Meeks is 8 man at best. He is highly inconsistent, with a poor shooting percentage, & plays zero DF. So what the hell is Collins doing? Like I said, I JUST DON’T GET IT!
he will get 30 mins, at least like you said… he should.
I think the sixers will have a good season this year, and could even be in the mix for a home playoff series… it sounds crazy, but here is why. The sixers are very deep, and have about 7-8 players they can rotate in and out of the starting lineup, and will closely watching players minutes, and rotating people all year. I think this season is going to be closer than any season we have had lately, and the tighter schedule is why. You can have all the stars you want, but they cant play 48 mins every night when you have 5 games in 7 nights, so teams like the sixers who have youth and depth can compete with these upper echelon teams in the standings, and I think this will happen throughout the NBA… (watch how good the nuggets are this year, and I’m prepared to eat my foot later when they stink)
Hopefully David Stern notices this and perhaps in the future, makes the schedule a little tighter, with less days off, to give these smaller teams a chance to compete. If the younger and deeper teams can compete with the lakers, heat, and mavs of the world.. the NBA would be a better league for everyone
I think Turner sucks. But that’s just me personally. Some ppl like what they see in him……I don’t see a basketball star though….at all.
Holiday however, is a different story. That kid is something special.
I see Turner as a solid, good-all around player… He’s not a Super Star by any stretch and I am not so sure many people said that he ever would be ..He’s 25-30 Minute a Game player who will give you 12-16 points, 3-5 Rebouds, 3-4 Assists and play decent Defense…
I don’t ever seeing him excelling in any particular area.. He’s not a great natural shooter, top notch defender, a great ball-handler but I think he’s good enough in all these areas and as he improves his overall skills with his Basketball IQ,Hard work and Good Coaching. I see him as solid, productive NBA Player and have a good 8-10 Year Career in the NBA and there is nothing wrong with that…
Paulman — there is NOTHING wrong with what you just said except for the last sentence.
When you get the 2nd overall pick in the NBA Draft, that kid better turn out to be a SUPERSTAR. It’s pretty much saying that only ONE other player was better than him in the entire draft. That’s saying something.
You can get solid, productive NBA players in the 2nd round and in Free Agency — a 2nd overall pick should develop into a superstar and leader of the team.
That’s just my opinion.
I would say that is your hope Birdo when you are Drafting #2, but look at last years Draft Class, what SUPERSTAR do you think was in that Draft Class
Look at the Top 15 Selections Birdo
#1) J Wall
#2) E Turner
#3) D Favors
#4) W Johnsons
#5) D Cousins
#6) E Udoh
#7) G Monroe
#8) A Aminu
#9) G Hayward
#10) P George
#11) C Aldrich
#12) X Henry
#13) E DAvis
#14) P Patterson
#15) L Sanders
Who is the next NBA SUPERSTAR from this List Birdo…
Probably Wesley Johnson, DeMarcus Cousins, A Amino have the biggest upside in the next couple of Seasons fdue to their sheer athleticism, but do any of these players reach Superstar Level, I think not..
Bad draft to be #2. NBA draft is such a crap shoot with kids coming out after 1 year and all the international players. The thing I like about Turner is that he is willing to work on his game, and he will be a good pro.
That’s what I mean Bugs, I am tired of fans beating up the Sixers for taking Turner at #2 ..Does anyone think the Players after him are “Franchise Players”, because I don’t… which is why it difficult to get a Franchise Player which only happens a couple of Drafts.. Look around the NBA with 30 Teams and 12 players each team .. so out of approx 350 NBA players, how many Franchise players are there… Kobe, Lebron,Durant,Dwayne Wade, D Howard, Rose, Nowtizki… and maybe a few more.. It’s not like these type of players are growing on Trees and availalbe every Draft…
Agreed. If he can get to what you suggested above, that is a pretty solid player. He has been working on his shot, and I would like to see him work on his defense, and I honestly think that he will.
Turner will eventually break into the starting line up but in my opinion i like there current rotation. the 2 team with Lou Thad and Turner could be a starting three on a different team. seriously if you think about it. So there fine there in my opinion. If we wanna look back to that draft i wanted the sixers to draft cousins but it didnt happen. I think cousins will be a very good player down the road but so will turner. But honestly we cant rush to judgement because usually the 3rd year is the tell all. Players in there 3rd year show whether they have what it takes or if they dont. We just really need to be patient..
Cousin’s can be a stud but is very temperamental and immature which will limit his rise to Stardom in my opinion… Aminu is an under the radar player who will get better and better and has the consistent energy level, maturity and coachability to make a name for himself..
I agree paul with the cousins and aminu comments.. Evan has a chance to really blossom this year too but like i said the 3rd year is the tell all for all players. Im going to say this now i think John Wall isnt as good as everyone thinks. I honestly think Jrue Holiday has more upside than him at the PG position. I think Wall has no control when hes on the court he just goes 100 mph, maybe in his 3rd year he ll have more control but this year wont be in my opinion. But Jrue on the other hand is in his 3rd year and i see some big things coming from him and hes actually the same age as Wall. So if any wants to make comparisons it should be between wall and holiday not wall and turner who play 2 different positions… just saying…
I agree 100%, Wall plays too much “street ball” still to be an elite NBA Guard at this stage of his Career… Once Hollidays gets that 15-18 ft Jumper down consistently, he can be every good as Mo Cheeks was as far as running an offense and hitting the open shot when called upon.. and I consider Mo Cheeks probably the best pure Point-Guard to ever play for the 76ers,
True. But really i think his jumper is consistent already. Andif hes open from 3 he knocks it down every time. the kid can ball. Hes only 21 but makes some smart decisions out there..
Honestly though paul i think hes going to be better than Mo Cheeks.. Mo could hit that jumper and was a great floor general but this kid Jrue can shoot can control the flow of the game and can average 20pts a game with 6-7 assist a game along with 5 boards… hes like no other PG weve had here im being so serious. And im saying this and hes only 21.. unreal
I hope your right Jon, what I liked the best about Cheeks is that he was consistent year in and year out and a real leader, if Holiday evolves into this , it will be great to see good basketball played in Philly again.. ..