A Rant About A Sixers Game

This rant has been brewing for years. But it finally boiled over after the last Sixers game vs the Portland Trail Blazers. Let me give you the details of the game. Sixers were in the game almost the entire time. They had so many turnovers it wasn’t even right. At least 20 of them. It was like, “Here you go Blazers. Take another crack at it!” Their perimeter defense was terrible and made it hard to take any form of a lead. Sixers spent probably 47 minutes of the game trailing. Here is my quote when the Sixers scored the first basket of the game “Oh well at least they can say they lead during the season.” Indeed, I was on to something as they never lead after that. They would make a run to get back in the game and Blazers answered every time. Down by double digits with only a few minutes left, Sixers made yet another run at the Blazers to bring it within two with only seconds left.

The good news stops there. Sixers find themselves down by 3 with about maybe 15 seconds left. In the next 9 seconds of playing time I witnessed something so frustrating it’s not even funny. If you saw the game you may know where I’m heading. Andre Iguodala gets the inbound pass. Dribbles around the arc and takes a 3. Ok sure you’re down by three so let’s get a three pointer to even things up. Send it to OT where you have a somewhat better chance. But here’s what was wrong with the shot:

• Andre Iguodala took the shot
• He tried shooting it over Lamarcus Aldridge, who is 6’11 and with long arms.
• Andre was WAY behind the perimeter line.

I would have accepted this if not for this last point: There was 8 seconds left in the game when he took the shot.

Now why in the world would you take a very difficult shot from that far away? There was time left! He could have passed it around or get himself closer to the line. Andre can’t shoot! He never could hot the three ball. He did hit two big 3′s to keep the Sixers in the game late in the fourth. But c’mon Andre, give yourself a chance. the shot selection he took might as well be Shaq taking the three-pointer. Really? Pass it to Jodie Meeks or Lou Williams.

And so the rant begins. I must have spent about 30 minutes just literally rambling and ranting about the game and about the team. Sixers finished somewhere close to 7-18 in games decided by 5 points or less. Sixers have been in this situation so many times last season. You would think they picked something up. I know they didn’t have a go-to guy. A clutch guy. But again, Andre, who is not a very good shooter, took a near impossible shot with way too much time left on the clock to even justify it. It wasn’t like he was trying to beat the buzzer. There were EIGHT seconds left when he took the shot. Get a clue. You’re not Reggie Miller. You’re not Larry Bird. You’re not a shooter.

I’m so sick and tired of seeing the same crap every game. I’m tired of the “young and still learning”. Andre has been around long enough. And get away from me with the “I love the resiliency of this team.” The new story line should be how they are able to get a handle of the games. I saw the Sixers get to the finals in 2001. I saw them fall in 03-04 and 09-10. I have seen wonderful surprises and heartbreak. For the past 4 seasons it’s been the same, “Sixers go down but not out.” It’s time to go to the next level. Consistency please!

Look I know how young this team is. Mistakes will be made. 20 turnovers? Not good. Bad shots? Not good. If the Sixers lost by 20 but played their very best ball, I would be OK with that loss. The shots were good but just were not falling. They played great “D” but it was just better “O”. I can handle games like that. They gave it their all but lost at the buzzer. I don’t want to see 20 turnovers every night. If Andre took that wild shot to beat the buzzer and there was no time to get a better look via for him or a pass, I would be perfectly fine with it. But the fact that he’s not a shooter and that there was way too much time left, I just can’t accept it.

I get seasons mixed up because the same players do the same things each game. It’s all one long season to me now-a-days. Whose fault is it? I don’t know. I’m not here to point fingers. I just to see improvement. Sixers haven’t had a winning season in so long. 41-41 for a couple of seasons and 40-42 for another. Are you kidding me? How long before we get over the hump people? I’m most certainly willing to wait for Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner to develop. But if it doesn’t work out, I think I may just give up. They have 3 more years to show a serious sign of improvement. New ownership may not be willing to seriously dive into rebuilding the team. If that’s the case, 41-41 with a first round exit in the playoffs combined with the “We’re going to improve with this team” crap is going to be the norm. and I’m not on board for that. Not at all.

A flat line on a heart monitor means you’re dead. And honestly, Sixers have been a straight line for a long time. There’s nothing fun about a straight line. Even the stock market lines move up and down. It’s a part of how we live. Ups and downs. staying on that same path like a mind controlled robot sucks. New ownership will let the fans know exactly what they intend on doing by the end of the season. If they do nothing, 41-41. If they make moves to gear up for signing or drafting a big guy, 20-62, 41-41, and 62-20. No I’m not saying it’ll take three years to contend but you sometimes have to get bad, to be great.

Ok I’m calming down now. I just can’t take the bs anymore. Any Sixer fan probably feels the same way. I want to see some winning basketball. I’ve got about 3 years left of patience. Are my demands unreasonable? Perhaps. Are they understandable? I’d say so.

---