Week in Review: Not good

Dalembert was seen wearing this

The All-Star break can be a help or a hindrance. In this case, it was the latter.

The Sixers came out of the long weekend and now find themselves losers of three straight, and in each loss the team failed to score more than 91 points. So much for pushing the pace.

In the three games this past week, their shooting percentages have been downright awful, hitting 38.5, 32.6, and 37.1 against Indiana, Denver, and Miami. Their three-point shooting has been a major problem as well, going 2-13, 4-13, 4-18 over the same three games. The Sixers needed to upgrade at the deadline by adding a shooter, but they could not get a deal done and are paying the price. They continue to heave up three's that they have no business shooting. Their so-called outside shooters, Willie Green and Lou Williams, are struggling. Williams is hitting less than 29 percent of his three's while Green is knocking down only 30 percent. It's hard to win in this league when you can only shoot inside of 18 feet.

While the defense has been good, it's just not enough to offset the ugly perimeter game. The inside game hasnt been there much either, as Sam Dalembert, an avid complainer, is not getting it done. Dalembert continues to make excuses, but the fact of the matter is, his offense sucks. He is complaining about a lack of playing time, but does he really deserve to be on the court for more than 25 minutes?

At this point, the Sixers best bet would be to go small and run, run, run. The lack of an outside threat hurts that notion, but the slowdown half-court sets are getting uglier by the quarter. They have the speed and athleticism to run people out of the gym, but shy away from the up-tempo game unelss it is off of turnovers. Instead of Dalembert, try Speights in the starting lineup and keep running. The rookie mistakes will be there, and the interior D may take a hit, but the fast-paced game would proivde the team a spark it really needs.

Luckily, Andre Miller's calf injury was not as bad as it looked, or the Sixers would be in trouble. He was fine on Saturday, putting up a season-high 30 points. But when your starting point guard puts up 30 and you're team as a whole scores just 91, something is missing. The 32-year old PG can't do it all, so someone needs to step up.

Andre Iguodala is somehow shooting 46 percent on the year, because his three point percentage is an awful 26 percent. Since the break, Iggy is just 13-40 from the field, and has hit one triple. For a guy who supposedly worked on his outside shooting, whatever he did didn't work. The $80 million man has to step up IMMEDIATELY.

Another loss or two, and the Sixers could be on the outside looking in. Thankfully Detroit is playing sloppy too, or this team would be sinking deeper. The fourth seed seemed like a reality seven days ago. Now, it's a fantasy.

Game Time

White out!!!

Who: Sixers (27-24) @ Pacers (21-33)

What: Don't let the record fool ya'. The Pacers may be 12 games under-.500, but they can strike at any moment. They play an uptempo brand of basketball that puts no premium on defense whatsoever. Their 107 opponents points per game is third worst in the NBA, and dead last in the East. Another telling stat is their penchant for fouling. On average, the Pacers opponent shoots 30 free throws per contest, also dead last.

Led by All-Star Danny Granger, the Pacers hang due to their three-point shooting. They literally live or die by it, and so far this year, they have died often. Indiana chucks 21 three-balls per game, making eight. That puts them in the middle of the pack in the NBA. Basically, all roads go through Granger and everyone else prays their shot is falling. They don't have much size in the middle, but are primarily perimeter oriented.

One awesome thing about the Pacers is the possibility of a white-out when all players are healthy. A white-out is five white guys on the court at one time, which happens about as often as a lunar eclipse in the NBA.

Where: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

When: 7pm, CSN Philly

Why (The Sixers need this win): It's all about the corny cliches; starting off on the right foot, making the most of a clean slate, making a stand in the second half, all of that B.S. applies here. The Sixers could be four games over-.500 for the first time since the 03-04 season (I kid you not) or they could drop in the standings and allow Detroit to jump them.

A win shows they are not rusty coming out of the break, which is important for this club. The Sixers had been red-hot since the start of 2009, and they don't want that to end now. Iggy and the Stooges need to show they are capable of winning on the road, but that won't be easy considering Indiana is four games over-.500 at Conseco. Something's gotta give.

How (The Sixers will win): Shutting down Danny Granger is a start. He averages over 25 per game, but has been slowed by a knee injury which has affected his shooting. Granger is hitting less than 40 percent of his shots over his last five games.

Other than Granger, it's about stopping the three's from raining. Pretty much everyone on the roster can pull from deep and without much of an inside game, the focus needs to be squarley put on the shooters like T.J. Ford, Troy Murphy and others. Stop the three, stop Indiana!

Prediction: Sixers win on the back of the D, which should cause some turnovers against a sloppy Pacers team. (Sixers W 108-102)