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

Who: Heat (26-22) @ Sixers (24-24)

What: A very evenly matched game with the Heat coming into Philly to take on the now Elton Brand-less Sixers. As everyone now knows, Brand will have season-ending surgery to fix the shoulder that has given him problems for six weeks. The Sixers need to overcome the loss by playing sound basketball and keeping the team atmosphere that has helped them get back to the .500 point after an ugly start to the season.

Miami comes in playing up and down basketball, pretty much in the same fashion as the Sixers. One night they can look insanely good, the next can be a pain to watch. Dwyane Wade will pose problems on the Sixers unless they use their wingmen to counteract him. Look for Iguodala to be matchup with Wade all night. Though, it may not mean much, the guy is so good.

Where: Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA

When: 7pm, CSN Philly

Why (The Sixers need this win): Basically to show everyone they can keep winning without Brand and that the Sixers can hang with anyone in the East. This would be a nice statement win for Iggy and the Stooges, and would push them closer to both Detroit and Miami for the five and six seeds, respectively.

How (The Sixers will win): By containing Wade to the best of their abilities, most likely by keeping a long arm in front of him. While its impossible to stop him completely, keeping him from going off will help. I know im not saying things that aren't already known, but Wade is one of the best scorers in the game, and the rest of the Heat team is struggling in that department.

Also, keep running! Try and speed past the Heat and finally, the team will be over .500.