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.

Sixers week in review 2/2 - 2/8

The optimist would look at this past week in a positive light. A last second loss to the best in the East, the Boston Celtics and two wins against Eastern Conference opponents Miami and Indiana gave the Sixers a nice start to the month.

The pessimist would turn it around and say that the Boston game was theirs and they blew it in the end. And don't forget about Elton Brand being lost for the season, which puts another ugly spin on the week that was.

So which was it? Was it a good week or a bad one?

I'll take the former. Anytime you nearly beat the Celtics and enjoy a nice win over Miami, who sits a spot ahead of them in the East, it's looking good.

On Tuesday, the Sixers were crushed by a Ray Allen three-pointer with 0.5 seconds left, and went down 100-99. A valiant comeback was overshadowed by the final play. But looking back, it is a learning experience for a still inexperienced club. There had been much discussion about that final play and who should have been guarding Allen in the corner, Thad Young or Sam Dalembert. No matter the answer, it was a mental mistake a time where they needed to play perfect basketball. Remember though, you have to expect this.

Indiana came to town Thursday and gave the Sixers a run for their money, but eventually went down 99-94. The incredible defense was back on display against the Pacers as they held the team to just 39.4 percent shooting, and shut down all-star forward Danny Granger. And while the Sixers did not shoot well themselves, they put the clamps on down the stretch and held Indiana to 38 points in the second half. The defensive pressure started in the middle, as big man Dalembert snagged a season-high 20 rebounds and gave them the interior presence they need to make a run. It has been up and down with Dalembert, but if he can harness any sort of consistency, he could be a major force. It's that sort of effort that can take this team a long way.

Two night later, Miami came to town and didn't stand a chance. The Heat was burned by seven Sixers in double-figures, led by Marreese Speights and his 15 points off the bench in 22 minutes. Speights immediately makes an impact when he steps on the court, and it will be more evident now that Brand is on the shelf for the year. Coach Tony DiLeo needs to find 18-25 minutes for Speight every night, and in doing that on Saturday, Speights did not let him down.

The biggest factor in the win over Miami was the balanced play of the entire team. Seven guys in double figures, while scoring just 94 points is pretty hard to do. No one shot the ball more than 12 times, and three bench players put up 10-plus points. That's exactly the sort of game the Sixers need to play. Defense first, get out and run on the break, and keep the balance.

The week started off tumultuously, but in retrospect, it ended great. The Sixers are over .500, and this could be the beginning of a special end to the year.