LONDON, Ontario - The main memory fans in the crowd of 7,619 took home from their trip to the John Labatt Centre yesterday was that they hadn't gotten their money's worth from the two NBA superstars they had paid to see.
But for the 76ers, their latest preseason game provided a glimpse at what second-year pro Willie Green and rookie Andre Iguodala can provide in crunch time.
Green snapped out of a shooting slump and teamed with Iguodala to lead a fourth-quarter surge that carried the Sixers to a 108-103 victory over the Toronto Raptors and kept them unbeaten in three exhibition games.
The spectators saved their loudest screams and cheers for the Sixers' Allen Iverson and the Raptors' Vince Carter. But Iverson was ejected from the game after picking up two technical fouls midway through the second quarter. Carter, meanwhile, played just 18 minutes, leaving the game late in the third period and never returning despite a chant of "We Want Carter."
The focus of Sixers coach Jim O'Brien was on what he had seen in the fourth quarter.
Green accounted for 10 points in the final period, and Iguodala added six, including his first three-point basket as a Sixer. That basket gave the Sixers the lead for good with 1 minute, 34 seconds to play.
"They're really talented kids," O'Brien said. "Willie can hurt you outside and inside, and Andre is showing he can hurt you outside and inside. They're sure-handed with the basketball, and they play good defense. They're hard-nosed guys.
"I expect them to succeed. I think, up to right now, they've had an outstanding preseason right from the first day."
Green, a guard, had been struggling with his shot. Coming off an 0-for-6 showing Friday night in Toronto, he missed his first five attempts in the first half yesterday. But he settled down after halftime, going 5 for 9 and finishing with a team-high 16 points.
"I got into a rhythm," he said. "That's all it is. That's all it was about.
"I struggled a little bit with my shot in the first half. I was rushing a little bit. But once I calmed down and settled down, I got into a nice little rhythm."
Iguodala started at shooting guard and alternated between that position and small forward. In 28 minutes, he contributed eight points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals.
"I was a little tentative in the first three quarters," said Iguodala, the No. 9 pick in the June draft. "Actually, Willie just told me to be aggressive and not worry about making mistakes. From there, I just wanted to go out there and play hard and make something happen."
With the Sixers trailing by 96-93 with 3:21 to play, Iguodala drove the lane for a slam dunk. He then set up a jump shot by Josh Davis that tied the score at 98. After the Raptors took a one-point lead, he followed a miss by Green with a three-pointer, making it 101-99.
"One of the things we have in Andre - and everyone can see this - is that I feel very confident putting the ball in his hands in key situations," O'Brien said later.
__________________ Who cares about a championship drought?:
My teams will never win a championship anyway, so why don't you discuss everything else at my forum? Good idea, right? Yeah, I thought so. It's called.. Booing Santa Claus. See you there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Rollins
“The average is the borderline that keeps mere men in their place. Those who step over the line are heroes by the very act. Go.”
Its good to see that we have a nice young core coming in, instead of the old guys we used to have.
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Quote:
"Roy Williams does not deserve all of the criticism he receives for his poor pass coverage. His Stop Rate of 43% ranked 6th among all safeties involved in at least 40 passing plays. Williams' biggest problem in pass coverage is that he gets little help from Keith Davis" - 2006 Pro Football Prospectus
in the past season we discuted here and one of the sixers problems in a few years it would be the age of the player we still have a old team but now i thing the sixers staff are doing great things on choosing young and talent players like dalembert , iguodala and a few more...
i think iggy may be ready for the nba sooner than a lot of pepole thought, he has shown some good signs so far
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Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph. - Haile Selassie I
Originally posted by Ps!ence_Fiction!
i think iggy may be ready for the nba sooner than a lot of pepole thought, he has shown some good signs so far
I hope your right.
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Quote:
"Roy Williams does not deserve all of the criticism he receives for his poor pass coverage. His Stop Rate of 43% ranked 6th among all safeties involved in at least 40 passing plays. Williams' biggest problem in pass coverage is that he gets little help from Keith Davis" - 2006 Pro Football Prospectus
Young Sixers show confidence in the crunch..
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