76ers - NBA 2K9 Assoc. - Rebuilding a Winner - JBH3's Blog

JBH3's Blog

76ers - NBA 2K9 Assoc. - Rebuilding a Winner

Posted on November 20, 2008 at 10:09 AM.

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2-03-2008 (v1.0)

Vince Carter's Philadelphia Debut

The first 76ers game for the month of February was marked with debut of superstar Vince Carter. Carter, acquired by Philadelphia to boost the teams scoring and perimeter offense, got off to a slow start and never really seemed to get on track in this one.

Boston would get out to an early in the first quarter, and Philadelphia would only once take the lead in this game. That lead game mid-way thru the 3rd, and never was extended past 1 point.

Boston's ability to get to the free throw line proved to be the deciding factor in this one. Many of their free throw attempts came after a made bucket for an And1.

When the game looked out of reach w/ a Boston 10 pt lead with under two minutes left in the 4th qtr it was all but. Boston would turn the ball over 4 times and Philly would convert those 4 turnovers into quick baskets; one of those being a timely 3 pointer by Thaddeus Young. Philadelphia, with under two minutes to go, would break Boston's lead down to 1 pt.

With 1.6 seconds left Louis Williams intentionally fouled Rajon Rondo after Boston inbounded the ball to send him to the line. There would be .9 seconds left after the foul. Rondo was already 1-4 from the line on the night, and would miss the 1st FT. Rondo made the second and Maurice Cheeks quickly called for a timeout.

After all their struggles in this one, cutting it close several times, only to go cold on key possessions or see Boston jump back out w/ a 3 pt play via and1, the sixers had a chance for a quick 3 w/ a second left that could win the game.

The Wachovia Center was electric...

However, a shot an winning would never come as Elton Brand tried to squeeze pass to Thaddeus Young between two defenders. That pass would be deflected, and w/ only 1 second left that would decide the game.

Final

BOS 28 28 25 26 = 107
PHI 24 22 29 30 = 105

Vince Carter's offensive struggles in his Philadelphia debut took a back seat to his hustle in this one as he quickly made fans of the Philly faithful with his diving out of bounds twice to save the possession, being successful both times.

-Message to Vince-

If the shot isn't falling Philly will still love you so long as you hustle.

VC's stat line - 40 minutes; 16 pts, 6 Reb, 7 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk.
8-24 FG, 0-3 3 pt, 0-0 FT.

PHI Boxscores:

Brand - 40min, 28pts, 9reb, 2ast, 3stl, 13-22FG, 2-2FT.

Louis - 41min, 23pts, 4reb, 10ast, 3stl, 9-21FG, 2-8 3pt, 3-4FT.

Young - 26min, 17pts, 6reb, 4ast, 3stl, 7-16FG, 2-4 3pt.

Iggy - 38min, 15pts, 4reb, 1ast, 3stl, 1blk, 6-16FG, 0-2 3pt,
3-3FT.

BOS Boxscores:

KG - 34min, 24pts, 15reb, 3blk.

Pierce - 36min, 22pts, 5reb, 3ast.

Allen - 37min, 20pts, 5reb, 3ast.

Boston's 'BIG 3' combined for 66 pts and were the only Celtics in double figures.

NOTES

The post offense of Mareese Speights off my bench will be sorely missed.

There were crucial points during the 8 minutes Brand sat where I would've gone to Speights for the easy basket, but I didn't have anyone to go to in the post - w/ Reggie Evans and Theo Ratliff on the floor during these periods.

With that said I often time settled for a jumper by Carter, but since he went 8-24 most, if not all of those attempts went for misses, and Boston was able to extend their lead on me by 4 or 5 pts.

I was very impressed w/ Darko's all around play.

He scored 6 for me and finished w/ double digit boards. Grabbing more offensive rebounds than defensive rebounds which was a first for me all year from the Center position.

I also outscored Boston in 2nd chance points in this one thanks to Darko's work on the offensive glass - another first for me this season.

Another first for me this season too, through 48 games, was out-rebounding a team on the offensive glass - again due to Milicic's great job.

Needless to say I'm very happy w/ Darko so far, and he comes $4mil cheaper than Dalembert.

TEAM STATS:

BOS
FG - 45/87 (51%)
3 PT - 4/11 (36%)
FT - 13/20 (65%)
AST - 29
TO's - 16
TF - 10
REB - 46
O REB - 10
STL - 4
BLK - 7
PIP - 66
Bench - 15
2nd Chance - 12
FB Pts - 5

PHI
FG - 45/104 (43%)
3 PT - 4/18 (22%)
FT - 11/13 (84%)
AST - 24
TO - 7
TF - 12
REB - 42
O REB - 13
STL - 16
BLK - 4
PIP - 74
Bench - 21
2nd Chance - 14
FB Pts - 22