Hawks - 76ers

[High5]

From memory it looked like he stumbled or fumbled some and didn't want a travel call so he gave up the ball. Unfortunate because everyone and their mom knew he would have killed Hawes on that mismatch. Perhaps even JJ got too excited at that prospect.

I didn't notice a stumble, but I hope that was the case.

[EAambassador]

Joe is often like Lebron and too many times make the "correct basketball play" when we need him to make the "Mj/Kobe" play. After all that is what he is payed for, right?

[MaceCase]

I didn't notice a stumble, but I hope that was the case.

I don't know what it was exactly but it just looked awkward watching it. Indecision most likely because he literally looked caught between noticing his matchup and hitting Jeffrey.

[thatsmydawg]

I am loving the spirited effort the team has been giving playing so short handed. Some nights that disadvantage is more evident than others. Philly has our # right now.

[Sothron]

Yep. Joe is arguably our best post-up player. He has to get more shots up and score more consistently. Josh played as well a you can ask. We are 20-1 when Joe scores 20+. We are 20-5 when Josh scores 20+. When we get them both going we are hell to beat. There needs to be a more conscious effort to do that. I understand Joe not wanting to force a ton of shots against set defense our double-teams. With that said, I would still rather se him go 7-20 in a loss than 7-13. At least find a way to get the shots up. Whether out be plays, true isos, post-ups etc.

I agree completely. I love that Joe is unselfish and doesn't want to take bad shots but there are times when we just need him to put the ball on the floor and drive or post someone up and go for it. We need him being aggressive. He had zero free throws in that game and he should at least be getting to the stripe four to five times a game.

[Plainview1981]

I am loving the spirited effort the team has been giving playing so short handed. Some nights that disadvantage is more evident than others. Philly has our # right now.

Philly is the better team head to head, They have so many guys that can contribute and that's trouble for this team. They're also young and athletic. Yeah, the Hawks have experience, but that obviously hasn't counted for much.

[01d0rd3r]

I am loving the spirited effort the team has been giving playing so short handed. Some nights that disadvantage is more evident than others. Philly has our # right now.

It's not only that but the guys have been getting a lot of minutes through this stretch. It's the second night of a back to back. The 76ers are a good home team and we are a mediocre road team. It's not a huge surprise that we drop this one.A long as we keep the games close and dont give up in the 4th then the team will be primed for a playoff run.

[Jody23]

If Al isn't completely healthy, it's not worth it to come back and risk re-injury for what is certain to be a short playoffs for the Hawks.

[KB21]

Looks like Mississippi State got Rick Ray from Clemson. He's a good recruiter, I think he is a good hire. I did think that Stansbury was still a good coach, so I don't really understand the firing to begin with.

Yep. I think in Stans's case, this was a situation where he had been in one place for too long. The recent transfers that the team has had, and the treatment of Renardo Sidney did him in. He let Sidney run over the program. When you look at the players that transferred out though like Ben Hansbrough, Richard Delk, Reginald Delk, and Romero Osby, among quite a few others, the program was going downhill. In fact, the change probably came a year too late.I like what I have read about Rick Ray. He seems to be well versed in the Purdue motion offense and man to man defense. I've read that he is very similar to Cuonzo Martin, who did a fantastic job at Tennessee this past year.Lot's of MSU fans are pissed though that they didn't hire Kenny Payne. IMO, the thought process behind that was that his connection to WorldWideWes would help funnel players and Nike money to Mississippi State. Personaly, I'm glad they didn't go that route. I feel like MSU would be on probation in 3 years if they brought in Payne.