Comments on: Thaddeus Young wants to start at three spot for Sixers

By: tcclark

tcclark — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:44:13 +0000

I like Hawes at the Four. it gives us a distinct advantage having that size, plus Hawes’ shooting and passing ability compliment Bynum really well. That doesn’t mean he will only play the four or that he will get the most minutes at the four, it just means that he will start the game and the third quarter at the four spot. Thad is vital coming off the bench. Our bench saved us so much last season and he is a much bigger spark off the bench than Hawes would be. Here’s how I see the minutes going:

Power Forward:
Thad: 25 minutes
Hawes: 13 Minutes
Allen: 10 Minutes

Center:
Bynum: 33 Minutes (keep the knees fresh)
Hawes: 10 minutes
Allen: 5 minutes

With Kwame in a injury replacement/ Tony Battie type position

By: philadelphiafan

philadelphiafan — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 06:33:59 +0000

“Coach Doug Collins has said he wants to go big with Andrew Bynum at the five and Spencer Hawes at the four (where Turner has played most of his NBA career), then have Evan Turner at the three.”

Last time I checked, Turner hasn’t played most of his NBA career at the four. Not any bit of his career for that matter.

By: tcclark

tcclark — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 03:24:23 +0000

No Thad is a four trapped in a three’s body. He was a four in college. He was drafted when the Sixers were in desperate need of a power forward, but the draft was full of tweener forwards like Thad, Julian Wright, and Al Thornton. He has played the four spot almost exclusively since being in the league. If you look at Thad’s top 100 line-up combinations you’d find that he played the 3 spot in 11 of them, meaning that he’s played minutes at the 3 spot 147 times (keep in mind that many of these line-up combinations would have happened in the same game so this does not mean that he’s appeared as a Small Forward in 147 games.) All of these Line-up combo’s happened during the Eddie Jordan or Tony DiLeo era’s.

Also, if you look at Thad’s shot tendencies, you’d find that he has shot about 56% of his shots within 6 ft of the basket, compared to a natural three like Andre Iguodala who shot 36% of his shots from within 6 feet of the basket. Also on those shots from within 6 feet Thad has shot 62%, but even stepping out to just 7-10 feet, Thad has only shot 39%, and stepping out to 10-15 feet, he’s only shot 30%, and 27.4% last year with his “improved” jump shot.

He’s the definition of a tweener. You look at him and you think “That guy’s a 3,” but he has the game of a power forward. He can’t play the perimeter game, at least not well enough for the NBA. He’s a Power Forward who’s made a living playing other undersized power-forwards. He is great off of the bench because he brings energy, a knack for finding the loose ball, and a great touch around the rim. He’s not a Small Forward.

By: phillyoldhead

phillyoldhead — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 02:04:00 +0000

Keep Turner at the two spot and let him develop.

By: sasquash20

sasquash20 — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:27:52 +0000

The reason he didn’t play the 3 was because of Iggy. Thad is more of a 3 then a 4. I agree his handle on the ball isn’t great but it isn’t horrible. And DC wouldn’t play him if he started chucking up outside shot all game. All that being said Turner should be the 3. Turner isn’t a legit 2, he is a legit 3. Keep Thad coming off the bench, he thrives in that role.

By: tcclark

tcclark — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 19:10:24 +0000

Thad is not a three. He has never been a three. And he will never be a three. He is and always will be an undersized four, which is perfect for coming off the bench. It doesn’t mean that he won’t get as many minutes, it just means, when they match up defensively from the start of the game, they’d rather have a 7 footer playing the four, than a 6’7 power forward.

Thad will play great with Bynum when he comes in. He will play off of Bynum really well, but he cannot and should not play the three. He can’t dribble and he’s still trying to develop an outside shot. My biggest fear from all of this is that Thad goes out trying to prove he can play the three and shoots a lot of outside jumpers. He needs to take a page out of the Josh Smith Handbook and stay inside.

By: money2long

money2long — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 18:05:20 +0000

one thing is clear. this 76ers team has options.

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:52:22 +0000

Yeah I definitely agree with that lineup. There’s no reason not to have Hawes be the backup 4 and 5 rotating with Bynum and Thad. Hopefully, this isn’t being done to get Kwame minutes. That signing was a huge mistake and I wish they would just cut their losses and get rid of him. What a waste.

Basically they should have Bynum play 35-40 at the 5, Thad play around 30 at the 4, and have Hawes play 15 at the 5 and 15 at the 4. To me, that would be a pretty perfect scenario, but they are obviously going to find minutes for Brown, which sucks worse than he does.

By: somekat

somekat — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:13:16 +0000

that 5 has a serious lack of ball handling ability. Outside of Jrue, nobody can create off the dribble, or set up teammates well. I like Thad, but with this team, he has to play the 4 spot behind Hawes (IMO, they are better off with Jrue/Richardson/Turner/Thad/Bynum, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards).

By: illcomm

illcomm — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:16:24 +0000

he should be. jrue, richardson, thad, hawes, bynum r starters. turner should come off the bench as a rotation sub for the small three.