What This Boxscore Tells Me

Last night was the preseason opener for the Sixers.  Sadly, they were dispatched by the Russians.  This game wasn't shown on TV or announced on the radio, so this game might as well have never happened.  However, that won't stop me from gathering an opinion based off the statistical evidence provided to us. 

• Evan Turner, didn't have a great game shooting from the field, but managed to hit 10 of 12 free throws in 25 minutes.  That's very encouraging and should alleviate some concern you had about his poor performance in Summer League.  It's natural for a college player's shot to take a little time to develop where he's actually comfortable going through the motions of an NBA game.  Regardless of how long it takes for Turner to find his shot, a guy that has the ability to get to the line the way ET did last night is typically always successful.  You should feel good about this.

• The Sixers still cannot make a 3 pointer to save their lives. They can't defend them either.  This will be a brutal reality all season long.

• Marreese Speights was a bright spot in terms of total points and rebounds as he led the team in both categories.  He was even the only Sixer (besides Thad who left very early) to finish on the plus side in the +/- category.  Speights for MVP!

• Sike. Speights shoots too damn much.  He's like Al Jefferson.  Except inefficient and not as good. 

• Jrue had a nice stat line of 10-5-4 with 3 steals, but it looks like he was kind of careless with ball.  5 turnovers in 28 minutes isn't going to get the job done.  But again, it's the first preseason game, so I'm not really worried here. I'm a big Jrue supporter.

• Spencer Hawes is the worst.  He clearly has no idea how to play defense.  His +/- on the court was a team worst -17.  Hawes is going to be a huge liability down low.  This team will be eaten alive by any big man with even the smallest amount of talent.  Also, young Spencer will foul out of every game in a futile attempt to girl-slap the large black man dunking on him.  This is fact.

So there you have it.  Who needs to actually watch a game to know what's going on?  Not me.  Not one bit.