[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Everyone wants to see Bulls and Heat, but the 76ers play the Bulls REALLY well. They’re going at it right now. I love the way the 76ers play D and get out in transition.

Derrick Rose is off to a great start with 13 points, but Holiday is going right back at him with 12.

[DanEboyParticipant]

I am a huge fan of Jrue, he is playing Rose tough now. As great as they play the Bulls, I just don’t see it come playoff time. And Collins is my all time favorite coach.

[HaleParticipant]

The Sixers are one of 3 teams in the East that somewhat scare me as a semi-Bulls fan.

[HaleParticipant]

That’s the 3rd team I’m afraid of.

[DanEboyParticipant]

The Pacers scare me a hell of a lot more than the Sixers.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

The Pacers are going to be that team that clicks and gets hot just at the right time during the playoffs.

[JoeWolf1]

The Pacers gave the Bulls a little trouble last year, although the number of games didn’t indicate that.  Pretty much all the games were hard fought.  

I’d expect the same toughness in the playoffs this year, I think they’ll get out of the first round.  They could beat Atlanta.

[river09Participant]

 Of the two I’d rather have my money behind the 76ers going further in the postseason than the Pacers.. the depth the sixers have is something nearly all other teams in the league can be jealous of… They’re two deep at every position…

[river09Participant]

 Sorry about back to back posts.. But the 76ers also have veteran leadership with Elton Brand and Iggy… That combined with the young and talented Thad, Williams, ET, Jrue… Could prove very difficult to beat… Especially in a season where nobody is getting rest between games…  

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

I think the Pacers have very similar depth to the 76ers.

I’d take Hibbert, West, Hansbrough, Foster and Amundson over Hawes, Brand, Young, Battie and Vucevic.

Derrick Rose starting to take it to an extra gear and take over this game vs the 76ers.

[Johnny Chill]

Rose ends the 3rd with a buzzer beater.

What a good matchup, possible playoff matchup.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

Finally, the eastern conference playoffs won’t be boring.  Hawks, Magic, (If they keep Dwight), Heat, Bulls, Pacers, 76ers, Celtics, and Knicks.  It’s going to be very interesting this year.

[DanEboyParticipant]

Pacers are a better team, and Hansbrough gives the Bulls fits. Plus, an 8-8 record on the road doesn’t bode well for post season success for a team without a lot of playoff experience together.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

D. Rose destroying the 76ers right now.

 

[DanEboyParticipant]

He had this one circled after that ass whipping they got from Philly at home.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

We know D. Rose has the next game circled too lol

[Mr. 19134Participant]

The Sixers only allow 87 PPG and Force 94.2 points

The Pacers allow 92 ppg and force 96.

The Sixers have a +7 point differential while the Pacers have a +4.  The Sixers point differential is 3rd best in the league behind only Miami and Chicago.

Against the Eastern Conference the Pacers are 15-9 while the Sixers are 16-5.  That’s going to be big when projecting playoff matchups in the East.

The Sixers got the best defense in the league right now only allowing opponents to score 87 ppg only Miami with 88 ppg scored is close.

The Sixers also have one of the 3 best benches in the league.  They are 2nd in bench scoring.  Only 3 teams get over 40 ppg from their bench and the Sixers are the only team in the East who does.

And this whole Sixers team played Miami tough in the playoffs last year and got that experience.  So I’m not really sure what make the Pacers a definitively better team especially in the playoffs could somebody please elaborate…

[Maniac MaciejParticipant]

Carlos Boozer circles these games on his calendar…and puts a little scared face next to them.

[DanEboyParticipant]

Who is the Sixers go to guy down the stretch?

And Rose knows how to finish games, unlike….

[Mr. 19134Participant]

Boy first they call Young on a blocking call when Rose ran into him without the ball, now they give Deng the flop after he goes flying out of bounds from an obvious flop.  The refs are making sure the Sixers don’t pull this one out.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

The 76ers are a better defensive team, while the Pacers are a better offensive team. I think the Pacers have a better inside/outside game and so far this season the Pacers have played better on the road. When the game slows down in the playoffs, I give the Pacers the edge in being able to get quality offensive possessions in the half court.

The 76ers really blitzed teams to start the season, but if I had to pick what team was playing better right now… I’d pick the Pacers.

The Pacers have added some new pieces and I don’t even think David West has really gotten 100% comfortable yet.

It’s close, but I’d go with the Pacers.

[DanEboyParticipant]

Everyone always blames their team’s losses on the refs. It’s never the players faults.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

I’m not saying the Sixers are better then the Bulls they’re not cuz the Bulls got Derrick Rose and the Sixers don’t.  This game is a perfect example of just how important a star is cuz Rose got the calls all game and the Sixers couldn’t get any.

But my argument was how the Pacers better then the Sixers?  Who is there go to guy?  

Lou Williams is the 4 best scorer in the 4th quarter in the league.  The only people who have scored more points in the 4th quarter then Williams is Paul, Durant, and I think Rose.  

[A Lil EnglishParticipant]

Aaah man. Iguodola took the shot…I wanted lou or meeks to hit the 3

[DanEboyParticipant]

Hey, I am no expert. I just think they are the better team, maybe I’m wrong. Just my opinion, they appear more ready to make a run in the playoffs.

And fourth quarter scoring is skewed. The Bulls have blown a lot of people out so Rose doesn’t have to score in the fourth in thsoe games. Paul gets a lot because his team is usually in a close game. When the game is close, Rose always seems to find a way to take over.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 @IndianaBasketball, you see I can respect that argument that makes sense.  The Pacers are a better offensive team and they are playing better right now.  But the Sixers are better on defense by a wider margin then the Pacers are better on offense and the Sixers get more production from their bench, those are 2 huge keys for playoff success.

But the Pacers are playing better right now and it is close, you could argue either way I just wanted to point out that while the Pacers are playing great basketball right now it doesn’t mean they necesarily passed the Sixers permanently in the Power Polls.

And I’m not blaming the game on the refs the Sixers loss and even had one more foul shot then the Bulls.  But that doesn’t mean the refs don’t help because they do.  I know this because the Sixers won a ton of games when they had Iverson just because he was the superstar who got all the calls at the end of games.  That’s the nature of the beast.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 Well like I said the Sixers actually have the 3 best point differential in the whole league meaning they regularly were blowing teams out and outscore the other team by an average of 7 points per game in wins and loses.  And Williams isn’t out there when the game isn’t close he comes off the bench and is only used to close close games.  So it’s not like he ran that number up during blow outs he got mostly all them points in tight games.

[Johnny Chill]

Bulls are a better them than 76ers, becuase they have better shooters, better PG obviously and execute better.

Rose, Deng, Watson, Korver, Hamilton

Who on the 76ers can they count on to make a 4th quarter jump shot?

76ers can win a playoff series though, nice young team with Holiday and Turner, Brand as the old Vet, Iggy the All Star, good bench with Williams and Young, good size up front especially if Hawes gets healthy.

They need better shooters though.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

The 76ers are a great defensive team, but the Pacers are very good defensively. I’m using my iPhone, so I won’t bother to look up stats, but I think they’re top ten in the league defensively.

The biggest difference between the two teams to me is the fact that the Pacers are a monster rebounding team. They’re either the second or third best rebounding team.

Then offensively, the Pacers can go inside out and have a good half-court game. Granger is our go-to player down the stretch.

Overall, offense/rebounding/defense, I give the Pacers a slight edge. But it can go either way. I like both teams and think they can both get out of the first round this year.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 Yeah the Pacers are 3rd in rebounding and 8th in points allowed.  They’re also 13th in points scored and 27th in apg.

The Sixers are 11th in rebounding, 1st in points allowed, 17th in points scored and 8th in assists.  

Both teams match up nice.  I just pulled the stats from ESPN’s page real quick for a quick glimpes into how they compare.  

A big difference between the teams is rebounding an assists.  The Pacers are a better rebounding team but the Pacers are doing really bad in apg right now.  I don’t feel like looking up the t.o. numbers but I do know the Sixers are first in the league in t.o.’s allowed and are on pace to break an NBA record by commiting only 10 turnovers a game. 

Turnover discrepency is a huge problem come playoff time but the so is the Sixers lack of a go to guy.  The Sixers ball security, and ball movement is probably the biggest reason for their success along with their defense.  

But we’re also forgetting another HUGE FACTOR and that’s the fact the Sixers have the better coach.  Frank Vogul is a good coach, but Doug Collins is a hall of fame coach who should win Coach of the Year this year.  

I would argue that Collins’ is way more capable of coaching an upset with the top ranked teams then Vogul is.  An example of this is the games against the Bulls.  I’m pretty sure that’s the first time Collins has lost against the Bulls while coaching the Sixers.  The first game this year Collins’ coached circle’s around Tom Thib by having a great game plan that picked up Chicago’s defense.  In this game the Sixers just couldn’t execute but Collins nearly pulled out another one by switching the scheme on Rose and forcing him into turnovers that nearly cost him the game.  Lucky for the Bulls that Derrick Rose is the man and still found a way to win the game.  

I’m not tryna make an argument either way cuz I can’t call it either.  I like the Pacers roster and know that they’re a very good team.  

I honestly don’t even like the Sixers roster that much.  I’m sick of Iggy being the teams best player and I don’t know how they’re this good defensively when they’re starting a 6’9 center, a 6’9 PF, and the first big off the bench is 6’8.  The also start a 6’4 Jodie Meeks at SG who despite hustling a lot is not a great defender and has a tendency to get chewed up on defense.  

The Sixers winning has brough excitement to the city so I can’t dislike they’re winning but their roster just don’t have the players to contend and Collins’ coaching ability is making them looking better then they are which is the last thing I want.  I wanna see Iggy traded and the young guys develop instead we’re watching role players overachieve.

 

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