This was a night that the Sixers opened their season and made a fateful personnel decision. They decided that they could not offer Andre Iguodala the max contract he wanted, opening the door for him to be a restricted free agent come July 1.  Iguodala then scored 23 in a losing effort in Toronto.  His performance was spotty in the first half, and stronger down the stretch when the team came back from a big deficit.

I was unable to see a lot of the game.  I did tune in to see the early 3rd quarter and watched as the Raptors stretched their lead to 22. The Sixers were getting out gunned, so Mo made some moves and brought in some bench.  Jason Smith and Lou Williams, along with Rodney Carney, injected some energy.  The Sixers then clawed back into it.  I was able to stay with it into the fourth period.  In the end, the Sixers got to within 1 point.  It was quite a comeback.  Too bad. You can’t let yourself get buried like that.  In that situation, one dumb play, like Sam Dalembert fouling Andrea Bargnani on a long 3 point attempt to give the Raptors a four point play, will quickly evaporate the energy and momentum that the comeback generates.  After that the Raptors pulled away.  Dalembert’s foul happened with just under 5 minutes to play.  A long stretch of comeback ball had preceded it.  That was good to see, but the play that lead to the big lead points up the Raptors skill players advantage on the Sixers’ skill players.  They have weapons all over the place. 

I am encouraged that the Sixers can develop some weapons of their own.  I like what I see from Williams.  He had 6 points, 2 assists and no TO’s in 15 minutes.  I hope he gets important minutes.  I like Andre Miller, but the pace of the Sixers play seemed to pick up with Lou in the game.  I did not see a lot in the time I watched Rodney Carney, but he did some scoring in the first half.  He ended the night with 7 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 TO’s in 16+ minutes.  I want to see him get as much time as possible so he can develop his game as fast as possible.  This is a go no where year so let him play. Reggie Evans had the kind of game you hope to see regularly from him.  He had 6 points and 15 rebounds in just under 22 minutes.  He also played tough D. He switched out on Jose Calderon a couple times on pick and rolls.  He hustled and moved well in defending the point guard.

I am interested to see the youngsters get every opportunity to play.  This squad is a work in progress, counted out at every turn.  I think they will get a few more wins than most people expect.  If Carney, Smith and Williams can earn time with strong play, and needed scoring, they will add some extra dimensions to the team and make them a lot more fun to follow.