Derek Bodner’s Blog

(originally posted at PhillyArena.net)

The recent situation involving John Salmons and the accused snickering of other teammates can only be called unfortunate. There are no parties who can claim to be free from wrongdoing, and there are no parties who can claim to be unaffected.

Following the 76ers loss to the lowly, albeit slightly improved, Atlanta Hawks John Salmons accused teammates of snickering behind his back following the attempted late game heroics of the fourth year guard. The sequence in question started with the 76ers down 106-105 with 2:35 remaining. On the 76ers ensuing possessions Salmons missed a jump shot, got fouled and made one of two free throws, missed a jump shot, then got his layup blocked.

After the game Salmons said that there were “other people talking behind their breath, snickering and all that.” He later added “That’s messed up. That’s our team. What are you going to do? It’s been like that for a while.”

The reality of the situation is that it is messed up from all angles.

John Salmons, for whatever reason the creative mind can think of (*cough*contract drive*cough*) went from being an offensive enigma to an offensive passer. He has become the definition of a black hole offensively, made worse by the fact that coach Maurice Cheeks has decided to have Salmons handle the ball more than years past, bringing the ball up the court and “setting up” the offense. Far too often the ball never leaves his hands in the half court set.

And it’s not only the quantity of shots John is taking, but the quality. It is more than common to see John go 1 on 4, driving into the heart of the defense in a move that scouts have figured out, while not looking for the kick-out to a wide open perimeter shooter, as he did to Kyle Korver last night. The threat to pass isn’t even there, and he has quickly become ineffective. Most people, teammates included, would have no problem with Salmons taking that shot. If that shot were the best opportunity the team had to score. More often than not, especially lately, that hasn’t been the case.

That being said, any snickering in the locker room was flat out wrong. No matter ones frustration, no matter what you thought of the quality of the shot, causing division within the locker room is not what this team needs. And to that act, whomever might have said something, both John Salmons and more importantly the fans of this franchise have a right to be upset about.