Derek Bodner’s Blog

(Originally posted at PhillyArena.net)

It seems odd to be criticizing a player after a 13 point road win. It seems doubly odd to be criticizing a player after a 13 point road win in which the player had 20 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. However that is the case I am going to make today, however unpopular that may be.

But really, the stats just further emphasize the point I am trying to make.

Samuel Dalembert’s stats are far more impressive than his impact on the game. Samuel (when he’s on the court) has compiled impressive statistics so far this year. 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in only 28+ minutes per game are more than solid, they’re very good. At least on the surface.

The reality is that Samuel Dalembert still makes too many mistakes to consistently impact the game. He still fails to do the little things that make one great, that makes one a game changer. He’s far too good at nullifying a good play by making a critical mistake.

Last night’s game gave us many such examples. Besides looking solely at Dalembert’s boxscore, glance over at Brad Miller’s, the man Dalembert was guarding. Miller had 36 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists last night. Sure, Brad’s jumpshot was on and he was going to get his points, but a jumpshot is that much easier when it’s uncontested. Go back and watch closely and rarely were Dalembert’s hands above his waist when Sammy’s outside the paint. Rarely does Dalembert defend the pick and roll even remotely well. And Sammy is far too prone to biting on pump fakes for somebody with his length and quick leaping ability. All of these made for a sick amount of uncontested jumpers by Brad Miller. Giving a man who is on fire uncontested jumpers is typically not the best way to cool him down.

Then you’ll have plays like the one in the 2^nd quarter of last night’s game, where Sammy will do a tremendous job of grabbing the offensive rebound, then rather than kick it out and get a good possession he’ll try a reverse, spinning layup that has approximately 0.3% chance of going in.

The blocked shots are nice, I’ll give him that. However even they come with their price. Dalembert leads the leagues in blocked shots per game, getting over 1 goaltend for every 2 blocked shots. That rate is staggering. His attempts at blocks also put him out of position for defensive rebounds, something he wasn’t particularly good at to begin with.

Now that we’ve mentioned rebounding, Dalembert never (I repeat, NEVER) blocks his man out defensively. You’ll never see him put his body on a man and drive him back. He follows the ball, head on a swivel, chasing after the ball. The offensive player always has a chance to get back in the play.

His best contribution so far this season (and last night) has been offensive rebounding, yet even there he’s had his problems, mainly not understanding what over the back means. And this applies not only to him going over the back of defensive players, picking up loose ball fouls but also going over the back of his own teammates who are in defensive rebounding position, tipping balls the 76ers had previously had control over out of bounds, or close to it.

It probably sounds like I’m “hating” on Samuel Dalembert. And probably will throughout the year in this column. But I don’t hate Samuel Dalembert, in fact I don’t even know him. And Sammy does have value to this team, I’m not saying otherwise. I do not hate what Sammy brings to this team, but I do get upset by what else Dalembert should bring to the team. With just a little bit of basketball acumen, just a little bit of fundamentals, and a little bit of development, Samuel Dalembert could be a consistent game changer. He could take the 76ers to a different level, making them a good rebounding team (rather than one that is adequate), and an adequate defensive team (rather than poor). Instead, the 76ers will remain inconsistent in both, just like Dalembert himself.

Kings Game Notes

Iguodala really had a great game, not only in the boxscore. He got a hand on nearly every ball Peja put on the floor, and really harassed the Kings offense. And that steal plus spin move by Iguodala in the first quarter was simply amazing. The kid has potential to be a great contributor in all facets of the game.

Speaking of Iguodala, the 76ers fast break is impossible to stop. Iverson has always been a nightmare to stop in the open court, add in Iguodala (who it’s imposslible to leave because of the oops), and there isn’t a right move the defender can make.

However, that laps at the end of first quarter, first by Iguodala throwing the ball away, then by Iverson for sleeping on the Bibby back door to allow layup with 0.1 seconds left was simply terrible. It’s those kinds of mistakes that cost the 76ers close games.

I thought Randolph was great tonight. The Salmons offensive rebound was a result of Randolph pinning his man under the basket, then Randolph got the very next offensive rebound. He’s gotta get more than 2 minutes.

Speaking of rebounding, Hunter played 13 minutes and got 0 (zero) defensive rebounds. I don’t care if you do score 9 points, he needs to bring more in other aspects of the game to earn his court time.