Keys to Beat 76ers
By Jace Darling, bobcats.com
October 16, 2013
Practice Gallery | Videos: Bismack Biyombo One-on-One | Cody Zeller One-on-One | Al Jefferson on Injury | Head Coach Steve Clifford | LISTEN TO WFNZ BROADCAST LIVE FROM CHARLOTTE QuickTime | Windows Media Player | iTunes | Real Player
KEY MATCHUP vs. 76ERS: Bismack Biyombo vs. Spencer Hawes
Bismack Biyombo is taking full advantage of his opportunity for more minutes this preseason due to the sprained ankle Al Jefferson suffered against the Heat on Oct. 11 in Kansas City. The strongest part of Biyombo’s game in the preseason has been his dominating presence on the boards. He’s averaging a team-high 9.5 rebounds in 24.8 minutes through four preseason games and in his first start of the preseason on Oct. 12 against the Bucks, tallied 21 rebounds. Biyombo followed that up with 11 boards against the Cavs on Oct. 15, while adding five points and two blocks. Biyombo will have his hands full tomorrow morning when Philadelphia comes to town for the annual Cool School Field Trip presented by Wells Fargo and Jordan Brand at Time Warner Cable Arena... Biyombo will be matched up with Spencer Hawes, who is averaging 10.0 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds this preseason. At 7-1, Hawes has a height advantage on Biyombo but has struggled to find his shot inside-the-arc. He is shooting .500 (4-for-8) from three this preseason but only shooting .296 (12-for-35) from inside… Expect another solid outing from Biyombo on the boards as he continues to develop his offensive game. With the four-out offense being run by the Cats, Biyombo should get plenty of opportunities on the offensive end.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS (2-2, preseason)
Tuesday night saw five Cats score in double digits led by Kemba Walker’s team-high 14 points. The backcourt had a strong showing in posting 48 points from Walker, Gerald Henderson (13), Ramon Sessions (11) and Ben Gordon (10). While running Head Coach Steve Clifford’s offense, the backcourt must find ways to get the ball into the low post in order to open up things on the perimeter. This should provide some open looks for the rest of the team… Each game has Coach Clifford tweaking his lineup to get a good look at all of the players on the bench. This will prove to be extremely helpful as the Cats finish the preseason without Brendan Haywood, out 12 weeks with a stress fracture in his foot, and Al Jefferson as he deals with his right ankle sprain… One trend that is encouraging so far this preseason is trips to the charity stripe. The Cats have attempted nearly twice as many free throws as they have given up, 122-68.
SCOUTING THE 76ERS (2-2, preseason)
Each team the Cats have faced this preseason, except the Heat, are under the direction of new coaching staffs. Philadelphia is no different. Brett Brown was named head coach of the Sixers on Aug. 14 after spending the previous seven seasons as an assistant coach for San Antonio under Gregg Popovich. Brown originally joined the Spurs as a member of their basketball operations department in 1998-99 but left after the season to become the head coach of the Sydney Kings of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He re-joined the Spurs in July of
2002 as the team’s assistant coach/director of player development and was moved to the bench as an assistant coach prior to the 2006-07 season. Brown was with the Spurs for all four of their championships (1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007)… The Sixers underwent quite a change to their roster during the offseason and have just seven players returning from last season, who encompassed 54.3% of the team’s scoring. However, Philly does have three of its top four scorers returning from last season (Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes)… The Sixers were very busy on draft day, making three selections in the draft they then turned around and made three trades to acquire the rights of Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel. However, he and veteran center Kwame Brown are both on the injury report and unavailable for tomorrow’s game.
TUNE IN
This game is the annual Cool School Field Trip presented by Wells Fargo and Jordan Brand and will be played at 11 a.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena in front of thousands of school children being brought to the game. The game is reserved for middle school students throughout North and South Carolina. Students are chosen by their schools to attend the game based on academic achievement and outstanding displays of character in the classroom. Tickets for the game are donated by the Bobcats and season ticket holders for use by the students. As a result of the early tip, the only way to listen to the game will be via bobcats.com here:
LISTEN TO WFNZ BROADCAST LIVE FROM CHARLOTTE: QuickTime | Windows Media Player | iTunes | Real Player