Just as soon as I stated the Sixers were playing well because they were playing a combo of Steven Hunter and Sam Dalembert, Steven Hunter got 21 minutes and 16 minutes in the next two games. Why? Well, Hunter sort of sucked on offense against the Clippers, scoring 2 points on 1-4 shooting. However, he did play good defense in my view, as helped, along with Joe Smith, hold Elton Brand to 5-15 shooting. The second game he dislocated his finger, so we can give a pass to Mo on that.
It seems that simple circumstance has ensured that the Sixers can’t keep their two big men on the court at the same time. As soon as they start to play well, Hunter dislocates a finger. But remember that the Sixers at 6-2 when Hunter gets at least 25 minutes in a game, and are 8-8 when he plays at least 20. Both of those are far above their season record. Someone has to make sure that ol’ Stevie’s finger is healing, and fast. Ice that baby Steven, ice it!
On a side note, Andre Iguodala has become a bonafide scorer. He’s really manned up since Allen Iverson was traded to the Nuggets, bumping his February numbers to 23.6 points, 8.4 assists, and 7.4 rebounds a game. The only thing lacking is his shooting percentage at 42.4 %, but he’s never had this many shooting chances with the Sixers before and may just be feeling out what he can and can’t do. He also had one of the sickest putbacks on a shot I’ve seen in a long time (OK, since I saw Rasheed Wallace’s last Sunday) towards the end of the Dallas Maverick game. Andre’s a glimmer of hope for Sixers fans; a chance that we won’t be watching in vain over the next couple years as they rebuild their team. He’s a keeper folks.
