Posts Tagged ‘Sixers’

Sixers Win 5 in a Row

February 10th, 2010 by Johnny G | 10 Comments | Filed in Basketball, General, Sixers

Go Ahead, I dare ya to try and take it!

That’s right you heard it here first. The 76ers have won five games in a row. Don’t look now but the once cellar-dwelling Sixers are now 20-31, leaving them just 4.5 games out of the 8th and final playoff spot in the East. Before this recent hot streak the Sixers were well on their way to a lottery selection in the upcoming draft at 15-31, with only the New Jersey Nets behind them in the standings.

If you look further into the winning streak the Sixers have beaten the lowly Nets with a record of 4-47, then traveled to New Orleans and beat the Hornets without superstar point guard Chris Paul. Next was their most impressive victory of the streak when they came back from an 11 point second half deficit to beat the surging Houston Rockets. Finally, just last night they trounced the horrendous Minnesota Timberwolves by 22.

The talent level of the teams they have beaten in this recent run is not the best, but for a team of the Sixers caliber, a five game win streak is impressive nonetheless. This recent win streak also causes an issue for many Sixers fan that did not exist just a week ago. Do you continue rooting for the Sixers to lose in pursuit of a lottery pick and the draft rights to Kentucky star point guard John Wall? Or do you root for the Sixers to win and capture that final playoff spot, even though they will certainly be eliminated in the first round after facing Cleveland or Orlando?

The obvious answer is to root for the lottery selection but it is not always that easy. Naturally you want to root for your team to win and for the opportunity to see them succeed, or at least for the Sixers sake, participate in the playoffs.

The constant throughout this win streak is the absence of former star and Philadelphia icon, Allen Iverson. Iverson missed all but the first game of the win streak and the overall energy on the team has been on the rise during his absence. One would think due to the success of the team without him that when Iverson returns to the team it will be in a bench role. How that will go over in the locker room remains to be seen.” The Answer” has averaged 14.4 points since his return to the city of brotherly love but the team has largely struggled since he was acquired.

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Blowout Yesterday, Iverson Tonight

December 7th, 2009 by Christian | 1 Comment | Filed in Basketball, Eagles, Football, General, Sixers
Vick Scored Two TDs vs. Atlanta

Vick Scored Two TDs vs. Atlanta

Things are tightening up in the NFC East.

With their 34-7 blowout of Atlanta yesterday, the Eagles moved to 8-4 on the season and into a virtual tie with the Cowboys for first place. The Cowboys hold the tiebreaker because they beat the Eagles in their first matchup earlier this season. The Eagles face Dallas again on January 3rd in the last game of the regular season.

I’m still trying to figure out why Falcons fans booed Michael Vick early in the game, but then cheered him after he scored two touchdowns against their team.

This Sunday night, the Eagles visit the NY Giants in a nationally televised game. The Giants (7-5) moved to within one game of first place by knocking off the Cowboys yesterday. The Eagles crushed the Giants in their first meeting 40-17.

From the ‘Does It Even Matter’ category… In the NBA, the prodigal son returns as Allen Iverson rejoins the Sixers for the first time since being traded on December 19, 2006. Interestingly, when he was traded, the Sixers were on an 11 game losing streak. They are currently in the midst of a 9 game skid.

Iverson is expected to start.

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The Answer is Back in Town

December 2nd, 2009 by Johnny G | 13 Comments | Filed in Basketball, General, Sixers

That’s right, on Wednesday morning the 76ers reached a deal with former MVP and Philadelphia icon, Allen Iverson. Hopefully Iverson can add some type of spark to an extremely stagnant and boring basketball team. With the injury to Lou Williams sidelining him for almost 8 weeks, the Sixers had an opening at guard but as much as they say this was a pure basketball decision, having Iverson on this team will certainly boost ticket sales for a franchise that is now 2nd to last in ticket sales in the NBA.

Can Iverson return to the play of his glory days? Most likely not but whatever he gets accomplished on the court will in all likelihood be a major improvement over Willie Green and Royal Ivey. If Iverson can distribute the basketball to teammates, this team may be able to sneak into the playoffs with a lineup of Holiday, Iverson, Iguodala, Brand, and Dalembert. Regardless of his performance though, this signing will make the Sixers somewhat relevant again. This is the first time since the Elton Brand signing where anybody in the City of Philadelphia cared one bit about the 76ers and that can only be a positive.

Iverson is expected to make his debut Monday night against another one of his former teams, the Denver Nuggets. It will bring back some fond memories when he is announced on Monday night and I’m sure we can expect a long standing ovation for the former MVP. I will be there on Monday night and quite frankly, I have not been this excited about a Sixers game since #3 left for Denver. I’m sure many other 76ers fans feel the same way.

What are your thoughts on the signing?

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$10 for Comedic Relief: A Night with the Sixers

November 10th, 2009 by B.J | 9 Comments | Filed in Basketball, General, Sixers

After suffering from a serious case of Phillies Withdraw, I have come to realize that I must take up a new hobby to pass the time from now until the start of Spring Training. Between Notre Dame fighting for another trip to the Gator Bowl, the Eagles and their poor clock management, and my beloved St. Joseph’s Hawks basketball team projected to finish 9th in the Atlantic 10 ( with 14 teams in the conference, it could be worse), I have come to the conclusion that something must be done to cure my sports addiction. And no, I’m not a hockey guy. So the natural answer would be the National Basketball Association’s dying local product, your 2009-10 Philadelphia 76ers.

My brother and I decided to go down to the “gut-wrenching” contest on November 6th. Immediately, I knew that the night was going to be a struggle. When asked where we were parking, my brother responded by saying, “Broad and Bigler”. Initially, I was puzzled, because I sure as hell knew it wouldn’t be a mass exodus from the Sports Complex after this one. His reasoning for parking about a mile away from the Wach? He didn’t want to spend more on parking than what he was about to shove out for a ticket. Reasonable excuse, my friend.

We arrived at to the Box Office around 6:45 P.M. Shortly after, we were told that our tickets would not be able to print due to a problem with the Internet Service. I realized that General Manager Ed Stefanski must have traded his internet server for a conditional second round pick in 2023. I found this hard to believe, considering the server was more productive than Samuel Dalembert.  Oh, don’t worry readers, I’ll get back to your main man Sammy D shortly.

After the fiasco with the printers at the box office, we walked into the Wachovia Center at 7:05, which was much to my excitement, considering I wouldn’t have to listen to Public Address announcer Matt Cord announce “Number 9…from the University of Arizona…AN-DRE…I-GU….DALA-DALA-DALA” I would like to take this time now to officially thank the people at the Box Office for managing to screw up the ticket situation and keeping me at the right place at the right time.

Now to the problems with the team/game/product. First off, I truly believe that this organization feels obligated to giving playing time to Samuel Dalembert. Yeah, I know, he’s the most overpaid player in the league. And I know that, at times, human beings are capable of being tricked and/or deceived. But it’s one of those ‘fool me once, shame on you’ type of deals. Sammy stole money from this organization, but we are capable of learning from our mistakes. While Sammy is still grabbing balls of the rim and swatting balls away that have already grazed the rim (with all that money, he could have invested in a few Goaltending for Dummies books), there is a young man by the name of Jason Smith fighting to work his way on to the court. I truly believe that this Smith kid is a bright spot for the future. He’s an athletic big man (who understands goaltending, none the less) who has somewhat of an outside shot and has an eye for the open man.

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Sixers Embarrassed By Celtics

November 3rd, 2009 by Johnny G | 23 Comments | Filed in General, Sixers

Eddie Jordan

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If you took the time out of your night to attend the Sixer’s game on Tuesday night, you should be in line for a refund check from Ed Snyder himself. The final score of this game, as ugly as it is, does not even begin to explain how painful and disgraceful the 76er’s performance was. With a final score of 105-74, the Sixers were dominated in every facet of the game. The Celtics connected on 14 of 20 from 3 point range, meanwhile the Sixers missed their first 15 3 point attempts of the game and did not hit their first 3 until the game was well out of reach in the 4th quarter. At the end of the game the Sixers made 6% of their shots from beyond the arc, which can easily be accomplished by the average middle school student. They were also outscored in every single quarter of this game and unbelievably at one point in the first quarter, actually held an 8 point lead.

Is there any hope for the future? I would like to believe so and I’m sure many Sixers fans would like to do the same but I will simplify this pretty easily. No, there is not. Samuel Dalembert, the team’s starting big man still has yet to understand even the basic rules of the NBA. As each goaltending call and offensive basket interference call are made, the frustration with Dalembert grows. He will occasionally flash signs of brilliance on the defensive end of the floor but will show you why he and his ridiculous contract would not start on almost any other NBA roster with his offensive play. Just last season, his minutes were slashed in favor of the aging Theo Ratliff. Elton Brand, the 76er’s big free agent signing for 2008 looks to be a shell of his former self. After getting an $80 million dollar contract in the summer of 08, he injured his shoulder and took the rest of the season off. To start the beginning of 2009, it is almost as if he is in the way of his other 4 teammates on the offensive end of the floor, even passing up wide open jumpers that were a routine part of his offensive game.

There are some bright spots on the roster if you look to Andre Iguodala, who is the #1 scoring option on this pitiful roster but in reality would be a #2 to #3 scoring option on any real contender. He struggles with his jump shot and is extremely inconsistent but has all the physical tools to play the game. Lou Williams is a talented but unproven point guard who lacks the ability to be a pass-first point guard, which has proven to be the mentality needed to win championships in the NBA.

As this roster is currently constructed, this team has no chance at anything more than an 8th seed in the Eastern Conference and a quick first round exit in the playoffs to any of the big time contenders like the Cavaliers or Celtics. To actually make this team competitive for an NBA championship , all of the horrendous contracts on this team will have to expire, which will take years. My best advice to any Sixers fan would be to enjoy the team for what it is and try to watch the developing young players such as Thaddeus Young and Jrue Holiday. It is sad what this team has become, where you can hear a pin drop at the Wachovia Center during any regular season game. I would say look to the future for better times but even the future looks bleak. As the 4th most popular professional sports team in this city, there won’t be much pressure for improvement and with the Philadelphia Union soccer team’s inaugural season coming up the sixers may be 5th very soon.

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