48 in 48, or, more accurately 35 in the 35 they showed during the replay.

I had to work late tonight, so I avoided any news of the game and figured I could write this while I watched the replay at 11pm. I did pretty good, although one text weaseled through my defenses at 8:48, it read “Sorry, but… TURNER!!!” from my buddy Tim who knew I was avoiding the results. I wonder what happens in the late 3rd/early 4th, I guess we’ll see. I will admit it actually makes me excited for this one, since it appears Turner is about to have a big game.


Pregame thoughts- I’ve been very down on Hawes, but he needs to play some semblance of defense if we’re going to stop Howard. Personally, I prefer that we run the ball right at Howard and try to get him in foul trouble early.

1st Quarter-

12:00- The usual starting five for the Sixers. Why doesn’t Gilbert start for Orlando? I liked the trades they made because they got Gilbert, a scorer with some balls. Its weird he comes off the bench, but the again the Magic have been playing great, so I guess its working.

11:00- Brand with a couple of quick bricks, which is unusual for him. Elton typically comes out in an early rhythm.

10:00- Dwight Howard just bulls right through Elton Brand for 2. That is a bit of a mismatch, we might want to avoid that switch in the future.

9:00- Iggy with a great lob pass to Hawes. Alley-oops are for pussies, a real man, Hawes in this case, catches, lands, then dunks.

8:00- Jodie Meeks is 0 for 2 early, Elton Brand 0 for 2 early, Sixers have just 2 points through 4 minutes.

7:00- Hedo with a monster dunk, and the Magic are up 8-2. Surprised that Collins didn’t call a timeout there.

6:00- Ugh, this has been terrible game, I can’t believe I waited all night for this crapfest. 2 points for the Sixers in 5 and a half minutes. Lou checks in, lets try and get him the ball fellas. Btw, crapfest is not a recognized word by Microsoft Word.

5:00- Jrue for 3! The shot rattles around and it hit the rim four or so times before falling. That is about the third or fourth straight game which Jrue’s had a three like that. Btw, what ever happened to Jrue stealing the dribbling under the basket without looking up play that he stole from Nash? We play Phoenix next week, I hope he remembers it watching Nash and puts it back in his repertoire.

4:00- ET in, somehow the Sixers are only down one, despite looking like utter horseshit thus far.

3:00- ET with a rebound and a beautiful outlet pass to Lou, Williams gets hacked and heads to the line. He makes the first to give the Sixers double digits, and the second shot falls to give the Sixers the lead.

2:00- Second foul on Brand, he sits down for Thad Young. And a second foul on Hawes, here comes… Battie? WTF? Put Mo in there. Speights better see some time once Howard goes to the bench for rest.

1:00- ET for 3? Hell yeah, kid. Now a foul is called on Battie, we’d better pace ourselves or else ET is going to end up having to play center tonight. Ugh, a stupid second foul on Holiday.

End of 1st- ET with a drive, and he gets to the line. (10 FT a game is our goal for Turner) Last possession….LOU! STOP DRIBBLING! Well the Magic had us scouted because they doubled Lou Williams when he started to move in for his long jumper at the buzzer, so Lou kicked it to ET for a rushed long three-point attempt.

AHHH!!! WTF????


Due to time constraints we’re rejoining the action with 7minutes left in the 3rd quarter. This is gay.

3rd quarter-

6:00- Hawes gets his 4th foul.

5:00- Lou dribbles out the shot clock, turnover by the Sixers. Great play by Battie on the next trip down the court, with just two seconds on the shot clock Battie pumped and got Howard in the air, then drew the foul which is Howard’s 4th.

4:00- Sweet ass reverse by ET! He has 8 points and 7 rebounds so far.

3:00- Baseline dunk for Turner! Lou then drives for two on a lay-up. The magic have ZERO inside defense with Howard on the bench. Big hustle play by Jrue diving on a ball ET poked free.

2:00- ET is guarding Orlando PF Ryan Anderson, nobody is guarding Jameer Nelson apparently as he walks down the lane for an easy 2.

1:00- Lou and Jrue with back to back lay-ups. Btw, Orlando is going to get bounced in the playoffs quickly if this is their defense without Howard, they might be a tough match-up for Miami, but I think Atlanta and especially Boston could eliminate them. Even New York in the first round if Amare can get Howard to the bench early.

End of 3rd- Another easy lay-up by Nelson is answered by a Thaddeus Young lay-up on the other end, and now I’m told Thad is 6 for 6, although I didn’t see the first 5. And Lou Williams WASTES THE FINAL POSSESSION by jacking a 30-foot jumper. This is like some bad joke, every game with these terrible buzzer beaters.

4th Quarter-

12:00- Are we really up 7? That’s nuts, although we tend to melt down in the 4th on the road, so we’ll see. The quarter starts with Mo Speights drawing the foul by smacking Howard right in the elbow with his face twice! Come on Mo, you gotta be smarter than that! ET commits another foul, making it 2 in the first 15 seconds of the quarter, I have a hunch this may end up costing the Sixers later in this 4th quarter.

11:00- Thad with a bucket, he’s now 7 for 7.

10:00- 5 quick points for Ryan Anderson, the lead is cut to 3. Wait, a dunk by J-Rich makes it just 1.

9:00- Mo fouls Howard, and the lead is gone. The Sixers then blow a 3 on 1 fastbreak.

8:00- Jrue gets Howard to commit foul #5. Howard to the bench! Sixers are up 1, and Jrue is sniffing at a triple-double.

7:00- I was about to start bitching about Iggy not playing offense, but there he goes with a bucket. Which the announcers tell me is his first.

6:00- Ryan Anderson, or “White Jordan” as I think we should start calling him based on tonight, now has 20 points. Back to back turnovers by Philly.

***Quick note: Why do the cable listings say this goes until 1:00am, its 12:10 and there’s only half a quarter left. Is OT coming? It better be, because If they cut a quarter and a half so they could fit in the post-game show I’ll be pissed.

5:00- Brand gets his 5th foul, and Lou pushes the team’s consecutive turnover streak to 3.

4:00- Brand and Howard are both playing with 5 fouls. Everybody go attack Howard!

3:00- And now the cable has gone all Sopranos. Ugh, I’m gonna flick as long as CN8 is broken.

3:00- We are back from technical difficulties, the score is Magic 82- Sixers 80, Brand has fouled out, and there is 2:40 to go.

2:00- Wow! Jrue ties it up with a tough baseline jumpshot.

1:00- And now Jrue gives the Sixers the lead, a beautiful floater there by Holiday, Hedo quickly ties the game back up.

End of 4th- Iggy takes the lead back! Howard fouls out! And a Tech! (Sorry for all the exclamation points, but this is pretty exciting) Uh-oh, Lou is in dribble mode… Iggy gets the ball and gets to the line. The Sixers are up 5 with 28.6 left on the clock. How is OT possible? We’re not gonna win, are we? Redick blows by Lou for an easy lay-up. Lou hit’\s a foul shot, and the lead is 4 with 21.8 to go. How can this go to OT? Oh, because of a mother-fucking four point play!!!!!!!! I am angry, and think I want to mock Iguodala’s claim that he is the best defender in the league after that four-point play. There is time for a final play, but you already know what play the Sixers run. I do have a few comments on Lou’s barely missed three pointer at the buzzer.

1. Why a three pointer, the game is tied.
2. There were four seconds left when you shot and your defender was in the air, drive the damn ball!
3. Or lean into the guy, that’s Lou’s move for crying out loud!
4. Why the fade on that shot? Is it because you don’t want to make Sportscenter unless you can look badass doing it?
5. How did that shot (flawed as it was) not fall? That ball hit the rim three times, and then rolled in and out. Damn that was close.

So after White Jordan misses a desperation three, we are heading to overtime.

Overtime-

5:00- Thad is taking the jumpball, where is Mo at? We have a tiny line-up out there.

4:00- Iggy airball, Bass misses too, no score for the first minute.

3:00- Redick with another lay-up, maybe he should be White Jordan instead. Iggy comes back and ties it up, but a Nelson 3 breaks that tie.

2:00- Brilliant play here by Iggy. First a vicious dunk, then nice help D on Bass who was bullying the smaller Young by the basket, then Iggy grabs the board, and finishes this mini-run by dropping a jumper! Wow!

1:00- That was the Magic’s second, yes second, four point play of the game, this time by new white Jordan, JJ Redick. I have written a haiku to hoping poetry can channel my rage after that play:

Fucking four point play?
Oh my God, not another
Fucking four point play.

End of the OT- An ugly, but effective play cuts the lead to 1. The Sixers will have the final possession….Iggy drives, but it rolls in and out, ET grabs the board and chucks up an ugly shot that misses! How is that not a foul???!!!?? That’s it, Sixers lose. Damn it.

PSP Mid-season Report Card

Welcome to the PSP Mid-season Report Card. We're about to assign letter grades to each member of the 76ers based on their first half performance. I’d like to note that I’m grading on a curve, obviously less was expected from Jodie Meeks than was expected from Evan Turner, so it will be tougher for ET to get a better grade. For me, it breaks down like this:

A: A player that is greatly outperforming their expectations, has earned new roles, and that avoids exposing any weaknesses in their game.

B: A player who is in most cases living up to, or exceeding the expectations laid out for them.

C: A player who is, as Mike Singletary so eloquently said, who we thought they were.

D: D is for disappointment, ‘nuff said.

F: F is for failure. Somebody failing to make even the most basic of contributions.

So lets get going.


A: Lou Williams. One Sixer got an A, It’s Lou and that’s it. Coming into the season Lou was supposed to be your third or fourth guard. If Jason Kapono played well in his role as starting SF at the season’s beginning, then Iguodala would have remained the starting SG and Evan Turner would have at been the third option, forcing Lou further down the line. That’s not the way it has gone down, and Lou has become the team’s most reliable scorer. In crunch time, Lou is the guy you want with the ball in his hands. Lou leads the team in FTAs, which seems like it should be impossible for a third guard to do. Lou’s ability to get to the line enables him to get points every night, even when his shot is off. Lou has come so far that he is now the Sixers’ first choice to take big shots, and Lou has actually gone from 4th guard to the closer, I’d say that’s out-performing your job title. Lou can be a real candidate for 6th man of the year if he continues with his current level of play.

B: Elton Brand. The resurgence of Elton Brand is a big reason for the success the Sixers have had this year. I briefly considering giving Brand an A for his return to relevance, but then I remembered that he makes $15 million, and that he was signed to be the savior of this franchise. So no A for Elton, but I will give credit where its due. Brand has played great this year, showing flashes of the player that made two All-Star teams. Elton is also the toughest player we have, often giving the hard fouls and often stepping in when his smaller teammates are jawing with an opponent. I’m afraid the best of Brand’s career is over, his numbers for the year look exactly like you might have expected they would when he signed with the Sixers three summers back. The problem is that his numbers this year aren’t where Brand was at his peak, and you shouldn’t expect that they would be, since at 31 he is likely on the decline. The issue is that we missed his peak due to injuries (and Eddie Jordan). When we signed Elton we overpaid, and we knew it. The Sixers figured they would get a couple of All-Star seasons where Elton would lead them to the playoffs, and they would learn to win. After those first few years, Elton would decline a bit, but the youngsters will have grown into the support he needs for the Sixers to stay competitive. None of that happened, Elton got hurt, Eddie Jordan stifled the growth of our young talent, and we missed both the playoffs and the end of Brand' most productive years.

B: Jrue Holiday. Jrue has emerged nicely in his second season, Jrue continues to get better, and has completely dodged the dreaded sophomore jinx. Teams now have to game plan for Jrue, yet he stays very productive. The only complaints are Jrue still commits too many turnovers, and Jrue tends to disappear late in games. The reason the Sixers struggle in close games is because the young guys like Jrue aren’t stepping up. When Jrue matures a bit more, and when he becomes a playmaker in late-game situations it will raise the ceiling of the team by 5-10 wins, depending on how adept Jrue becomes at late game heroics.

B: Jodie Meeks. Meeks is a guy who obviously has exceeded expectations. If you would have told us fans that Meeks would be the starter at SG and that we’d make the playoffs, I’m not sure I would have went for that one. But there he is and here we are. Meeks’ outside shooting spreads the floor and helps the rest of the team by creating space for them to operate. I considered giving Jodie an A since he has so greatly exceeded expectations, but really he is a one-dimensional player, who happens to be given minutes because his one dimension fills a void. Jodie is in the right place for his skill set, so while I think he’s done a real nice job, let’s not get carried away with what Jodie is.

C: Thaddeus Young. Thaddeus gets a high C as a compromise more than anything since I can’t remember a single game this year when I feel like Thad played at a C level. With Thad it feels like its an ‘A or B‘, or a ‘D or F’, Still Thaddeus is back to being the kind of player he was in the past, before the dark times, before Eddie Jordan. Thaddeus just needs to play more consistent basketball and to remember to lay off the long two point jump shots.

C: Andre Iguodala. Iggy gets a C due to injuries limiting his impact for much of the year. Iggy’s scoring has been down this year, but he has really ratcheted up his defensive intensity. Credit Doug Collins with getting him to be more committed to defending, Iggy also seems like he is less focused on being the primary offensive weapon. When Iguodala’s scoring is forced, and doesn’t come naturally in the flow of the game, then he often hurts the team as much as he helps it.

C: Mo Speights, Andres Nocioni, Tony Battie. These three are exactly what they’ve always been. Mo is an all-O/no-D center who often scores in bursts, but doesn’t get enough minutes to really effect the team. Although, with Hawes recent ups and downs, maybe Mo might get a shot at a starting role. I’m not judging this team on what they could be, just what they are, and Mo has been exactly what we expected (not a bad thing). Tony Battie is the opposite of Mo, he also has been what you expected, except Tony is an all-D/no-O center that doesn’t get enough minutes to change any opinions. Nocioni has been a pesky defender, a quiet, yet effective rebounder, and a sometimes shooter. Andres has gotten a lot more minutes than Battie or Mo, and even a bunch of starts, but ultimately he is, like Mo and Battie, exactly the player he always has been.

D: Evan Turner. First, the good. Evan Turner has shown himself to be a very nice defender, ET has played his way into the late game line-up as a defensive stopper. ET also has shown flashes of being a great rebounder for a shooting guard. Now the bad. ET has made NO impact on the offensive end to speak of. Turner appears tentative when he has the ball in the half court, and is sometimes ignored by his teammates despite being open. Turner is shooting under 40% for the season, and has been a pretty big disappointment overall. ET was supposed to come in, learn on the job, be an answer to the team’s search for consistent scoring, and maybe get into the discussion for ROTY. Turner is nowhere near the discussion for ROTY. Obviously Blake Griffin is the ROTY, and John Wall is the distant runner-up, but I can’t imagine that ET would register a single top ten vote for ROTY if the ballots were cast today.

D: Spencer Hawes. Talk about a disappointment. Anytime you trade away a chronic disappointment like Sam Dalembert and feel like you got ripped off, you know something is wrong. Hawes is averaging a pathetic 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Hawes had a nice run where he looked to be over his preseason health woes and seemed to be settling into a groove, but that streak ended fairly quickly, and at this point I’m convinced Spencer is about to get bounced from the starting lineup. Hawes doesn’t score, is only okay at getting rebounds, doesn’t defend all that well, and he can’t shoot free throws. He has a decent mid-range game for a big man, but that isn’t what this team needs.

F: Jason Kapono. From opening day starter, to 13 minutes played in the last 2 months combined despite perfect health. I think that’s what the kids would call an EPIC FAIL.

F: Darius Songaila. Hasn’t done anything, I hoped for something. Also, could have at least gotten into the game when Collins rolled out a lineup featuring Nocioni, Kapono, and Hawes. I guess four honkies just wasn’t meant to be.

N/A: Craig Brackins: This rookie project, who hangs around between Philly and the D-league is going to get a pass this time around. I haven't gotten a fair chance to grade the youngster who hopefully can contribute in the future.

Sixers-Bobcats Thoughts and Observations

I watched this one in person and it was my 7-year old's first live game, so I didn't take live notes. Here's a few thoughts and observations from a slightly different perspective than usual.


*Elton Brand is the baseline for this team. Elton plugs away every night and does his thing, keeping the team together and in games. It is up to someone else, however, to make the plays that are going to win the game. Tonight that guy was Lou Williams, in fact, on most nights if the Sixers win they get a big game from either Lou or Jrue Holiday.

*Elton had 2 blocks in his last nine games, on Monday he had 5.

*Going back for a second, in 17 Sixers wins Jrue has averaged 16.1 points on 50% shooting and Lou averages 15.2 points on 42% shooting. In our 23 losses (Lou missed one of them) Jrue averages 13.5 points on 40% shooting and Lou averages 11 on 36%.

*What is up with Spencer Hawes? His minutes game-by-game this month: 25, 5, 18, 27, 18, 11. Sporadic to say the least.

*You know what isn’t sporadic? Hawes’ offense, he hasn’t scored in double digits in any of those games.

*It appears to me that Spencer isn't happy with his minutes, Spencer turned the ball over early in the second half, and Mo Speights immediately hopped up and went to the scorers table to replace him. As soon as Speights got up, Hawes fouled his man (on purpose? To hasten his exit?) while he was nowhere near the basket and stormed off to the bench, he did not return.

*Marreese Speights has scored in double digits in 4 of 7 since New Years. The other 3 games weren’t exactly poor showings: vs. Washington he scored 8 points in 16 minutes, against Milwaukee he has 7 points in 9 minutes, and against Chicago Mo only played 5 minutes and scored 2.

*Mo’s per 36 numbers this month are staggering, he is averaging over 20 points and 12 boards per 36 minutes played. Perhaps some real minutes are in order. Oh, and he’s shooting 62% this month.

*I think I may have buried the lead, how about Lou Williams with the big shot tonight!

*Lou has been crazy good lately, averaging 20 points per game since a tough effort against New Orleans on 1/3.

*Iguodala has been really good the past two games, playing great defense and scoring when needed. Iggy also has hit some clutch shots recently including a huge jumper to put the Sixers ahead late in OT Monday.

*Elbow controversy aside I like Iguodala, but I can’t say my opinion is echoed very often among the locals. I was excited to hear basketball talk on 610 this morning, but it was mostly people trashing Iggy. Anthony Gargano especially does not like Iguodala, saying he hears reports that he isn’t a good guy, and went so far as to mock Iguodala’s claim that he is the best defender in the league. Now, maybe Iggy isn’t the league’s best defender, but he is a great defender. The fact that he claims to be the best in the world shows that he takes pride in his defense, which is means it is his priority, and hopefully the team follows his lead.

*Speaking of elbows, Evan Turner must have caught three or four hard shots while playing off the ball defense Monday. Nothing was called, and since it wasn't on TV nobody probably noticed, but the kid played his ass off against big opponents and held his own.

*Speaking of Evan Turner, ET was often the one covering Boris Diaw late in the game. Diaw, a 6-8 power forward who was on fire Monday (Diaw finished the game with a triple-double), was effectively covered on several key possessions by Turner, a shooting guard. It really makes me excited to think what this team can do defensively with Turner and Iggy side by side. Of course somebody still would need to score, and defensive basketball isn’t always fun to watch. And our interior defense needs some work, did I say some work, our interior defense is essentially nonexistent.

*Speaking of still needing to score, ET got 33 minutes and scored 2 points aside from a couple of trips to the foul line late, when the Bobcats were forced to foul.

*Hey, at least ET made those foul shots, Lou Williams cost us the Detroit game with missed free throws, and Monday Thaddeus Young shot a ridiculous 1 for 6 from the stripe.

*It has been a couple of days since I mentioned this, but Orlando-Boston high-lights are on in the background right now so I feel like I should restate the following opinion: I can’t stand Paul Pierce.

*Next up is Orlando, so our lack of interior defense will be on display as somebody is going to have to stop Dwight Howard if the Sixers are going to win this game. The best defense may be a good offense, I would probably start Mo Speights and run the ball through him early hopefully getting some fouls on Howard. I feel confident that Jrue, ET, and Iggy can D-up Arenas, J-Rich, and Jameer Nelson, so if they can find a way to reduce Howard’s impact, through foul trouble or otherwise, then the Sixers should be able to compete.

Sixer Player Power Rankings

New idea, every Monday I’m going to post Power Rankings for the Sixers roster. It will take the whole season into account, but recent play will be the most important factor.


1. Elton Brand- The vet has been the most productive and consistent player on the team. Brand is healthy (finally, I should probably go knock on wood) this season and his play has been tremendous. Brand has already posted 14 double doubles this season, something he only did 17 times the two injury-plagued seasons previous. Brand is playing so well, he may actually be tradable if the team decides to go in that direction. Although, if the team is serious about making a playoff push, trading Brand will probably derail your playoff hopes.

2. Lou Williams- Before this season I did not have a very high opinion of Lou Williams, but his play has been great so far this year. Lou’s game is built around scoring the basketball, and his per 36 minute averages of 20.4 points and 5.4 assists are tremendous. Lou is the most aggressive Sixer on offense by far, and somehow leads the team in free throw attempts despite only playing 22.5 minutes per game. Lou gets to the line by both attacking the rim, and with his uncanny ability to draws contact while taking jumpers. If he could teach our other guards to draw contact like he does he would be the team’s MVP. A little of Lou’s swagger is exactly what Jrue and ET need to advance their games.

3. Jrue Holiday- The youngest player on the 76ers might be their best by years end. Jrue’s numbers continue to rise, in six January games he has averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 assists. The only regret is that his turnovers are going up as well. Jrue needs to do a better job of taking care of the basketball before he or the team can get to the next level. It also would be nice to see Jrue take a page from Lou Williams and get to the line more often. I do realize that I just wrote that Jrue needs to be more careful and more aggressive in back-to-back sentences, but if Jrue will ever become a star in this league then that is the case.

4. Thad Young- I guess it explains why this team struggles so much when two of the teams’ four best players are coming off the bench. That’s not Thaddeus Young’s fault. Thad has been great so far this season, and he ranks 9th overall in FG%. Thad has some nice per 36 numbers, racking up 16.4 points and 7 rebounds. Thad and Lou both probably have earned more minutes with their play. While Lou’s can come at Jodie Meeks’ expense, with Iggy’s return from the DL Thad may actually be looking at less minutes.

5. Andre Iguodala- Iggy has missed significant playing with injury for the first time in his career this season, in fact this is only the second time in seven seasons that Dre won’t play and start all 82 games. Andre’s time on the DL is the only reason that he isn’t at the top of the list. Iggy is an all-world defender, a versatile offensive player, and the team’s emotional leader. Andre doesn’t fit the classic mold of a team’s best player, because he isn’t a high volume scorer, but he is, in fact, the 76ers best player.

6. (Tie) Mo Speights and Spencer Hawes- Both guys are good offensive players and weak defenders. That separation is much more exaggerated with Mo, who is a very nice offensive player. Speights however commits too many fouls, and doesn’t play quality man or help defense. Hawes is more balanced, but isn’t exactly Bill Russell on the defensive end. Combined they form a league average center, their combined numbers per game: 33 mins, 12.4 pts, 9 rebs, 2 asts, .4 stls, 1.1 blks, 2 to’s, 4.5 fls, with 48.2% shooting.
Those number would put our center combo in the top 10 of all the offensive categories among centers, and in the bottom half of all centers in the defensive columns.

8. Evan Turner- I like ET, despite his offensive struggles he has continued to plug away, and now is a part of the defensive rotation late in games. ET needs to continue to grow his offensive game, and the best way to consistently score would be to, like Jrue, get to the line more often.

9. Jodie Meeks- Jodie’s ability to shoot from the outside gave him, pardon the pun, a shot at joining the starting lineup. Since then, Jodie has taken the chance and done a nice job with it. Jodie is in a tough spot since he is the team’s 4th best guard, and probably doesn’t fit into the team’s long term plans, unless they dump Lou for some reason and he assumes the role of third guard.

10. Andres Nocioni- My son’s favorite player rounds out our top 10. Nocioni plays hard, defends with vigor, and will occasionally knock down a few threes for you. He is not a star, but a nice piece off the bench, even if Doug Collins seems to play him a bit too much for my tastes.

No need to go any further, Happy Martin Luther King day everybody, I’ll be back Tuesday with Sixers-Bobcats.