Hello all, a happy Tuesday morning to you. I trust your week is off to a better start than mine ... as I write this I'm fresh off a nine-and-a-half hour stint at the paper that saw me get back to the apartment here at 4:45 a.m. I'm currently running on the fumes lingering from a cherry Pepsi I had about two hours ago.
Alas, there is Sixer news to talk about from the past few days. Most prominently, they won a ballgame last Saturday night at Charlotte, 103-96. Obviously having read my last post, Andre Iguodala played more aggressively and scored a season-high 33 points. Hopefully its a sign of more things we'll be seeing out of him the rest of the year. I don't want to comment too much further on the play of the team, as I only caught a few stray minutes on the Ticket, which was otherwise dominated by my Celtic-fan roommate.
The win stopped a three-game skid and broke up a slump in which the Sixers had lost 11 of 13. Well, not really. I guess now they've only lost 11 of 14, which you have to say isn't all that much to be proud of. In any event its good to see the kids win a game here or there and hopefully they can keep it up.
Speaking of keeping it up, the Sixers have a nice little stretch here before the All-Star Break in which they play seven of eight games at home. I know the Wachovia Center atmosphere is dead right now, but you'd have to think the players are a little more comfortable in the friendly confines and maybe they can reel off a few. There's an Inquirer story on the stretch here. It's amazing that as bad as the Sixers have played, they're still only 2.5 out of playoff spot in the wretched East. More on this homestand in a blog later this week...
In other new, the Daily News writes that Lou Williams is already branching out into secondary endeavors. He will be hosting a hip-hop radio show on Philly's 100.3 The Beat. For those not from the area, its one of the most listened-to stations in the city. The show will run from noon to 4 p.m. every Sunday. And you'd have to say good for him. He's already a fan favorite, and doing things like this should only increase his popularity. The team could use a player to draw some fans in.
In trade news, there was a nice little teaser column from the Inky's David Aldrige the other day about some players the Sixers should look into dealing for. The most surprising of the suggestion is Chris Andersen. Yes, that Chris Andersen that flunked enough drug tests he was thrown out of the league for two years. Apparently he's eligible for reinstatement.
For those of you who don't know him, he might be best known for this at the '05 NBA Dunk contest. Not one of his finer moments, you'd have to say.
Aldrige does throw out two interesting names: forward Mickael Pietrus of Golden State and guard Thabo Sefolosha from Chicago. I don't know how plausible either is but I'd be in favor of either one joining the team provided the price wasn't too steep.
Finally, this man somehow has employment again. Hopefully Don Nelsen has a pair of fresh knees for him.
And that's it for this morning. Time for four hours of sleep before it's up again for class. Joy.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Sixers @ Knicks, Stefanski won't budge
Going to school in Syracuse, it's not often I actually get to see the Sixers play. Luckily, the fine institution that is the MSG network allowed me to catch the Sixers last night before some Friday night college mischief.
Frankly, I want my two hours back. The Sixers dug a hole early and were playing catch up against a rather lackluster Knicks teams for the first 30 minutes of the game.
To their credit, they fought back and retook the lead off a pair of Igoudala free throws at about the four-minute mark of the third quarter. They seemed to find some rhythm in the transition game, which produced a nice dunk from Iggy and an alley-oop from Miller to Sammy. But even that tight lead was short-lived and Philly went into the final frame down, 72-66.
Iggy had his moments last night, leading the team with 24 points, but he missed a pair of free throws with the score 82-80 that could have tied the game midway through the quarter. From there it was all downhill, as the Sixers scored just one point (an Andre Miller free throw) during the rest of the game en route to a rather disappointing 89-81 loss.
To be honest, listening to the Walt Frazier ramble on about how the Knicks should beat a team like the Sixers was somewhat degrading, but that's the state of the team right now I guess. I never root for the Sixers to tank, but maybe losing the rest of the season isn't such a bad thing after all. Eric Gordon here we come...
It's getting a little frustrating to watch Igoudala play. The guy has so much talent, but he needs to learn to take games over in the fourth quarter. He had four straight in the fourth to cut the lead to two I believe, but then it was like he disappeared. Those were his only points of the quarter. The best players earn their money in crunch time, and if Iggy wants to get paid like a top player, I'd like to see him command the ball late in games.
As far as the kids go, Jason Smith (6 points, 5 boards) had some nice moments, but not too much to be seen from Lou Williams or Thaddeus Young. I guess that's to be expected out of young players.
And that's it really. Unless you count this Philadelphia Inquirer story in which Easy Ed says he's the Sixers won't trade Andre Miller unless they get Kobe Bryant, or something to that affect. GM speak if you ask me. What else would you expect him to say?
And that's it for today. Until tomorrow...
Frankly, I want my two hours back. The Sixers dug a hole early and were playing catch up against a rather lackluster Knicks teams for the first 30 minutes of the game.
To their credit, they fought back and retook the lead off a pair of Igoudala free throws at about the four-minute mark of the third quarter. They seemed to find some rhythm in the transition game, which produced a nice dunk from Iggy and an alley-oop from Miller to Sammy. But even that tight lead was short-lived and Philly went into the final frame down, 72-66.
Iggy had his moments last night, leading the team with 24 points, but he missed a pair of free throws with the score 82-80 that could have tied the game midway through the quarter. From there it was all downhill, as the Sixers scored just one point (an Andre Miller free throw) during the rest of the game en route to a rather disappointing 89-81 loss.
To be honest, listening to the Walt Frazier ramble on about how the Knicks should beat a team like the Sixers was somewhat degrading, but that's the state of the team right now I guess. I never root for the Sixers to tank, but maybe losing the rest of the season isn't such a bad thing after all. Eric Gordon here we come...
It's getting a little frustrating to watch Igoudala play. The guy has so much talent, but he needs to learn to take games over in the fourth quarter. He had four straight in the fourth to cut the lead to two I believe, but then it was like he disappeared. Those were his only points of the quarter. The best players earn their money in crunch time, and if Iggy wants to get paid like a top player, I'd like to see him command the ball late in games.
As far as the kids go, Jason Smith (6 points, 5 boards) had some nice moments, but not too much to be seen from Lou Williams or Thaddeus Young. I guess that's to be expected out of young players.
And that's it really. Unless you count this Philadelphia Inquirer story in which Easy Ed says he's the Sixers won't trade Andre Miller unless they get Kobe Bryant, or something to that affect. GM speak if you ask me. What else would you expect him to say?
And that's it for today. Until tomorrow...
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