That One Hurts

When I first turned on my gametrack at work tonight to see what the Sixers were doing, I was treated to a pleasant surprise - the Sixers led the Hawks, 32-14, at the end of the first quarter.

A mere two hours later, and that comfortable lead somehow morphed into a 96-91 loss. How did this happen?

That question was rhetorical. I'm not posting to answer it, nor am I posting to pass any particular judgment or criticism of the teams play, as I did not watch the game. The numbers seem to tell me that Josh Childress (21 points on 9-of-11 shooting) had something to do with it.

I'm more concerned about what this game means. I don't want to be the blogger that overreacts to one loss and says the season is over. It isn't. This is the Eastern conference, where 18-30 gets you into the heart of the playoff race. However these sort of games, at home against bad teams, are the games the Sixers need to win. Most especially with you emerge from the first quarter with an 18-point lead.

My idealistic tendencies prevent me from ever encouraging a team to tank and get a good draft pick, but a loss like this makes you wonder if maybe that isn't the best thing.

Really, the best hope for this team in the here and now is a trade to get somebody (anybody) who can score the basketball. Getting somebody who can play power forward would be ideal, but beggars can't be choosers. That said, I'm not willing to make a trade that in any way hinders the development of this team into next year and beyond. Still, getting a player like a Channing Frye from Portland as part of an Andre Miller deal (along with one or two other players) would fit the bill. Such a deal was proposed by J.A Adande in the L.A Times late last week.

Anyway hopefully this game is another lesson for the young players (Thad played 30 minutes tonight). That's really the best way you can look at things at this point.

It will be interesting to see how the boys respond tonight against Washington. Until next time.