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There Can Only Be One: Iguodala and Hamilton
2008-04-27 03:08:00
I just saw this commercial during the Boston/Atlanta game. It was the first time I saw one with a Philly player so I figured I would share it with you guys. And by the way, this is what he should have said on PTI the other day.
More About: Hamilton , Sixers

Detroit?s Reaction to the Game 3 Blowout
2008-04-26 22:18:00
Do you think the Detroit Pistons and their faithful have changed their tune about the underdog Sixers after last nights blasting? ogrady500 on the ESPN Detroit Pistons message board: "No respect is deserved. The Sixers are a little more than a collection of scrubs, but at least they are putting forth an effort, which is more than I can say for the disgraceful Pistons. This is about the Pistons playing like complete A-Holes and has almost ZERO to do with anything the Sixers are doing."
More About: Game , The Game , Reaction

76ers vs. Pistons Playoff Series: Philly Punches Back in Game 3
2008-04-26 05:23:00
Where do you start when your team comes off a disappointing playoff loss and plays the best game you could have asked for? I am beyond proud of our Philadelphia 76ers after tonight's performance. The Sixers came out right from the tap and jumped all over the Detroit Pistons. They completely dominated every aspect of the game for 48 minutes. The result: a 95-75 dismantling of the Detroit Pistons. Game Notes This game was unlike either of the first two in that the Sixers finally maintained their great start. They opened up on a 6-0 run with 5 offensive rebounds in the first six minutes and never really looked back. A few things really stood out to me:
More About: Series , Back , Philly , Punches

Breaking News! Eagles Linked to Top Receiver!
2008-04-25 17:43:00
Back in December, I listed the things that I really wanted for Christmas. #1 was that in the off-season, the Eagles trade for a true top-flight receiver and give Donovan McNabb one last chance with a wide array of weapons. Clearly, as of yet, the Eagles have not done so. But what’s worse than not getting ...
More About: News , Breaking News , Receiver , Breaking

76ers vs. Pistons Playoff Series: Detroit Takes Game 2
2008-04-24 19:51:00
Guys, I need some help here. I had a championship basketball game last night at 8 p.m. in my winter bball league. Meaning I missed the entire first half and 3 minutes into the third quarter. What the hell happened? When I finally got in front of a TV, the score was 58-38 with about 9 minutes and some change left in the 3rd. Luckily we won our championship game so I wasn't as pissed as I would have been looking at the final score of 105-88. I can't exactly do a real game recap and analysis without watching the entire game, but looking at the boxscore, highlights and going through the play-by-play here are some thoughts: The Sixers needed to win some key battles that they clearly didn't last night.
More About: Series , Game , Detroit , Game 2

The Phillies After 20 Games
2008-04-23 03:50:00
If you had told me that 20 games into the season the Phillies would have a 3.64 team ERA, 2.84 bullpen ERA, Brad Lidge was healthy, Chase Utley was the best player in the NL for the first 20 games and Pat Burrell was playing like he's primed for an Adrian Beltre type contract year - I would have been ecstatic. We'd have to be 15-5, right? Maybe 14-6 or at worst 13-7. But these are the Phillies, when something is going right, something else is always going wrong. Instead of leading our division, we sit at 10-10, certainly not a bad start for a team that didn't get to .500 until the 42nd game last year, but not quite as good as many had hoped for. So what's the hold up? Well - a couple things...
More About: Games

Detroit Fans? Reaction to the Game 1 Loss
2008-04-21 23:32:00
That is if you fellow Philadelphia 76ers fans even care what the Pistons faithful are saying about their teams game 1 demise. Need4Sheed, a blog I absolutely love is Stunned at The Palace. They offer up 30 key points in their game recap. So that means 30 miniature Rasheed Wallace heads accompanying each point. It's comical. My favorite point Natalie made "Bad things happen when Rasheed tosses the headband. As soon as I saw him out there headbandless, I cringed." Love that observation. Something only a die hard Piston's fan would point out. Reader comment that should make all Sixers fan smile with pleasure: uyen said... "Natalie, this game actually made me threw up my food." Priceless!
More About: Fans , Game , The Game , Loss , Detroit

76ers vs. Pistons Playoff Series: Philly Steals Game 1
2008-04-21 04:19:00
Who would have thought after being down 15-points on the road, playing against a championship-caliber team, getting 4-16 shooting by our best player and having a roster filled with playoff newbies, the 76ers would be up 1-0 in their first round playoff series against the Detroit Pistons? Well, surprise, surprise, that's the unsettling reality everyone in Detroit must face, most importantly Flip Saunders and his "experienced" Piston players. In the first quarter the Sixers came out with tons of energy and attacked. After that initial burst it became clear Detroit was the more experienced team. They executed well on offense and looked under control at all times. What was also clear was that the Sixers had no plans of backing down. The Good
More About: Series , Game , Steals , Philly

76ers Have a 4.8% Chance of Beating Detroit
2008-04-19 20:11:00
That is according to Stephen Oh, AccuScore Analyst and their prediction formula. DETROIT PISTONS VS PHILADELPHIA 76ers (Pistons 95.2% Favorites) Stephen Oh's Take Detroit is not vastly superior to Philadelphia in any one key area of the game (shooting percentage, rebounding, turnover margin, depth), but they are tangibly better in every key area of the game. In other words, they might out-rebound Philly by just 4, shoot only 2% better from the field, 5% better from the line, and commit 2 fewer turnovers. Each of these phases give Detroit a 2 point net advantage on the scoreboard and when you add all 4 of them together you have Detroit with an 8 point advantage on a neutral court (call that +12 at home, +4 on the road). When you factor for playoff experience and home court advantage Detroit is winning a resounding 95 percent of playoff series simulations.
More About: Chance , Sixers , Beating

The First Edition of ?Brotherly Link Love?
2008-04-18 16:10:00
Brotherly Link Love will be a regular post dedicated solely to recognizing other great bloggers and content primarily about the 76ers.  I will surely toss in some main stream and non-Sixers articles I think you guys will like as well.  But the main point is to promote other bloggers who are doing a good job writing ...
More About: Edition

Referees Literally Stab the 76ers in the Back Against Cleveland
2008-04-15 19:59:00
Ok since I have moderately calmed down from last night I feel more capable of talking about that game without all the vulgarities. The score was 90-89 when the buzzer sounded and the Wachovia Center was more than electric. It was down right thunderous after the 76ers triumphant 12-point comeback to keep their 6th seed playoff hopes alive. That is until the fans began to file out of the gym and the Sixers turned their backs and headed to the locker room to celebrate. Then a crime began to unfold. A basketball murder if you will. They killed our hopes to avoid the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. While the entire 76er team was in the locker room, Cavs Coach Mike Brown was pleading with the officials to take a look at the replay to determine if a foul was committed before the buzzer sounded. My first thought was, "Is that reviewable?" The answer is yes:
More About: Back , Cleveland , Literally

I Can?t Believe What I Witnessed Tonight
2008-04-15 05:21:00
Here is the replay and end result of the Sixers getting robbed out of the 6th playoff spot tonight against Cleveland.  Sometimes a ref just needs to put his whistle in his pocket. Considering the fury I have inside right now having been on the lower level and center court to witness that &%^%$%^$ I will ...
More About: Tonight

76ers MUST Go Hard in the Final Two Games
2008-04-14 00:45:00
Sunday's top performance goes to the Detroit Pistons bench. Why? In a seemingly meaningless game for the Pistons verse Toronto the Detroit reserves were able to hold off the Raptors in the 4th quarter to secure the victory. Something they weren't able to do against the 76ers earlier this week. More importantly that dropped Toronto to 40-40, tied with the Sixers for that critical 6th playoff position. With that said our hometown team still has work to do in the final two games of the regular season. The sixth seed is on the line and they need to build some momentum going into the postseason. The Sixers haven't lost 3 games in a row since late January, and now is not the time for the 76ers to hit a slide. With Toronto right on their hip it's vital Mo has the team fully focused on the prize.
More About: Games , Hard , Final

The White-Boy Report: The 40-Year De-Volution
2008-04-12 04:35:00
From Left to Right (Click on the image to enlarge): 2008 - Kirk Hinrich, Mike Miller, Mike Dunleavy Jr., David Lee, Chris Kaman 1998 - John Stockton, Rex Chapman, Keith Van Horn, Tom Guggliota, Bryant Reeves 1988 - Mark Price, Chris Mullin, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Tom Chambers 1978 - Pete Maravich, Rick Barry, Paul Westphal, Dave Cowens, Bill Walton Honestly, there's not much to write that this picture doesn't really say - but as always, I can show some stats: In 2008 - there are 10 white-boys in the top 125 in scoring In 1998 - there are 10 white-boys in the top 113 in scoring In 1988 - there are 10 white-boys in the top 54 in scoring In 1978 - there are 10 white-boys in the top 40 in scoring You can do the same with Rebounds and Assists and you will see the same trend.
More About: General , Report , White , Year

The White-Boy Report
2008-04-10 21:28:00
APRIL 10 - 2008 Welcome to the White -Boy Report ! The White-Boy Report is going to be a recurring feature that keeps an eye on the progress of the American-born white basketball player. They are a dying breed, becoming less and less relevant in the NBA. The reason why is anyone's guess - and will remain that way because it is an issue too layered, potentially controversial, and almost impossible to tackle without sounding racist, that no major sports provider will touch it - and neither will I...at least not right now. The reason for this feature is simple. I love basketball, and one of the things I love most about it is that it is as diverse as any sport - with players from about 70 different countries and Americans with backgrounds from all across the country - all bringing unique styles and culture to the game. Well, right now, the part of the NBA puzzle that represents my demographic is sucking it up pretty badly. To the point that the best American-born white player ever, Larr...
More About: General

76ers Rumors: Would You Vouch for Billy King as a GM?
2008-04-10 17:52:00
Now fully entrenched on the new and improved Recliner GM I plan on adding a new segment called "Sixers Rumors ." I will regularly scour the web for any and every bit of 76er-related rumors and post them all on the blog. Now you can get all your Sixers hearsay in one place, let me do the work. ; ) The first installment involves the beloved Billy King . We all love BK, right? Well another Eastern Conference team seems to have interest in the former 76er GM. The Milwaukee Bucks have contacted some big wigs in the Philadelphia 76ers' organization regarding King. Not sure whether he was or is planning to be interviewed, but they are definitely doing some preliminary background checks.

76ers Make Easy Work of ?Resting? Detroit Pistons
2008-04-10 04:41:00
Solid win for the Sixers, but obviously nothing to go crazy about, which is a good thing. I have been preaching that the expectation for the team has shifted. At this point we should expect the 76ers to compete with anyone every night and beat good teams in the process. Tonight facing a Detroit squad who was clearly resting their starters, the Sixers handled business. Although this wasn't a playoff type game for either team, it was important for the Sixers to come out and play with that type of intensity. Right now it's about consistency and building momentum going into the post season. The Sixers players could have easily had a mental letdown seeing the Piston reserves on the court for a large part of the game. The maturity this team has shown is exactly why they didn't. Thoughts on the game:
More About: Work , Detroit Pistons , Make , Easy

Phils/Mets Turning Into REAL Rivalry
2008-04-09 03:23:00
In this day in age, where the media is all around us 24/7, people are always over-hyping players, games, teams and rivalries in an effort to out-scoop the competition and make their stories sound more important and interesting than they really are. As fans, it has become tough to differentiate between the stories where the hype is justified and stories where the hype is more or less imaginary. There is always an "up and coming rivalry" that sportswriters are trying to push on us, most of which have no chance for longevity. See examples here and here. 99% of the time these rivalries never make their way to the upper echelon of Sox/Yanks, Duke/UNC, Michigan/OSU, Dodgers/Giants and so on. These are games where the rivalry is so strong and the teams so consistently good, that it becomes a national event, not just something talked about within certain cities. The Phillies and Mets are nowhere near that point, but they have a chance, and I think it would be great for baseball. Here's wh...
More About: New York Mets , Real

Watch Out - The 76ers are in the Playoffs
2008-04-06 06:12:00
With their win over Atlanta Friday night the 76ers officially locked up a playoff spot for the first time since 2005. I don't think anyone in Philly, outside the city and around the country thought this was a realistic possibility. Especially when you consider on February 4th the Sixers were 12 games below .500 at 18-30. The growth and improvement this team has shown is remarkable. And tremendous credit must got to Ed Stefanski for coming in telling Mo to play the young guys. As well as Maurice Cheeks for not pushing back on that request and making the most of every players ability.
More About: Watch , Playoffs

Elton Brand Returns for 8-game ?Try-out?
2008-04-05 20:45:00
Elton Brand took his surgically repaired Achilles tendon to court Wednesday playing in his first game of the season for the Clippers. And he looked good. Scoring 19-points, grabbing 5 boards in 26 minutes of action. He followed that performance up with a 15 point, 9 rebound and 2 block game on Thursday. I hope Ed Stefanski is keeping a close watch. Brand is, without a doubt, the player most, if not all, 76er fans have been targeting as the one they want Stefanski to make a strong push for this summer. I think it's safe to state as fact that the Sixers' biggest weakness is at power forward. The three main options on the market after this season are Elton Brand, Antwawn Jamison and Josh Smith. Brand, for obvious reasons, would be the ideal choice. As with any player that has a major injury to a lower extremity, the question remains of whether will he return to all-star form.
More About: Game