New Season New Challenges

What a way to start Doug Collins second year of his regime, the NBA showed no sympathy for the young 76ers this season when scheduling the 66 game season. The Sixers will begin their season with a five-game road trip starting tonight against the Portland Trailblazers and their rowdy Rose Garden crowd. The road trip will not end until Jan.4 against the new look Hornets. Doug Collins knows that this road trip can ultimately decide the season for the Sixers. If they start out fast they will gain confidence and build chemistry with one another, also build on their momentum and take advantage of playing at home for 13 of their next 16 games. However a rough start could lead to a trade involving their franchise player Andre Iguodala and lead to another “rebuilding” or “reloading” project.

The Sixers will face a Portland team that has undergone immense change. Their franchise player Brandon Roy was forced to retire because of terrible injuries to both of his knees. Former number one pick Greg Oden will miss another season with injury. On the bright side the Blazers got younger at point guard by trading former Sixer Andre Miller for former division rival Raymond Felton and added an excellent sixth man in Jamal Crawford. Also LaMarcus Aldridge is coming off a season where he was one of three players to rank in the top 15 in points and rebounding.

Something to look out for is how Jrue Holiday will run the team in his third year out of UCLA. And if he can take the next step and become an elite point guard. Another thing to look out for is how aggressively Andre Iguodala will play coming off one of his worse seasons (scoring wise) as a Sixer. He has had extra time during the lockout to heal and will have no excuse to not play at an all-star level. Finally, can Evan Turner be more involved more in the offense? Turner has worked on his jump shot with legendary coach Herb Magee and with an improved jump shot he should be a better fit in the 76ers offense.

Why Philly Hates Kobe (via deesixersfan)

Kobe Bryant can straight up ball, he is one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball and he is a winner. He is one of the most mentally tough players and history, just like Allen Iverson Kobe plays through many injuries, but while Iverson is adored by Philly Fans Kobe is hated. Why is it that Philly fans hate  The Black Mamba (Kobe Bryant) as … Read More

via deesixersfan

Dont Call it a Comeback? (via deesixersfan)

Iverson definitely wants to finish his career in the NBA but will he have that chance. Last summer Iverson did not get a single offer from an NBA team. So he decided to take his talents to Turkey, he showed a glimpse of "The Answer" of old scoring a season high 26 points. Unfortunately an injured leg only allowed him to play in ten games the entire season. Maybe the upcoming season can be better for Allen Iverson (assuming that there is not a loc … Read More

via deesixersfan

Team Dating Game:Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala

 Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala faced LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden on the Jimmy Kimmel show.  This show had a different segment with a Team Dating Game. This is a basic dating game format with a Jimmy Kimmel twist of comedy. The first round started with some simple questions that ended with some funny and embarrassing answers.

In the second round the two Chicago natives showed their chemistry, as they answered both of their questions correctly. Putting pressure on Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge.

The two shooting guards had the game won, but like all season long, they struggled in closing the game out, youth and lack of experience ultimately was their downfall. 

Off Season

The Sixers came into the playoffs as severe underdogs; facing the Miami Heat was just a bad matchup. However that did not keep the Sixers from giving their best effort every night. They competed very well all series long (with the exception of game 2), as all of those games where close to the end. Also we saw a glimpse of the future in game 4, when  Jrue Holliday, Evan Turner, and Louis Williams spearheaded a late 4th quarter comeback accounting  for the 10-0 run to pull off a 82-86 stunning victory on Easter day. They lost in a close game five as the young 76ers just did not have an answer for the “Big 3” or what I like to call them “Two and a Half Men” (Chris Bosh is not on the same level as Wade and Lebron) Losing the series 4-1. Now The Sixers will have to make some decisions this off-season that will impact whether they can become contenders or just pretenders for the NBA title.

Play of the Week

The 76ers lost against the Heat 89-97 in a very competitive game. Thaddeus Young gave the Heat all they could handle. He scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and lead the Sixers on a 12-0 run to trim their deficit to one point (87-88 with about 2 minutes left). It was not enough but Thaddeus Young’s intensity and competitiveness to play without  a shoe (after Joel Anthony stepped on it) won him Play of the Week honors.

The Sixers will look to tie up the series Monday at 7:00pm.

Beat the Heat

 

The matchup is set, the #7 seed Philadelphia 76ers will face the #2 seed Miami Heat. Since the playoffs are all about match-ups I will analysis each match-up.

The point guard matchup will be Jrue Holliday versus Mike Bibby. Jrue should win this matchup he is a great perimeter defender and his pressure should cause some turnovers on the defensive end. On offense he will be able to use his 6″4 200 pound frame and quickness to penetrate the lanes and create points for himself and others. Mike Bibby will be able to get his points from three-point range if Jrue has to help off of him.

Jodie Meeks will versus Dwayne “Flash” Wade. D-Wade will win this matchup he is one of the premier players in the league his combination of speed, power and athletisism will give Jodie Meeks tremendous problems on defense. Jodie could be an x-factor in this series however if he can stretch out the Miami defense with a few three pointers.

Andre Iguodala will face the Lebron “King of South Beach” James. Andre Iguodala has really thrived offensively in his new point-forward position and has recorded two triple-doubles this season. Also he is one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders and will make Lebron work for every point he gets. In the two games Iggy defended Lebron this season, Lebron shot 10 for 27 for 36 points. Offensively Iggy will have to hit jumpers with some consistency, and then that will allow him get in the lane and cause havoc for the Heat’s defense. Lebron of course is Mr. Triple-Double. His numbers have dipped a little bit this season but that is due to the extra help. He will win this match-up if he hits his long-range shots because when he is making three-pointers and mid range shots he is unstoppable.

Elton brand will match-up with Chris Bosh Elton Brand has played very well this season and for him to be effective against the heat he will scrap claw and fight in the paint and hope that his aggressive play might put Chris Bosh on his heels and take him out of the game. If Chris Bosh plays aggressively this will be a long series for the Sixers but if he is taking mid-range shots the Sixers will be able to defend him. Brand will win this match-up.

The Center position is a tossup. Spencer Hawes vs. Big Z this is the match-up with the least amount of combined talent. Spencer Hawes has a nice shooting touch from 20- feet and has shown flashes that he can rebound and score in the post. Big Z will spend most of his time outside of the paint so Hawes will have to step out and guard Big -Z’s outside shot if he can he guard Big-Z and play good consistently he will win this match-up.

The 76ers have one of the best benches in the league with Louis Williams, Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner, and Marresse Speights. They are third in the league in bench scoring with 39.2 points per game They definitely have an advantage against the Heat’s bench so that depth will really help and maybe tire out the heat’s starter. Also the Sixers are top 5 in fast break points. It may be a bias pick but I think the Sixers win 4-3.

Why Philly Hates Kobe

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Kobe Bryant can straight up ball, he is one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball and he is a winner. He is one of the most mentally tough players and history, just like Allen Iverson Kobe plays through many injuries, but while Iverson is adored by Philly Fans Kobe is hated. Why is it that Philly fans hate  The Black Mamba (Kobe Bryant) as much as the Cowboys, the Mets, Terrell Owens aka “That’s my quarterback” and Santa.

It all started in 1996 when he decided to skip college and a chance to play at LaSalle where his father was the assistant coach at the time to go to the NBA draft. After being drafted by the New Orleans hornets he refused to play for them, as he hoped to be traded to a team with a better market. Then he whined and complained about being the second scoring option for the Lakers, when they were becoming one of the best teams in NBA history.

To seal the deal he said some vicious comments to his hometown team. Back in 2001 the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Los Angeles Lakers; Kobe was going against his home town team. Maybe it was Kobe’s competitive spirit, after the Lakers took a 2-1 series  a Philly fan taunted him Kobe responded by saying he was going to “cut your (76ers and their fans) hearts out” and win the crucial game four. Kobe did just that he “cut their hearts out” he scored  19 points 10 rebounds and 9 assist just one assist shy of a triple double, delivering a crushing blow to the 76ers title chances and becoming a villain to 76ers fans forever.

Play of the Week

Thaddeus Young has shown great hussle and energy all year long. The buzzer beating layup play against the Jazz not only great play but it also gave the Sixers a boost going in to halftime. They used that play as fuel as they came back from a double digit loss to force overtime. Unfortunately the Sixers fell short in overtime.

Stay in Denver!!!!

 

A team that would like Carmelo Anthony to sign his contract extension with Denver other than the Denver Nuggets is the Philadelphia 76ers.

During the All-star weekend Carmelo is allegedly planned to meet with the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets to discuss his future with them. Carmelo Anthonyhas made it  obvious that he wants to play for the New York Knicks, but may sign the extension with the Nets to complete a trade offer made by the Nets to acquire him, if the Knicks cannot make a trade with the Nuggets.

Anyway, the Philadelphia 76ers would love for Carmelo to stay with the Nuggets. The Sixers are only two games back of the New York Knicks for the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference and they would hate for the Knicks to improve the talent on their team. In addition the Knicks might be able to land Chris Paul (all-star point guard of the New Orleans Hornets) next season if they do acquire Anthony, which would form a very formidable big 3 that would cause a lot of problems for the Sixers and the rest of the NBA. Also even though the Nets are not in playoff contention Carmelo would help the Nets in the future. That is something that the Sixers also do not want to deal with because New Jersey along with the Knicks plays in the Sixers division (Atlantic Division) and would play the 76ers four times each season. All in all 76ers fans should pray that Carmelo stays in Denver.