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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…
Unearned Runs - That great ERA the team is sporting only counts for the earned runs - but this team has given up a league high FIFTEEN unearned runs. The defense, which should be a strength, has been bad, yielding the 3rd most errors in the league, at 20. That’s 1 per game compared to the 0.55 per game they had last year. This HAS to improve. Bad defense is one of the most frustrating things for a team and its fans.
Ryan Howard - While Utley and Burrell have been rolling along, Ryan Howard has made me look like an idiot for predicting a 2006-like season from the big man. Right now he is hitting .200 with just 9 RBI. I don’t care as much about his low HR total (4), because he’ll get his there. But he HAS to be a better hitter, do a better job of identifying balls outside the strike zone, and swing for the gaps, not the fences. He has 28 strikeouts in 20 games, a rate that would obliterate his own MLB single-season strikeout record. Can you IMAGINE the commotion if the Phillies had signed him to that 150+ million dollar deal he was looking for? My not-so-bold prediction? The Phillies ride the arbitration train with him until 2011, when they will move Utley to first and bring up super-prospect Adrian Cardenas to play second. At this point, it might just be the best move.
Rollins’ Injury - Chalk this one up to bad luck. I’ve watched this play a million times and I still can’t tell how exactly he hurt himself. Without him at the top of the line-up, we are a completely different team. Bruntlett has made some impressive plays recently, but was awful in the first couple games Rollins was out. You are going to have injuries every year, but not many thought that this would be the time Rollins made his first trip to the DL.
There is certainly no reason to panic with this team. If Eaton and Moyer can keep giving us quality starts and our bullpen can stay healthy, our pitching could certainly be better than we expected. But sports is always about the here and now, and even though we are at .500, you can’t help but think we should be doing a little better.
That is if you fellow Philadelphia 76ers fans even care what the Pistons faithful are saying about their team’s 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 Pistons 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!
PistonsNationblog is clearly shocked, evidenced by the title of their post game recap - Ehhh…what? That made me laugh out loud when I read that. But, kudos must go out to them for giving the 76ers the credit they deserve: “Hats off to Philly’s D. They really turned it up in the 4th holding Detroit to 16 points on 28% shooting. They played free and with nothing to lose and were the better team.”
There was a great game thread over at Detroit Bad Boys. Just following their fans’ comments through the game might be as entertaining as actually watching. One of my favorite comments comes from Rob G: “If they lose, I vow a tremendous night of drinking until I am blind.”
Now I have the perfect Philly quote for the Detroit Bad Boys: “You ain’t so bad, you ain’t so bad, you ain’t nothin’. C’mon, champ, hit me in the face! My mom hits harder than you!” - Rocky III
That is exactly what happen in the first half. Detroit hit the 76ers in the face, and they took it like a champ. Came right back and stunned the team most people gave them no chance of beating. Including myself. Now - I believe! Sixers in 6. I will be center court for game 4 on Sunday just in case the impossible happens and we sweep ‘em.
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
Without question the key to the victory was team defense. The Sixers held Detroit to 39% from the field and only 35 points in the second half. Everyone on the floor for the Sixers was locked in on the defensive end. The main reason for the 15-point deficit wasn’t lack of defensive intensity but rather ice-cold shooting in the 2nd quarter. If they can play that kind of defense throughout the series Detroit fans will be in for a rude awakening.
Andre Miller did what he does best: get the 76ers back on track when things get out of control. He took it upon himself to get good shots on offense in the second half and (along with the Sixers’ defense) was the major reason the Sixers were able to come back. You could see Detroit had no answer for Andre Miller’s penetration and mid-range game.
Reggie Evans effort was infectious. He had 14 boards including 5 on the offensive end. He played fantastic defense on whoever he was guarding. And in the 4th quarter Evans made two big free throws while Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups struggled at the line. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got the start in game 2.
The Bad
Andre Iguodala could not get any good shots with Prince all over him. I said after the Cleveland game that he was settling for way too many jump shots and that it was cause for concern in this series. Although the victory was clearly no fluke, I don’t think we can win this series with Iggy consistently shooting 4-16 from the field.
What everyone was afraid of happened. Jason Maxiell killed the Sixers inside with his relentless pursuit of the ball. He had six offensive rebounds and was the leading rebounder for the Pistons in 30 minutes.
76ers’ Player of the Game: Reggie Evans
Game 2 Adjustments
The Sixers must do a better job of controlling their defensive backboard. The Pistons had 20 offensive rebounds, a team that only averaged 11.9 per game in the regular season. What that may mean is less minutes for Thaddeus Young. The rookie played well but had a hard time keeping Sheed, McDyess and especially Maxiell off the boards. As I said in a previous comment, Jason Smith has no place in this series. He can’t guard anyone in the post and often times gets out muscled on the boards. He should only see the floor if our bigs are in really bad foul trouble.
The 76ers are the only lower seeded team to win game one. And if history holds true are now 83% favorites to win the series. Big turnaround from a 4.8% chance, wouldn’t you say?
Detroit should be worried, very worried because what they did was give this young Sixers team a taste of victory. Gave them even more confidence and belief that they can win this series. Combine that with the effort and hustle of the 76ers, and it just may be enough to create a huge upset.
Can’t wait to read all the Detroit Piston blogs to see how they are 1. taking the loss and 2. whether they think it is a fluke and has no barring on the predicted outcome of Detroit winning this series in 5 games.
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.
Jonathan Lee’s Take
Philadelphia probably has no business being in the playoffs, but they are young, athletic, and play hard at all times. That’s enough in the East these days. The Sixers shoot almost no three pointers yet have found a way to be effective with Andre Miller having found the fountain of youth at the point guard position. Detroit is not nearly as dominant on defense as they have been in the past, but the bench has improved significantly with the emergence of Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson, Rodney Stuckey, Jarvis Hayes, and Arron Afflalo. Detroit’s starting five is just too good for Philly to hang with in a seven game series. Don’t be surprised if the Sixers steal two games however.
That percentage is the cumulative odds for the entire series not each game. The AccuScore prediction for tomorrow’s game has the 76ers as 21% underdogs.
I especially like Stephen Oh’s point that Detroit isn’t vastly superior to the Sixers in any of the major statistical categories. But when you combine all those small edges it adds up to a pretty sizable point differential. This in a way supports a frequent commenter on the blog, Joe’s assertion that the 76ers in many was are comparable to the Detroit PIstons.
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 about sports. Oh, and unlike other “link posts” I won’t just give links without context or my own thoughts. So here we go…
The first ever review of The Recliner GM Sports Blog. Kellex over at The Sports Dollar did a fantastic review of our new blog. I honestly couldn’t have said it any better myself. The Sports Dollar also has some great tips for the sports blogger looking to monetize their blog, check him out.
The Depressed Fan points out some very good bulletin board material for the 76ers going into the Detroit playoff series. All of the ESPN writers are picking our Sixers to go down in 5 or 6 games and the question is: lack of respect or reality? I think the writers are doing what they are suppose to do: picking the favorite vs. a team with no dominant go-to player who can sway the series in favor of the underdog. When you consider how the games slow down and are more half-court dominant in the playoffs, the 76ers will have to play near flawless basketball to win 4 out of 7 if they can’t get out on the break as much. Impossible? Of course not, but I don’t think anyone would bet money on it either. Right?
Tom Dillard over on the Bleacher Report gives 5 Reasons Why the Philadelphia 76ers Are in the Playoffs. I think Tom goes a bit overboard killing Korver, but I think his point is there. When Korver left the Sixers team defense did get better. I think he is off in his assertion that Billy King “cannot draft to save his life.” I have said in previous posts and comments on the blog that the one think King could do was draft. He brought in Iggy, Lou and Thaddeus, three guys who look to be the core of this franchise for quite a while. You can add Rodney Carney to that list as well if he continues to improve his 3-point shot and individual defense. Dillard is right on in respects to Mo’s extenstion and a little hyped up in comparing Andre Miller to the likes of Steve Nash and Jason Kidd, but you gotta love the enthusiasm.
Apparently some talking TV head created an interesting, four-in-one Phillies/Flyers/Eagles/Sixers jersey. I don’t know anything about this guy Stephen Colbert so check out EnriqueFed’s video on ALL THINGS PHILLY SPORTS for more details. I am actually kind of bothered by the fact that he promotes Philly then goes on to wipe his noise with the jersey. Come on dude, wait til commercial for that.
Last, but certainly not least, is a vivid picture of some ugly 76ers history. Think back to November 9th 1984. Philadelphia 76ers vs. the hated Boston Celtics and the brawl that will never be forgotten. NESW Sports has many other great vids you may not have seen before. Definitely a blog I will be keeping an eye on going forward.
Our Sixers took an loss last night against the Charlotte Bobcats 115-109, bringing the regular season to a slumping close. The vitals:
40-42 record
Advanced to the playoffs as the 7th seed
Finished the season on a 4-game losing streak
I consider that a pretty satisfying season considering the preseason expectations for the Sixers. The question I ask is do you really care the team lost last night and didn’t finish the season with a .500 record? The reason I ask is because leading up to the the Charlotte game many bloggers and writers were making a big deal about this game like it had some sort of “real” importance in the grand scheme of things. The arguments: gain momentum, end the season at .500 and avoid the rust factor. I was on the side of caution. Winning 1 game against a non-playoff caliber team hardly constitutes momentum in my book. The NBA is more about positioning then record. And the 76ers’ playoff position was locked in after the Cleveland game. Rust factor? Having played basketball all my life I can say you don’t get rusty after 4 days off.
I best thing to do would be rest your starters who have played every game this season and logged significant minutes so they are fresh going into the Detroit series. Let those minor, pain-in-the-ass aches and pains fully heal with the extra day of rest and rehab, and get ready to beat up on the PIstons.
Mo Cheeks actually agreed with that line of thinking, as evidenced by his pre-game comments.
“I am going to give Andre and Andre and Sam some rest and I don’t want anything to happen to them,” Cheeks said.
Mo then went on to contradict those statements by playing Andre Iguodala and Willie Green 36 minutes. I don’t get that. Iggy clearly has not been 100% since the lower left leg bruise, although he has played well in spurts. So of all the starters why play him the most minutes? That just bugs me a little bit.
Luckily the Sixers got the benefit of late scheduling, and their playoff series will begin Sunday night at 6:00 p.m. Let’s hope they are healthy and fully focused on making it back-to-back 1 vs 8 upsets in the first round. Are we feeling optimistic?
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:
Instant replay review can be triggered by “A foul called with no time remaining on the clock (0:00) at the end of the fourth period or any overtime period, provided that it could affect the outcome of the game.” - NBA.com
You can see the replay on my previous post. The foul call clearly appeared after time had expired, and the game should have been over. Anyone claiming they heard a whistle (Mike Brown, at the other end of the court) is full of crap. The building was far too loud for anyone to hear that. And the Cleveland players who were the closest didn’t even react as if there was a foul actually called. Dumb ass Samuel Dalembert did react because he made some contact with Devin Brown and thought a foul might be called.
To me, the biased Sixers fan, this is all inconsequential. The ref should have kept the whistle in his pocket and let the game end with the play on the court, not the delayed sound of his whistle and eventual replay review. Cavs fans will argue LeBron was fouled earlier in the play on his drive to the hoop. I disagree, but that is their right to be biased in favor of their team. Contact and fouls occur on pretty much every play in the NBA, and the refs not calling that little bit was the right no-call. But following that up by making a late and questionable call for Devin Harris is beyond me. You would think if the officials were going rob the Sixers, they would given the foul to the poster boy of the NBA, the so-called King.
The story ends as usual for a Philly fan. Just like the foul ball homerun awarded to the Cubs the other night that led to a Phillies defeat, we go on muttering to ourselves and anyone listening “This always happens to us.” And we are left wondering why we are so tortured.
Side note: The Philadelphia fans deserve tremendous credit and praise for NOT responding to that debacle the way people would have expected them to. No one threw anything on the court or at the cheaters, I mean referees. I know personally it took every ounce not to wing my cup of iced tea at Ed Malloy, Mark Wunderlich and Greg Willard. So I just wanted to point that out since the negative stuff is what always makes its way to the news.
Observations from the game
Attendance 20,730 - Sellout, largely to support the 76ers efforts for the 6th playoff spot. But there were a fair number of LeBron faithful.
You know it’s not a good game for the Sixers when 2 of the 3 top plays shown on the jumbotron are Willie Green lay-ups!
LeBron James made Andre Iguodala looked like the player we all have said he was - a #2 guy at best. Iggy shot 4-17, and it was clear he was trying to personally outdo LeBron as evidenced by only having 1 assist. James completely shut him down every time he tried to drive to the basket, exposing his lack of creative ball-handling and ability to get back solid defenders. He took terrible shots, often settling for the jump shot, which has become a theme as of late. Hopefully this is a wake-up call for Iguodala who has been flying extremely high. You’re good but not that good just yet.
Louis Williams played out of his mind all game and carried the Sixers in the fourth quarter scoring 12 huge points. We really need him playing his best basketball going into the playoffs.
Thaddeus Young was amazing. He only had 4 rebounds in the entire game, but 3 were critical offensives boards in the fourth quarter. Including one where he completely came flying out of nowhere in the middle of the lane, pulled down a Lou Williams miss and then went right back up for a short lefty hook. That gave the Sixers an 86-85 lead with 1:06 remaining. Young also got a big steal on LeBron for a fast break dunk. Then took a key charge on James when LeBron was clearly trying to put the Sixers away.
Samuel Dalembert was back to his old habits again. Completely out of position on defense which lead to the foul trouble he was in all game. He looked weak and overmatched trying to guard Zydrunas Ilgauskas. There was one particular play that was especially infuriating. It was the one that came right after Thaddeus’ offensive rebound and put back. Cleveland ran their pet “thumbs-up play” where Ilgauskas sets a screen at the top of the key for LeBron. The Sixers played it well by sending a double team over as soon as James went around the screen. The defense forced him into a typical LeBron situation where he is trapped and he leaves his feet looking to make a pass. We had him. Until clueless Sammy D leaves Ilgauskas open under the rim for no apparent reason. James tossed the ball in that direction, and Dalembert could not recover in time to stop Ilgauskas from scoring the lay-up. That put the Cavs back on top by one, and I went berzerk. Besides the block on LeBron at the end of the game, Sammy gave the Sixers nothing all game.
Finally, I wouldn’t be surprised if Andre Miller got a fine from the NBA for his appropriate conduct after the game. After Lou missed the desperation shot someone from the Cavs tossed the ball to the other end of the court into the floor seats under the basket. Miller sprinted full-court after the ball just to punt it up to the rafters. He then runs after the ball again and heaves it 15 rows into the stands before finally exiting for the locker room.
That display of emotion from the most even-keeled player I’ve watched in the league was the only thing to soften the feeling of being kicked in the crotch by the referees.
Now we can only hope the 76ers players bottle up that disappointment, that anger, and unleash their rage on the Detroit Pistons and prove my previous comment wrong.
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 wait until tomorrow to do a post on this game. Otherwise every 2nd word will be an expletive and we try and keep this blog PG-13.
Sunday’s top performance goes to the Detroit Pistons bench. Why? In a seemingly meaningless game for the Pistons versus 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.
Tie Breaker Goes to Toronto
The Sixers are 1-3 vs. Toronto this season so a tie after the final regular season game is no good. Toronto had the luxury of playing the Sixers before they got hot and really started clicking. All 4 games, including two in the first 6 games of the season (both 76er loses), came before the Sixers went on that torrid 30-game stretch, going 22-8.
Remaining Schedules
Philadelphia 76ers
Cleveland - LeBron will be in town tomorrow, and I have center court seats to “be a witness” for the first time since he entered the league. Iguodala and Young will likely take turns defending James and will need to keep him somewhat in check if they want to win this game. I’ll have a game recap tomorrow night.
@ Charlotte - A game I fully expect the Sixers to win, and win easily. They have beaten the Bobcats the two previous games this season, one of which was a 94-64 shellacking.
Toronto Raptors
Miami - This is as close to a guarenteed victory as you can get in the NBA. Especially when you consider the game will be the second of a back-to-back road games for Miami, traveling from Cleveland to Toronto.
@ Chicago - Another perceived cake walk for Toronto considering how utterly dissappointing the Bulls have been this season. But Chicago still has enough talent to play spoiler, and Philly will be rooting for them to do just that in the final game of the season.
Let’s Keep it Real
I’ve talked about how expectations for this team have risen dramatically over the last 30 games and fans should expect this team to compete and win most nights now. But regular season games are singular events where the cliché “on any night any team can win” is most prevelant. The playoffs are another story where the weaker teams are weeded out by the best 4 of 7 format.
It’s clear Detroit is a much better team than the 76ers and you probably won’t get much argument from Sixers fans that Orlando is a better team as well. But I like our chances significantly more against the Magic.
The reality: If the 76ers end up with the 7th seed, their chance of beating Detroit in a 7-game series is about as good as Pete dunking a regulation basketball on a 10-foot hoop!
Sorry, Pete, it’s just not happening. This should be the image for the White-Boy Report. haha
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.
Now - most people will argue that this trend is because more african-americans and foreigners are playing the game than in the past, making the talent pool a lot deeper now than in the 1970s-1980s. However, I would like to offer a different hypothesis. While the first point is certainly a part of it, I think that the white players are just flat-out getting worse.
Larry Bird, Pete Maravich, Bill Walton, Rick Barry, Kevin McHale - these guys are all better players than what we’ve got today. Bird would be an MVP candidate, Maravich would put up 27 a game, Bill Walton would essentially be Yao Ming. These guys weren’t really good because they were playing against lesser talent, they were really good because they were really good.
So what gives? People will always throw out the “athlete” card, that American-born white-guys can’t keep up with the athletes of the NBA. Certainly true for some, but certainly NOT true for all. I watched nearly every game Allen Iverson played for the Sixers and there were only a handful of defenders who could handle his quickness, two of them were John Stockton and Kirk Hinrich. Josh McRoberts was/is a phenomenal athlete for his size, he just plays way too passive. Chase Budinger has a 40 inch vertical leap and can get his head at the rim. I know we’ve mentioned he’s Canadian, but have you SEEN Steve Nash move around a basketball court? And then, of course, there’s Tom Chambers.
OK - fine. Let’s say we concede that there is an inherent athletic disadvantage for some white guys. Hell, they even made a movie about it. Why aren’t there any white-boys who are OK athletes getting in the MVP talk? Everyone knows Larry Bird wasn’t the best athlete, but he and fellow short-short Kevin McHale won themselves a couple championships.
So what is it? Are young white-boys who might have played basketball in the 80s trending towards Baseball, Lacrosse or Football? Are they pigeon-holing themselves as a “three-point specialist” early in their careers instead of developing their game in other ways. Whatever the reason - they are moving in the wrong direction.
I’m not sure that this trend will stop, but I can hope. A big part of this feature will be looking for that next great player who can bring some respect back to us white-boys. He’s out there - he’s just got to get his act together and step up.
Is this your first time reading the White-Boy Report? Wondering what the hell I’m doing? What is The White-Boy Report?
