-For the Sixers, they have to force the Lakers into a half-court game and make it as ugly as the Chicago game yesterday.  They have to make the Lakers over-dribble and deny all rotations (lock all windows and doors–backdoors especially).  The Lakers excel when the ball rarely touches the floor. 

-Bynum and Gasol need to be as far from the basket (13-15ft a bit further away from the free throw line as possible and to make the bigs overdribble.  Force the Lakers into one-on-one basketball when the Lakers are on the offensive end.  

-The Sixers backcourt has to match and excel the energy of the Lakers backcourt.  The Lakers are deep in the backcourt.  Lou Williams, Willie Green, Royal Ivey, and Kareem Rush have to overcome Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar.  

-Andre Miller has to continue where he left off and outplay Derek Fisher.  Even though Fisher is struggling with his shot this season, he is still a “terror wrist”, a guy who can really flick that wrist and hit the big shots.

-Thaddeus Young and Andre Iguodala have to make Vladmir Radmanovic play “honest” defense and use their athleticism and attack him whenever he is on the floor.  

-Odom and Ariza are going to be wild cards in this game.  Deny all corners and lanes and outrebound them.  

For the Sixers this is a game they should be excited about!!  And Ed Stefanski will be watching!  

Iggy will go hard for his idol.  Will he go smart and effective for his team?  What of his teammates?  Sixers haven’t played a cohesive, complete game yet.  Won’t win tonight with fits and starts effort.
It’ll certainly be interesting. 

He certainly lives up to the nickname, “Black Mamba”.  According to wikipedia, here is some stuff about the Black Mamba:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamba

When warding off a bigger threat or feeling very threatened(losing), the black mamba usually delivers multiple strikes(hits consecutive baskets), injecting its potent neuro- and cardiotoxin with each strike(one basket after another), often attacking the body or head(body of the defense and roster), unlike most other snakes. It can strike up to 12 times in a row(record 12 threes hit in a game). A single bite from a black mamba can inject enough venom to kill up to 10 grown men(basically, an active roster), easily killing one unless the appropriate anti-venin is administered in time (crunch time). When cornered, it will readily attack.(double teams, triple teams). When in the striking position, the mamba flattens its neck, hisses very loudly and displays its inky black mouth and fangs. It can rear up around one-third of its body from the ground, which allows it to reach heights of approximately four feet (the great fadeaway shots)

On a side note, that is perhaps the best thing about Kobe Bryant– he hates losing.  I know everyone in the NBA hates losing, but very few players really demonstrate that or have that passion for the game.

Here is my starting lineup of passionate players:

PG:  Allen Iverson
SG:  Kobe Bryant
SF:  Paul Pierce
PF:  Kevin Garnett
 C:  Shaquille O Neal (soon Dwight Howard will be his successor!)

Head Coach:  Larry Brown (most passionate coach in the NBA)

Even though I am a Sixers fan and will especially be one tonight, you have to admit that the Lakers are simply fun to watch though.  It is a Showtime Resurrection and the players 1-12 are very creative on the offensive end and that Triangle Offense really comes alive!  It seems as though each player has two extra arms and can make those extra passes.  And that second unit is capable of being a starting lineup and most of those guys are young.  It shows people how great a coach Phil Jackson is.  Before, he has coached veteran teams that won 9 Championships.  To me, Kobe seems to be getting better and better and more mature as a player.  He understands that it is not a one man show or a two man show with Shaq, it is a collective effort and he is the “Brad Lidge” of the Lakers and closes out games.  I think Team Basketball is Starting to Become “THE IN-THING”.  One-Man Shows are a thing of the past!

  Anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sixers win this game!  If it were at Staples Center, that would be a completely different feeling for me.  THE KEY FOR THE SIXERS IS: ENERGY (both ends of the floor).

I’m sure there is “some” complacency left in the Lakers, even though they lost yesterday.  It’s human nature.

Jumpin’ Atlanta Ga: Should the Sixers trade Dalembert? He does not seem to fit in well with Brand (and I know it is early).

David Thorpe: (12:01 PM ET ) Yes-they need a big that can shoot.

Angelina (Mexico): Thorpedo, time to give you your props. Marreese Speights of Philly is a baller and you were the first to call it. Is he good enough to start over Dalembert right now? Congrats!

David Thorpe: (12:17 PM ET ) I actually told Chad Ford 2 years ago, when Speights was a bit player at Florida, that he was a likely lottery pick. Not hard to see-a huge athletic big that gets buckets.

Randy (Utah): Hey David, I answer questions like you do. It drives my wife crazy , but I love your chats! I am a Jazz fan and I have a 2 part question. If the Sixers need a shooting big man and the Jazz need a defensive stopper, does Okur for Dalembert trade make sense for both teams? What would the Jazz need to give up to get Kaman?

David Thorpe: (12:24 PM ET ) Please send my apologies to your wife. Okur’s shooting helps the Jazz run that offense a great deal. Not sure they can afford to move him.

Mike (Delaware): Lost in his great offensive stats is the fact that Marreese Speights is atrocious on defense. If you look at the plus/minus, the Sixers are far worse with him on the court, and should consider giving his minutes to Theo until he makes a commitment to defense.

David Thorpe: (12:33 PM ET ) Yes, he’s a bad defender.

Tarz (Philly): Thorpedo please answer my question before I have to head back to class! What do you think the Sixers main problem is and do you think Mo Cheeks will get fired if they don’t turn it around?

David Thorpe: (12:44 PM ET ) I thought the last 2 games that I watched with them featured a team that played without passion and purpose. They won last night, thanks to some timely shooting from Iggy and bad ball handling by the Bulls, but I was not impressed.

1. Lakers
2. Sixers (potentially)
3. Jazz
4. Celtics
5. Blazers

A very underrated and upper advantage for the Lakers bench is to have Kareem Abdul Jabbar on that coaching staff.  He has done a tremendous job with the big men, especially Bynum.  Even though Bynum is not exactly a 100%, especially in his movement on court, but Kareem has done a tremendous job with him professionally– physically and mentally.  Perhaps he might learn that infamous skyhook.  If only Wilt Chamberlain were alive, otherwise he would have helped our bigs, especially Dalembert.  

Also, did you know that Kareem was involved in a fight scene with Bruce Lee?  That is awesome.  It would be so cool if Dalembert had kung fu skills to block those shots with accuracy and intimidation.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsSoX6qB9N0

And of course, Airplane!  That is a funny movie!  I wonder how Sammy would react if a little kid told him those things!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZh8iYEDwDE