Dave, if we can get a 2nd for Reggie or willie then be great.   I doubt that those guys can bring back a 2nd though.  Jason Smith will take over for Sammy next season health permitted so No I don’t want to see him traded.  And your right, not having a 2nd rounder is a big blow. 

The Sixers will bounce back strong from that disaster of a game last Sunday.  Clearly, the Andres were worn out playing 40+minutes in a game they had to win to clinch a playoff spot.  However, the elite teams lately have been playing “soft” basketball and have been shutting down players for the regular season, probably because the regular season is winding down.  The Sixers have to capitalize on those opportunities.  

Those Celtics and Cavs games are intriguing.  But I think those teams  have slowly released the pedal just a bit.  

Tonight:
 The Heat host the Hornets.  Both teams play a similar style and defend through passing lanes.  Tough call on that game.  It could go either way.  Chris Paul v.s Dwayne Wade.  Maybe David West could be the difference in helping the Hornets possibly beat the Heat.  Then they take two days off before playing the Celtics Friday in Boston.

The Hawks travel to Toronto to take on the Raptors, who have been playing better basketball lately, a little too late though.  But still, I think the Raptors can beat the Hawks do to Atlanta’s road woes.  Then the Hawks travel to Milwaukee the next day to take on the Bucks, whose playoff hopes are somewhat flickering. 

Again, it comes down which team will win the most road games in their respective stretches.  I still think the Sixers have an edge with their road mentality and their depth is better than the Hawks and the Heat.  The Sixers will get the 5th seed! 

GO SIXERS!!        

Sixers having no 2nd round pick?:  Greek I didn’t know that…and I honestly feel that’s a huge blow.  Jerry McNeal, as well as Jodie Meeks (who seems to be testing the waters) would be great early 2nd round pickups to give us some shooting and versatile offensive play…if they don’t move to the late 1st round, which they have the talent for.  I’m ALL ABOUT trying to move up in this draft to get a second mid 1st round pick, and an early 2nd rounder.  Package Green…Lou…give away freaking cash…Jason Smith…Reggie…as long as we have Speights coming up in the PF spot, and Ratliff for another year, I’d do anything to get more draft picks.  Why?…

If we had the above (two 1sts, one 2nd) in the draft, here is my dream scenario:

Mid 1st round #1:  Ty Lawson / Johnny Flynn…PG of the future.
Mid 1st round #2:  Chase Budinger / Wayne Ellington…great bench shooter that can hit the 3, have good size, and versatile offensive games.  aka: Kyle Korver off the bench with a more complete offense and upside. 
Early 2nd round:  Jerry McNeal / Jodie Meeks / Lester Hudson…a TRUE backup at the guard spot.  Unlike Lou, these guys can all actually hit the 3, all are ballsy clutch players that know how to hit big shots when it counts, and all (except Meeks) are excellent passers with good handle that can facilitate an offense as well. 

It’s a long shot, but if we could find some way to use our smaller pieces + cash, landing some draft picks could really help this team cement it’s future.

JKay:  Yeah you’re right…I shouldn’t get so upset about it, and accept what they are, etc.  It’s funny though, towards the first half of the season I was Mr. “This team is a 1st round playoff team, let’s not worry about the weaknesses too much”…yet now that the 2nd half has rolled around and playoff time is here, I’ve entered heart attack over every play, throw the remote at the wall, punch my couch mode again.  I like having the passion there and yelling at my our team…reminds me I still care.  Being a Sixers fan rocks haha. 

Rob:  If the Sixers go 4-2 down this stretch…especially when the Cavs NEED every game they can get to land homecourt advantage for the finals (if they get there)…my jaw will drop and I will be stunned.  Love your optimism…unfortunately don’t share it.  But either way: GO SIXERS!!!

For the one Boston game, Kevin Garnett will return, but how many minutes will he and the rest of the Celtic starters play?  They are a deep team, which is part of the concern here.  However, their bench and their bigs are turnover prone.  The objective is this for the Sixers: contain Rondo and  Ray Allen.  They have killed the Sixers for most part this season!  The game will be the second to last game of the regular season for both teams.  The only thing they have left to fight for would be trying to maintain the second seed in the East.  As of now, the Celtics trail the Cavs by 4 games with both teams having 5 games to go in the regular season. 

Certainly, there are a lot of factors for those three games, but my best bet would be that both the Celtics and Cavaliers are most likely going to have their starters play fewer minutes to ease up.  

My prediction would be 2-1 in those three games.  To the Sixers, they are meaningful.  To the Celtics and Cavs, they are just trying to compete, but prepare for the bigger picture!!

Really, for the Sixers, it comes down to getting those other games!! (tonight @ Charlotte, @ Chicago on TNT, @ Toronto).    
I say 2-1 there. 

Overall, I think 4-2 is possible.  Then again, this team just surprises me and gives me a heart attack here and there! 

GO SIXERS!!  IT’S BRAD LIDGE TIME!!

Somebody help me out.  I can’t remember if it was last year or two years ago (I think it was two years ago) where we played a tight game against the  Cavs in early April.  I remember LeBron and Iguodala taking turns isolating at the top of the key and answering each other’s baskets a couple times down the stretch.  If I recall, Iguodala couldn’t answer LeBron the last time, ended up turning the ball over, and we lost.

Yeah, I think that game was two years ago.  Wasn’t last year when the game was tied and looking like it was headed to overtime only to see LeBron barrel down the lane, not getting called for walking, and ending up with a foul being called on Dalembert with 0.1 seconds on the clock (after the officials took 10 minutes to review the video)?

Somebody set me straight because all these details are muddled in my head.