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Flyers – 76ers and The Playoffs

In Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers on March 25, 2012 at 11:01 am

Last week in our review we stated that the Flyers needed to get all 8 of the available points for the week. We knew that would be tough with games against the Penguins, Panthers, Capitals and Canadians. The Flyers did earn 6 of the 8 points, losing a very well played 2-1 game to the Panthers. The week started with a fantastic come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh with 0.9 seconds remaining in overtime on a Scott Hartnell goal. The Florida loss followed. The Flyers bounced back with a 2-1 shootout win over Washington and a 4-1 dominating victory against Montreal. The Saturday night win clinched a playoff spot for the Flyers. The interesting statistic from the week, after spotting the Penguins a 2-0 lead on Sunday, the Flyers outscored their opponents 10-4 for the remainder of the week.

The standings didn’t change over the week. The Penguins presently hold the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference 3 points behind the 1st seeded Rangers. The Pens are still hot in spite of losing big to Ottawa on Saturday night with their backup goalie. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been on fire. The Rangers have cooled off but have managed to hold on to their lead in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. The Pens have 8 games remaining while the Rangers and Flyers have 7 each. The Flyers have 3 games this week, 2 of them at the Wells Fargo Center. Monday they host Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Stamkos is a scoring machine. He presently leads the NHL with 52 goals. The Lightning are likely out of the playoffs but could be a spoiler for the Flyers. This is a must 2 points for the Orange and Black. Thursday’s game is at Toronto against a Maple Leafs team that is also likely out of the playoffs. Again, this is another 2 points the Flyers must get. Saturday, it’s back home to “The Well” against the Ottawa Senators. The Sens are currently in the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. The Flyers need the 2 points in this game, but must get 1 point at the least. This weeks schedule is also favorable to the Rangers, 3 games against non-playoff teams and the Penguins, 4 games with only 1 against a playoff team, the Devils. This is a week where all three teams should gain points leading in to the final week of the season.

The Flyers continue to get outstanding play from goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. The defensive improvement can be seen every night with contributions coming from every player.  Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Wayne Simmonds, Matt Read and a couple goals on Saturday night by Danny Briere have led the way on offense. (See the link to our article on our MVP Scott Hartnell.) https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/flyers-mvp-scott-hartnell/

The final week of the season is heating up to be special with every game being important in the final playoff positioning. The Flyers have a game against the Rangers and two with the Penguins. Home ice and the 4th seed would be a good landing spot at this point. Making up 5 points on the Rangers and 2 on the Pens may be too tough to do with only 7 games left in the season.

The 76ers are a mystery team. Just when you thought they might be dead and gone they whip the Celtics again in another blowout at the Wells Fargo Center. We felt that the 76ers needed to beat the last place Charlotte Bobcats to open the week, they did. They needed to beat the revived New York Knicks but lost, 82-79, before bouncing back with the big 99-86 win over Boston. The 2-1 record for the week leaves the 76ers hanging on to a 1.5 game lead over the Celtics and a 3.5 game lead over the Knicks in the Eastern Conference.

There’s no rest this week. The 76ers have 4 games in the next 7 days with no room to slip up. They open tonight in San Antonio against a very good Spurs team. They come back home to host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. The Cavs are on the outside of the playoff picture. Friday night it’s off to Washington to play the Wizards. The Wizards have won only 11 games all season. Saturday night it’s back to the Wells Fargo Center to host the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are also a good team. They’ve actually won two more games this season than the 76ers. The 76ers need to beat either San Antonio or Atlanta as well as win the two games they should win, Cleveland and Washington, to finish the week with a 3-1 record.

The 76ers seem to be looking for answers every night. One night the leader is Elton Brand, another it’s Lou Williams, another it’s Jrue Holiday. Evan Turner seems to have disappeared as quickly as he arrived. The 76ers have played all season with balanced scoring and good defense while not overusing any player. It seems it’s time to establish who the top six or seven players will be going in to the playoffs and use them down the stretch.

Congratulations to Head Coach Doug Collins on winning his 400th NBA game against Boston on Friday night. Collins has done a real nice job with this young 76ers team. It would be good to get by the first round of the playoffs.

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Flyers, 76ers Going in Different Directions

In Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers on March 18, 2012 at 9:30 am

Last week in our review we stated that the Flyers needed 6 points for the week to stay in contention. We said they would split with the Devils and they did. We said they would beat the Islanders and they did. We also said they would beat the Bruins in Boston and they didn’t. They did get a point after the shoot out lose. That totals 5 points for the week. Honestly, the one point doesn’t hurt them that much overall at this point in the season, although all points are important. What do you mean the point isn’t that important? The Penguins presently hold the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference just 2 points behind the 1st seeded Rangers. The Pens are the hottest team in the league, winning their 11th in a row last night against the Devils. Sidney Crosby is back, again, and has recorded 5 assists in the 3 games since his return. The Flyers are the second hottest team in the East and presently hold the 5th spot in the playoff picture sitting 3 points behind the Pens going in to todays matchup at the Wells Fargo Center. Unless the Flyers or Pens can take over the first spot in the East they will play each other in the first round of the playoffs with the Penguins having the home ice advantage. That’s the worst scenario for both teams, especially the Flyers. With that said, the Flyers have 11 games remaining in the regular season, 3 against the Penguins and 1 against the Rangers so there’s a lot of hockey left and a lot can happen. Looking at the upcoming week for the Flyers, all four of their games are at home and they need to win them all. Seven points is a must this week but eight should be the goal. Obviously, todays game against Pittsburgh is the key to the week and a potential 4 point swing in the standings. Tuesday the Flyers host the Florida Panthers, Thursday the Washington Capitals and Saturday the Montreal Canadians. These are all games the Flyers should and must win.

The Flyers continue to get outstanding play from goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Wayne Simmonds and the defense. Bryz set the Flyers team record this week with 249 minutes, 43 seconds of scoreless hockey. In the month of March, Bryz now holds a 7-1 record, while stopping 226 of the 235 shots he’s faced, a 96.2% save percentage. Giroux continues to be a league leader in points and is a top candidate for the Hart Trophy as the league MVP. Giroux is presently 3rd in total points with 82, behind Evgeni Malkin, 87 points, and Steven Stamkos, 84 points. He is also 2nd in the league in assists with 56, trailing Vancouvers, Henrik Sedin by 1 assist. Hartnell is presently 6th in the NHL with 33 goals. The schedule is in the Flyers favor this week and they need to take advantage of it and earn the 8 possible points.

We felt that the 76ers needed to split the week this week. We didn’t expect them to beat Miami or Chicago but we did expect them to beat the Knicks and Pacers, they didn’t. After starting the week with a nice win at Madison Square Garden for their third straight win, things went bad from there. Indiana, Miami and Chicago are all quality teams and the 76ers couldn’t compete with them. They were blown out in Indiana, 111-94, allowing the second most points in any game this season. They were blown out again by the Heat, 84-74. Don’t be misled by the final score. The 76ers were down by 29 points in the 1st half. The Heat took their foot off the throttle or could’ve won the game by 40 points. On to Chicago, who played without their best player, reigning MVP Derrick Rose and the 76ers could not compete. They did have a halftime lead but got outscored 51-36 in the 2nd half.

The 76ers still hold a 1.5 game lead in the Atlantic Division over Boston and a 4 game lead over the Knicks. They are presently the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference, which they will maintain if they win the Atlantic. If Boston were to win the Atlantic the 76ers could drop down as far as the 7th or 8th seed and have to play Miami or Chicago in the 1st round of the playoffs. That isn’t the scenario they want.

The 76ers get a break this week with only three games, however, they are important. They open the week Monday at Charlotte against the last place Bobcats. They follow that with critical home games Wednesday against the Knicks and Friday against the Celtics. The 76ers must win all three games this week if they’re going to hold on to the Atlantic Division lead. There are 21games remaining in the regular season, these three are as important as any, as the 76ers try to regain some momentum and consistency going down the stretch.

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Bryz – Turner Lead the Flyers and 76ers

In Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers on March 11, 2012 at 12:51 pm

Last week we stated in our review that we felt that the Flyers needed a minimum of 6 points for the week with hopes of gaining 7 points. They had tough games against Washington, Detroit, Florida and Toronto. Little did we know they would win all 4 games by a combined score of 10-2 and that Ilya Bryzgalov would pitch 3 shutouts. Bryz was tremendous! He stopped 128 of the 130 shots he faced during the week. As we’ve stated many times before, hot goalies win playoff series and Bryz is as hot as anybody. Offensively the Flyers did enough to win, scoring 1, 3, 5 and 1 goals across the week. Obviously you can’t depend on winning 1-0 shutouts all of the time as they did twice this week. More offense is a must. Claude Giroux continues to have an outstanding season. He had a goal and 3 assists this week and now has 24 goals and 55 assists for 79 points through 67 games. Scott Hartnell continues to have his best season with 32-28-70. Hartnell’s leadership really showed again this week as opponents have tried to take liberties with Giroux. Hartnell has come to his defense and dropped the gloves to protect the team’s best player. The same can be said for Wayne Simmons (22-19-41) who took on Buster Crabb of the Maple Leafs and scored an easy victory after the Leafs continued to slash Giroux. The biggest improvement overall has been the defense and Bryzgalov. Good defense and good goaltending often go together and the Flyers have definitely tightened up their game. With that said, defensive turnovers are no longer becoming automatic goals because Bryz has come up big and made the stops when needed. Overall, this week the Flyers have had outstanding team efforts and as a result won all 4 of their games and earned the 8 points.

Looking at next week it doesn’t get any easier. The Flyers are presently the 5th seed in the playoffs, 2 points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and 6 points behind the number one seed New York Rangers. At this point last week that Flyers were 12 points behind the Rangers. This week 3 of the 4 games are on the road starting today with the New Jersey Devils. The Devils come to the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday before the Flyers go to Long Island and then to Boston. The Devils are just 2 points behind the Flyers for the 5th seed so these two games will be critical. The Islanders are virtually out of the playoffs but the Flyers cannot have a letdown on the road. The Boston game will be Saturday afternoon on the NHL Network as the showcase game of the day. The Flyers are 1-2 against the Bruins winning on opening night 2-1 in Boston but have had trouble stopping them since, losing 6-0 and 6-5 with both games at home. The Bruins are presently the number two seed in the Eastern Conference 8 points behind the Rangers.

Again, we feel the Flyers need at least 6 points again this week. We are thinking a split with the Devils, a win against the Islanders and a win against Boston on the road.

We felt that the 76ers needed to win 3 of their 4 games this past week against Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston and New Orleans. They started the week slow by losing to Chicago and Milwaukee, but bounced back with a blowout of Boston and a win over the Jazz. Depending on how the season finishes we feel that the loss to Milwaukee will be one to be looked back on as a critical lose. The Bucks are not very good and on the playoff bubble. It was a bad time for a letdown.

This was the week that Evan Turner arrived. Coach Doug Collins inserted Turner in the starting lineup against the Bucks for the first time. Turner did not play well, shooting just 1-12 from the field and finishing with 2 points. Collins stuck with Turner and he responded with 26 points and 9 rebounds against Boston and 16 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists against New Orleans. The addition of Turner to lineup that already includes 6 double figure scorers provides the 76ers with even more weapons going down the stretch. A big question for the 76ers through the last third of the season is the health of Spencer Hawes. Hawes has played in only 14 games this season. He was averaging 10.5ppg and leading the team with 8.3rpg. If Hawes can get healthy and contribute down the stretch he will only make the 76ers better in the playoffs.

This week will be another major challenge for the team. They play 4 games in the next 7 days beginning today at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks. They move on to play Indiana on the road before hosting the Miami Heat and closing out the week in Chicago against the Bulls. A 2-2 week is a must. Beating Miami and Chicago will be difficult. The 76ers lead over the Celtics is down to 2 games so they won’t be allowed any slip ups during the week. They have to win the games they’re supposed to win. If they can add an upset victory that’s all the better.

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CRUNCH WEEK FOR THE FLYERS & 76ERS

In Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers on March 4, 2012 at 11:52 am

It’s pretty safe to say that this is a huge week for both the Flyers and the 76ers. The Flyers are struggling with injuries having lost James van Riesmsdyk for the season with a broken foot. Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn and Andres Meszaros are also banged up on defense. Add these guys to the “normal” aches and pains of being 63 games in to an NHL season and the Flyers could be in some trouble. This week brings four very tough games against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on the road tonight, home against the Western Conference Central 1st Place Detroit Red Wings, home against the Eastern Conference 1st Place Florida Panthers and at Toronto against the Maple Leafs. Washington and Toronto are both in the 3rd place in their divisions and fighting for playoff spots. If the season ended before today’s games both would be out of the playoffs by a couple points so these games are very important. Each game is very important for the Flyers as they try to stay in the playoff hunt. They got better goaltending from Ilya Bryzgalov on the west coast trip but the offense went to sleep. Bryz warming up is a great sign for the Flyers moving down the stretch. Playing good defense also helps with the goaltending. Did you notice that the New York Rangers are running away with the Eastern Conference? The Rangers have only given up 130 goals in 63 games. They are playing solid hockey and lead the Penguins by 10 points and the Flyers by 12. The Flyers on the other hand have given up 191 goals in 63 games. The Flyers need some players to pick up their offensive game down the stretch as well. What has happened to rookie Sean Couturier? Couturier has 1 goal and 0 assists in the last 5 games and Danny Briere has just 13 goals on the season. He needs to heat up!! Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds can’t carry the goal scoring. My thinking is that the Flyers need 6 points this week, 5 at the minimum to hold their ground.

The 76ers also have their hands full this week. They have played solid throughout the season having really only one lull all season. With that said the Boston Celtics are still just 3 games behind and riding a 3 game winning streak right now. The Celtics come to the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night in an important Atlantic Division game. Before Wednesday though, the 76ers have back-to-back games Sunday and Monday against the 1st Place in the Central Division Chicago Bulls (30-8) and at Milwaukee to face the Bucks. Following the Celtics game is another home game against the New Orleans Jazz on Friday night. This is 4 games in 6 nights this week but 3 of the 4 are at home, which will help. The 76ers are ranked #1 in points per game allowed in the NBA, the Bulls are 2nd and the Celtics are 3rd so expect low scoring games against them. The 76ers can probably afford to lose to the Bulls, especially with the Celtics playing the Knicks this afternoon and they could lose. They need to win the games against the lesser teams, Milwaukee and New Orleans, and need to beat Boston. A win against the Celtics would be a two game swing in the standings. Doug Collins will have the team ready to play. They need to stick to their fundamentals of good defense and limiting turnovers while getting contributions from the whole team.

It’s big week for our teams to stand up and be counted!!!  

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WILT CHAMBERLAIN THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME!!!

In Misc Philly Sports, Philadelphia 76ers on March 2, 2012 at 9:45 am

“THE BIG DIPPER”

Tonight the 76ers will honor the greatest single accomplishment in professional basketball when they honor the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlains 100 point game. They are also having the coolest giveaway that I’ve ever heard of for this game. For those of you that don’t know the history of this game it took place in Hershey PA on March 2, 1962. The Philadelphia Warriors beat the New York Knicks 169-147. The game was not on TV and was not video recorded anywhere. There is an audio recording of the game.  Wilt made 36 of 63 shots from the field and 28 of 32 from the foul line for exactly 100 points. 

The floor from that game was recently purchased by the 76ers who have had it cut in to 2”x2” sections which will be given to each fan that attends the game. I don’t know how they will package it but I’m sure there will be a letter of some sort to authenticate it when they hand it out. I think having an opportunity to own a real piece of history is a really cool thing. The remainder of the court will be cut in larger sections and given to the Chamberlain family, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and several other places.

It is great to be celebrating the 100 point game since it’s the 50th anniversary of the event. However this should also be a celebration of the greatest basketball player of all time. Some may argue for Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar but they are wrong. There has never been and will never be another offensive player as dominate as “The Big Dipper”.  Below you see his career statistics and they are mind boggling. Wilt averaged 22.9 rebounds per game, FOR HIS CAREER!!! Not one big season but for a career. His 1961-62 season is one for the ages. Wilt averaged 50.4 points per game and 25.7 rebounds per game. The Big Dipper presently holds 72 NBA records and hasn’t played in 39 years. A few of the many impressive records are as follows: Most games of 50 or more points in a season, 45 in 61-62 and 30 in 62-63. The next closest is Kobe Bryant with 10. Most games with 50 or more points in a career, Wilt has 118, Jordan is 2nd with 31. Most points in a season 4,029 in 61-62, 3586 in 62-63, 3rd on the list is Jordan with 3,041 in 86-87. It’s amazing that as great as Jordan was that in his best season he scored 988 less points than Wilt did in his best season. Of the top five rebounding seasons in history the first, second, third and fifth season belong to Wilt. A couple obscure records are that Wilt never fouled out of a game in his 1,045 game career and in 61-62 he averaged 48.5 minutes per game because he played every minute of every game plus every overtime minute.

For those that didn’t get to see The Big Dipper play you may say that he was just bigger than everyone else and that’s just not true. Back in those days every team had a big, strong powerful and physical center unlike today when the game is much more guard oriented. The record books belong to Wilt.

So today we celebrate Philadelphia native, Overbrook High School graduate, former Philadelphia Warrior and Philadelphia 76er the greatest basketball player in NBA history, Wilton Norman Chamberlain, The Big Dipper.

Following is a summary of Wilts statisctics.

59-60 Phil. –  2707 points – 37.6ppg – 1941 rebounds – 27.0rpg

60-61 Phil. – 3033 points – 38.4ppg – 2149 rebounds – 27.2rpg

61-62 Phil. – 4029 points – 50.4ppg – 2052 rebounds – 25.7rpg

62-63 S.F.  – 3586 points – 44.8ppg – 1946 rebounds – 24.3rpg

63-64 S. F. – 2948 points – 36.9ppg – 1787 rebounds – 22.3rpg

64-65 SF, PHL – 2534 points – 34.7ppg – 1673 rebounds – 22.9rpg

65-66 Phil. – 2649 points – 33.5ppg – 1943 rebounds – 24.6rpg

66-67 Phil. – 1956 points – 24.1ppg – 1957 rebounds – 24.2rpg

67-68 Phil. – 1992 points – 24.3ppg – 1952 rebounds – 23.8rpg

68-89 LA – 1664 points – 20.5ppg – 1712 rebounds – 21.1rpg

69-70 LA – 328 points – 27.3ppg – 221 rebounds – 18.4rpg

70-71 LA – 1696 points – 20.7ppg – 1493 rebounds – 18.2rpg

71-72 LA – 1213 points – 14.8ppg – 1572 rebounds – 19.2rpg

72-73 LA – 1084 points – 13.2ppg – 1526 rebounds – 18.6rpg

Career – 31,419 points – 30.1ppg – 23,924 rebounds – 22.9rpg

 

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76ERS ALL STAR BREAK UPDATE

In Philadelphia 76ers on February 26, 2012 at 10:30 am

Are the 76ers where you expected them to be as we sit at the All Star break?

 Presently the 76ers lead the Atlantic Division by 3.5 games over the New York Knicks and 4.0 games over the Boston Celtics with a 20-14 record.  With a break here and there they could easily have another 3 wins but breaks don’t count in the standings. The 20 wins are tied for 5th in the Eastern Conference. Miami and Chicago have 27 wins, Orlando 22, Indiana 21and Atlanta 20. In head-to-head competition against these teams the 76ers have competed with everyone except Miami who has beaten them by 21 and 20 points. The 76ers beat Chicago in their only meeting 98-82 at the Wells Fargo Center. They have split with Orlando by winning at home and losing on the road. They played Indiana one time and beat them at home and Atlanta one time and beat them on the road. Overall they have fared pretty well against the best teams in the East. When it comes to the best teams in the West they haven’t fared as well. They did get a big home win against the Los Angeles Lakers but have lost to Oklahoma City, lost to the LA Clippers, lost to the San Antonio Spurs, lost to the Dallas Mavericks and lost to the Houston Rockets. You can toss in losses to Utah and Denver and the 76ers haven’t done well against the West. Whether it’s good or bad the team will have a chance to play each of these teams again before the end of the season.

There are two major concerns moving in to the second half of this shortened season, remember there are only 66 games instead of 82. The 76ers are presently on a 5 game losing streak with 4 of those loses coming on the road and also 7 of their last 9 games. This is a great time for the All Star break for the players to get some rest and get ready to go for the second half. They haven’t played very well lately. The second concern is the 2nd half schedule. The final 5 games of the season are on the road as well as 9 of the last 11. These games are all against lower level teams in the standings except for Orlando and Boston but it’s tough to win on the road every night no matter who you’re playing.

Doug Collins will have his hands full getting the team back on the winning track on Tuesday at Detroit and not looking forward to Wednesday’s home game against Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. As we’ve discussed every week the 76ers need to stick to their team concept of playing great defense, minimizing the turnovers and balanced scoring. To put this is in perspective opponents have scored 100 points or more 6 times and the 76ers are 0-6, add a 99 point game by the Heat and they are 0-7. 100 point games won’t win for this team, it’s not their game to run and shoot with their opponents.

The 76ers balanced scoring is still led by Lou Williams at 15.7ppg, Jrue Holiday 13.6, Thad Young 12.6ppg, Andre Iguodala 12.4, Spencer Hawes 10.5 and Elton Brand 10.1ppg. The team really needs a healthy Hawes down the stretch. Hawes and Brand are still the rebounding leaders with 8.3 and 6.7 per game.

Our opinion moving in to the 2nd half is that the 76ers will win the Atlantic Division. They can’t let the Celtics hang around and gain any ground. I’m not impressed yet with the Knicks but they do have some talent. They haven’t come together to play team ball yet. As far as the rest of the Eastern Division we think the 76ers can advance in the playoffs against any of these teams over a series of games until they get to Miami. With that said, we don’t think anybody in the East can play with the Heat over a series of games. It will be important to reach a playoff position that doesn’t call for an early round match up with them or the season will come to a quick end. Collins has done a great job with this group and the rumors of adding Orlando’s Dwight Howard are very interesting. I’m sure a month ago Howard coming to Philly wasn’t even a thought. Winning will change things. The fans are becoming interested and showing up for games. It should be an interesting run through the 2nd half of the season. Stay tuned.

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76ERS ARE FOR REAL, 76ERS ARE FOR REAL!!!!

In Philadelphia 76ers on February 6, 2012 at 10:19 pm

www.youtube.com

Courtesy of Mike Norton Cassidy – CHECK IT OUT!!!!

In our post last Wednesday we talked about how important this week was in determining if this 76er’s team could be considered for real or not. Well I think it’s been determined, THE 76ERS ARE FOR REAL, THE 76ERS ARE FOR REAL!!!  The team finishes the week with a 3-1 record beating the Chicago Bulls at home, the Atlanta Hawks on the road and the Los Angeles Lakers at home, while losing to the Miami Heat at home. These are all real good teams and the 76er’s are as good as they are. The win over the Lakers is as big a win as there’s been in Philly for some time and although the boxscore doesn’t look that great they hung in there and played great D-E-F-E-N-S-E again. The BEAT LA, BEAT LA chant by the sold out crowd at the Wells Fargo Center brought back memories of the Spectrum and days gone by. The keys to the game are pretty simple. They played Doug Collins basketball, besides great defense the 76ers commited only 4 turnovers in the  game, a team record. Unbelievable!! The Lakers out rebounded the 76ers by 55-30. The 76ers only had 3 guys in double figure scoring with Lou Williams off the bench with a tremendous 4th quarter and 24 points. Jrue Holiday added 13 and Andre Iguodala added 12. Maybe as important as any stat for the game, as we’ve discussed in every one of our posts the Lakers shot only 42.0% from the field and a 7-24 from 3-point land for 29.2%. It’s still about the defense and fundamentals of the game. For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant scored 28 points, 24 points in the 1st half and was shutdown in the 2nd by Iggy.  Andrew Bynum had 20 points and 20 rebounds and Pau Gasol added 16 points.

You know what, it doesn’t matter!!! The 76ers are for real!!!!!!!

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IT’S SHOW UP TIME FOR THE 76ers

In Philadelphia 76ers on February 1, 2012 at 8:21 am

On January 21 we asked if the 76ers were for real. We discussed the next 6 games, 1 at Miami and the next 5 at home finishing up last night against Orlando. We said the 76ers needed to win either the Miami or Orlando game and would probably lose one of the four games that they should win because it just happens that way. Well I wish I could pick lottery numbers so well. The team did exactly that, finishing the 6 games with a 4-2 record and now leads the 2nd place Boston Celtics by 5 games and the Knicks by 7.5 after beating the Magic by 6 last night in a game that was never close.  The 76ers led the entire game and they’re lead reached 17 points in the 4th quarter. With Boston playing better basketball we lost .5 games in the standings while winning the 4 games. The 76ers have bought in to Head Coach Doug Collins phiosophy and continue to play outstanding defense even though both of their big men, Spencer Hawes and Nikola Vucevik are out with injuries.

Still asking how they’re doing it? It’s simple D-E-F-E-N-S-E!!! Over the 6 game period the teams points against dropped from 86.7 ppg to 86.1 ppg moving them to the top of the league in that category. Opponents are now shooting 41.4% from the field which is also tops in the league.

The team individual scoring didn’t change much with Lou Williams sill leading the way at, 15.3, Jrue Holiday, 14.2, Andre Iguodala, 12.9, Thaddeus Young, 12.0, Elton Brand 10.7, Spencer Hawes, 10.4 and Evan Turner, 10.2 ppg.

The next 5 games will be the real challenge for the team to see if they’re for real. Last week’s games they should have won and did what they should have. This week they have the Chicago Bulls at home. The Bulls are in 1st Place in the Central Division with an 18-5 record which is the most wins in the league, the Miami Heat at home after being whipped handily in Miami last week.  At Atlanta against a very good Hawks team that is in 2nd place in the Southeast behind the Heat and back home against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers next Monday. The Lakers are presently in 2nd Place in the Pacific Division and Kobe is again leading the league in scoring with a 30.2 points per game average.

This is a tough schedule for the week. The team really needs to win 2 of the 4 games and maybe 3 of 4 just to prove they can play against the good teams with winning records. Boston isn’t going to go away so it’s important to come out of each week with a winning record especially this week against these quality teams.

What’s the winning combination? D-E-F-E-N-S-E!!!!!

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Philly Broadcast Legends

In Misc Philly Sports, Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia Phillies on January 30, 2012 at 8:06 am

Philly Pressbox originally published this article on January 30, 2012. We’ve been asked to republish it several times by our readers so here it is. We hope you enjoy it. Feel free to comment.

With the passing of Penn State legendary coach Joe Paterno this week it was somewhat lost in the news of the passing of a Philadelphia legend Andy Musser. Musser was often below the radar in the Phillies broadcast booth from 1976 – 2001that was full of larger than life personalities but Andy was a true professional, a gentleman and a man that could broadcast any sport and do a great job of it. Many people know Andy from those Phillies years but he also broadcasted the Eagles from 1965-68 and the 76ers from 1965-71. That’s 34 Philadelphia sports season in the books for Andy. Great Job!!

Andy’s passing made me think about the broadcasters that we’ve had in Philadelphia over the years. Do you realize that if you were born after 1955 you had never heard a Phillies game that was not broadcasted by a Hall of Famer? When I first started watching and listening to Phillies baseball it was Bill Campbell, Rich Ashburn and By Saam. All are HOF members in their own way. Campbell as a broadcaster in the Basketball HOF, Ashburn as a player in the Baseball HOF and the legendary By Saam as a broadcaster in the Baseball HOF. Saam called Phillies games from 1939-49 and again from 1955-1975. Campbell was replaced by Harry Kalas and another 38 years of broadcasting from a Baseball HOF member. Add to that the one year stints of Hall of Fame players Robin Roberts in ’76 and Mike Schmidt in ’90 and “The Box” was loaded with All Stars. Another long time member of “The Box” is Chris Wheeler who just completed his 34th season with the Phillies as well as Musser and his 25 years.

Moving on to the Flyers, people my age learned the game of hockey by Hall Of Famer Gene Hart. Hart was a Flyers broadcaster the initial 67-68 season and then full time from 1971-1992. Who will ever forget Gene calling the games of the Broad Street Bullies and the Stanley Cups? The Hart legacy lives in with his daughter Lauren singing the National Anthem and God Bless America at all home games. Here’s an interesting Flyer broadcast fact for you, during the 1970-71 season Flyers Sunday games were broadcast by former Phillies 1st baseman and later National League Commissioner Bill White. White was the first black to announce an NHL game. The Chief, Bobby Taylor spent 16 seasons, Gary Dornhoefer 14 and now Jim Jackson has been bringing us games since 1993. Maybe HOF will be in JJ’s future one day.

The Eagles Merrill Reese, although not a Hall of Famer at this time, has been broadcasting games on radio since 1977 and does he do a great job? How many of you have turned down the TV to listen to Merrill do the play-by-play along with his many color commentators, Herb Adderly, yes the HOF player, Bill Bergey, Stan Walters and now Mike Quick call the game the way it should be called. Tracing way back to 1940 By Saam was doing the games up until 1955, minus the 50 and 51 seasons when Bill Campbell took over. Campbell called the games until 1964. In ‘64 Saam was back for one last year working with Campbell and former Eagle Tom Brookshier. Musser took over from 1965–1968. Charlie Swift covered from 1969-77 and Reese joined Swift in 1977 until now. What a run of great announcers! Did you know that future Baseball HOF broadcaster Jack Buck did Eagles games in 1961? Anyone who was able to go to games at Franklin Field and the early days at The Vet will never forget the booming voice of PA announcer Matt Goukas Sr. who handled the duties from 1953-1985. Goukas was legendary! His call of 2nd down and niooooooon (2nd & 9) is still in my head after all this years. Amazingly enough when Goukas retired Dan Baker took over and he has been the PA voice of the Eagles ever since not to mention handing the same duties with the Phillies since 1972 and doing Big 5 basketball from 1977-1989. Baker has been a busy man in Philadelphia.

Speaking of PA announcers we can’t forget “The Zink”, Dave Zinkoff. Zink was with the Philadelphia Warriors and then the 76ers from 1946-1985. Zink had many favorites but “Dipper Dunk” for Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Errrrrrrrrrrving and Moses Maaaaaaaaaaalone have to be at the top of the list. Of course we can’t forget Bill Campbell again. Campbell along with his work with the Eagles and Phillies called Warriors games from 1946–1962 and 76ers games from 1972-1981. Andy Musser followed and Mark Zumoff has been holding it down since 1994.

There can’t be another city that can say that they’ve had a run with broadcasters and announcers that Philly has had. From Saam to Campbell to Ashburn to Kalas to Musser to Hart to Goukas to Zinkoff to Baker to the present day guys of Reese, Wheeler, Zumoff  and Jackson it’s been quite a run. The bar has been set very high.

As Gene Hart would say, “Good Night and Good Hockey”!!!

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ARE THE 76ers FOR REAL?

In Philadelphia 76ers on January 21, 2012 at 10:44 am

Is it possible that we’re really talking about the Sixers, or as I prefer the 76ers, in mid-January? The team is off to an 11-4 start and already has a 5 game lead over the New York Knicks and 5 ½ over the hated Boston Celtics. Does anybody really care? Well fans care when teams win and the crowds with start packing in the Wells Fargo Center if the team continues to compete. With that said they visit the Miami Heat and LeBron James and Chris Bosh tonight. The Heat will be playing without Dwayne Wade but it didn’t matter Thursday night when they blew out Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. This will be a big early season test for the 76ers to use as a measuring stick of where they are. The schedule over the next 6 games is favorable for the team to pad they’re 1st place lead. After the Heat game the next 5 are at home against Washington, last in the Southeast, the Nets, next to last in the Atlantic, Charlotte, next to the last in the Southeast, Detroit, last in the Central before 1st Place in the Southeast Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard come to town. If they come out of the next 6 with a 4-2 record they’ll be in good shape. The important thing is they either need to beat Miami or Orlando to prove they can compete at the highest level. Unfortunately you don’t win all of the games you’re supposed to so they’ll likely drop at least one of the middle 4 games.

How are they doing it? Head Coach Doug Collins, an all-around really good guy, has the team playing as a TEAM without a superstar. That’s tough to imagine in professional sports and especially in the NBA where teams try to stockpile big name individuals. The big differences are D-E-F-E-N-S-E and playing fundamentally sound ball every night. They are giving up only 86.7 points per game, 2nd in the league and holding opponents to 41.3% shooting from the field, 4th in the league. They are also leading the league in steals differential. That will win games!!

On offense the team has 7 players averaging between 10.3 and 15.1 ppg while having only 2 players averaging over 30 minutes per game. This will pay big dividends as the long grueling season moves on. As a team, they are 3rd in the league in scoring at 100.7 ppg trailing only Miami and Denver. They are 1st in the league in Points Scored/Points Allowed with a 13.6 ppg differential and are 4th in the league in rebounding. Collins continuous preaching good fundamental basketball on both ends of the court has the 76ers believing in the concept and winning ball games.

Individually the scoring leaders are Lou Williams, 15.1, Jrue Holiday, 14.9, Andre Iguodala, 14.3, Thaddeus Young, 12.9, Evan Turner, 10.4, Spencer Hawes, 10.4 and Elton Brand 10.3ppg. Hawes is averaging 8.9 rebounds and Brand 7.4.

Let’s hope that this is the year, but only time will tell if the 76ers can compete with the elite teams in the league. It’s been since the 2002-03 since the team has gotten out of the 1st round of the playoffs and hasn’t reached the finals since Allen Iverson led them to the finals in 2000-01. Collins took Eddie Jordan’s 2009-10, 27-55 team and improved it to 41-41 last season. It seems 50 wins this year could happen and if so this T-E-A-M should win the Atlantic division.

It’s time for the 76ers and basketball to matter again in Philadelphia. Let see what happens in the next 6 games.