Club Bosh was in South Philly last night to see the Heat extend their winning streak to 20. The Sixers put up a valiant effort but were derailed by a missed layup by Big Spence with 24 seconds left down 94-91. I told myself I would not go on another Spencer Hawes rant so all I'm going to say is I could have made that layup and I am one of the 3 worst basketball players on the planet.
All was not lost though, as our king, Jrue Holiday had an epic dunk on the Queen to tie the game at 91 with about 1:20 left. During the ensuing time out, the Queen was seen making Chalmers wipe Jrue's spunk off his face.
I picked an awesome season to buy Sixers season tickets. 24-40 and most times I'd rather be relieving the toilet scene from Arachnophobia.
In one of the most atrocious games I can ever remember any one team playing, the Sixers were beaten handily by the hapless Orlando Magic last night 98-84. This is the same Orlando Magic team whose best players are Glen Davis and Jameer Nelson. GLEN DAVIS and JAMEER NELSON are the best players on the Magic and the Sixers still found a way to lose. Wait... it gets worse. Comically worse.
Glen Davis and Jameer Nelson did not even PLAY last night. The game was IN South Philly. Nic Vucevic, one of the guys who the Sixers traded to get Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson, out rebounded Spencer Hawes and Levoy Allen by 14 rebounds. 14!!!! He had 19 boards to Spence's 1 and Levoy's whopping, 4. Did I mention that the guys we got in that trade are going to end the 2013 season playing a total of 33 games? Wait... it gets worse.
After the game, the lovable Doug Collins decided to tie his team to the proverbial tracks and drive his locomotive full of blame back and forth over them for 12 minutes. (Click here for full presser. If you actually watch the video, check out DC's rapey smirks after his insults. Made me feel like grandpa was watching me change my Underoos.) Literally did not take an once of blame until almost 10 minutes into the presser. Just crying, doing the old whole whoa is me routine.
Doug, we get it. We get that you are coaching a team that is so bad they thought signing Kwame Brown preseason would be a phenomenal idea. We get that you're senile (first comment below). We get that you're pissed off you haven't achieved an erection without chemicals in years. We get that you are dealing with a bunch of shitty injuries and the team you are coaching is not the same team you thought you would be coaching before this season started. THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE PAID FOR. You're paid to deal with all this shit and make it work. You're paid to put a product on the floor that will at least LOOK interested in being there. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should be putting a playoff team on the floor right now with the guys you have. Not even the Zen Master could do that. All I'm saying is it's your job to put a team on the floor that will at least COMPETE, especially in a home game against a team that had only won 15 games before last night. A team that had only won 6 games on the road all year and was in the midst of a 10 game road losing streak. You owe that to the fans in Philadelphia. This rant was not endearing. It did not deflect blame. It did not embody your city. It made you sound like a kiss ass and it put the wheels in motion to send your wrinkled balls out to some retirement village in Arizona, far far away from our Sixers.
As Kemp put it to me last night, it's time for the ping pong balls. (Don't be scared. Go ahead. Click on it.) I'd like to say this is rock bottom. I really would, but the remaining Sixers schedule is brutal culminating with 12 of their final 16 games on the road. At this point, a top 5 pick is more likely than the playoffs.
My last comment would be to the Sixers' ownership group. You knew what you were trading for and still decided to make that person the center of a massive advertising campaign. How's that working out for you now, dumb-asses? You've driven the once jovial, Doug Collins, to become a conniving little squid who only cares about saving face.
Some of the highlights are below.
"If everybody looked inside themselves as much as I do, this world would be a CAT scan. Okay? I mean, believe me. I have.. there's not 2 days go by that I don't go to Rod, I don't go to Tony, 'What can I do? Can I do anything different?How can I be a better coach? How can I be a better leader? How can I help these guys?' Sometimes you gotta help yourself. You know? Sometimes you gotta help yourself. Youth is a very blaming thing."
"Why are you booing me? I'm the coach"
Asked about leaders on the team "We have players that have capabilities... Take ownership."
Guys feeling held hostage by Bynum situation. "Is he playing? Isn't he playing?"
"I'm not a blamer."
"I have not found an answer and I'm paid to do that."
"A week or two" away from practicing, still "100% sure" he'll play this season, new insane hairdo. Really firing on all cylinders in South Philadelphia. The Sixers begin the second-half fight for their playoff lives tomorrow at Minnesota. They still have 4(!) games left against Miami, as well as 2 with BKNY and Indiana, and 1 each against Golden State, Knicks, Denver, and LAC. Hopefully it's not too painful to watch.
Could it get any more soft than Spencer Hawes? Seriously. This guy is 7'1" and insists on playing at the top of the key where he makes a living bricking jumpers and trying to be a point guard. Here's an idea, Spencer, why don't you get your fat fucking ass under the basket and let your All-Star point guard worry about running the show?
I had the pleasure of watching the Clippers dunk on the Sixers every way imaginable last night as they rolled to a 107-90 victory at the Wells Fargo. The Sixers trailed by as much as 32 in the game and the 17 point margin of victory does the Clippers dominance no justice. It was thorough. It was complete. It was powerful.
My disgust for this team peaked when Hawes let chubby chaser, Blake Griffin, dunk of him for the one millionth, one hundred seventy six thousandth, five hundred and sixty fourth time. Have a little self respect, Spencer! The guy is making your sexy girlfriend wetter than the Atlantic with every dunk and not once does it go through your head to foul the guy? Maybe don't let him put his dick in your face on this trip to the hoop? Put him on his back and maybe next time he'll think twice about putting his balls in your eye. Instead, you let him to the rim relatively uncontested where he throws down on you so hard, fucking Evan Turner starts giggling like the little school girl bitch he is.
I am so happy I only have to deal with Spencer Hawes for one more year. He is a poor man's Pau Gasol and I hate Pau Gasol with the fire of a thousand suns.
That leads me to Evan Turner. He has to go and he has to go now. Get him out of here before the trade deadline. He is a bust. His wild inconsistency is doing nothing but hurting this team. I get that he is having a career year. I get that he has 10 double doubles this year which takes his CAREER total to 17. He will NEVER be able to carry this team. The Sixers still have a viable trade piece in him solely based on his potential. Get him out of here while you can still get something for his bum ass. For him to be sitting on the bench giggling at Blake Griffin dunking on the marshmallow is completely inexcusable. Obviously cares about this thing a lot less than the fans. His response after the game about his reaction, “I wasn’t celebrating or nothing. I felt bad for my boy and how he’s forever going to live on in highlights.” You felt bad so you were laughing? First you suck at basketball then you insult my intelligence? God damn! Good riddance, Evan. I hope that you stub your toe on the way out.
I can't put into words how much I despise Dwyane Wade. Here he is being a little bitch and getting a fan kicked out that probably paid $500+ to sit courtside to watch him PLAY BASKETBALL. $500. To watch a BASKETBALL GAME. If you think the fashionista would be grateful, you'd be thinking wrong. I'd say $500 entitles you to do a little bit of heckling, but that's just me.
I think the thing that is really grinding my gears is that D. Wade is having the 2nd worst season of his career statistically (the worst since his rookie campaign), yet he is the leading vote getter among guards in the East and is a virtual lock to start the All-Star game. All the while, Jrue Holiday is having a career year and sits at 8th in voting behind 2 guys that have been injured for long stretches (Irving and Felton), 2 guys that are having down years (Wade and Williams), a guy that is a proven loser (Ellis) and a skeleton (Allen). The only guy ahead of Jrue that I can even begin to agree with is Rondo, but even then, Rondo is not as important to his team as Jrue is to the Sixers. Without Jrue, the Sixers went 0-4 losing by an average of 13 points. Without Rondo, the Celtics are 2-3. Jrue is 14th in the league in scoring and 4th in the league in assists. How can fans not notice the brilliant season he is putting together????
Larry already said it but having the fans vote for the starters is fucking stupid. I get that the All-Star game is just a money maker in the NBA's eyes, but the show that they could put on by actually having the best players that season compete in the All-Star game would be incredible.
From NBA.com, current All-Star voting results below.
2013 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING PRESENTED BY SPRINT EASTERN CONFERENCE Frontcourt:
LeBron James (Mia) 1,151,304, Carmelo Anthony (NYK) 1,054,099, Kevin
Garnett (Bos) 390,751, Chris Bosh (Mia) 362,973, Tyson Chandler (NYK)
315,752, Paul Pierce (Bos) 205,096, Joakim Noah (Chi) 158,743, Josh
Smith (Atl) 131,508, Anderson Varejao (Cle) 116,166, Shane Battier (Mia)
107,190, Amar'e Stoudemire (NYK) 104,109, Andrew Bynum (Phi) 93,611,
Luol Deng (Chi) 90,736, Brook Lopez (BKN) 76,695, Jeff Green (Bos)
62,367 Backcourt: Dwyane Wade (Mia) 765,077, Rajon Rondo
(Bos) 675,822, Deron Williams (BKN) 350,618, Kyrie Irving (Cle) 308,878,
Ray Allen (Mia) 232,441, Monta Ellis (Mil) 84,609, Raymond Felton (NYK)
77,123, Jrue Holiday (Phi) 66,514, Jason Terry (Bos) 62,189, Brandon
Jennings (Mil) 56,826
2013 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING PRESENTED BY SPRINT WESTERN CONFERENCE Frontcourt:
Kevin Durant (OKC) 1,088,797, Dwight Howard (LAL) 716,671, Blake
Griffin (LAC) 593,024, Tim Duncan (SA) 352,534, Pau Gasol (LAL) 239,440,
Kevin Love (Min) 221,291, Omer Asik (Hou) 160,935, Rudy Gay (Mem)
140,864, Serge Ibaka (OKC) 134,172, Marc Gasol (Mem) 114,465, LaMarcus
Aldridge (Por) 111,156, Zach Randolph (Mem) 111,046, Dirk Nowitzki (Dal)
106,623, Metta World Peace (LAL) 106,025, Chandler Parsons (Hou) 93,057 Backcourt:
Kobe Bryant (LAL) 1,177,456, Chris Paul (LAC) 651,893, Jeremy Lin (Hou)
605,624, James Harden (Hou) 337,585, Russell Westbrook (OKC) 268,558,
Steve Nash (LAL) 202,274, Tony Parker (SA) 128,966, Ricky Rubio (Min)
112,352, Stephen Curry (GS) 97,761, Manu Ginobili (SA) 84,564
On Saturday night James Harden and the Rockets brought their beards to South Philly. The Sixers picked up a great win to hopefully jumpstart their climb back into the playoff picture. Jeremiah took a second to shake the bejeezus out of Jrue with a behind the back through the legs crossover, with about 3 double-dribbles mixed in there. But who cares about that. Soak this in
Absurd move, but it probably should have been called back, and they lost the game. 4/5 Paul Pierces here.
So as Larry so eloquently stated in his post below, we had the displeasure of watching the Nets shart in the Sixers' Cheerios last night. The demolition means that the Nets have now won 6 of 7 since Prokhorov fired Avery Johnson and replaced him, at least on an interim basis, with the infamous P.J. Carlesimo.
The whole time we were sitting in our swanky, 200 level seats, I could not get over the fact that this was the same P.J. Carlesimo who in 1997 was choked by and then punched by Latrell Spreewell, who judging by the latest news has really been an upstanding citizen since retiring. The incident occurred at a practice after P.J. told Spree to "put a little mustard" on his passes and Spree responded that he was not in the mood for criticism and P.J. should keep his distance. As we all know, P.J. didn't keep his distance and the rest is history.
Anyway, the reason I bring this up now is that the Nets have a guy on their squad that has a career marked in bad attitudes and off court problems much like Spree. That guy is Andray Blatche, who as of Monday night was being questioned in a reported sexual assault case involving two members of his entourage. Sources close to the situation have reported that when police arrived at Blatche's hotel room, they found multiple pills of a date rape drug. Although Blatche has been surprisingly productive this year, P.J. is not going to tolerate an off court distraction. There have already been rumors around the Brooklyn locker room that P.J. has confronted 'Dray about his bad behavior and he responded for P.J. to "stay the hell away". Seems to me to bring this P.J. coaching thing full circle, the next step to this story should be some type of 'Dray homage to the infamous 1997 choke.
Here's to hoping for a full scale Nets' implosion.
Chuck was kind enough to take me out on the town last night to South Philadelphia. We came in with high hopes for our hometown Sixers, who were just returning from a tough 8-game West Coast road trip (which they finished 2-6). Not only did they have a tough road trip, but Jrue and the boys were on a 3-game losing streak, and 3-11 in their last 14(!!!!) coming into last night. Their playoff hopes are slowly slipping away, and what better time to start turning things around than a game against a legit divisional foe who is rounding into form.
A decent but uneventful first half saw Brooklyn lead by one. Jrue was playing well, and Spencer Hawes was hitting some midrange shots (while not collecting any god damn rebounds). Beyond them, it was rough. ET was chucking up a lot of ill-advised shots, and Nick Young, HOLY HELL NICK YOUNG. Guy fucking sucks. It's crazy to watch his game in person. Shot the ball as soon as he got it for probably his first 5 touches, missing everything. But the third quarter saw Philly completely and utterly collapse. Some of the worst basketball I've watched in a long time. The Sixers scored 4 points in the first 7 MINUTES of the quarter, en route to being outscored 35-14, and sealing the game for Brooklyn. 4th quarter was meaningless and unwatchable.
Notes:
Jrue finished with a nice 19 & 8, and is the only player besides RussRuss to average over 18&8. The talent level drop-off when he goes to the bench is absurd.
Deron and Iso Joe were hitting a lot of tough shots, which doesn't make things easy.
Ya know what else doesn't make things easy? When Reggie god damn Evans has 23 rebounds and DOESN'T PLAY IN THE 4th QUARTER.
The Sixers were truly miserable to watch after half, and the crowd let them hear it.
Even if Bynum comes back, it looks like it may not be enough to salvage the season.
Last but not least: SPENCER HAWES, 7 FOOT CENTER, HAD MORE 3-POINT ATTEMPTS THAN REBOUNDS
Got to another Sixers game last night at home against the Bucks. Despite a valiant 24-9 run to tie the game at 82 at end the third quarter, the Sixers looked lost. One of the worst defensive performances by a Doug Collins' coached team that I have ever seen. I shutter when I say it about a Philadelphia sports team, but at times the Sixers looked... well, soft. Now don't get it completely twisted. I realize the Sixers were in a tough spot last night after winning 3 straight on the road and coming home to a game that they were "supposed" to win, but I still expect them to keep the Bucks under 100 points at home.
Now to elaborate on my "soft" comment. Brandon Jennings went bananas. Put up 33 points (not to mention 8 assists and 4 steals) and was slicing through the lane with the ease of a knife through warm butter. Not one time did any of the Sixer big men (or any other Sixer for that matter) think of laying a hard foul on the little guy (he literally looked like a 12 year old when compared to the other guys on the court). Does not make any sense. Put the guy on his ass and he is going to be thinking of that the next time he tries to drive the lane. Karl Malone would have never let that happen. Shaq would've never let that happen. But the Sixers let it happen time and time again. I realize the culture in professional sports has changed across the board with every league emphasizing player safety, but all I am asking for here is a hard foul. You know who would be the perfect man for the job? Andrew Bynum.
I know this is an extreme case, but I am just trying to make a point. The Sixers need Bynum in the lineup and they needed him yesterday. He'll provide the big man presence they need on defense, and although this post has not focused at all on the offensive end, he'll provide an inside game the likes of which the Sixers haven't seen since Dr. J. This will give the Sixers the unique ability to play a half court style when he is on the floor and a fast past, run and gun style when he is on the bench. That is going to prove a very difficult task for teams to game plan for defensively because the two styles of play are such polar opposites.
I'd be remiss not to mention Jrue's line of 25 points and 6 assists on 10-18 from the field. He has been nothing short of magnificent on the offensive end to start the year; now he just needs to cut down on his 6 turnovers per game average.
