Clang! Clang! Clang!

Just in from the 'did you know department'. For the second consecutive year, Allen Iverson joined the small, elite group of basketball players who have missed 1,000 shots in a season. In 2004-05, Iverson took an NBA-leading 1,818 shots and missed 1,047; in 2005-06, Iverson took 1,822 shots and missed 1,008. But Iverson is staring at the tail lights of Kobe Bryant, who heaved an NBA-leading 2,173 shots in the general direction of the basket, missing 1,195. Bryant came within shouting distance of one of the few sports records likely never to be broken, Wilt Chamberlain's 1,592 missed shots during the 1961-62 basketball campaign. But Chamberlain also made 1,597 field goals that season -- so he hit more often than he missed. Bryant missed 217 more times than he hit. Kobe led the league in scoring, but his shooting percentage didn't even finish in the top 50.

Wagner's road back to the NBA should not go thru Philly

This story has been bouncing around all week. USA Basketball seems to have found their sea legs and there's not much going on in Sixer-ville. So let me give you my 2 cents.

The Sixers are counted among teams reportedly interested in shepherding the return of Dajuan Wagner to NBA. The Camden native who's meteoric rise and fall is well known by many of us. I wish him the best, but not in Philly. Wagner did not show much maturity by jumping to the NBA after a year at Memphis. He has never met a shot he didn't like, defends poorly and by all accounts still learning the NBA team game when he went down with a knee injury.

Those are not the seeds of a culture change. Those are not the skills to bolster the Sixers interior defense. I hope this is a dry news week story. You where just being polite to agent Leon Rose, right Billy?

Remembering Wilt

Just thinkin' about Wilt this week. It being his birthday this week(He would have been 70). Phil Jackson recalls in a LA Times article "Wilt Got Back at the New Kid on the Block" how Chamberlain announced in '67 that he would lead the league in assists and did so. That's just how good Wilt was.

He greatness isn't as appreciated as it should be. Many years ago, Chamberlain was asked why he often was booed and he said: "Nobody roots for Goliath."

Argentina Basketball by VISA

So I'm flippin' channels yesterday 'n I notice there was a FIBA Championships game on. I also noticed the USA wasn't playin' but I said what the heck. I'll check it out. To my dismay, I tune into a blow-out of Venezuela by Argentina. The score was not what shocked me (the final was 96-54). No, what shocked me was Argentina's uniform. VISA is plastered so large on their jersey that you notice nothin else.

VISA

... Its bigger than their NUMBERS ... Its bigger than their NAMES. If you didn't know 'bout the baby blue country colors you would have no clue that VISA hand not taken over a country and started a basketball team. Not just some sponsor. Have they no shame! How can FIBA lay claim to basketball purity (let's not go there ... I know we invented the game) ... and allow such a mockery of games. I know there are other sports where players wear sponsor logos. But those are sports like tennis, golf, nascar, arena football. Many would agree with me that they are second class sports (if it's a sport at all). How do they expect us to take them seriously? It's absurd!

Big Dipper's Birthday

Today is Wilt's birthday! One of the most dominant forces in the NBA Chamberlain was named one the 50 greatest players in history after a Hall of Fame career which featured two NBA titles with Philadelphia 76ers the & Los Angeles Lakers and four MVP awards well as seven all nba team selections.

In addition to the single-game records for most points (100), Wilt is the only player to score 4,000 points in a season, and he still holds the record for most consecutive field goals (18) and most rebounds (55). We lost the pride of Overbrook High in 1999.

Knick's Thomas made trade offer for Webber

This one is odd enuff to be true. The NBA's worst GM, Isiah Thomas, made the Sixers an offer for Chris Webber! This could only make sense in Isiah's alternate universe. The trade would make the Knicks the ultimate squad of overpaid ball hogs ( see Knicks Nearly Achieve Ballhog Perfection). The trade offer - Richardson ($32M, uninsured), Maurice Taylor's expiring pact and Malik Rose for Webber and an unamed player.

How many of you Sixers fans would consider that an early christmas present?

What's worse ... Bill Walton or the things he says?

Waltonism (wolt'-un-iz'-um) noun. Relating to or characteristic of comments made by former NBA MVP and current ESPN television analyst Bill Walton. Typically, these are grandiose non sequiturs about a specific player, a particular team, or a team's entire fanbase. Always overstated (often bordering on ludicrous) and sometimes marked by transparent irony, these statements usually take the form of either A) a superlative compliment or B) a hyperderogatory criticism.

Watching a recent USA Basketball game reminded me how much I hate to listen to Bill Walton. My distaste comes in many forms. Not the least of which his 1979 NBA Championship win over the 76ers. Which appears to be the only shred of credibility he has. The fact that he never sniffed the finals again tells me they where lucky, the Sixers were stoned, or some combination of the two. Some folks may like the silly things he says, but what does it have to do with basketball. Do the networks feel compelled to put on a clown show like TNT? How many circus clowns do we need?

As another Waltonism dribbles out of his mouth, I am wondering what's worse; What he's saying or the fact that he gets paid to do it?

Carmelo, Team USA bounce back against Lithuania

I just wanted to follow up on the perilous journey of USA Basketball thru the Basketball World Championships or as the media seems to thinks of it as the "chronicles of Carmelo". Carmelo Anthony has emerged as the pulse of the USA squad.

The US beat Lithuania soundly 111-88 on 19 points from Mello (oh, and that D Wade guy scored 14). Much has been made recently of Anthony's knee injury and whether the USA could recover from the near lose to Brazil. I'm thinking ... what kind of insurance do the Nuggets have? With stiffer competition and the up tempo in your face style that coach K is preaching. Somebody's gonna get hurt. If you recall, in the last World Championships Mavericks owner refused to pay the insurance for his players. I for one am glad AI is not playing. He started the next season all banged up and never seemed rested.

The exhibition warm-up games are almost over the FIBA World Championship Aug. 19-Sept. 3.

What happened this week in Sixers-ville?

I have been out of touch this week. So I have scoured the papers for news of Billy K's furious restructuring of the 76ers. Let's take a look at the Sixers roster as of Aug. 9th;
AI and C.Webb are still on the team. Willie Green is back. At center we have Steven Hunter and Sammy Dalembert. At guard, Andre Iguodala (Mr. potential), Kevin Ollie, and Sweet Lou Williams. At forward, there are a couple of promising rookies Rodney Carney and Bobby Jones, K Squared, Shavlik Randolph ... Michael Bradley has flown the coup for Spain.

Impressive ... huh? I was thinking the Sixers would make some kind of trade to take advantage of that 4 million dollar trade exception for the Marc Jackson deal, but the 76ers' trade exception expired this week.

So, what's up with the extreme make-over? Billy maintains he's not gonna make a deal just to make a deal. He's not gonna be played for a sucker ... but you have to do something, right. Can you sell this team to fans without doing something considered extreme. You can't say that about the off-season so far. Even by the low standards of a homer like me.

Brazil Gives U.S. Trouble

USA basketball won a close exhibition match-up vs Brazil 90-86 in the China Basketball Challenge. The Brazilian team features no less that 3 NBA players and gave pause to everyone who thought coach K had the answer after two blow-outs against sub-par competition in the 1st two games.

This game was not televised. But I did see the China game on ESPN. China hanged in for about a 25¢ before they were subjugated by the US' defensive pressure. Clearly not enough talent. It was nice to see a game with some team play, hustle, and none of that walk it up and back 'em down in the paint stuff. Kinda like college ball.

But the US team looked sloppy and the rest of the world is no longer intimidated. Brazil showed us this won't be a cake walk this year. Maybe that will make the FIBA championships worth watching. The play of China did not.

Comcast-Spectacor hints sale of Sixers could come to fruition

There probably wasn't much to it at the time when originally reported. Comcast-Spectacor did simply have their hear to the ground. Listening to offers. But now the rumor has sparked the possibility and perhaps the reality the Sixers will be sold to some fat investors group. A sale that retains leasing and broadcast rights could be very profitable for Comcast. But I have yet to hear a valid argument as to why anyone would want to buy this team or any team laden with high labor costs and a shrinking fan base.

So what if the Sixers get sold. Unless they're leaving town ... do we really care?

The NBA has a 2 drink minimum

With all our concerns about the Salary Cap ... who's over, who's under, and what will it be raised to this year. I was taken aback to discover the NBA has a minimum team salary. The Bobcats just signed a 2 year $4 million dollor contract with Jake Voskuhl. Which brings them to $33 million. AI & Webber make more than that between them. So get this ... They are still $6 million under the minimum!

So what happens if they don't match the minimum? The NBA mandates the difference be distributed eqaully to all the players on the team.

76ers 2006-07 Schedule Announced

The Philadelphia 76ers will tip off the 2006-07 campaign on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at the Wac Center against the Atlanta Hawks (7 pm). The 82-game, regular season schedule features 15 nationally televised games (eight on ESPN and seven on NBA-TV). I still don't know how David Stern gets away with calling NBA-TV a "nationally televised game", its more like pay-for-view.

The nationally televised games on ESPN include road match-ups at Phoenix (Nov. 17), at Chicago (Dec. 6), at Dallas (Dec. 15), at Boston (Dec. 22) and home games versus King James & the Cavs (Jan. 26), New Jersey (March 4) and Houston (March 18).

The 2006-07 schedule includes 22 sets of back-to-back games, including five sets in the month of December. The 76ers will travel out West twice for at least three games. The longest road-trip of the year takes place during December's holiday season death march when the team heads West for a seven-game, 11-day road trip.

The Sixers host the defending 2006 NBA Champion Miami Heat twice at the Wac (Nov. 5 and Jan. 19). The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Jan. 15) matinee is back again, this year the 76ers host a 2 p.m. game against the Toronto Raptors. The Lakers will be in town March 9.

22 of the first 33 games will be played on the road. The longest home stand is 7 games from Feb. 2-21, part of a 15-game stretch that includes 13 games at the Wac.