Now that's more like it

I'd swear it is something about games on Friday nites. The Sixers games most worth watching are on Friday nites. I’m sure the buzz of a Friday crowd has something to do with it. Perhaps the fact that the better teams tend to be scheduled on Friday (That's just good marketing). But whatever it is the Sixers should bottle it and sprinkle it on their food before every game.

Andre Igoudala was playing with a chip on his shoulder. Not to be out done by the LeBron James, the obvious object of the crowds interest (who could blame 'em). The 1st quarter was a high flyin' slam fest. Iggy and LeBron were throwing down some sick dunks. Iguodala keep the Sixers in the game with 16 1st period points. I kept waiting for the inevitable drop-off in the Sixers play. But E.B. was performing at a high level also. You couldn't be happy with the defense with the Cavs scoring 61 by half time. But they were only down 6.

I'm thinking "Here we go", after the Cavs got the early jump in the 3rd. But the Sixers righted the ship. Iguodala came alive again. He was determine to put his stamp on the game. James seemed to be rusty to me. He deferred a lot to his teammates. Who did not respond. Allowing the Sixers to close the gap and lead the game by 1 to end the 3 period.

If Iggy played that kind of game every nite (which is to say "selfish") his contract would not be such a question mark. Perhaps the Sixers could have won had he been "more" selfish at the end of the game. Instead they struggled to score in the 4th and watched their hopes fall short with a errant pass from the rookie, Jrue Holiday. Holiday never should have been in that position.

Still it was a great game to watch. lotsa of fireworks, competitive and the Sixers lost.

Sixers tank one versus the Bobcats

“I gotcha now dog, this tanking thing is easy!”

I can’t believe I went to that game last nite. It was worst than the nite before. It’s hard to believe so many player have checked out already.  Jason Smith and Rodney Carney seem to be the only guys who realize they all have to play for a spot next year. You don;t care about E.J., but you never know who’s going to follow.

Sixers drop another to the Pacers

Well all those tanker fans should be happy with this one. The Sixers showed no effort to win this game. They drop a road game to the Pacers 107-96, who played without their 23 points per game All Star Danny Granger. Granger was out serving a 1 game suspension for a fight on their recent west coast road trip.

If you suffered thru the game as I did, you may never see a more pathetic display of defense. Williams was just a spectator on the floor. Iggy disappeared from the game. It was like a layup line for the Pacers. It is disingenuous for the Sixers media to play this game up as one in which the Pacers stepped up. How hard is it to make a frickin’ layup!

Dontay Jones torches them for 25 (11 PPG average) …. Brandon Rush hits for 24 (8 PPG average) …. you’ve gotta be kidding me!

Reggie Evans ... Daaaaaaam!

I liked Kate's article this AM "A Word with Reggie,Jason" for providing a few insights from the pair who were traded for each other this past summer. In regard to the Sixers fortunes this season. Reggie seems to have summed the whole thing up in a word …
 It was nice to see the Sixers win one this afternoon. Nice to see a Thad Young sighting also. The encouraging thing about his 32 point career performance was that his points were split evenly between the 1st and 2nd halves. It's not unusual for Thad to go off for a quarter or a even a half. But he rarely gets it going on for a full game. When Thaddeus is scoring the Sixers shooting percentage is usually pretty high. And it seems that their shooting percentage has to be high if they are going to beat anyone. Today was no different. I thought the Sixers defense was good today, in fact it fueled their fast-break and that high shooting percentage. But they still gave up a 101 points. Just think about how dominate they could be if they played defense like the did the past few years.

DAAAAAM!

The C's by Nine 2nite

Yes, I admit it. I'm a glutton for punishment. Heading down to the Wach Center for a game again. Monday's blow-out was painfully to watch. The line tonite is the Celtics -9. The over/under is abouot 197. Love these line trends;

Celtics are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 Friday games.
Celtics are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning % below .400.
Celtics are 3-12 ATS in their last 15 games as a favorite.
Celtics are 4-16-1 ATS in their last 21 games following a SU win of more than 10 points.
In Head to Head competition Underdog is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.

Of course there are equal number of trends that point the other way. A win would be nice. That beat the C's last time they played on a Friday nite.

Sixers +4?

I’m taking in a game tonite. I didn’t get a chance to see the Lakers game Friday. From the box score is looks like the Sixers played well, but not well enuff to win … or perhaps just not well enuff for Kobe to feel he had to win the game.

Alas, a win over the Magic seems like a tough call tonite. Particularly because of how they spanked the Sixers earlier in the season and they are 10 games above .500 for the season. So I’m wonder why the spread is only Sixers +4. The Over/Under id 198.

Maybe I’ll just root for the 76ers to cover.