How ya like me now?

How ya like me now Sixer nation. It’s been a strange season in many ways. Instead of the rollercoaster ride we’ve seen in recent years, this season was one meteoric rise and one huge fall. The Sixers fan base had to reach hard to get on the bandwagon when it was rising quickly in January. And there were certainly a few ankles broken in March during the skid. But yeah, that a fans prerogative. Everyone from the ownership, the coach, stars player and the water boy share in the praise and the blame .. okay, maybe the water boy doesn’t get much praise.

But I guess it’s the result of this compacted season and the grueling schedule. And it was just as tuff on the nation as the team. Basketball fatigue has certainly set in. Mix in a little Phillies and a little Flyers playoff drama and you can see the attention span of the Philly fan base wonder. Some didn’t even notice the Sixers impressive road finish. Or the melodrama that was the battle to not finish in the 7th playoff spot.

The poor performance on Friday nite against the Bulls had all the experts certain the Sixers where done in the first round. It was just a matter of how many games. And this was in spite of the injury to D. Rose. The TnT clown show was still talking sweep  (I know the TnT broadcast is a waste of any real pro ball fan’s time). Sixer nation felt a little better after the Rose injury. I hate to see anyone go down, but it’s part of the game. There was cautious optimism going in the last nites game.

 

I was nervous as hell. I think all the negativity was creepin in. This had to be the game for the Sixers. A lose would just lead to more pilin’ on the dung heap. No, the Sixers needed to step on the hearts and minds in the United Center. They Sixers had to be killa.

From the start I could see that were ready to handle the storm. The Bulls came out with a flood of emotion as expected. But the play of Turner and Holiday held serve. If it were not for that strange stretch at the end of the half where John Lucas III and Noah where channeling Michael Jordon (I don’t know how else to explain it), the Sixers looked good.  The Sixers were down by eight at the half and the Bulls had scored on an amazing number of jumpers from guys not named Hamilton, Deng or Korver. This trend could not continue.

And it did not. The Bulls fell to earth in the 3rd and  the Sixers were .. well they were killa. Outscoring the Bulls 36-14 … killa.

Holiday was amazing. 26 Points, 6 assists and the really amazing part … 0 turnovers. Turner was equally impressive. He was constantly putting pressure on their defense. Turner was the guy that came down the floor and scored to stop any momentum the Bulls mounted. Turner was the guy that scored to pile on the points when the Sixers where streaking. Turner silenced the boo birds at the United Center, zipped their lips and sent ‘em home.  Killa

Sweet win (there will be no asterisk next to it in the win column)

@SixersCEOAdam IS IT JANUARY AGAIN? @Sixers beat Bulls by 17

enough said