Annnnnd.... I'm Back

I know you missed me. Thanks for perservering. What? What do you mean you didn't even notice I was gone? Well to hell with you then.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. You know I love you.

Anyway, a lot has happened since I left Philadelphia. The Pistons started playing like the Pistons, the Sixers started playing like the Sixers, the Phillies have managed to stay above .500 the entire time, and the Flyers... look, I'm not going there. I don't care if they're one win from the Conference Finals. We've seen this before. Many times. I certainly want them to win, but I'm not getting sucked in. Not now. I would be a fool to let myself succumb to that foul temptress' charms right now.

The Sixers are sucking me in though. Not because I think they'll beat the Pistons, but because this team has a legitimately bright future, and I love me some basketball. They're still a couple years and a couple players away, but the foundation (which includes Andre Miller) is there.

And the Phillies, well, they're doin' okay. They surprised me by not dropping 2 of 3 to the Pirates. That would have been a classic Phillies move. Also, one other reason I'm not terribly worried is that apparently Billy Wagner has called out Oliver Perez for some of the Mets' struggles of late (even though they're above .500). That man never learns. He's a hell of a pitcher when he's on, but Jesus, he sure is a dick. I don't miss him one bit, and I don't think anyone else in Philly does either.

Rest Assured I Was On The Internet Within Minutes, Registering My Disgust Throughout The World

Kudos to anyone who understands the reference in the title of this post. Anyway, the Sixers reached into their own asses tonight and pulled out a handful of crap, unlike Sunday when they pulled out a victory. Oh well. I don't think anyone expected them to win tonight.

And the Phillies blew a lead in the 8th, allowing a 2 run homer to Prince Fielder (pictured, left) for the second time that game. God forbid you guys string 4 wins together. But hey, I can't be greedy. That would make me a Boston fan, and then I wouldn't be able to see my own reflection. Can't have that. Anyway, Grampa Moyer takes the hill tomorrow, so hopefully the Phils will bounce back.

Oh, and the Flyers play tomorrow night, which is cool. I guess.

Sixers Reach Into Own Asses, Pull Out Victory

Despite trailing by 13 at halftime, and 15 midway through the 3rd quarter, the Philadelphia 76ers beat a more talented and more experienced Detroit Pistons team in Detroit Sunday night. Coming back from a lead that large is something the Sixers have done a few times this season, though not against a team like Detroit that prides itself on its defense.

The Sixers got excellent performances from Andre Miller and Reggie Evans, as well as strong contributions from Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young. Andre Iguodala finished with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, but he didn't shoot well (4-16 from the field) and he had 4 turnovers. Willie Green also played quite well, chipping in 17 points on 7-11 shooting. For the complete box score, click here.

It's only one game, but the Sixers couldn't have asked for a better result. When playing a team as good as Detroit, there aren't going to be any freebies, especially when you consider that the Pistons are no doubt pissed off that this game got away. Still, Pistons coach Flip Saunders gave the Sixers their proper due, saying "We didn't lose this game, they beat us." Very true. Three more to go fellas. Keep up the good work.

The Official Allen Iverson Post

I love Allen Iverson.

And I'm not ashamed to admit it. No, he isn't perfect, but loving a perfect person is easy. It's finding a way to love the flaws that's the hard part. And oh, he is flawed. There is no doubt about that. But he deserved the standing ovation he got when his name was announced, and anyone who really thought the Philadelphia fans for whom he played his heart out every night for 11 years would boo him obviously knows nothing about Philly sports fans.

Are we loud? Yes. Obnoxious? Quite. Hard to please? Sure. But do we appreciate effort? Oh yes. If you play your heart out, we will love you, even if you aren't that good. (Although it really helps if you're good.) And Allen Iverson was good. (He still is, to be fair.) He was, with apologies to Donovan McNabb, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, the best Philadelphia athlete of my lifetime. And unless one of those guys wins a championship, that probably isn't going to change.

And yes, I'm fully aware Iverson did not win a championship here, but he put up better numbers than all of those guys. Even Utley. He's a first ballot hall of famer who played his heart out every minute of every game. (He is 4th all time in minutes per game average, at just over 40 per.) He is undersized, making him a natural underdog in a sport dominated by the freakishly tall. While he was by no means perfect, he was the perfect type of athlete for Philly: gritty, stubborn, hard working, and yes, occasionally gun toting.

When he was traded, we mourned as a city. Even those who did not like him here (and his detractors certainly exist) could not ignore what he meant to this city. He was Philadelphia, for better, and indeed for worse. And now he's gone. But Wednesday night we had him one more time, even if his uniform looked a little different. And even if he was playing for a different team, it just felt... right. He led all scorers, something he has done a few times before in that building. And even though the Sixers won, that was hardly in the forefront of anyone's mind.

One could argue that the Sixers (34-34) are a better team without Iverson, and one would probably be right, but they aren't better because he is gone. They would not be worse if you added him to their current roster. They may play more like a team now than they did when he was here, but that is because Andre Miller is one of the best point guards in the NBA, not because Iverson is a bad teammate or a selfish player. The best point guard Iverson ever played with was Eric Snow. Ask LeBron James how much he like playing with Eric.

The thing is, Iverson IS a team player. He has averaged close to 7 assists a game for his entire career. And that number would be higher if he ever played with guys who could shoot. You had to watch a lot of Sixers games to truly appreciate just how bad Iverson's supporting cast was for the majority of his tenure in Philly. He shot 30 times a game because that was the only way the Sixers were going to win. If you want proof that Iverson is capable of excelling when his teammates are talented, one needs to look no further than any of his all star game appearances. (Or, you could just look at the Nuggets.) He doesn't want to take every shot. He just wants to win.

And thats why I, and the majority f Philadephians, love Allen Iverson.

And we always will.

Adam Eaton, Sixers, Still Not That Good

Not that either of those statements should come as a surprise. The Sixers don't have a winning record despite their recent string of success, and Eaton doesn't have any talent, despite his large contract.

The Sixers got pounded by a much better team last night (the Celtics), allowing Boston to score the first 15 points of the game. (NOT a good way to begin.) And Eaton, who had his back injury, the one that had supposedly been lingering since last season, checked out, only to have it revealed that the injury was minor and did not require treatment, has been terrible all spring.

The fact that his injury requires no real treatment, of course, makes me wonder why the fuck he has been so terrible. Is he just of of shape? (Probably.) Is he just untalented? (Yeah.) Is he a monumental shithead who should donate 95% of his salary to Hamels? (Mmhmm.) So why the fuck was he ever signed? (Phillies management is, for the most part, incompetent.) Ugh. March Madness needs to hurry up and get here so I don't have to worry about baseball until April.

Who am I kidding? I'm not gonna stop thinking about baseball. It's only 20 days away.

Ed Stefanski Is Doing His Job

Kyle Korver and his terrible contract were traded tot he Jazz for Gordan Giricek AND a first round pick. Look, I like Korver, but he's a one dimensional player. Yes, he can shoot threes. No, he can't guard anyone. And yes, he was overpaid. They seem like pretty similar players, although Giricek is older. Can't say this wasn't a good trade, because it looks like it was. Have fun in Salt Lake City Kyle.

A Year Later, It Still Hurts

Allen Iverson was traded a year ago today. It, um, hasn't exactly worked out for the Sixers. Watching him made me giggle on a consistent basis with the way he made impossible plays seem routine. No other athlete has ever done that.



Video courtesy of The 700 Level.

Maybe The Sixers Are Headed In The Right Direction After All

They finally canned Billy King, one of the absolute worst GMs in basketball (which is REALLY saying something). This move came abut 6 years too late, but hey, better late than never. King started fucking up as soon as he was handed the keys to the franchise - he drafted Larry Hughes over Paul pierce, among others, in 1998 - and kept fucking up until they got rid of him, which they did today.

His replacement, Ed Stefanski, has at the very least a decent resume, as he is one of the architects behind the current New Jersey Nets team, which is good if not great. He is also a Philly area native and will no doubt be committed to making the Sixers not suck. Good luck buddy. You got a ways to go.

Phils Get Lidge, Lose Bourn

I was going to title this post "Hey Charlotte, How Does Your Ass Feel?", but when I went over to ESPN to check the score of the Sixers game (94-63), this story had just been posted. The Phils gave up Geoff Geary and Michael Bourn (and some minor leaguer) for Brad Lidge, a man with the ability to be one of the premier closers in baseball. You hate to lose Bourn, a speedy outfielder with a ton of potential, but he probably isn't going to be an effective full time major leaguer for the Astros this year. And he may never be. For a very in depth evaluation, check out what Kieth Law has to say. (You will need ESPN Insider to read the entire article.)

More importantly, this allows the Phillies to move Brett Myers back to the rotation. Thank. Fucking. God. Look, Myers was pretty effective as a closer, I can't argue that. You know why? He's a good fucking pitcher! You want your best pitchers throwing 200+ innings if they have the arm to do it, and he has that arm. Now, with Hamels, the Phillies boast a very, very solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. While the rest of the rotation wont scare anyone, it should be good enough to return the Phillies to the playoffs if the lineup does its thing.

And, speaking of the lineup, this trade makes me think the Phillies will keep Rowand. It's that, or go to war with Jason Werth as your right fielder. Werth had a great second half, but Rowand is a proven player, and we love him here in Philly. As long as the asking price isn't way too high, he should be brought back. He had a great year and was integral to the team's success.

Anyway, that's all I know for now. But this much is certain: The Bobcats are going to have trouble sitting down tonight. 31 points? To the Sixers? These Sixers? Yeesh.

Oh, and the Flyers beat the Penguins for the first time since April 2006 by a score of 3-1 to improve their record to 9-5. Yippee.

Nothing good happened to the Eagles. Hey, three outta four ain't bad.

50 is a Big Number

50 points. The Sixers lost to the Houston Rockets by 50 points last night. Fifty. What is this, high school girls basketball? NBA teams don't lose by 50. At home. I don't care if the Rockets are really good and surging (6-2) now that the Chinese Tom Brady is back. There is no excuse for losing by 50, even if you are a Philadelphia sports team.

I didn't watch much of the game, but let's recap some interesting numbers, shall we? The Rockets got out to a 21-6 lead, from which the Sixers clearly never recovered. The Rockets outrebounded the Sixers 54-36 and made 7 more three pointers than Philly. The Sixers were a whopping 27 for 80 from the field. 27 for 80! They missed 53 shots! That is hard to do. And here's the real doozy: the Rockets had 54 points in the paint. The Sixers - (WARNING: those with weak stomachs, stop reading now) - eight. Eight points in the paint. Compared to 54. That my friends, is a beatdown.

All I can really say is that it's good to see the Sixers returning to their midseason form with the hopes to land Oden or Durant. They had won 8 of 10 coming into this game and were on the verge of making the playoffs in the pathetic Eastern Conference. This would cost them their first round pick. And yes, they would still have Denver's and Dallas', but Denver looks like a playoff team and Dallas will have the last pick in the draft because there is no way in hell anyone is beating them in a 7 game series in June. Forfeiting a lottery pick for the right to get thumped by Detroit or Cleveland in the first round is NOT a good idea.

Still, this is Philadelphia and Billy King is still in charge, so I am prepared for the worst. When the Sixers lose to Dallas in the Finals and Andre Iguodala breaks his neck in triple overtime of a tragic game seven loss, don't say I didn't warn you.

Sucker Punched

Carmelo isn't in the All Star Game? He's the leading scorer in the NBA. That's horseshit. So he punched a guy. Big deal. You find me one NBA player who hasn't punched a guy in the last year and I'll show you Kyle Korver. Carmelo is a baller. It's about entertaining the fans, and he's one of the NBA's best. Let the man play. The only positive to this is that now maybe the game will be competitive. Nah, who am I kidding? The West is still going to kill the East, which doesn't even have Iverson, their perennial savior during this game. This game won't be close.

Also, AI2 aka Andre Iguodala, should be in the dunk contest again. He was robbed last year by Nate "Napoleon Complex" Robinson, who took 15 tries to do something that was still less impressive than AI2's. He must get his revenge, even though I can't see him, or anyone, topping his performance last year. The Off-the-back-of-the-backboard dunk was phenomenal. If you haven't seen it, for the love of god, click that link and prepare to have to change your pants.

Update: It has been brought to my attention that AI2 will not be participating. I guess he feels he has nothing more to prove after last year, despite the fact that he wasn't the official winner. Still, it would have been fun to watch him do his thing again this year.